From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Aug  1 06:06:30 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 06:06:30 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 214 - August 2
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAACJgEEgT3G1GgpAuacHEs0ABAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Review VI, Lesson 214 - August 2

Central theme:

"I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me."

Review of:

(194) "I place the future in the Hands of God."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See instructions in separate document.

COMMENTARY

Accepting that the past is gone is simply common sense, because by
definition, what is "past" is no longer here; it is gone. Only our mental
attachment to things past, our insistence on regurgitating past incidents
and chewing them over again, can have any effect on the present. The effects
we feel are not of the past, but of our present thinking about the past.

Accepting that the future has not yet arrived is also common sense, because
again by definition, what is future is not here now. It cannot have any
effect on the present moment. Only our mental imagination of what the future
might hold, and our thinking about what has not yet occurred, can have
present effect.

In both cases, the effects that we imagine come from past or future come, in
fact, from our present thinking. Therefore, only by changing our present
thinking can those effects be altered. When I am able to mentally let go of
the past and the future, placing the future in God's Hands, I am freed from
their apparent effects. I am at liberty, in the now, to open myself to
accept what God is giving me <now>.

The present circumstances in which I find myself may appear to be
threatening. They may have come about, in my perception, because of past
events. They may appear to lead inevitably to some unhappy future. Yet if I
can open my mind to believe that "what God gives can only be for good"
(1:4), then that good will come to me. We cannot know all the factors
involved in the events of our lives and their effect on everyone around us.
But God knows. We can safely and confidently take our hands off, and place
the future in God's Hands. We can look upon things that seem to bring evil
and refuse the evil, accepting only what <God> gives as what truly belongs
to us. In everything, there is a gift of God, if we look carefully enough.
To place our future in God's Hands we must let go ourselves, and stop trying
to orchestrate the events of our lives. Doing so is a constant lesson in
trust. Trust is the key, an essential ingredient in placing the future into
God's Hands.

In the Manual for Teachers, the fundamental stage in the process of
development from "teacher of God" to "advanced teacher of God" is the
development of trust. The full flowering of trust is not an overnight
process. It goes through several stages, clearly set out in the Manual. Most
of those stages involve some discomfort, because until we have truly
acquired trust, we keep trying to second-guess God. The pain comes not from
the learning, but from what we have not yet learned. What we are learning
will bring the removal of the pain, but pain along the way seems almost
unavoidable. "Few teachers of God escape this distress entirely"
(M-4.I.5:3). Yet when the lesson is learned, the peace will be like nothing
we have ever known. We can only imagine what total freedom from all anxiety
feels like, and yet, if we have wholly placed our future into God's Hands,
what else could be the certain result?

Each effort we make in this direction is beneficial. Each moment we place
into His Hands will lessen the burden of care we carry constantly for our
lives. Gradually, we are learning to cast all our cares on Him, trusting in
His caring for us.





From sue at circleofa.org  Sat Aug  2 09:23:10 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 09:23:10 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 215 - August 3
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAKq0Sk7/8WtKkW4xhLpH+t8BAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Review VI, Lesson 215 - August 3

Central theme:

"I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me."

Review of:

(195) "Love is the way I walk in gratitude."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI Practice Instructions.

COMMENTARY

Today's review adds a new note to the lesson. I walk in the way of love. As
I walk, the Holy Spirit walks with me (1:3-4), and shows me the way to go.

Walking in the way of love is not always simple. Often, the "loving thing"
to do is not obvious. If someone breaks into my home, and is arrested, do I
press charges, or do I let them off the hook? Which action is "loving"? Or,
to make it much more simple: A friend, prone to misuse of money, asks me for
a loan. Do I give them the money, or refuse? Which is the way of love?

I do not know. Even if I think I know, I do not know. I cannot possibly know
all the variables. I cannot evaluate the ego motivation of another. How
could I possibly do that when I can't even evaluate my own ego motivations?
I cannot judge when a person is open to a merciful action, or when the most
loving thing would be to let them face the consequences of their mistakes.
But the Holy Spirit does know all those things. He is my only Guide. My past
experiences, no matter how extensive, are never enough to grant me perfect
judgment. The Holy Spirit, however, knows every detail of every situation.
He knows the ramifications of every possible outcome, and can guide me in
the loving action I should choose.

How do I discern His Voice? Again, there is no guaranteed way. Learning to
discern His Voice clearly is a lifelong process. All I need do is to refer
the situation to Him, consciously give it into His hands, and then act in
whatever way seems best to me. Each day, and in each situation, I renew my
resolve to never make a decision by myself. Sometimes I will sense an inner
"nudge" in a certain direction, for no reason I can detect. Perhaps
circumstances will occur that seem to point me in a particular direction.
Serendipitous coincidences may occur that seem to be signs, directing me.
Other times I will seemingly be left on my own. The Course promises us that
if we make a mistake, He will correct us, if we have given the situation to
Him. We will make mistakes, but we have His promise of correction.

One of the most important aspects of hearing His Voice, I have learned, is
letting go of any investment in a particular outcome. The only outcome I
seek is the outcome of forgiveness, the outcome of love, the outcome of
peace of mind in all concerned. I cannot pick what external circumstances
are best suited to this kind of outcome; only the Holy Spirit knows. A
rebellious teenager threatens to leave home, or drop out of school. As a
parent or friend I may believe that the best thing is that she stay at home,
or stay in school. I do not know. Perhaps the lessons she needs to learn can
only be found if she distances herself for a while from family and friends.
So I lay the situation in the hands of the Holy Spirit, and ask that I be
guided to say and do whatever best serves the way of love. Then, I keep my
hands off. I trust that I <am> being guided, even if things begin to move in
a way I, in my shortsightedness, do not like. My primary responsibility is
simply not to interfere with Him.

Today, let me walk the way of love in gratitude, trusting the Holy Spirit to
guide my every word and action. Let me remind myself that I am here only to
be truly helpful, to represent Him Who sent me, knowing that I do not have
to worry about what I will say or do, for He will direct me (see
T-2.V(A).18:2-6).




From suelegal at gmail.com  Sat Aug  2 09:26:42 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 09:26:42 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] RESEND - PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS REVIEW VI
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAOK9mG/vzOJCvgJyKndmUT0BAAAAAA==@gmail.com>



PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS REVIEW VI

PURPOSE: To carefully review the last twenty lessons, each of which contains
the whole curriculum. To go with quickened pace along the path to God. To
finish our preparation (begun in Lesson 141) for entering a higher phase of
learning: Part II.

Morning/evening quiet time: At least fifteen minutes.

For our longer practice periods, we are doing what I call Open Mind
Meditation.

Begin by repeating, "I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God
created me." 
Then repeat today's idea, perhaps also repeating the italicized lines that
follow the idea (which are meant "to aid in practicing"-6:5). 
For the bulk of the time, close your eyes and relinquish all mental clutter
and all beliefs you have about yourself and the world. Hold your mind in
silent readiness to receive the experience of God. Do not repeat words.
Simply wait for that experience to dawn, holding your mind still and
expectant without the aid of verbalizing. Rather than relying on words, rely
on the Holy Spirit. Offer the practice period to Him, and be open to His
guidance, which may take your meditation in unexpected directions. 
If a wandering thought intrudes-which will no doubt happen
regularly-immediately respond with, "This thought I do not want. I choose
instead [today's idea]." This is perhaps the Workbook's most effective way
of dispelling distracting thoughts. 
Close by again repeating, "I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God
created me." 
Hourly remembrance: One or two minutes as the hour strikes (reduce if
circumstances do not permit).

Repeat the idea, plus the central thought, "I am not a body. I am free. For
I am still as God created me." Then spend a quiet moment in Open Mind
Meditation, waiting in stillness to feel the peace of God.

Frequent reminder: As often as possible within each hour.

Repeat the idea for the day, plus, "I am not a body. I am free. For I am
still as God created me."

Response to temptation: (Suggestion) when you are tempted to be upset.

Quickly proclaim your freedom by saying, "This thought I do not want. I
choose instead [today's idea]."

OVERALL REMARKS: The preceding forty-eight lessons have schooled us in a
basic framework of practice, which includes morning and evening practice
periods and hourly remembrances. What is missing from this framework are the
frequent reminders, which were such an important focus earlier in the
Workbook. Here, those are finally added back into the mix, so that now, as
we prepare to enter Part II, we have in place the entire fourfold structure
of practice: Morning and evening quiet time, hourly remembrance, frequent
reminders, and response to temptation (the last item has been present
throughout the Workbook, as well as in many of the last forty-eight
lessons).

In this review, in a continuation of a trend that began in Lesson 124, words
and specific instructions are even further withdrawn. We repeat words at the
beginning and then pass into a silence that is empty of thoughts and words.
This lack of structure, we are told, will help us "reach a quickened pace
along a shorter path to the serenity and peace of God" (4:2). It will help
prepare us for the formlessness of Part II.

It is implied that God might show up in the form of the Holy Spirit
inspiring us to practice in some particular way. He may, as the final
lessons say, give us a word to help our practice, or a thought to focus on,
or just "stillness and a tranquil, open mind" (W-pII.361-365.1:3). If He
directs you to practice in a more specific way, then fine. Otherwise, the
instructions are to wait in a mental silence without words or thoughts.

In keeping with this reliance on the Holy Spirit, Jesus asks us to place
every practice period in His hands, and, at the outset, to dedicate the
entire review to Him.





From sue at circleofa.org  Sun Aug  3 09:13:27 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 09:13:27 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 216 - August 4
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAPiRrXwmWJBBswfErlo3h5QBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Review VI, Lesson 216 - August 4

CENTRAL THEME:

"I AM NOT A BODY. I AM FREE. FOR I AM STILL AS GOD CREATED ME."

REVIEW OF:

(196) "IT CAN BE BUT MYSELF I CRUCIFY."

See REVIEW VI PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

COMMENTARY

The heart of the little summary today is the first sentence: "All that I do
I do unto myself" (1:2). If we applied that one idea consistently, what a
transformation there would be in our part of the world!

My own little personal list (you can make your own):

How do I greet people on the telephone?

* How do I respond to interruptions?

* How do I regard people serving me in stores and restaurants?

* How do I react to snippets of talk I hear on the evening news?

* How do I treat poor or homeless people I encounter?

* How do I think about the very rich?

* How do I think about other drivers?

* What do I say to others about my friends when they are not present?

"All that I do I do unto myself." Is it any wonder I feel mistreated and
misunderstood? All of these "little" examples are expressions of the ego's
desire to crucify the Son of God. Each of them betrays the way I am treating
myself, when I listen to my ego. This explains that wonderful saying in the
Manual, "The teacher of God is generous out of Self interest" (M-4.VII.2:1).





From sue at circleofa.org  Mon Aug  4 06:16:29 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 06:16:29 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 217 - August 5
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAHLB+RKA/31OlXZ9D1wLVEkBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Review VI, Lesson 217 - August 5

CENTRAL THEME:

"I AM NOT A BODY. I AM FREE. FOR I AM STILL AS GOD CREATED ME."

REVIEW OF:

(197) "IT CAN BE BUT MY GRATITUDE I EARN."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI Practice Instructions.

COMMENTARY

The salvation described by the Course is unique in the way it combines total
responsibility for our own salvation with total dependence on God. My Self
is what "saves" me, yet that Self is discovered only by recognizing that
what I am is not any result of my own action, but the gift of God in
creation.

There is a line in the Text that says, "Give thanks to every part of you
that you have taught how to remember you" (T-13.VII.17:8). The gratitude we
feel as we begin to awaken to what we are is due to the Self that we are
discovering. I am the one who gives thanks; I am also the One to Whom thanks
are being given.

It is very hard to understand all of this until you begin to experience it.
I vividly recall one particular time in which it seemed to come to crystal
clarity for me, for a few moments at least. I became aware of a loving part
of myself that was continually moving me and motivating me in the direction
of inner peace and Self-acceptance. It was something that had always been
there, more than a part of me, the reality of myself. I was simultaneously
aware of another part of my mind that had begun to open up to that love, and
in that moment, I felt a deep and inexpressible gratitude to myself for
being willing to receive that love. I was aware both of being the giver of
the love and the receiver of it, and in that moment the little self I had
always thought was me felt swallowed up in this much larger, constantly
moving, tide of love.

This peculiar gratitude to my Self can find expression in many little ways.
Sometimes when I have taken the time for a quiet meditation, one in which I
feel strongly renewed, I find the gratitude welling up, and I say, "Thank
you." And I am not sure whether I am thanking God or myself. I am grateful
to myself for having readied myself to receive this Course. I am thankful to
myself for reading it, and continuing to study it and to apply it. When a
line from the Course pops into my head at just the right moment, I can thank
my Self for it.

The Course teaches that we all are already awake; the truth lives
untarnished in our right mind. And it is this right mind, this Self that is
the only part of us that has reality in truth, which is teaching us and
calling us home. This right mind is the home of the Holy Spirit; He is part
of us as well as part of God. His Voice is the Voice for God, yet it is also
the Voice of my Self. It is my Self that brought the Course into the world.
It is my Self that drew me to it. It is my Self that is bringing me to
awareness. Everything that nudges me in the right direction is a gift from
my Self.

Let me be grateful to my Self today. Let me recognize that I am deserving of
my own gratitude. Instead of being annoyed with myself, impatient with
myself, harsh on myself, discouraged with myself, or untrusting of myself,
let me offer myself my own gratitude. And let me realize that my own
gratitude is all I need and want. Let me understand that when I have learned
fully to be completely grateful to my Self for what I am, I will have
completed the journey, and will have learned, at the same time, to be fully
appreciative and grateful to God for the gift He has given me: my Self.





From sue at circleofa.org  Tue Aug  5 05:51:36 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 05:51:36 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 218 - August 6
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAACuvgc6uMCxKvvv3hSVntf0BAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Review VI, Lesson 218 - August 6

Central theme:

"I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me."

Review of:

(198) "Only my condemnation injures me."

Practice instructions

See Review VI Practice Instructions.

Commentary

Condemnation does not injure the body. It reminds me of the old childhood
chant, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me."
I am not a body; what I am cannot be hurt by "sticks and stones." Only my
own condemnation, my acceptance of those "names," can hurt me.

Haven't you called yourself names? I know I have. "You idiot!" "You are so
stupid, Watson!" These self-mocking name-callings still, after all these
years, pop into my head and out of my own mouth. They are only surface
symptoms of a much deeper self-condemnation and mistrust of myself that is
at the root of all my problems. Marianne Williamson hits the target when she
says, "The ego is my self-loathing."

And when I realize that every other form of outward-directed
condemnation--anger, prejudice, hatred, resentment, common dislike, even
simple discomfort with someone--are all, every one, projections of my own
self-attack, then I begin to realize just how deep and how far-reaching this
self-condemnation really is. This condemnation injures <me>. I hurl my
spears of attack out at the world, and every one returns to stab me in the
back. "It can be but myself I crucify" (W-pI.216.1:1).

As long as I keep this war against myself going, my eyes are sightless to
see my own glory. I cannot see the Christ in myself because of the dust
storm of self-condemnation, whether it is directed inward or projected
outward on illusions of myself I think are outside of me. It is the constant
stream of judgment that blinds me.

Today, if I only choose to do so, I can see my own glory. All that I need is
to accept Atonement for myself. Tune out the Judgment Channel. Tune in the
Forgiveness Channel. Let me be quiet now, and sense the Love within: the
Love of God for me, His child; my love for Him; my Self's own love for me,
and mine for my Self. And often, today, let me stop and remind myself that
the only thing that <can> injure me is my own condemnation. And I am free to
choose to let that go, assisted by the Holy Spirit, my inner Self, and all
the angels of Heaven.

Whenever I feel a rush of judgment within, wherever it is directed, let me
bring my case to Heaven's Higher Court, and hear the Holy Spirit dismiss the
case against me (see T-5.VI.4, 10).




From sue at circleofa.org  Wed Aug  6 05:41:41 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2008 05:41:41 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 219 * August 7
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAFmhtc3nz1BKjgn89DK1mbkBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Review VI, Lesson 219 * August 7

Central theme:

"I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me."

Review of:

(199) "I am not a body. I am free."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI Practice Instructions.

COMMENTARY

Well, we don't get much choice today. We've got to take another look at the
fact that we are not bodies.

The belief that I am a body, I think, is what put us here in this world,
wearing a body. I may say I believe I am not a body, and that I understand
what I am saying, but I'm still wearing a body. That shows that my words and
the deep belief of my mind are not entirely in synch. The reason the Course
has had us repeating this idea for the last twenty days (it started with
Lesson 199) is certainly not because we already believe it and don't need
it; obviously, the Course is recognizing that our belief that we are bodies
is deeply imbedded in us, and the repetition is necessary to begin
counteracting that belief. Remember that in Lesson 199, it suggested we make
this idea a part of our practice <every day>. Our identification with our
bodies is not an idea that will be easily dislodged.

The juxtaposition of the words "I am not a body" with the words "I am free"
is interesting. If I had written the Course I would probably have said, "I
am not a body. I am a spirit," or something like that. Why do you suppose
Jesus put these two thoughts together?

The body is an enslaving thing. All of us are slaves to our bodies. Think
how much time and energy of our so-called life in this world is devoted to
caring for the body. We feed it, we work to house it and cloth it, we wash
it, we devote entire rooms in our house to taking care of the needs for
elimination and cleansing, we buy all sorts of gadgets to groom it. Every
week or so we clip our nails. We make appointments for haircuts. Look at the
cookbook section in a bookstore some time to get a feel for the thought and
care that goes into just the feeding aspect. Look at our supermarkets, our
clothing stores, shoe stores. Most stores in a mall have to do with caring
for the body. Look at the expense we devote to health care and hospitals.

What if I am not a body? What if this great focus of effort and attention is
all misdirected? What if we are majoring in minors? What if the center of
gravity in our lives began to shift from caring for the body to caring for
the spirit? What would my life and your life be like if that happened? What
if I were as consistent in seeking holy instants as I am in feeding my face?
What if I began stopping several times a day to feed my spirit as regularly
as I do to eat, or go to the bathroom? We find it so easy to say to a
friend, "Care for a cup of coffee?" What if it were just as easy to say,
"Care to spend a few minutes in meditation with me?"

Just thinking about this makes it evident how unbalanced our lives are and
how centered on our bodies. It makes me realize how far we have yet to go.
And since change begins in the mind, just reminding myself as often as I can
remember to do so, "I am not a body," is a good way to begin the great
shift. Perhaps something as simple as letting my meals be a reminder to say
a prayer can help, not because praying over food makes it any better, but
because it helps me remember that I need my spiritual nourishment as much,
or more, than I need physical food. Each time I become aware that I am
taking time and effort to care for my body, let it remind me also to care
for my spirit.

Think, too, of the freedom that will come to us when we realize that our
body is no big deal. What I am is not something that wears out, grows old,
and dies. What I am is not something that is a "brief candle," as
Shakespeare called it, but an eternal star shining forever in the heavens.
The body is deserving of care because it is a useful tool for the situation
in which we find ourselves, but no more than that. Like a car it is good for
the purpose it serves. But the body is not "me" any more than my car is "me"
(auto ads to the contrary). Think of all the anxiety and constant concern
that would be lifted from our shoulders if we can think of our bodies in
this way. Changing our mind in this respect is worth all the effort it will
take.




From sue at circleofa.org  Thu Aug  7 06:40:48 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 06:40:48 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 220 - August 8
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAACDJv6TGfKlAjY3FvIvZeFMBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Review VI, Lesson 220 - August 8

CENTRAL THEME:

"I AM NOT A BODY. I AM FREE. FOR I AM STILL AS GOD CREATED ME."

REVIEW OF:

(200) "THERE IS NO PEACE EXCEPT THE PEACE OF GOD."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI Practice Instructions.

COMMENTARY

To see ourselves as bodies is to be in conflict. Peace can be found only in
God. Searching for peace in the realm of the physical is doomed to failure,
because the body is an expression of conflict.

The prayer in this review lesson is about not wandering from "the way of
peace" (1:2). What might that mean? Obviously, it refers to any unpeaceful
state of mind, any thought of antagonism, or anger, or attack, or hatred.
The Course calls us to mental vigilance, watching our thoughts for anything
that opposes peace, and, as soon as such a thought is detected, bringing it
to the presence of the Holy Spirit for healing. We are told to think along
these lines: "This is not what I want. I want the peace of God." So when we
sense our thoughts moving into conflict mode, we respond. Perhaps we pray,
"Let me not wander from the way of peace" (1:2).

Wandering from the way of peace, however, includes more than overt attack.
The ego can disguise attack very subtly; indeed, the Course sees even our
special love relationships, our false forgiveness, and our ego's attempts at
empathy as veiled attacks. If there is no peace except God's peace, then to
seek for peace in some other way is really a hidden attachment to attack. If
there is only one road to my destination, and I choose not to follow the
road, I am choosing my destination's opposite. It is really seeking peace
through war, which is impossible. The ego, for instance, often seeks for
illusory peace through force, attempting to physically or mentally overpower
the situation. We cannot find peace by attempting to browbeat the world into
submission. On any such road, we are not moving toward peace; we are lost.

The way to God's peace is through following the Holy Spirit, "Him Who leads
me home" (1:3). When we try to solve our problems on our own, we are not
following the way to peace:

The ego always tries to preserve conflict. It is very ingenious in devising
ways that seem to diminish conflict, because it does not want you to find
conflict so intolerable that you will insist on giving it up.
(T-7.VIII.2:2-3)

Trying to use our own ingenuity to resolve conflict, then, is another way we
wander from the true road to peace.

When conflict seems to arise today, let me remember my lesson, that there is
no peace except the peace of God. Let me instantly seek peace, but not in my
own way. Let me turn to the Holy Spirit within and ask His direction.

When you feel the holiness of your relationship is threatened by anything,
stop instantly and offer the Holy Spirit your willingness, in spite of fear,
to let Him exchange this instant for the holy one you would rather have. He
will never fail in this. (T-18.V.6:1-2)




From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Aug  8 05:49:51 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2008 05:49:51 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] The Introduction to Part II
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAH4qWEpAoG9OmAUjinOODOYBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



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.





From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Aug  8 05:51:00 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2008 05:51:00 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] The Practice instructions to Part II
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAJ05WhIUrr9MkDSkKTpeiRkBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>




The Practice instructions to Part II

PURPOSE: The introduction to Part II talks as if, in the remaining part of
this year, we are trying to reach the end of our spiritual journey: "This
year has brought us to eternity" (10:8). However, the Manual, in Section 16
("How Should the Teacher of God Spend His Day?") implies a more modest goal:
to reach a place where we practice because of our own motivation and
inspiration, rather than because a book is telling us to. This would
transform our practicing from a special assignment into a way of life. Part
II of the Workbook, with its absence of daily practice instructions, is an
important step in this direction. If here, in the relatively formless
landscape of Part II, your practice can blossom, rather than wither, you are
close to graduating from the Workbook.

I think we need to combine these two goals: We should aim for eternity,
realizing that by aiming high we will carry ourselves farther than if we
didn't, even though we may only get as far as weaning ourselves from the
Workbook's support. In other words, we should aim to graduate from time and
space, <so that> we can reach the more realistic goal of graduating from the
Workbook.

Reading the lesson: The lessons in Part II take a very different form than
in Part I. After the day's idea, we find just two paragraphs, both worded in
the first person, which expand and comment on the idea. This makes the Part
II lessons look much like what we see in most of the reviews, where the idea
for the day is followed by a series of "related comments" (W-pI.rI.In.2:3;
3:3) which are worded in the first person and expand on the idea. In the
reviews, these related comments become part of the exercises. We read them
over several times, we think about them, we repeat them to ourselves, we
savor each word. We make them our own, which is why they are worded <as if>
they are our own. We so fully engage them that reading them becomes more
like a practice than a simple act of reading.

It makes sense that we should use the comments in the Part II lessons in the
same way that we used the comments in the reviews, simply because the two
are so similar. And the introduction hints at this. For it speaks of our
reading of those paragraphs as an "exercise" (2:1) that is meant to induct
us (1:4) into "the periods of wordless, deep experience which should come
afterwards" (11:2). Let's look at how we can turn the reading of those two
paragraphs into a genuine exercise.

First, the< commentary paragraphs> (the nonitalicized paragraphs). I
recommend that you read these over slowly, perhaps several times, and
imagine that these really are your own thoughts (which is how they are
worded). To facilitate this, you may want to emphasize words like "I," "me,"
"my," and "mine."

Second, the< prayers>. These read as if you yourself are praying them to
God, and I recommend doing just that. Fix one sentence at a time in your
mind and then close your eyes and say that sentence to God. Try to really
mean it and expect Him to hear you. These appear to be designed to carry you
into the meditative state, and many of them virtually say that. Lesson 307
says of its prayer, "And with this prayer we enter silently into a state
where conflict cannot come" (W-pII.307.2:1). To enhance this effect, you may
want to pray the prayer several times.

Morning/evening quiet time: As long as you need for the effect you want.

The longer practice periods are meant to consist of Open Mind Meditation.
Begin by repeating the idea for the day, but in a special way: as an
invitation to God to come to you. "We say the words of invitation that His
Voice suggests, and then we wait for Him to come to us" (4:6). After
repeating these words, go into a time of expectant, wordless waiting (the
word "wait" here occurs six times). To wait normally means to stay
physically still in anticipation of some event. Here it means to stay
<mentally> still in anticipation of a wondrous event: the dawning of God on
your mind. Wait as if holding your breath for this event. Wait with an
attitude that "the memory of God is shimmering across the wide horizons of
our minds" (9:5). Your waiting, then, though motionless, should be very much
alive. It should be filled with expectancy: "We...expect our Father to
reveal Himself, as He has promised" (3:3). The basis for your expectancy, in
other words, is your trust that God will keep His promises. He promised to
come to you when you asked. You are asking; He will come. Hold this state
without the aid of repeating words. However, whenever your mind wanders, you
should use words--repeat the idea to draw yourself back to this nonverbal
waiting. "We will use that thought...to calm our minds at need" (3:1).

If you find Open Mind Meditation either too challenging or too unrewarding,
I would recommend using either of the other two methods the Workbook has
taught: Down-and-Inward Meditation or Name of God Meditation. In fact,
Lesson 222 clearly instructs you to use Name of God Meditation: <"Father, we
have no words except Your Name upon our lips and in our minds, as we come
quietly into Your Presence now"> (W-pII.222.2:1).

Hourly remembrance: One or two minutes as the hour strikes (reduce if
circumstances do not permit).

Do a miniature version of the morning practice. Repeat the idea as an
invitation to God, and then wait in wordless silence for Him to come to you.

Frequent reminder: As often as possible within each hour.

"Repeat [the idea], and allow your mind to rest a little time in silence and
in peace" (W-pI.rIII.In.10:5).

Response to temptation: When you are tempted to let upset cause you to
forget your goal.

Repeat the idea as a way of calling on God to dispel your upset (see 2:9 and
10:2).

Reading the "What Is" section: Before one of the day's practice periods (not
necessarily the morning one), read the relevant "What Is" section. Don't
just read it casually. Read it slowly and think about it "a little while"
(11:4).

* * *

LET US PRAY

What are we supposed to do with the prayers in Part II of the Workbook for
<A Course in Miracles>? There are 140 of them, one for each lesson. This has
puzzled many a Course student who, upon reaching Part II, finds himself
confronted each day with an italicized prayer directed at God. Is this
prayer offered by the author of the Course on our behalf? Do we simply read
it? Do we actually pray it? If so, why?

Actually, I am only <assuming> that this issue has puzzled Course students.
I have never really heard much discussion about these prayers. They sit
there on the page, staring at us every day for five straight months, but we
don't seem to talk much about them. The only perspective I recall hearing is
that they must be metaphorical because God can't hear our prayers.

Having done the Workbook several times, I too didn't know what to do with
these prayers. Yet, to be honest, I hadn't really confronted the question. I
would just dutifully open my book and read the prayer attached to that day's
lesson. The prayers generally struck me as being a kind of Course word
salad: a series of typical Course words--Christ, peace, joy, Heaven,
etc.--tossed together as one would toss a salad.

Then one day a few years ago, all that changed for me. I was on a short
retreat and, for some reason, the first thing I did was sit down and try to
discover what the Course wants us to do with its prayers. Having spent many
years studying the Workbook's practice instructions, I had learned that
virtually all our questions about practice are answered right in the
Workbook, if we pay careful attention. Now, for the first time, it occurred
to me that this ought to be true for those prayers; we should expect there
to be instructions for what to do with them.

The logical place for those instructions was the introduction to Part II,
since that is where we find the practice instructions for the entirety of
Part II, where the prayers are found. Within minutes I found two sentences
that ended my search and changed my relationship with the Course and with
God. Here they are:

We say some simple words of welcome, and expect our Father to reveal
Himself, as He has promised. (WpII.In.3:3)

We say the words of invitation that His Voice suggests, and then we wait for
Him to come to us. (WpII.In.4:6)

>From these sentences and the paragraphs around them I obtained the following
picture:

The Course has given us words (from the Holy Spirit) which we are to say to
God as words of invitation and welcome. Once we invite Him with these words,
we sit in a state of silent expectancy, waiting for Him to come and reveal
Himself to us in direct wordless experience.

What are these "words"? In this context, they are definitely the thought for
the day, the lesson title. But are they confined to that? Don't these
"simple words of welcome" also sound like they could be the prayers? After
all, like these words, the prayers are words given us by the Course which
are written as if we are saying them to God.

So I turned the page and looked at the first prayers in Part II. They
resoundingly confirmed what I was thinking. This is how the first prayer
begins:

<Father, I come to You today to seek the peace that You alone can give. I
come in silence>. (W-pII.221.1:1-2)

Just as the introduction described, in this prayer we state our intention to
have an encounter with God in the silence of our minds. The comments that
follow this prayer continue along the same lines: "Now [that we have said
this prayer] do we wait in quiet....We wait with one intent...[for God] to
reveal Himself unto His Son" (W-pII.221.2:1, 6). Here is exactly what the
introduction said: Once we say these words of welcome, we wait in silence
for God to reveal Himself to us.

The next prayer was very similar. In it we state our intention to silently
enter into an experience of God's Presence:

<Father, we have no words except Your Name upon our lips and in our minds,
as we come quietly into Your Presence now, and ask to rest with You in peace
a while>. (W-pII.222.2:1)

This was a very intellectual process of detective work, but its results were
extremely practical: At last I felt I knew what to do with those prayers! I
am to say them directly to God as preparation for a direct wordless
encounter with Him.

So I immediately tried this out. I spent the next hour or so going through
the first twenty prayers in Part II, praying them as I had just discovered I
should. I will never forget that time. It was a pivotal moment in my journey
with the Course. Until that moment, I had no idea how much richness was in
those prayers. What seemed like word salad when read as information became a
wealth of emotional experience when repeated as prayer, when spoken to God.

I was astonished by the sense of loving intimacy with God that shone through
these prayers. I had never realized that <this> was how the Course wanted me
to think about God. God came across not as a remote metaphysical
abstraction, an impersonal essence that is completely unaware of us.
Instead, He came across as near and dear, as the most attentive, loving
Father one could possibly imagine, always there, always listening, always
answering, wanting only to lavish all of His Love upon us. "He covers me
with kindness and with care" (W-pII.222.1:4), one of the lessons said. And
that is exactly how I felt, blanketed in His kindness and care.

Since that day, these prayers have become a staple in my daily life. There
are few things I enjoy doing more than sitting down and spending time with
them. They have literally transformed my relationship with God. My sense of
God before was somewhat remote and abstract. Yet increasingly these prayers
have implanted in me <their> sense of God, so that my feeling for Him has
become a deep well of sustenance and comfort that I draw from daily.

As time went on, I fell into the habit of using these prayers before my
meditation time, because I found them to be the ideal way to prepare my mind
for seeking God in meditation. They gathered the scattered and chaotic
threads of my thought into a single desire to be with God. After I had been
using them in this way for some time, I remembered something: <This is
exactly what they are for>. This is what the instructions in the Workbook
say is their purpose. We are to use the words of these prayers to prepare
our minds for a direct, wordless encounter with God. I can attest to the
fact that they serve their intended purpose very well indeed.

I therefore encourage every student of the Course to avail him- or herself
of the great benefit of these prayers. Try them out and see if you are not
drawn to return to them. Here are some tips for getting the most out of
them:

1. <Focus on one line at a time>. Dwell on each line and let it sink in
before going on to the next.

2. <Say it directly to God>. When the prayer says "Father," have a sense of
speaking directly to God, and of Him in some sense hearing you.

3. <Make it from you>. When the prayer says "I" or "me," have a sense of you
being the one saying the prayer.

4. <Mean it>, as much as you can. Try to make it the prayer of your own
heart.

5. <Make it specific>. For instance, when the prayer we will use below says
"a something I have called by many names," list some of the names you have
given what you seek.

6. <Feel free to elaborate> on the prayer as it evokes additional thoughts
and feelings in you.

To try out this method of using these prayers, I would like to utilize the
following prayer from Lesson 231, "Father, I will but to remember You." My
suggestion is for you to repeat each line slowly, with concentration and
sincerity. Try to see the fullness of meaning contained in each line. Try
also to go through the prayer twice or more.

1. What can I seek for, Father, but Your Love?

2. Perhaps I think I seek for something else; a something I have called by
many names.

3. Yet is Your Love the only thing I seek, or ever sought.

4. For there is nothing else that I could ever really want to find.

5. Let me remember You.

6. What else could I desire but the truth about myself?

What was your experience in repeating these lines? Was it an experience you
want more of? I sincerely hope that the prayers in the Workbook will become
the blessing in your life that they continue to be in mine.





From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Aug  8 05:51:58 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2008 05:51:58 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 221 - August 9
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAAIm2o8+wHlGh7CLJgDXkscBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 221 - August 9

"Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete instructions on page XXX. A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice comments: Use the beautiful prayer here as an introduction to your
meditation. With the prayer, you announce your intention to come to God in
wordless silence, waiting for His peace (1:1), waiting for His Voice to
speak (1:3-5), waiting for the revelation of His Being (2:6). I suggest
praying it several times, to draw you into that deep, silent waiting.

COMMENTARY

As I emphasized in my comments on the introduction to Part II, a large part
of our two longer daily practice times is meant to be spent in wordless
quiet. Receiving our healing, listening rather than talking. Today's lesson
is a great one for inducing that state of mind. We begin by directing our
minds to be peaceful, our thoughts to be still.

The opening prayer in the first paragraph speaks of coming in silence, and
in the quiet of our hearts, waiting and listening for God's Voice. The words
used--"quiet," "silence" (twice), "the deep recesses of my mind," waiting,
listening, coming to hear His Voice--all these words are pointing us in the
same direction, fostering the same attitude in us. An attitude of
receptivity. A passiveness, we the feminine to God's masculine, the receiver
to the Giver of Life. We still our own thoughts, and allow God's Thoughts to
come to us. We call to Him, and await His answer.

Jesus is with us as we quietly wait. He voices his confidence that God is
with us, and that we will hear Him speak if we wait quietly with him. He
asks us to accept his own confidence, telling us that his confidence is our
own confidence. Often, I have found it helpful to realize that Jesus
symbolizes the part of my own mind that is already awake. His confidence
really <is> my confidence, a confidence I have denied so that I see it as
outside myself.

We wait with only one goal: to hear His Voice speaking to us of what we are,
and revealing Himself to us. In these times of quiet, this is what we are
listening for: an awareness of the purity and perfection of our own being as
He created us, and an awareness of His Love, His tender care for us, and His
peace that He shares with us in these peaceful moments.

How can we hear a message without words? What we listen for is the song of
love, eternally sung, forever thrumming its harmony throughout the universe.
It is a song we hear wisps of in the eyes of our beloved, in the laughter of
children, in the loyalty of a pet, in the expanse of a peaceful lake or the
stately flowing of a river, and in the wonder of a well-told fairy tale. It
is the song to which our hearts resonate, showing their true nature. It is
our eternity calling us to dance. It is the Father sharing His Love with His
only Son.

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

Part 1: W-pII.1.1:1

"Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not
occurred" (1:1).

Forgiveness is a different way of seeing yourself.

I want to emphasize the words "you thought" and "to you" in that description
of forgiveness. It does not say, "What your brother did has not occurred,"
but rather "What <you thought> your brother did <to you> has not occurred."
It is not a denial that an event happened, but rather a different way of
seeing yourself in relationship to the event. You thought that you were
affected by it, hurt by it, damaged by it, whatever "it" was; in fact you
were not affected by what your brother did at all! You are affected, so the
Course tells us, only by your thoughts.

First and foremost, forgiveness means seeing yourself differently in
relation to an event. It does not begin with seeing an event or another
person differently. When you forgive, what happens first is that you
recognize that you have not lost your peace or your love because of what
happened; you lost it because you chose to lose it. You decided, at some
point, to let go of the peace of God in your heart. The event then came
along to justify your loss of peace. You projected the loss of peace onto
the event and said, "That is why I am upset."

Therefore, once your thought in regard to yourself has been corrected, you
now can see your brother is innocent in spite of his action. He may indeed
have done something despicable. You don't have to approve of what he did, or
like it, or put up with it like a doormat. However, his action or words did
not hurt you. It was not what he did that took away your peace. He did not
affect you, he did not injure you. You now can see that "sin" did not occur,
and that he has done nothing that warrants guilt. He has perhaps made a
grievous mistake, but that hurts only himself, not you.

So much of what the Course talks about is implied in this simple statement,
"What you thought your brother did to you has not occurred." You think he
injured you, your self, because you are identified with your ego feelings,
with your body, with your possessions, with your family members and their
bodies and possessions and feelings. The Course teaches that we have
identified incorrectly. We are not our bodies. We are not our possessions.
We are not the ego with all its hurt feelings. We are something much grander
and vaster than that, something that cannot be touched in any way by
external forces.

To fully forgive, our identification with our bodies has to be completely
over. None of us has attained that, yet. That is why the Course so
confidently implies that not one of us has ever, yet, completely forgiven
anyone! That is why it says that if only one person completely forgave one
sin, the world would be healed (see M-14.3:7). (That is what Jesus
accomplished, and because of it, the world is already healed. We just
haven't been ready yet to receive it.)

A large part of my dealing with the Course has been in recognizing that, far
from having no one to forgive, I have everyone to forgive.

If, in your picture of any situation, you still see yourself--or someone
close to yourself--as having been in some way injured or hurt by the
situation, you have not yet completely forgiven it in your mind. The Course
teaches that if pain is real in your perception, you have not yet been
completely healed (see W-pI.193.7:1-3).

Now, I haven't gotten past the first line on this page and probably I've got
us all, including myself, feeling a little guilty about the fact that
despite all our study of the Course we haven't yet learned to forgive. So I
have to stop here, back off, and say: This is completely normal. Don't be
surprised. And don't feel guilty about it! Before we can learn to forgive we
have to admit that we are not forgiving! We need to recognize all the ways
we still make pain real in our experience and belief, and just recognize
that we are doing so. One lesson in forgiveness may be to forgive ourselves
for being unforgiving.

"Forgiveness...is still, and quietly does nothing....It merely looks, and
waits, and judges not" (W-pII.1.4:1, 3). Treat yourself that way! Get in
touch with the part of you that does not want to forgive, that does not want
peace. Look at it, and do nothing, just wait without judging. It will
disappear (in time) and peace will come of itself.




From sue at circleofa.org  Sat Aug  9 10:50:11 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 10:50:11 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 222 - August 10
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAES6ycXqKzZAg0HDsw/dPZgBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 222 - August 10

"GOD IS WITH ME. I LIVE AND MOVE IN HIM."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice comments: The prayer for this lesson states that we will be doing
Name of God Meditation. It speaks of a time when we come to God with no
words in our minds except His Name, using the repetition of that Name as a
request to enter His Presence and rest with Him in peace. This, of course,
is a perfect encapsulation of Name of God Meditation.

COMMENTARY

Again we are brought to the Presence of God, without words, in quiet. Our
only awareness is of God, His Name upon our lips.

What does it mean to "live and move" in God? This is the message that the
Apostle Paul brought to the Athenians, speaking of the "unknown God," and
saying that "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:16-28).
The lesson speaks of the omnipresence of God--that God is everywhere and
"everywhen." In beautiful imagery, the lesson turns our thoughts to the
all-pervading Presence, never apart from us, "closer...than breathing, and
nearer than hands and feet," as Tennyson wrote.

This is imagery and not (in my opinion) literal. If the world is illusion,
as the Course has so often said, God is not <literally> "the water which
renews and cleanses me" (1:2). This is speaking of our spiritual reality,
where we <really> are. God is the reality of all things in which we look to
the world for sustenance, the true Source of our life. We think we live in
the world, but we live in God. We think our body contains our life, but He
is our life. We think we breathe air, but we breathe Him. God is our true
food and our true drink, our true home. We do not live and move in the
world; we live and move in God.

Reading this lesson aloud is an excellent exercise. Or turning the first
part into a prayer: "You are the Source of my life...You are my home...."
Use these words at the start of your practice period to set your mind into a
consciousness of being immersed in and filled with God, kept in His loving
care. Then, be still, and let yourself sink into that Presence, to rest with
Him in peace a while.

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

PART 2: W-PII.1.2-7

"Forgiveness," it says, "does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees
there was no sin" (1:2-3). This is the whole distinction between true and
false forgiveness, which the <Song of Prayer> calls "forgiveness-to-destroy"
(S-2.1:2). There is such a difference between seeing sin in someone and
struggling to overlook it or to refrain from the desire to punish, and
seeing not sin but a mistake, a call for help from a confused child of God,
and naturally responding with love. When the Holy Spirit enables us to see
the "sin" of another in this way, suddenly we can see our own "sins" in that
same very different light. Instead of trying to justify our own errors, we
can admit they are mistakes and simply let them go, without guilt.

Sin is simply "a false idea about God's Son" (1:5). It is a false
self-appraisal projected onto everyone around us. It is the belief that we
are truly separate, attackers of God's Love in our separation; it sees
attackers everywhere.

Forgiveness is seen here (1:6-7) in three steps. <First>, we see the falsity
of the idea of sin. We recognize that no sin has occurred; the Son of God
(in the other or ourselves) is still the Son of God, and not a devil. He has
been mistaken, but he has not sinned. <Second>, closely following on the
first step and a natural consequence of it, we let the idea of sin go. We
drop it. We relinquish our grievances, abandon our thoughts of attack. Only
the first step depends on our choice; the second step follows as its
inevitable result. When we no longer see attack, what reason is there to
punish with counterattack?

The <third> step is God's part. Something comes to take sin's place; the
Will of God is freed to flow through us unhindered by our illusions, and
Love follows its natural course. In this we experience our true Self, the
extension of God's own Love.

All we need do, then, if it can be called doing, is to be willing to see
something other than attack, something other than sin. We need only to be
willing to admit that our perception of sin is false. When we do, the Holy
Spirit will share His perception with us. He knows how to forgive; we do
not. Our part is merely to ask to be taught by Him. He does the rest, and
everything flows out of that simple willingness.




From sue at circleofa.org  Sun Aug 10 11:33:59 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 11:33:59 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 223 - August 11
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAANn/zHsXFAxKqLHKpTVTESABAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 223 - August 11

"God is my life. I have no life but His."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 

A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice comments: In praying this particular prayer, I find it helpful to
convert it to first person singular: <"My Father, let me see the face of
Christ instead of my mistakes,"> etc.

COMMENTARY

Our only mistake is thinking that we have some sort of life apart from God.
We do not. God <is> Life. He is Being. He is Existence. He created all that
there is, and there is nothing apart from Him. "Nothing can be apart from
Him and live" (W-pI.156.2:9). "I do not exist apart from Him" (1:2).

Most of my time here on earth I have spent thinking of myself as someone or
something apart from God. Most of my spiritual seeking has been a striving
to "get back to God," as if He were unimaginably distant from me. He is not
distant. He is not Something separate from my Self. "I have no life but
His." There is a blessing often used in Unity churches which ends with the
words "Wherever I am, God is." Yes. My life is God's Life. My thoughts are
God's Thoughts. There is nowhere to go. There is nothing to do to find Him;
He is here. He is with me. He is my life. If I live, I am participating in
God.

There is a blessed relief that washes over us when we realize our unity with
God. All the bitter struggle, all the fruitless longing, all the aching
sense of being on the outside looking in--all of it ends. A thought of pure
joy fills our minds. At times it bubbles over into laughter, a certain
compassionate amusement at the ludicrous idea we have tormented ourselves
with, that we could ever, in any remote or tiny way, be separated from Him.
Can the sunbeam be separate from the sun? Can an idea be separate from the
mind that thinks it?

And so we turn again to the quiet place within, where all this is already
known. We ask to "see the face of Christ instead of our mistakes" (2:1). We
affirm that we no longer want to be lost in forgetfulness. We state clearly
that we want to leave our loneliness and find ourselves, as we have always
been, at home. And in the quiet, God speaks to us, and tells us we are His
Son.

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

Part 3: W-pII.1.2:1-2

The second paragraph is all about <un>forgiveness. The distinguishing
characteristic of an unforgiving thought is that it "makes a judgment that
it will not raise to doubt, although it is not true" (2:1). The
distinguishing characteristic of a forgiving mind, then, is that this mind
<will> be willing to cast doubt on its own judgments! The unforgiving mind
is saying, "My mind is already made up; don't confuse me with facts." The
forgiving mind is saying, "Perhaps there is another way to look at this."

In the section discussing the ten characteristics of <advanced> teachers of
God (Section 4 of the Manual for Teachers), the final characteristic is
"open-mindedness." It says:

As judgment shuts the mind against God's Teacher, so open-mindedness invites
Him to come in. As condemnation judges the Son of God as evil, so
open-mindedness permits him to be judged by the Voice for God on His behalf.
(M-4.X.1:3-4)

The willingness to let go of our own judgments and hear the judgment of the
Holy Spirit is what makes forgiveness possible. An unforgiving mind "is
closed, and will not be released" (2:2). The forgiving mind is open. Over
and over the Course asks us simply to be <willing> to see things
differently, simply to be willing to question what we think we know, simply
to "do this":

Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all
concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about
yourself. (W-pI.189.7:1)

With judgment set aside, "What then is free to take its place is now the
Will of God" (1:7).




From sue at circleofa.org  Mon Aug 11 06:30:58 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:30:58 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 224 - August 12
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAHBD/1RopupBtQyt67MqRdQBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 224 - August 12

"GOD IS MY FATHER, AND HE LOVES HIS SON."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions.
A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

COMMENTARY

These lessons are helping us remember who we are: God's Son. Who we are is
an Identity that is far beyond anything we can imagine, "so lofty...that
Heaven looks to It to give it light" (1:1). In Lesson 221 we were silently
waiting for God to "speak to us of what we are" (W-pII.221.2:6). In Lesson
222, we learned that what we are exists in an environment of God. In Lesson
223, we recognized that we are not separate, but exist entirely in union
with God. And now, we remember our true Identity: His Son. Our Identity "is
illusion's end. It is the truth" (1:6-7).

The truth of what we are is the end of all illusions. Or, the flip side, a
mistake about what we are is the source of all illusions. We have forgotten
it, but in these times of quiet with God, we ask Him to remind us, to reveal
that Identity to us. We are "lofty, sinless, glorious and great, wholly
beneficent and free from guilt" (1:1). Reading these words, notice how our
conscious minds instantly question it, instantly recoil from the audacity of
saying such things. It only shows how thoroughly we have deceived ourselves,
how well we have learned our own lies. Yet something within, on hearing
these words, begins to sing. Something within recognizes the melody of
Heaven and starts humming along with it. Listen to that humming. Tune in to
it. It is your Self, responding to God's Call. Say it! "God <is> my Father,
and He <loves> His Son."

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

PART 4: W-PII.1.2:3-4

The unforgiving thought "protects projection" (2:3). Our minds, tormented
with their own guilt, have projected the blame for our condition outside
ourselves. We have found a scapegoat, as Adam did with Eve: "The woman gave
me the fruit to eat. It was her fault." And so we cling to our
unforgiveness, we <want> to find blame in the other, because to forgive, to
let it go, would be to open the closet door that hides our guilt.

The more we cling to unforgiveness, the more we blind ourselves, the more
solid our illusory projections seem to be, until we think it would be
impossible to see in any other way. The distortions we impose on reality
become "more veiled and more obscure" (2:3). Our self-deceptions become
harder and harder to see through, "less easily accessible to doubt" (2:3).
All we are being asked to do is to doubt them, to question our projections,
to listen to a little reason. Unforgiveness blocks the way to this and
tightens our own chains.

We see guilt in others because we <want> to see it there (2:4), and we want
to see it there because it keeps us from seeing guilt in our own minds. Yet
seeing the guilt in ourselves is the only way we can have it healed. If we
deny we are wounded we will not seek the remedy. If we deny our own guilt
and project it onto others, we will not bring ourselves into the healing
Presence within, which is the only place it can be undone. If our mind is
closed, if we are not willing to doubt our version of things, we are
shutting the door to our own healing. Only in opening our mind, in loosening
our determined grasp on finding others to be wrong, in allowing that "there
<must> be a better way" (T-2.III.3:6), can we find our own release.




From sue at circleofa.org  Tue Aug 12 05:48:56 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:48:56 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 225 - August 13
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAOBIKnFaoERGoTRNac2Ka28BAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 225 - August 13

"GOD IS MY FATHER, AND HIS SON LOVES HIM."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestions: Here are some suggestions for praying this lesson's
lovely prayer:

*< blazing in my mind:> Just imagine God's Love for you blazing in your
mind.

*< and keeping it [my mind] within its [God's Love's] kindly light:> Imagine
your mind kept, held, embraced within the kindly light of God's Love.

*< inviolate:> Held in this kindly light, your mind would be totally
<inviolate>--free from violation, injury, and desecration, its sanctity
untouched.

*< beloved:> Is there a better feeling in the world than to feel truly,
totally beloved?

*< with fear behind:> Imagine feeling so loved that you felt like literally
all fear was behind you.

*< and only peace ahead:> Imagine feeling so loved that all you could see
ahead of you was <peace>.

* <How still the way Your loving Son is led along to You!> This final
sentence speaks of how we will journey home when we love God (when we are
His "loving Son") and so receive His Love for us. We will be led home in
stillness, with all fear behind us and only peace ahead. Try to imagine
this--journeying through life with your heart full of love for God and your
mind shining with His Love for you, walking toward Him in pure stillness and
peace. This is the end result of loving God--a life at peace because it is
infused with the "full awareness" of His Love for you.

COMMENTARY

Love is reciprocal. We receive God's Love for us by returning it to Him;
there is no other way to receive it, for "giving and receiving are the same"
(1:1). This <exact> phrase occurs six times in the Course, and there are
many others very much like it. We may think we understand what it means, but
the Course assures us that no concept it teaches is more difficult for us to
truly learn.

The way to know God's Love blazing in our minds is to return It to Him. If
in our times of quiet yesterday we focused on feeling His Love of us, let us
today focus on our awareness of our love for Him. Donna Cary has a beautiful
song I was listening to on tape just a day or two ago, which says, "I'll be
forever in love with You." I wish I could send you all this song; it
expresses so beautifully what I feel this lesson is saying. "I'll dance in
the light of Your Love, forever in love with You."

What would it be like to have the Love of God "mine in full awareness,
blazing in my mind and keeping it within its kindly light" (1:2)? Is this
not what, in our heart of hearts, we all want? Let us cultivate this sense
of love in our hearts today. Let simply this be our focus. Nothing complex,
nothing even conceptual, just letting our hearts sing with love for God,
basking in His Love for us. As the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament put
it, "I am my Beloved's, and He is mine" (Song 6:3). To know God as the
Beloved is one of the highest of spiritual expressions.

Have you ever sat in stillness with one you deeply love, simply gazing into
his or her eyes, without words? That stillness of love is what this lesson
is leading us to, a silent communion of love given and received,
acknowledged and returned, flowing in an endless current that energizes and
transforms our minds and hearts.

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

PART 5: W-PII.1.3:1-2

In contrast to the stillness today's lesson speaks of, an unforgiving
thought is frantically active. It has to be. It must be frantic because it
flies in the face of truth, and attempts to make real an illusion. Frenetic
activity is often the sign of unrecognized unforgiveness. Things that seem
to oppose what we want to be the truth keep popping up, like gophers in the
silly kids' game of "bang the gopher," and we have to keep bashing them down
to maintain our version of reality.

Stilling our mind and becoming quiet, in and of itself, is often enough to
begin dissolving our unforgiveness. Unforgiveness cannot exist in quiet. You
cannot be peaceful and unforgiving at the same time. "Peace to my mind. Let
all my thoughts be still" (W-pII.221.Heading). One thing that can foster
this peace and stillness is focusing on the very exchange of love that is
the center of today's lesson. The power of our affection for God, and His
for us, can quell the stormy thoughts and bring, even if only briefly, a
moment of quiet peace, in which unforgiveness simply dissipates.





From sue at circleofa.org  Wed Aug 13 06:01:46 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:01:46 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 226 - August 14
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAJcYpA5oBOtOs0ChpmGec6MBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 226 - August 14

"MY HOME AWAITS ME. I WILL HASTEN THERE."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice comments: In the prayer, notice the image of God as parent waiting
for us to return home. Like a mother at dinnertime, His Voice is calling us
home. Like a parent who hasn't seen us for a long time, His Arms are open,
waiting to embrace us in joyous welcome. As you pray the prayer, you may
want to visualize all this. It is true that God has no arms and no audible
voice, but such earthly symbols can help carry our minds toward that which
cannot be symbolized.

COMMENTARY

<Home>. What an evocative word that is! "I'm going home." Sometimes just
thinking about going home, even in an abstract sense, can cause deep
emotions to rise up in us--happy ones, I hope, although for some an unhappy
home life has tainted the word. Even then, when our "real" home was unhappy,
most of us are still filled with a deep longing for home <as it ought to
be>. Our real home is in God. Our longings for home find their roots in our
longing for this spiritual home in God.

How can I "go home"? There are songs that convey the common idea that we go
home to Heaven when we die: spirituals such as "Goin' Home." But the Course
here is extremely clear. It speaks of departing this world, and says, "It is
not death which makes this possible, but it is a change of mind about the
purpose of the world" (1:2).

As long as we think that the purpose of the world lies within itself, that
somehow happiness, freedom, and contentment are to be found here, in the
world, we will never leave it. Not even when we "die." The chains that bind
us to the world are mental, not physical. Our valuing of the world is what
holds us to it. If I value the world "as I see it now" (1:3), it will hold
on to me even when my body crumbles. But if I no longer see anything in this
world "as I behold it" (1:4) that I want to keep or search for, I am free.

There is a world of meaning--literally!--in those phrases "as I see it now"
and "as I behold it." In the ego's perception this world is a place of
punishment and imprisonment, and simultaneously a place where I come to seek
for what seems to be "lacking" in myself. As long as I somehow value that
punishment and imprisonment, perhaps not for myself but almost always for
others upon whom I have projected my guilt, I will be bound to the world,
and I will not go home. As long as I think there is a lack in myself and
continue to search for it outside myself, valuing the world for what I think
it can give to me, I will always be bound to the world, and I will not go
home.

"My home <awaits> me." Our home is not under construction. It is ready and
waiting, the red carpet rolled out, everything is ready, and God's Arms are
open and we hear His Voice (2:2). Home is available right now, if I only
choose it. Let me be willing to look at what keeps me from choosing it,
because those are the hindrances that keep me from finding it. Do I still
wistfully long for my prince to come (or my princess)? Do I still have
things I want to do before I am ready to go? Do I still find secret pleasure
when the "wicked" (in my sight) suffer? If this world could vanish an hour
from now, what would I regret? Would I be ready to leave? If a shimmering
curtain were to appear in the doorway and a Voice proclaim, "Pass this
portal and you will be in Heaven," would I go through? Why not?

This is not a fantasy. The Voice <is> calling us, and Heaven is here and
now. We can pass the portal any time we choose to. If we are not
experiencing Heaven, we <must> be choosing not to do so, and finding out
what holds us back is the work we are assigned to in this classroom. This is
what the world is for--to teach us to let it go.

"What need have I to linger in a place of vain desires and of shattered
dreams, when Heaven can so easily be mine?" (2:3).

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

PART 6: W-PII.1.3:3-4

We do not realize how much our unforgiving thoughts distort the truth (3:3).
Unforgiving thoughts twist our perception of things which are not in accord
with how unforgiveness wants to see things. They overlook any evidence for
love, and find evidence of guilt. In the Text section "The Obstacles to
Peace," in the subsection on "The Attraction of Guilt" (T-19.IV(A).i), our
unforgiving thoughts are compared to scavenging messengers "harshly ordered
to seek out guilt, and cherish every scrap of evil and of sin that they can
find, losing none of them on pain of death, and laying them respectfully
before their lord and master" (T-19.IV(A).11:2). That is, we find what we
are looking for, and the ego is looking for guilt.

But distortion is not only the <method> used by the ego; distortion is also
the ego's <purpose>. Thus, the purpose of unforgiveness is to distort
reality. Unforgiveness furiously aims "to smash reality, without concern for
anything that would appear to pose a contradiction to its point of view"
(3:4). Reality is the hated enemy, the intolerable presence, because our
reality is still the Son of God, never in the slightest separated from Him.
Reality exposes the ego as a lie, and cannot be tolerated. So the way our
minds work, when dominated by unforgiving thoughts, is designed from the
beginning to distort reality beyond all recognition.

In contrast to this, the Course asks us to dream of our brother's kindnesses
instead of his mistakes, and to not brush aside his many gifts just because
he isn't perfect (see T-27.VII.15). It asks us to look for love instead of
looking for guilt, and rather than finding fault, to try finding love
instead. To begin with, we can simply start to question the way we see
things, in awareness that our thought processes and our methods of making
judgment have been severely impaired and simply are not reliable. It isn't
that we <should not> judge, it's that we <cannot> judge (see M-10.2:1). We
are operating at diminished capacity; we need a healthy mind to judge on our
behalf. And that mind is the Holy Spirit.




From sue at circleofa.org  Thu Aug 14 06:07:35 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:07:35 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 227 - August 15
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAMWB9gbGK6tEkhSIjRq0uVwBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 227 - August 15

"This is my holy instant of release."

Practice instructions

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestion: To expand on the prayer, you may want to use the
following visualization.

You see yourself walking through mist toward a giant pair of feet, the feet
of truth.

Visualize these feet however you like. Maybe they are made of stone. Maybe
they are luminous and semitransparent.

You are carrying a bundle in your hands which you are planning to lay at
these feet as an act of tribute to the truth.

It would be traditional to assume that this bundle is your sins, and that
you will be laying them before the truth in an act of giving them up for the
<sake> of truth.

Yet the bundle is not your sins; it is your <belief> in your sinfulness,
your belief that you are defined by your separate will that does not will
with God.

Visualize the bundle however you want, but let its appearance and weight
reflect the fact that this is your belief that you are sinful, your belief
that you possess a wayward, destructive will that has corrupted your
innocence.

You reach the feet of truth. See yourself kneel before the feet and humbly
lay before them this bundle. Let it be a genuine act of tribute to the
truth.

Laying this belief before the feet of truth is your act of giving it up, in
tribute to the truth and in acknowledgment of the falsity of this belief.

As you look at the bundle there on the ground, it is shined away in light,
and is gone.

Your belief in your sinfulness has been removed forever from your mind.

Feel yourself freed of the heavy burden of feeling like a selfish sinner.

Feel the release as you are lifted into a holy instant.

Feel your right mind restored to you, as if, after a long bout of insanity,
you are finally sane again.

You look down at yourself and see that you are clad in robes of holiness;
your purity has remained untouched.

You arise, free now to come home, to walk through the door of your Father's
house.

Commentary

Today's lesson is another reminder that these practice times are meant to be
holy instants for us. Not every one will be a dramatic experience of
wordless bliss, of course. Remember that simply being willing to turn your
mind to God can be considered a holy instant, whether or not you consciously
experience anything special. The seminal holy instant, from which the Course
sprang, was simply a time when Bill Thetford said, "There must be another
way," and Helen replied that she would help him find it. The mental shift
into alignment with God's purpose is what really counts. If we faithfully
practice, the direct experience of truth spoken of in the Workbook will
come, not by our efforts, but by God's grace, when we are ready to receive
it.

Consider the effect it has on our mind to focus on today's idea, "This is my
holy instant of release," and then to sit in quiet stillness, open and
receptive to whatever is given to us. We should enter each such time
expectantly, waiting to hear what God's Voice will speak.

I am already free; now, today. My thought of separation had no effect on my
reality, so the imprisonment I have imagined never happened. "Nothing that I
thought apart from You exists" (1:3). How wonderful to know that the
thoughts I believed were apart from God don't exist! How healing it is to
give them up, lay them down at the feet of truth, and to have them "removed
forever from my mind" (1:5). This is the healing process of the Course: to
take each thought that seems to express a will separate from God's, and
bring it into this Presence to be removed from my mind, with God's own
assurance that it has affected nothing. I am still His Son.

This is how my mind is restored to me. This is how my awareness of my
Identity is returned to my awareness.

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

Part 7: W-pII.1.4:1-3

"Forgiveness, on the other hand, is still, and quietly does nothing" (4:1).
If we can understand these first few sentences we will have a clear grasp of
what forgiveness really is. The words "on the other hand" refer to the
preceding two paragraphs which described an unforgiving thought, especially
in 3:1, "An unforgiving thought does many things." Forgiveness, on the other
hand, does nothing. Unforgiveness is highly active, anxiously trying to make
things fit into its picture of reality; forgiveness does nothing. It does
not rush to interpret or to attempt to understand. It lets things be as they
are.

Notice once again the heavy emphasis on stillness and quiet. The practice of
the holy instant, as the practice of forgiveness, is practice at being
still, being quiet, doing nothing. Our usual state of mind is the product of
the ego's training--habitually active, constantly working. We need
<practice> at being still and doing nothing. It takes a lot of practice to
break the habit of frantic activity and form a new habit of being still and
quiet.

One trick of the ego I notice, frequently, is that it will try to make me
guilty about being still and quiet! When I try to take ten minutes to sit in
stillness, my ego floods my mind with thoughts of what I ought to be doing
instead.

The mental state in which forgiveness occurs is one in which we simply allow
all of reality to be as it is, without judging anything. "It offends no
aspect of reality, nor seeks to twist it to appearances it likes" (4:2). The
appearance my ego usually likes is some form of "I am right and they are
wrong." Or "I am good and they are bad." Or simply "I am better than he/she
is." Even more simply, "I am not like him/her." All of these thoughts share
one theme: I am different from others, and therefore separate from them. Any
such thought is twisting reality, because the reality is that we are the
same, we are equal, we are one. Forgiveness stills such thoughts and
abandons all efforts to mash reality into a "more desirable" shape.

"It merely looks, and waits, and judges not" (4:3). It does not deny what it
sees, but it puts no interpretation on it. It waits to be told the meaning
by the Holy Spirit. "My mate is having an affair." Forgiveness looks, and
waits, and judges not. "My child is sick." Forgiveness looks, and waits, and
judges not. "My boss just fired me." Forgiveness looks, and waits, and
judges not. We are so quick to think we know what things mean! And we are
wrong. We do not know. We leap to an understanding based on separation, and
such understandings understand nothing.

The most salutary thing we can do when any such upsetting event occurs in
our lives is--nothing. Simply to let our minds become still and quiet, and
to open ourselves to the healing light of the Holy Spirit. To seek a holy
instant. Let this become the ingrained habit of our lives, and we will see
the world in an entirely different way, and Love will flow through us to
bring healing instead of hurt to every situation.




From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Aug 15 05:58:34 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 05:58:34 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 231 - August 19
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAANxG4Wkj4bdJiqCWAWYau3gBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



 
Lesson 231 - August 19

"Father, I will but to remember You."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

COMMENTARY

This lesson is talking about our will. When the Course uses the word "will"
in this way, it is talking about a fundamental, unchanging part of us, the
permanently fixed goal of our Self. It isn't talking about our wishes and
our whims, but our <will>. Jesus speaks to us directly in the second
paragraph and says, "This is your will, my brother" (2:1). It is a will we
share with Him, and also with God our Father.

What is our will? To remember God; to know His Love. And that is all. Not
many of us, as we began reading this Course, would have answered the
question "What do you want out of life?" with the words "To remember God and
know His Love." A lot of us probably don't feel those words fit us even now.
The lesson recognizes that: "Perhaps I think I seek for something else"
(1:2).

What is the "something else" you are seeking? It might be wealth, or fame.
It might be some form of worldly security. It might be romance. It might be
hot sex. Or a good time. Or a quiet family life, in the tradition of the
American dream. We've called it by many names. We <think> these things are
what we are seeking for. Yet no matter what we may think, these things are
not what we truly will for ourselves. They are all forms, forms that we
believe will give us something. It isn't the form we are really seeking, it
is the content, it is what we believe these things offer to us.

And what is that? Inner peace. Satisfaction. A sense of completion and
wholeness. A sense of worth. An inner knowing that we are essentially good;
lovable and loving. A feeling of belonging, of being valuable. Ultimately
these things come only from remembering God and knowing His Love. They are
something inside of us, not something outside of us. Only when we remember
the truth about ourselves, only when we remember our connectedness to Love
Itself, will we find what we are seeking. And we will find that we <are>
what we have been seeking, and always have been.

"To remember Him is Heaven. This we seek. And only this is what it will be
given us to find" (2:3-5). Remembering God is the <only> thing I am really
looking for. Let me then, today, spend time, morning and evening, reminding
myself of this fact: "Father, I will but to remember You." Let me stop
briefly every hour to recall it to my mind. And each time I find myself
thinking that I want "something else," let me gently correct myself:
Remembering God is all I want.

WHAT IS SALVATION?

Part 1: W-pII.2.1:1-3

To begin with, it will help to realize that the Course does not attach the
same meaning to this word as does traditional religion. "Salvation" carries,
for most of us, the connotation of some impending disaster from which we are
"saved." From hell, for instance. From some terrible punishment. From the
consequences of our wrongdoing. The picture often used in traditional
Christianity is of a drowning man being thrown a life-preserver; "Throw out
the lifeline," the old Gospel hymn says. The Course directly refutes this
idea:

Your Self does not need salvation, but your mind needs to learn what
salvation is. You are not saved <from> anything, but you are saved <for>
glory. (T-11.IV.1:3-4)

Salvation in the Course <is> a "life preserver," but not in the same sense.
It does not save us from death; it preserves us in life. It is a guarantee
that death will never touch us: "Salvation is a promise, made by God, that
you would find your way to Him at last" (1:1). We are not in danger of
destruction, never have been, never will be. The Course's version of
salvation does not reverse a disaster; it prevents the disaster from ever
happening.

Before time began, God made His promise, a promise that "cannot but be kept"
(1:2). That promise guaranteed that time, and all the mess we appear to have
made in time, would have an end, and ultimately be without any effect at
all. It guaranteed that life cannot end, that holiness cannot become sin,
that Heaven cannot become hell. It guaranteed that there could never be more
than an <illusion> of separation and a <dream> of suffering and death. It
promised that the ego could never become real, that no will independent of
God could ever arise. It defined the end from the beginning, and made it
perfectly secure. We <will> find our way to God at last, because God has
promised that it will be so.





From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Aug 15 23:15:57 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:15:57 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 228 - August 16
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAB4JMEYCtK1MrLelRrq8U2wBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 228 - August 16

"God has condemned me not. No more do I."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice comments: While repeating today's idea, realize it is a subtle
reference to the story of the woman caught in adultery. As the crowd is
about to stone her for her sin, Jesus utters the famous line, "Let him who
is without sin cast the first stone." The crowd, of course, leaves one by
one, and then Jesus says (to paraphrase), "They have condemned you not. No
more do I." In other words, since literally no one condemns her, she is
truly forgiven. Now, in this lesson, <you> are the woman caught in adultery.
You unconsciously see yourself ringed about by God's vengeance, in the form
of all those hands poised to chuck rocks at you. You see the death penalty
staring at you--the payment for your sins. Yet that is all your own
projection. God has condemned you not. And now you, your fiercest critic,
decide to stop condemning yourself. No one condemns you, and so you are
truly free. While repeating the idea today, you might want to think of all
this, maybe even picturing yourself as the woman caught in adultery. Try to
feel the sense of unexpected liberation that she must have felt.

In the commentary paragraph, try to sincerely ask yourself the series of
questions that make up the bulk of that paragraph. Such questions can be
powerful tools of mind change.

With the prayer, notice how it builds to a statement of intention in the
last two sentences. There, you state your intention to let go of your
mistaken idea that you are sinful and then stand ready to receive from God
the awareness of Who you really are. Try to really mean these closing
sentences. And realize that "I stand ready" means "I wait in silent
expectancy." This prayer, then, is meant to introduce your period of Open
Mind Meditation.

COMMENTARY

It takes great courage to let go of our self-condemnation. We are so afraid
that if we stop condemning ourselves we will go berserk, the evil in us will
be unchecked and will break out in some terrible disaster. But what if there
is no evil in us? What if God is right? Is it so very likely that He is
wrong and we are right? What God knows, the lesson says, makes sin in us
impossible. "Shall I deny His knowledge?" (1:2).

The lesson is asking us, quite simply, to "take His Word for what I am"
(1:4). Who knows what something or someone is better than its Creator? And
what does God know about me? "My Father knows my holiness" (1:1). Every time
I read such statements I watch my mind struggle to oppose the idea, cringing
in a pseudo-humility that cries out, "Oh, no, I can't accept that about
myself." If I dare to ask myself, "Why not?" my mind immediately comes up
with a whole list of reasons: my flaws, my lack of total dedication to the
truth, my addiction to this or that pleasure of the world. Yet every one of
those things, brought into the light of the Holy Spirit, can be seen as
nothing more than a misdirected prayer, a cry for help, a veiled longing for
God and for Home.

"I was mistaken in myself" (2:1). That is all that has happened. I forgot my
Source, and what I must be, coming from that Source. My Source is God, and
not my dark illusions. My mistake about myself is not a sin to be judged but
a mistake to be corrected; it needs not <condemnation>, but the healing of
love. "My mistakes about myself are dreams" (2:4), that is all, and I can
let these dreams go. I am not the dream; I am the dreamer, still holy, still
a part of God.

Today, as I still my mind in God's Presence, I open myself to receive His
Word concerning what I am. I brush aside the dreams, I recognize them for
what they are, and let them go. I open my heart to Love.

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

PART 8: W-PII.1.4:4-5

In the last two sentences of this paragraph, notice that a contrast is made
between judging and welcoming the truth exactly as it is. The opposite of
judgment is the truth. Judgment, then, must always be a distortion of the
truth. This section has already pointed out that unforgiveness has
distortion as its purpose. If I do not want to forgive, I must distort the
truth; I must judge. Judgment here clearly carries the meaning of
condemnation, of seeing sin, of making something wrong. Forgiveness does not
do that; forgiveness makes right instead of wrong, because "right" is the
truth about all of us.

None of us is guilty. That is the truth. God does not condemn us. If I do
so, I am distorting the truth. Judgment is always a distortion of the truth
of our innocence before God. When I judge another, I do so because I am
trying to justify my unwillingness to forgive. I have gotten very good at
it. I always seem to find some reason that justifies my unforgiveness. But
what I do not realize is that every such judgment twists the truth, hides
it, obscures it. It "makes real" something that is not real.

Furthermore, in obscuring the truth about my brother or sister, I am hiding
the truth about myself. I am substantiating the basis of my own
self-condemnation. That is why the last sentence of the paragraph switches
from my unforgiveness of another to the forgiveness of myself: "He who would
forgive himself" (4:5). If I want to learn to forgive myself, I must abandon
my judging of others. If their sin is real, so is mine. Instead I must learn
to "welcome truth exactly as it is" (4:5). Only if I welcome the truth about
my brother or sister can I see it for myself. We stand or fall together. "In
him you will find yourself or lose yourself" (T-8.III.4:5).

To a mind habituated to seeing itself as a separate ego, abandoning all
judgment is frightening. It feels like the rug is being swept out from under
our feet; we don't know where to stand. How can we live in the world without
it? We literally do not know how. Judgment is how we have ordered our lives;
without it, we fear chaos. The Course assures us this will not happen:

You are afraid of this because you believe that without the ego, all would
be chaos. Yet I assure you that without the ego, all would be love.
(T-15.V.1:6-7)

When we let go of judgment, when we are willing to welcome the truth exactly
as it is, love rushes in to fill the vacuum left by the absence of judgment.
It has been there all along, but we have blocked it. We don't know how this
happens, but it happens because love is the reality, love is the truth we
are welcoming. Love will show us exactly what to do when our judgment is
gone.




From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Aug 15 23:18:34 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:18:34 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 229 - August 17
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAABCV4gOMAltBixYkR2njsloBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 229 - August 17

"Love, Which created me, is what I am."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice comments: When you repeat today's idea, you may want to repeat it
in the spirit suggested by the first paragraph. Realize this idea represents
the end of all your seeking. All along you've been seeking to answer a
single, paramount question, "Who am I?" And here, in this idea, you've found
that answer. Try to repeat it in that spirit.

COMMENTARY

Many of these lessons in Part II of the Workbook may seem to be expressing a
state of mind that is beyond where I am as I read them. In reality, they
express my <true> state of mind, the state of my right mind. It is this
state of mind we can reach in the holy instant. Right-mindedness is not some
future state I am trying to reach. There is an aspect of my mind that
already knows these things and already believes them. It is this part of my
mind that is leading me home. "Now need I seek no more" (1:2) is the truth
right now. It is the part of my mind that doubts this, that denies it, which
is unreal.

Love <is> what I am; It is my Identity. Let me look honestly at what I
believe I am instead, because it is in discovering what Love is not that I
will come to know Love.

Love is not learned. Its meaning lies within itself. And learning ends when
you have recognized all it is <not>. That is the interference; that is what
needs to be undone. (T-18.IX.12:1-4)

Love waited for me, "so still" (1:4). Love is still because that is what
forgiveness does; it is "still, and quietly does nothing" (W-pII.1.4:1). My
own Love waits to forgive me all I think I have done, all that I have
believed I was other than Love. I actually "sought to lose" my Identity
(1:5), but God has kept that Identity safe for me, within me, as me. "In the
midst of all the thoughts of sin my foolish mind made up" (2:1), my Father
kept my Identity untouched and sinless. Let me turn to that Identity now.
Let me give thanks, and express my gratitude to God that It has never been
lost, even when I was sure It was. I cannot be anything other than what God
created me to be. "Love, Which created me, is what I am."

In my heart, in my mind, in the still and tranquil core of my being, lies
everything I have ever been seeking for. Let me now remember.

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

Part 9: W-pII.1.5:1-2

Faced with this stark contrast between forgiveness and unforgiveness, what
then are we to do? "Do nothing, then" (5:1). We are not called upon to <do>,
we are called upon to cease doing, because there is nothing that need be
done. To the ego, to do means to judge, and it is judgment we must
relinquish. If we feel there is something that must be done, it is a
judgment that affirms lack within ourselves, and there is no lack. That is
what we must remember. To believe that something must be done is a denial of
our wholeness, which has never been diminished.

"Let forgiveness show you what to do, through Him" (5:1). To forgive
ourselves means to take our hands off the steering wheel of our lives, to
stop trying to "make things right," which only affirms that something is
wrong. To forgive others means we stop thinking it is our job to correct
them. The Holy Spirit is the One Who knows what we should do, if anything,
and His guidance will often surprise us. Yes, there may still be something
for us to "do," but we will not be the ones to determine what that is. Our
doing is so often deadly, quenching the spirit instead of affirming it,
imparting guilt instead of lifting it.

The Holy Spirit is my Guide and Savior and Protector. In each situation
where I am tempted to do something, let me stop, remember that my judgment
is untrustworthy, let go, and give it into His hands. He is "strong in hope,
and certain of your ultimate success" (5:1). How often in a time when I am
judging, whether myself or another, am I certain of my ultimate success? Let
me then give the situation into the care of One Who is certain. He will show
me what to do.

"He has forgiven you already, for such is His function" (5:2). Each time I
bring Him some terrible thing I think I have done, let me remember: "He has
forgiven you already." I do not need to fear entering His Presence. His
function, His reason for being, is to forgive me. Not to judge me, nor to
punish me, nor to make me feel bad, but to forgive. Why would I stay away an
instant more? Let me fall gratefully now into His loving arms, and hear Him
say, "What you think is not the truth" (W-pI.134.7:5). He will still the
troubled waters of my mind, and bring me peace.





From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Aug 15 23:21:18 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:21:18 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] [RESEND] The Practice Instructions to Part II
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAGkZKRIDI11Lljw7cICjraQBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>




The Practice instructions to Part II

PURPOSE: The introduction to Part II talks as if, in the remaining part of
this year, we are trying to reach the end of our spiritual journey: "This
year has brought us to eternity" (10:8). However, the Manual, in Section 16
("How Should the Teacher of God Spend His Day?") implies a more modest goal:
to reach a place where we practice because of our own motivation and
inspiration, rather than because a book is telling us to. This would
transform our practicing from a special assignment into a way of life. Part
II of the Workbook, with its absence of daily practice instructions, is an
important step in this direction. If here, in the relatively formless
landscape of Part II, your practice can blossom, rather than wither, you are
close to graduating from the Workbook.

I think we need to combine these two goals: We should aim for eternity,
realizing that by aiming high we will carry ourselves farther than if we
didn't, even though we may only get as far as weaning ourselves from the
Workbook's support. In other words, we should aim to graduate from time and
space, <so that> we can reach the more realistic goal of graduating from the
Workbook.

Reading the lesson: The lessons in Part II take a very different form than
in Part I. After the day's idea, we find just two paragraphs, both worded in
the first person, which expand and comment on the idea. This makes the Part
II lessons look much like what we see in most of the reviews, where the idea
for the day is followed by a series of "related comments" (W-pI.rI.In.2:3;
3:3) which are worded in the first person and expand on the idea. In the
reviews, these related comments become part of the exercises. We read them
over several times, we think about them, we repeat them to ourselves, we
savor each word. We make them our own, which is why they are worded <as if>
they are our own. We so fully engage them that reading them becomes more
like a practice than a simple act of reading.

It makes sense that we should use the comments in the Part II lessons in the
same way that we used the comments in the reviews, simply because the two
are so similar. And the introduction hints at this. For it speaks of our
reading of those paragraphs as an "exercise" (2:1) that is meant to induct
us (1:4) into "the periods of wordless, deep experience which should come
afterwards" (11:2). Let's look at how we can turn the reading of those two
paragraphs into a genuine exercise.

First, the< commentary paragraphs> (the nonitalicized paragraphs). I
recommend that you read these over slowly, perhaps several times, and
imagine that these really are your own thoughts (which is how they are
worded). To facilitate this, you may want to emphasize words like "I," "me,"
"my," and "mine."

Second, the< prayers>. These read as if you yourself are praying them to
God, and I recommend doing just that. Fix one sentence at a time in your
mind and then close your eyes and say that sentence to God. Try to really
mean it and expect Him to hear you. These appear to be designed to carry you
into the meditative state, and many of them virtually say that. Lesson 307
says of its prayer, "And with this prayer we enter silently into a state
where conflict cannot come" (W-pII.307.2:1). To enhance this effect, you may
want to pray the prayer several times.

Morning/evening quiet time: As long as you need for the effect you want.

The longer practice periods are meant to consist of Open Mind Meditation.
Begin by repeating the idea for the day, but in a special way: as an
invitation to God to come to you. "We say the words of invitation that His
Voice suggests, and then we wait for Him to come to us" (4:6). After
repeating these words, go into a time of expectant, wordless waiting (the
word "wait" here occurs six times). To wait normally means to stay
physically still in anticipation of some event. Here it means to stay
<mentally> still in anticipation of a wondrous event: the dawning of God on
your mind. Wait as if holding your breath for this event. Wait with an
attitude that "the memory of God is shimmering across the wide horizons of
our minds" (9:5). Your waiting, then, though motionless, should be very much
alive. It should be filled with expectancy: "We...expect our Father to
reveal Himself, as He has promised" (3:3). The basis for your expectancy, in
other words, is your trust that God will keep His promises. He promised to
come to you when you asked. You are asking; He will come. Hold this state
without the aid of repeating words. However, whenever your mind wanders, you
should use words--repeat the idea to draw yourself back to this nonverbal
waiting. "We will use that thought...to calm our minds at need" (3:1).

If you find Open Mind Meditation either too challenging or too unrewarding,
I would recommend using either of the other two methods the Workbook has
taught: Down-and-Inward Meditation or Name of God Meditation. In fact,
Lesson 222 clearly instructs you to use Name of God Meditation: <"Father, we
have no words except Your Name upon our lips and in our minds, as we come
quietly into Your Presence now"> (W-pII.222.2:1).

Hourly remembrance: One or two minutes as the hour strikes (reduce if
circumstances do not permit).

Do a miniature version of the morning practice. Repeat the idea as an
invitation to God, and then wait in wordless silence for Him to come to you.

Frequent reminder: As often as possible within each hour.

"Repeat [the idea], and allow your mind to rest a little time in silence and
in peace" (W-pI.rIII.In.10:5).

Response to temptation: When you are tempted to let upset cause you to
forget your goal.

Repeat the idea as a way of calling on God to dispel your upset (see 2:9 and
10:2).

Reading the "What Is" section: Before one of the day's practice periods (not
necessarily the morning one), read the relevant "What Is" section. Don't
just read it casually. Read it slowly and think about it "a little while"
(11:4).

* * *

LET US PRAY

What are we supposed to do with the prayers in Part II of the Workbook for
<A Course in Miracles>? There are 140 of them, one for each lesson. This has
puzzled many a Course student who, upon reaching Part II, finds himself
confronted each day with an italicized prayer directed at God. Is this
prayer offered by the author of the Course on our behalf? Do we simply read
it? Do we actually pray it? If so, why?

Actually, I am only <assuming> that this issue has puzzled Course students.
I have never really heard much discussion about these prayers. They sit
there on the page, staring at us every day for five straight months, but we
don't seem to talk much about them. The only perspective I recall hearing is
that they must be metaphorical because God can't hear our prayers.

Having done the Workbook several times, I too didn't know what to do with
these prayers. Yet, to be honest, I hadn't really confronted the question. I
would just dutifully open my book and read the prayer attached to that day's
lesson. The prayers generally struck me as being a kind of Course word
salad: a series of typical Course words--Christ, peace, joy, Heaven,
etc.--tossed together as one would toss a salad.

Then one day a few years ago, all that changed for me. I was on a short
retreat and, for some reason, the first thing I did was sit down and try to
discover what the Course wants us to do with its prayers. Having spent many
years studying the Workbook's practice instructions, I had learned that
virtually all our questions about practice are answered right in the
Workbook, if we pay careful attention. Now, for the first time, it occurred
to me that this ought to be true for those prayers; we should expect there
to be instructions for what to do with them.

The logical place for those instructions was the introduction to Part II,
since that is where we find the practice instructions for the entirety of
Part II, where the prayers are found. Within minutes I found two sentences
that ended my search and changed my relationship with the Course and with
God. Here they are:

We say some simple words of welcome, and expect our Father to reveal
Himself, as He has promised. (WpII.In.3:3)

We say the words of invitation that His Voice suggests, and then we wait for
Him to come to us. (WpII.In.4:6)

>From these sentences and the paragraphs around them I obtained the following
picture:

The Course has given us words (from the Holy Spirit) which we are to say to
God as words of invitation and welcome. Once we invite Him with these words,
we sit in a state of silent expectancy, waiting for Him to come and reveal
Himself to us in direct wordless experience.

What are these "words"? In this context, they are definitely the thought for
the day, the lesson title. But are they confined to that? Don't these
"simple words of welcome" also sound like they could be the prayers? After
all, like these words, the prayers are words given us by the Course which
are written as if we are saying them to God.

So I turned the page and looked at the first prayers in Part II. They
resoundingly confirmed what I was thinking. This is how the first prayer
begins:

<Father, I come to You today to seek the peace that You alone can give. I
come in silence>. (W-pII.221.1:1-2)

Just as the introduction described, in this prayer we state our intention to
have an encounter with God in the silence of our minds. The comments that
follow this prayer continue along the same lines: "Now [that we have said
this prayer] do we wait in quiet....We wait with one intent...[for God] to
reveal Himself unto His Son" (W-pII.221.2:1, 6). Here is exactly what the
introduction said: Once we say these words of welcome, we wait in silence
for God to reveal Himself to us.

The next prayer was very similar. In it we state our intention to silently
enter into an experience of God's Presence:

<Father, we have no words except Your Name upon our lips and in our minds,
as we come quietly into Your Presence now, and ask to rest with You in peace
a while>. (W-pII.222.2:1)

This was a very intellectual process of detective work, but its results were
extremely practical: At last I felt I knew what to do with those prayers! I
am to say them directly to God as preparation for a direct wordless
encounter with Him.

So I immediately tried this out. I spent the next hour or so going through
the first twenty prayers in Part II, praying them as I had just discovered I
should. I will never forget that time. It was a pivotal moment in my journey
with the Course. Until that moment, I had no idea how much richness was in
those prayers. What seemed like word salad when read as information became a
wealth of emotional experience when repeated as prayer, when spoken to God.

I was astonished by the sense of loving intimacy with God that shone through
these prayers. I had never realized that <this> was how the Course wanted me
to think about God. God came across not as a remote metaphysical
abstraction, an impersonal essence that is completely unaware of us.
Instead, He came across as near and dear, as the most attentive, loving
Father one could possibly imagine, always there, always listening, always
answering, wanting only to lavish all of His Love upon us. "He covers me
with kindness and with care" (W-pII.222.1:4), one of the lessons said. And
that is exactly how I felt, blanketed in His kindness and care.

Since that day, these prayers have become a staple in my daily life. There
are few things I enjoy doing more than sitting down and spending time with
them. They have literally transformed my relationship with God. My sense of
God before was somewhat remote and abstract. Yet increasingly these prayers
have implanted in me <their> sense of God, so that my feeling for Him has
become a deep well of sustenance and comfort that I draw from daily.

As time went on, I fell into the habit of using these prayers before my
meditation time, because I found them to be the ideal way to prepare my mind
for seeking God in meditation. They gathered the scattered and chaotic
threads of my thought into a single desire to be with God. After I had been
using them in this way for some time, I remembered something: <This is
exactly what they are for>. This is what the instructions in the Workbook
say is their purpose. We are to use the words of these prayers to prepare
our minds for a direct, wordless encounter with God. I can attest to the
fact that they serve their intended purpose very well indeed.

I therefore encourage every student of the Course to avail him- or herself
of the great benefit of these prayers. Try them out and see if you are not
drawn to return to them. Here are some tips for getting the most out of
them:

1. <Focus on one line at a time>. Dwell on each line and let it sink in
before going on to the next.

2. <Say it directly to God>. When the prayer says "Father," have a sense of
speaking directly to God, and of Him in some sense hearing you.

3. <Make it from you>. When the prayer says "I" or "me," have a sense of you
being the one saying the prayer.

4. <Mean it>, as much as you can. Try to make it the prayer of your own
heart.

5. <Make it specific>. For instance, when the prayer we will use below says
"a something I have called by many names," list some of the names you have
given what you seek.

6. <Feel free to elaborate> on the prayer as it evokes additional thoughts
and feelings in you.

To try out this method of using these prayers, I would like to utilize the
following prayer from Lesson 231, "Father, I will but to remember You." My
suggestion is for you to repeat each line slowly, with concentration and
sincerity. Try to see the fullness of meaning contained in each line. Try
also to go through the prayer twice or more.

1. What can I seek for, Father, but Your Love?

2. Perhaps I think I seek for something else; a something I have called by
many names.

3. Yet is Your Love the only thing I seek, or ever sought.

4. For there is nothing else that I could ever really want to find.

5. Let me remember You.

6. What else could I desire but the truth about myself?

What was your experience in repeating these lines? Was it an experience you
want more of? I sincerely hope that the prayers in the Workbook will become
the blessing in your life that they continue to be in mine.





From suelegal at gmail.com  Sun Aug 17 05:00:19 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:00:19 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 230 - August 18
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAHGaLpmD1iJBm7HNc4FGh/cBAAAAAA==@gmail.com>



Lesson 230 - August 18

"Now will I seek and find the peace of God."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

COMMENTARY

"In peace I was created. And in peace do I remain" (1:1-2). Jesus, in his
Course, never tires of reminding us that we remain as God created us. He
repeats it often because we so obviously do not believe it. We may believe
that God created us in peace. How, indeed, could we believe otherwise? Would
a God of Love have created us in pain and agony, in turmoil and confusion,
in conflict and strife? So the first sentence isn't really a problem to us;
we can accept that God created us in peace.

The problem arises, in our minds, with the second sentence: "In peace do I
remain." Quite simply we don't believe it. In fact, we are firmly convinced
that we know otherwise. Perhaps this morning I am distraught by something
that happened yesterday, or worried about what may happen today, or next
week. I can look back on a lifetime that, in my experience, has had very
little, if any, peace. Some days it seems as though life is conspiring
against me to rob me of peace. It seems as though, in most of my busy days,
I rarely have a moment of peace. So how can I accept this statement: "In
peace do I remain"?

It seems incredible to us, unbelievable, when the Course insists that since
God created me in peace, I must still be in peace. God's creation of me took
place, the lesson says, "apart from time, and still remains beyond all
change" (2:2). It tells me, "It is not given me to change my Self" (1:3). My
experience of life in this world tells me otherwise.

The question is, which one will I believe? God's Voice, or my experience?
One of them must be false. And it is earth-shattering, mind-blowing, even to
consider that my entire experience of this world has been a lie, a mistake,
and a hallucination. Yet what is the alternative? Shall I believe, instead,
that God is a liar? Shall I believe that His creation was flawed, and
capable of corruption? Shall I believe that what He willed for me was
overcome by my own independent will? Yet this is what I <must> be believing
if I insist that I am not at peace, in this very moment.

If God is not a liar and His creation is not flawed, then what must be true
is that my own mind has deceived me and has manufactured an entire lifetime
of false experience. If I am willing to listen, this is not as far-fetched
as it sounds at first. In fact, if I simply watch my mind, I can catch it in
the act of doing that very thing. I can watch and observe how I see what I
expect to see. I can notice how different people perceive the same events
quite differently. I can remember times when I was quite sure I understood
things clearly, only to have the whole situation turned on its head by some
new fact that I had been unaware of. I need only watch the sun rise, move
across the sky, and set, to realize that my perception is faulty. It is not
the sun that moves; it is me, as the earth turns. When night comes and the
sun is "gone" in my perception, the sun shines on; it is my world that has
turned its face from the light.

What if my apparent lack of peace does not mean what I think it means? What
if the peace of God has never left me, but shines on, while I have turned my
face from it? In the holy instant I can find that this is the truth. Simply
by turning my mind away from its mad belief in unrest, I can discover the
peace of God shining in me now.

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

PART 10: W-PII.1.5:3

There is another part to forgiveness. Since the Holy Spirit has already
forgiven me, carrying out His only function, I now "must...share His
function, and forgive whom He has saved" (5:3).

Consider what we have said about the way the Holy Spirit interacts with us,
how we can come to Him with our darkest thoughts and find them absorbed and
dissipated in His Love. The utter lack of judgment. His gentleness with us,
His acceptance of us, His knowledge of our sinlessness, His honoring us as
the Son of God, unchanged by our foolish thoughts of sin. Now, we are to
share His function in relation to the world. Now, we are to be His
representatives, His manifestation in the lives of those around us. To them,
we offer this same gentle kindness, this same conviction of the inner
holiness of each one we deal with, this same quiet disregard for thoughts of
self-condemnation in everyone we see, or speak to, or think about. "It is
the privilege of the forgiven to forgive" (T-1.I.27:2).

What we reflect to the world is what we believe in for ourselves. When we
judge, condemn, and lay guilt on those around us, we are reflecting the way
we believe God is towards us. When we experience the sweet forgiveness in
the loving Presence of the Holy Spirit, we reflect that same thing to the
world. Let me, then, enter into His Presence, allowing Him to look upon me,
to find Him quietly doing nothing, but simply looking, and waiting, and
judging me not. Let me hear Him tell me of His confidence in my ultimate
success. And then, let me turn and share this blessing with the world,
giving what I have received. Only as I share it will I know, for sure, that
it is mine.





From sue at circleofa.org  Mon Aug 18 05:50:46 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:50:46 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 231 - August 19
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAACxz1Tzi6s1KoqITh6V40KwBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 231 - August 19

"Father, I will but to remember You."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

COMMENTARY

This lesson is talking about our will. When the Course uses the word "will"
in this way, it is talking about a fundamental, unchanging part of us, the
permanently fixed goal of our Self. It isn't talking about our wishes and
our whims, but our <will>. Jesus speaks to us directly in the second
paragraph and says, "This is your will, my brother" (2:1). It is a will we
share with Him, and also with God our Father.

What is our will? To remember God; to know His Love. And that is all. Not
many of us, as we began reading this Course, would have answered the
question "What do you want out of life?" with the words "To remember God and
know His Love." A lot of us probably don't feel those words fit us even now.
The lesson recognizes that: "Perhaps I think I seek for something else"
(1:2).

What is the "something else" you are seeking? It might be wealth, or fame.
It might be some form of worldly security. It might be romance. It might be
hot sex. Or a good time. Or a quiet family life, in the tradition of the
American dream. We've called it by many names. We <think> these things are
what we are seeking for. Yet no matter what we may think, these things are
not what we truly will for ourselves. They are all forms, forms that we
believe will give us something. It isn't the form we are really seeking, it
is the content, it is what we believe these things offer to us.

And what is that? Inner peace. Satisfaction. A sense of completion and
wholeness. A sense of worth. An inner knowing that we are essentially good;
lovable and loving. A feeling of belonging, of being valuable. Ultimately
these things come only from remembering God and knowing His Love. They are
something inside of us, not something outside of us. Only when we remember
the truth about ourselves, only when we remember our connectedness to Love
Itself, will we find what we are seeking. And we will find that we <are>
what we have been seeking, and always have been.

"To remember Him is Heaven. This we seek. And only this is what it will be
given us to find" (2:3-5). Remembering God is the <only> thing I am really
looking for. Let me then, today, spend time, morning and evening, reminding
myself of this fact: "Father, I will but to remember You." Let me stop
briefly every hour to recall it to my mind. And each time I find myself
thinking that I want "something else," let me gently correct myself:
Remembering God is all I want.

WHAT IS SALVATION?

Part 1: W-pII.2.1:1-3

To begin with, it will help to realize that the Course does not attach the
same meaning to this word as does traditional religion. "Salvation" carries,
for most of us, the connotation of some impending disaster from which we are
"saved." From hell, for instance. From some terrible punishment. From the
consequences of our wrongdoing. The picture often used in traditional
Christianity is of a drowning man being thrown a life-preserver; "Throw out
the lifeline," the old Gospel hymn says. The Course directly refutes this
idea:

Your Self does not need salvation, but your mind needs to learn what
salvation is. You are not saved <from> anything, but you are saved <for>
glory. (T-11.IV.1:3-4)

Salvation in the Course <is> a "life preserver," but not in the same sense.
It does not save us from death; it preserves us in life. It is a guarantee
that death will never touch us: "Salvation is a promise, made by God, that
you would find your way to Him at last" (1:1). We are not in danger of
destruction, never have been, never will be. The Course's version of
salvation does not reverse a disaster; it prevents the disaster from ever
happening.

Before time began, God made His promise, a promise that "cannot but be kept"
(1:2). That promise guaranteed that time, and all the mess we appear to have
made in time, would have an end, and ultimately be without any effect at
all. It guaranteed that life cannot end, that holiness cannot become sin,
that Heaven cannot become hell. It guaranteed that there could never be more
than an <illusion> of separation and a <dream> of suffering and death. It
promised that the ego could never become real, that no will independent of
God could ever arise. It defined the end from the beginning, and made it
perfectly secure. We <will> find our way to God at last, because God has
promised that it will be so.





From sue at circleofa.org  Tue Aug 19 06:51:58 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:51:58 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 232 - August 20
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAKyvY+TFTllLix9Hco77RJEBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 232 - August 20

"BE IN MY MIND, MY FATHER, THROUGH THE DAY."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestion: The prayer for today's lesson is one of my favorites in
the Workbook. I have benefited from a practice that you may want to try
today: Attempt to have the kind of day the prayer describes by focusing on
each part of the prayer at the time of day which that part speaks of. Here
is how it might look:

* FROM THE MOMENT OF WAKING TO 9 AM, make this line your frequent reminder:
<"Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake, and shine on me throughout the day
today.">

* FROM 9 AM TO 5 PM, make this line your frequent reminder: <"Let every
minute be a time in which I dwell with You.">

* ON THE HOUR THROUGHOUT THE DAY, repeat: <"And let me not forget my hourly
thanksgiving that You have remained with me, and always will be there to
hear my call to You and answer me.">

* FROM 5 PM TO 9 PM, make this line your frequent reminder: <"As evening
comes, let all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love.">

* AS YOU BEGIN EVENING QUIET TIME AND WHILE YOU DROP OFF TO SLEEP, repeat,
<"And let me sleep sure of my safety, certain of Your care, and happily
aware I am Your Son.">

COMMENTARY

When I wake, God is in my mind; His Presence is with me and in my awareness.
His Love, and the joy and peace of knowing God are with me; they take
precedence over any other thoughts. Physical discomfort and concerns about
scheduling the day arise, but none of these displace the peace of God; it is
my bedrock, my foundation, and my first concern. It is a constant awareness,
like the background hum of an air conditioner, always there, often
unnoticed, but ready to be noticed any time I turn my attention to it.

"Let every minute be a time in which I dwell with You" (1:2). Here <is> my
desire! To dwell with God every minute of the day. It reminds me of John 15
in the New Testament: "Abide in me, and I in you" (John 15:4). Or the Old
Testament expression of the same idea: "The eternal God is a dwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27, nasb). Let me
remember today, each hour, to say, "Thank You for being with me today. Thank
You for <always> being with me."

As evening comes, let all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love. And
let me sleep sure of my safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am
Your Son. (1:4-5)

Sure of my safety. Thus, free of all fear. For the most part, our lives are
run by fears of various kinds; the ego is driven by fear. Peace is the
absence of fear. And since fear is only the absence of love, peace and love
are interdependent. When I am loving, I am peaceful. When I am peaceful, I
am loving. Where I am sure of my safety, knowing the Presence of God in
every moment, I am at peace and love flows through me.

"This is as every day should be" (2:1). This is the goal for life in this
world: to live every day with God in my mind. To wake in His Presence, to
walk in His shining Love, and to sleep in His care and protection. To so
live that His Presence becomes my foreground and all else, the hum and
bustle of the world, becomes background.

What is a day like for someone who has learned what the Course is teaching?
Simply this: To constantly practice the end of fear. To walk with faith in
Him Who is my Father, trusting all things to Him, letting Him reveal all
things to me, and in everything to be undismayed because I am His Son
(2:1-5).

WHAT IS SALVATION?

PART 2: W-PII.2.1:4

How does salvation work? The essence of it is stated here in a single
sentence: "God's Word is given every mind which thinks that it has separate
thoughts, and will replace these thoughts of conflict with the Thought of
peace" (1:4). The instant our mind had a thought of conflict, God's Word was
implanted in our mind as well. Before disaster could even begin, the Answer
was given.

You and I, who think of ourselves as separate entities, are such minds,
which think that they have separate thoughts. But God's Word has been
implanted in us; the truth lies beneath all our self-deception. From within,
the Thought of God is quietly working, waiting, moving to replace all our
thoughts of conflict. The thoughts of conflict are myriad, taking thousands
of forms, each in conflict with the universe and most in conflict with each
other. The Thought of peace is one. It is the one remedy to every thought of
conflict, whether it be hatred, anger, despair, frustration, bitterness, or
death. The Thought of God heals them all.

The remedy lies within me, now. This is salvation: To turn within to the
Thought of peace, and find it there within myself.

* * *

BE IN MY MIND, MY FATHER

There is tremendous value in really praying the prayers in Part II of the
Workbook. I have found this to be one of the most rewarding elements of
Workbook practice. I highly recommend doing this, speaking these prayers
(silently or aloud) directly to God as deeply felt personal communications,
as a kind of "love speech" between the created and the Creator. For that is
exactly how these prayers read.

To encourage this practice I want to focus on the prayer for Lesson 232,
which is probably my favorite prayer in the entire Course. I have used this
prayer countless times. If I am driving some distance I will sometimes spend
the time praying it over and over. Over time each line has come to feel
permeated with a beautiful meaning. I would like to share that meaning now,
by going through the prayer, line by line, commenting on each line as I go.

I would strongly encourage you to go beyond merely reading the following
material and actually pray the prayer with me as I go through it. To do so,
I suggest the following form: Preferably do it in the morning, since, as you
will see, the prayer assumes that. Read the line from the prayer and then
read my commentary on that line. Then go back to the line I am commenting on
and spend some time really speaking it to God. If you can, spend a full
minute or two with it, dwelling on it, going over and over it, perhaps
adding your own elaborations, until it really sinks in and registers in your
feelings. Hopefully, my commentary will have enriched this experience, but
see what new meanings come out of your time spent with that line. Then go on
to the next line and its commentary, repeating the same process.

<Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake, and shine on me throughout the day
today. Let every minute be a time in which I dwell with You. And let me not
forget my hourly thanksgiving that You have remained with me, and always
will be there to hear my call to You and answer me. As evening comes, let
all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love. And let me sleep sure of
my safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am Your Son>.

"BE IN MY MIND, MY FATHER, WHEN I WAKE,"

Notice what a personal communication this opening line is. You are asking
someone to be inside of your mind. In a way this is more intimate than
asking someone to be in your <bed> when you wake. And you are asking it of
"my Father." This is not the same as saying "God." It makes this God
<yours>. Being yours, you don't really have to <ask> that He be in your
mind. "Be in my mind" is not a question. There is nothing timid about it.
There is no "please would you perhaps be in my mind, Your Greatness?" In
saying this line you are assuming you have the right to walk up to God,
address Him as your Father, and simply say, "Be in my mind." You can even
give Him a time: "when I wake." You are not a servant in the fields, but a
son in the household, with every right to his father's presence.

How wonderful it would be to wake up in this state, to open our eyes in the
morning feeling God's Presence in our mind. Because we are not so alert when
we awake, we usually have only the most basic and immediate things on our
mind--making coffee, getting to the bathroom, being ready for an
appointment. What if, instead, <God> was the most basic and immediate thing
to us? What if, as soon as we came out of sleep, He was the foremost thing
on our mind, and we felt Him within us? Perhaps we wouldn't greet the new
day with our customary sense of burden, our urge to turn off the alarm clock
and pull the sheets over our head. Maybe we wouldn't even be so groggy.
Perhaps we would feel something like what the following passage says. It is
talking about forgiveness, but we could also apply to God: "[He] sparkles on
your eyes as you awake, and gives you joy with which to meet the day"
(WpI.122.2:2).

"AND SHINE ON ME THROUGHOUT THE DAY TODAY."

This line calls to mind an image of God as the perfect warm sun that feels
just right, not too hot and not too remote. Like the sun, He rises on you in
the morning and shines on you all through the day. Also like the sun, His
shining is completely impartial. He shines without letup, whether you are
peaceful or angry, kind or cruel. He just shines. Yet what He shines is not
physical light. For what is shining here is not a physical object like the
sun. What does it mean for a <person> to shine on you? It means for that
person to radiate on you the warmth of his love and approval. For God to
shine on you, then, is for God to <smile> on you, as another one of the
Workbook prayers says:

<I am he on whom You smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still
the universe smiles back on You, and shares Your Holiness. How pure, how
safe, how holy, then, are we, abiding in Your Smile, with all Your Love
bestowed upon us>. (WpII.341.1:23)

So, if you will, just imagine yourself basking in His sun, abiding in His
smile, "throughout the day today"--at noon, at three, at five, as you sit at
your desk, as you drive in your car. And imagine that happening <today>. As
I said above, it helps to fill in the day of the week and the date.

"LET EVERY MINUTE BE A TIME IN WHICH I DWELL WITH YOU."

Who would you say this kind of a thing to? Imagine walking up to a friend
and saying, "Let every minute be a time in which I dwell with you." If this
person really thought you meant it, you might get slapped with a restraining
order. To say this to someone you must not only have an all-consuming desire
to be with that person, but you must have an extraordinary permission that
removes the normal boundaries of politeness and courtesy.

Not only am I stating my desire to be with God every minute, being with Him
seems to be what primarily characterizes each minute. Each one is not a time
in which I am mainly doing other things, but am also somewhat cognizant of
God. Each minute is entitled "a time in which I dwell with You." That is
what defines it; that is what it is, even if other activities occur on its
periphery. And what engrossing things am I doing with God as He and I pass
the minutes away? Just dwelling. Just being together. Just resting our heads
against each other. That's all.

And so I ask you again, who would you say this to? It would have to be
someone you wanted to be with so much that it would be completely satisfying
to be together every minute, without diversions or other activities, doing
nothing else but "dwelling" in each other's presence. And it would have to
be someone whom you knew would not reject you, but wanted to dwell with you
just as constantly.

"AND LET ME NOT FORGET MY HOURLY THANKSGIVING THAT YOU HAVE REMAINED WITH
ME,"

Imagine a relationship that was so precious, so irreplaceable, that you
wanted to sit down every single hour of every single day and thank that
person just for <remaining> with you. Imagine doing this not because it was
your duty and not because otherwise he would leave. Of your own free will
you wanted to "not forget [your] hourly thanksgiving," simply to experience
the sweetness of your gratitude. If we had such a relationship, words could
not capture the treasure it would be in our life. Little do we realize that
we already do have such a relationship, and always have had it.

When I say this part of the prayer to God, my mind often spontaneously adds,
"in spite of it all." God has remained with me in spite of it all. We each
have our own versions of what "it all" is. Yet all those versions come down
to one thing: We left Him. We dumped Him for other lovers. Even while we
drove away, however, He climbed in the back seat. Though we left Him, He
remained with us. Therefore, we really didn't succeed in leaving Him at all.
And that is cause for endless gratitude. Thanking Him every hour of every
day hardly begins to capture it.

"AND ALWAYS WILL BE THERE TO HEAR MY CALL TO YOU AND ANSWER ME."

Here are more reasons to thank God every single hour. If you are lucky,
there have been certain people in your life who have always been there for
you. What greater gift can one have in this world? How can you ever tell
these people the depth of your gratitude? This line portrays God as a kind
of perfect, omnipresent version of these people. So sure are you of His
fidelity that you are thanking Him in advance. You just finished thanking
Him for remaining with you up until now. Now you thank Him because you trust
He <"always will"> remain with you.

Yet more than just remain, He will always <"be there"> for you. He will hear
your every call and answer every one. What are these calls? They are not
just confined to your intentional prayers. According to the Course, every
thought and feeling, every bit of pain or pleasure, everything you
experience or do, is a call to your Father, a call for His Love. This line,
then, anticipates that He will truly hear every single call and will answer
every one with His Love.

A great example of this is found in Lesson 267: "Each heartbeat calls His
Name, and every one is answered by His Voice, assuring me I am at home in
Him" (WpII.267.1:7). What a wonderful image. Each heartbeat, this says,
calls on God's Name. You are calling to Him sixty, maybe ninety times a
minute. And what is the call of your heart? Is it not to be loved, to
belong, to have a home? Thus, for every single heartbeat, God answers you,
assuring you that you are loved by Him, that you have a home in Him.

Of course, most of us do not really trust that God is hearing every call,
and especially do not trust that He is answering. Yet imagine for a moment
that the Course is right, and He has always been there, never leaving, never
disapproving, infinitely patient, silently hearing every plea and instantly
responding with all His Love? What if this is going on all the time and you
have just turned a profoundly deaf ear to Him? Now imagine being in the
position He is, being completely attentive to someone who rarely, if ever,
noticed you were there. Could you have waited all this time in love, as He
has done? Or would you instead have screamed at this person by now, or
gotten bored and walked off? The fact that God has done neither is yet more
cause to thank Him every hour.

"AS EVENING COMES, LET ALL MY THOUGHTS BE STILL OF YOU AND OF YOUR LOVE."

It is still going on. This dwelling with God has been going on all day,
through every hour and every minute. And, "as evening comes," it still goes
on. The coming of evening we often associate with a peaceful time of rest.
The day comes to an end and we can simply relax and enjoy that ending in
peace, as we watch the sunset and the coming out of the stars. Evening can
be a satisfying conclusion to a successful day, or a needed rest after a
crazy day.

Here in this line of the prayer, evening is not a resting at home after our
frantic activity out in the world. Rather, evening is a <continuing> of a
resting, a deepening of an experience of being home that has been going on
all day. It is the satisfying conclusion to a day of peace. We have spent
all day resting on the porch with our Love. And now, "as evening comes" and
we sit with Him still, our rest grows even deeper.

"Let all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love." Again, what person
would you say this to? In our normal experience, is there anything that we
could devote all our thoughts to without dying of boredom? Nothing seems
interesting enough. That is why our minds flit around so much, sucking tiny
droplets from one shriveled flower after another. Think of what kind of love
we would need to feel before we could really say, "Let all my thoughts be
about you." Think how profoundly <loved> we would have to feel in order to
really say, "Let all my thoughts be of your love for me."

Something in us longs to say these words to someone. Yet who in this world
could we say them to with sincerity? At least for very long? The impression
I get from this line and from the entire prayer is that God can answer a
longing in our heart that nothing here can. There is a relationship that our
whole being calls out for, but which we cannot find with anything in this
world. Yet we can find it with God.

Imagine that this very day you will experience an evening like this. Imagine
that after an entire day of basking in the sunshine of God's Love, you will
reach the peaceful glow of sunset, and find that all your thoughts are
<still> of Him and of His Love. If this really happened, would any evening
you have ever had be better?

"AND LET ME SLEEP SURE OF MY SAFETY, CERTAIN OF YOUR CARE, AND HAPPILY AWARE
I AM YOUR SON."

It still goes on, even as we reach bedtime and the prayer concludes. We
carry our resting with God right into our sleep. I believe these lines speak
to a deep need in us, a need for a kind of sleep we always want but perhaps
never experience. We all want sleep to be something more than just physical
rest. We want our minds to be able to truly drop all cares and drift into a
state of pure peace. We want to rest in some thought that is totally certain
and endlessly happy. We want to drop off in some glad awareness, with a
smile on our face and our arm around our love. That would be rest for the
<mind> and not just for the body.

Yet how often do we experience this kind of sleep? We usually haul our cares
right into sleep with us. Our mental fists remain clenched even while our
body is inert. We have no thought that we can totally rest in, no thought
that is happy enough and certain enough to put a smile on our face and keep
it there while we drift off. Imagine, then, sleeping in the manner that this
last line of the prayer speaks of. Let's take the three final phrases one at
a time.

<"Sure of my safety."> Sleep is a time of physical vulnerability. While we
lie there and drool on our pillow, anything could be done to us. And so
something in our minds feels insecure about totally letting go. If we were
completely sure of our safety in God, if we knew that while we slept our
Love had His Arms around us, how could we not let go?<

"Certain of Your care."> In the same manner, something in our minds is
reluctant to completely relinquish our cares. If <we> don't worry about
them, who will? Yet imagine going to sleep absolutely certain of <God's>
care. If we knew we were enveloped in His care, what need would there be to
hang onto our cares?<

"Happily aware I am Your Son."> Another thing that keeps our minds from true
rest is a sense of not belonging, of being alone. We can feel alone even
with our arm around a mate. If we truly believed that we were God's Son, the
apple of His Eye, the object of all His Love, the heir to all that is His,
could there be a happier thought? Imagine dropping off to sleep in that
happy awareness. Is that not the kind of rest we have always wanted?

I have been talking about holding these thoughts in mind while we doze off.
Yet the prayer says something even stronger. It speaks of abiding in these
thoughts while we <sleep>. Although we think of sleep as total
unconsciousness, it is not. Sleep researchers have found that even when
awakened from deepest sleep, subjects report trains of thought. Of course,
the thoughts that pass through our minds during sleep are generally bizarre
and incoherent. Yet thoughts <are> passing through. What would it be like,
then, to sleep all night filled only with these thoughts: "sure of my
safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am Your Son"?

Now the prayer has concluded and you have spent the entire day with God. He
was the first thing in your mind as you awoke. In every minute of the day
you dwelt with Him and basked in the sunshine of His Love. As every hour
struck you expressed to Him your undying gratitude. As evening came, your
rest went on, as all your thoughts were still of Him. And even while you
slept, it still went on, all through the night. Having passed the night in
this way, can you guess what would be in your mind as you awoke the next
morning? And what the next day would be like? It would still go on.

And that is how it should be, says the line immediately following the
prayer: "This is as every day should be."




From sue at circleofa.org  Wed Aug 20 05:59:55 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:59:55 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 233 - August 21
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAME3UASjD31LtSum20KJbmEBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 233 - August 21

"I give my life to God to guide today."

Practice instructions

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestion: I find that it helps to make the idea more specific by
saying, <"I give this situation to God to guide today.">

Commentary

One thing I find very interesting about the Course is that it is not
persnickety about its theology. There are places in the Course that make it
quite clear that God does not hear the specific words of our prayers
(although He <does> hear the prayers of our heart, of which words are only
symbols, see M-21.1-2), and that, knowing only the truth, He does not know
the details of our errors (He simply knows we are asleep [T-6.V.1:5-8]; the
content of our nightmares, being false, is unknown to Him because He knows
only truth). <Technically>, then, if we wanted to be theologically correct,
prayer ought to be addressed to the Holy Spirit or to Jesus, who are
specifically spoken of as intermediaries between truth and illusion, or as
bridges between us and God. Yet, here in the second half of the Workbook, we
have 140 lessons, each of which contains a prayer addressed to "Father."

In today's lesson, the Father is asked to guide us. Yet elsewhere, being
Guide is defined as the function of the Holy Spirit. So I get the feeling
that Jesus (the author) isn't particularly concerned with strict theological
correctness. I think he is a good example for all of us to follow. Would he
be teaching us to pray to the Father if it were some sort of substandard
spiritual practice?

If we gleaned nothing more from the Course than the practice of daily giving
our lives over to God's guidance, we would be quickly taken home. We can ask
Him to replace our thoughts with His own, and to direct all our acts during
the day, all we do and think and say. To act or think on our own is,
literally, a waste of time. His wisdom is infinite, His Love and tenderness
are beyond comprehension. Could we ask for a more reliable Guide?

The first step in following God's guidance is a stepping <back>, releasing
our tight hold on our lives and deliberately placing them under His control.
The guidance will come. Sometimes, perhaps rarely, we will hear an inner
Voice. In my personal experience this is very rare. Other times, things will
happen around us that make our way plain. Or an inner conviction will build
for no apparent reason. We will "just happen to notice" something someone
says, or a song on the radio, or a line in a book. If we are <listening> for
it, we will hear it.

Another key is giving our day to Him "with no reserve at all" (2:2); that
is, holding nothing back. Sometimes we are so fixated on what we think we
want or need that we are not willing to hear any guidance to the contrary.
And if we aren't willing to hear it, we won't. We're like a broken shopping
cart that always wants to steer left or right; we just don't respond well to
guidance. We have to be willing to let go of all our preferences, all our
investment in the outcome, and become completely malleable, completely open
to whatever direction He wants to give to us. An old Christian hymn says:

Have Thine own way, Lord,

Have Thine own way.

Thou are the potter,

I am the clay.

Mold me and make me,

After Thy will,

While I am waiting,

Yielded and still.

That is what stepping back means. That is how we give our lives to God to
guide. He guides. We follow, without questioning (1:7).

WHAT IS SALVATION?

Part 3: W-pII.2.2:1-3

The Thought of peace that is our salvation "was given to God's Son the
instant that his mind had thought of war" (2:1). No time intervened at all
between the thought of war and the Thought of peace. Salvation was given
instantly when the need arose. In a beautiful image, the Text says that "not
one note in Heaven's song was missed" (T-26.V.5:4). The peace of Heaven was
completely undisturbed. And having been answered, the problem was resolved
for all of time and all eternity, in that timeless instant.

Our discovery of salvation, however, takes time. Or at least seems to. A
poor analogy: Imagine that you are suddenly burdened with a ten thousand
dollar tax bill for a hitherto unexpected reason, but at that very instant,
someone deposits one million dollars into your checking account. You could
spend a lot of time trying to raise the needed money if you didn't know
about the deposit, but actually all you need to do is nothing, because the
problem is already solved. Your only need, then, is to stop trying to solve
the problem, and learn that it has already been answered.

Before the thought of separation (or war) arose, there was no need for a
"Thought of peace." Peace simply <was>, without an opposite. So in a certain
sense we could say that the problem created its own answer. Before the
problem, there was no answer because there was no need of one. But when the
problem arose, the answer was already there. "When the mind is split there
is a need of healing" (2:3). It is the thought of separation that makes the
thought of healing needful, but when the healing is accepted, or when the
thought of separation is abandoned, healing is no longer needed. Healing is
a temporary (or temporal, related to time) measure. There is no need of it
in Heaven.

As the Course says of forgiveness, because there is an illusion of need,
there is need for an illusion of answer. But that "answer" is really simple
acceptance of what has always been true, and always will be. Peace simply
is, and salvation lies in our acceptance of that fact. Salvation, as the
Course sees it, is not an active divine response to a real need. It is,
instead, an apparent response to a need that, in truth, does not exist.

This is why the Course calls our spiritual path "a journey without distance"
(T-8.VI.9:7) and, indeed, "a journey that was not begun" (W-pII.225.2:5).
While we are in it, the journey seems very real, and often very long. When
it is over, we will know that we never left Heaven, never traveled anywhere,
and have always been exactly where we are: at home in God. The journey
itself is imaginary. It consists in learning, bit by bit, that the distance
we perceive between ourselves and God is simply not there.





From sue at circleofa.org  Thu Aug 21 05:59:29 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:59:29 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 234 - August 22
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAHMgZ1XOouNJjwFqp1BJry8BAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 234 - August 22

"FATHER, TODAY I AM YOUR SON AGAIN."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestion: I see today's lesson as a kind of holy escapism, in
which we anticipate that glorious day when we at last awaken to Heaven. So,
as you repeat today's idea, imagine that this is the day when you awaken
from time and space once and for all and open your eyes in Heaven again. You
may want to try repeating it once in this spirit now and see how it feels.

COMMENTARY

This lesson is about anticipating Heaven.

"Today we will anticipate the time when dreams of sin and guilt are gone,
and we have reached the holy peace we never left" (1:1).

That is what we do each day as we draw near to God in these times of quiet
and stillness. We are giving ourselves a foretaste of Heaven. Just in this
moment, just for now, imagine that all your dreams of sin and guilt are
gone. Imagine that all fear has ended--all fear! Imagine that every thought
of conflict is past. Imagine that there is nothing and can be nothing ever
again that will disturb your perfect rest.

What you are imagining is real--the true state of things.

"Nothing has ever happened to disturb the peace of God the Father and the
Son" (1:4).

The dreams of sin and guilt, the dream of fear, the dream of conflict, the
dream of any disturbance at all is just that. Nothing more than a dream. Let
it go, let it float away, meaningless and without significance. Just a
bubble in the stream.

Merely a tiny instant has elapsed between eternity and timelessness. So
brief the interval there was no lapse in continuity, nor break in thoughts
which are forever unified as one. Nothing has ever happened to disturb the
peace of God the Father and the Son. This we accept as wholly true today.
(1:2-5)

In these moments of remembrance, these holy instants we set aside each day,
we are anticipating the time when our bad dreams are wholly absent. No, I am
not there yet, nor are you, not in our experience--although in reality, as
the lesson states so clearly, we never left. There has never been a "lapse
in continuity," and not one note in Heaven's song was missed. We, however,
are still living most of the time in the dream. But we can experience
moments of anticipation, direct experiences of the truth. It is that we seek
right now. A moment of anticipation. A sense in the core of our beings,
something we identify with the word "peace," something that words cannot
capture.

These are practice times in which we deliberately stretch ourselves above
the level of our normal, mundane experience. We choose to "accept as wholly
true" the fact that the peace of God, Father and Son, has <never> been
disturbed. Just for the moment, just for now, we allow ourselves to
experience believing that. We don't worry that in fifteen minutes we may not
believe it. We don't worry about what will happen to our lives if we believe
it. We don't consider all the evidence to the contrary our senses have
brought us in the past. We just let all that go, and breathe deeply of the
rarified atmosphere of Heaven. This is my Home. This is what I really am.
This is what is really true. This is all that I want.

If thoughts of sin, or of guilt, or of fear do arise in our minds, we gently
dismiss them. "This is not what I want to experience right now. Right now, I
want the peace of God. Right now, I have the peace of God."

Jesus, our elder brother, joins us and leads us in prayer, praying with us:

<We thank you, Father, that we cannot lose the memory of You and of Your
Love. We recognize our safety, and give thanks for all the gifts You have
bestowed on us, for all the loving help we have received, for Your eternal
patience, and the Word which You have given us that we are saved>. (2:1-2)

WHAT IS SALVATION?

PART 4: W-PII.2.2:4-5

To our mind, the separation is real. "The separation is a system of thought
real enough in time, though not in eternity" (T-3.VII.3:2). "The mind can
make the belief in separation very real" (T-3.VII.5:1). The mind experiences
itself as split, separated from God, and with one fragment of mind separated
from other fragments. This is our experience in time, and it is "real
enough" in time, although it is not real in eternity. In truth, the mind is
not actually split; it is simply failing to recognize its oneness (2:4). But
within that one mind, the experience of separation <seems> real.

Think of nearly any dream you have had in which you are interacting with
other people. You are yourself in the dream, and there are other characters.
Perhaps someone is making love to you. Perhaps you are arguing with someone,
or being chased by a monster. Within the dream, every character is distinct
and separate. The other people in the dream may say or do things that
surprise you, or that you do not understand. And yet, in fact, every one of
those "other characters" exists only in your one mind! Your mind is making
them up. In the dream there is separation between the characters. In
reality, there is only one mind, and different aspects of that mind are
interacting with one another as if they were separate entities.

This, according to the Course, is exactly the case with this entire world.
It is one mind, experiencing different aspects of itself as if they were
separate beings. Within that dream the separation between the different
characters seems to be clear and distinct, unbridgeable. And yet the mind is
still one. The one mind does not know itself; it believes that "its own
Identity was lost" (2:5). But the Identity was not lost in fact, only in a
dream.

And so, within each fragment of the mind that is failing to recognize its
oneness, God implanted the Thought of peace, "the Thought that has the power
to heal the split" (2:4). This "part of every fragment" (2:4) remembers the
Identity of mind. It is a part that is shared by every fragment. Like a
golden thread running through a piece of fabric, it binds us all together,
and draws the seemingly separated fragments constantly toward their true
oneness. This Thought within us knows that "nothing has ever happened to
disturb the peace of God the Father and the Son" (W-pII.234.1:4).

This Thought, implanted within us by God, is what we seek when we become
still within the holy instant. By quieting all the separated thoughts, we
listen for this Voice within us, speaking of our oneness, our wholeness, our
eternal peace. This Thought has power to heal the split, to dissipate the
seeming solidity of our illusions of separation, and to restore to the
Sonship the awareness of its unity. "[Salvation] restores to your awareness
the wholeness of the fragments you perceive as broken off and separate"
(M-19.4:2).




From suelegal at gmail.com  Fri Aug 22 16:05:49 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Carrier Roth)
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:05:49 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Fwd: Lesson 235 - August 23
In-Reply-To: <998250c70808221248g48772a0vb6cb983fc888372d@mail.gmail.com>
References: <998250c70808221248g48772a0vb6cb983fc888372d@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <998250c70808221305rc46c9fehc3d306c17afd358c@mail.gmail.com>

Lesson 235 * August 23

"God in His mercy wills that I be saved."

Practice instructions

See complete Part II practice instructions.

A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice comments: Notice the response to temptation instructions.
Whenever  something seems to hurt you, assure yourself with certainty,
<"God wills  that I be saved from this,"> and you can watch it
disappear. Of course, the  physical situation itself may not change,
but what will disappear is the  power it has over your emotions.

Commentary

If we look at our own thoughts honestly we will be able to see many
ways in  which we believe the direct opposite of today's lesson. We
think, "God in  His anger wills that I be punished." Somewhere in each
of us is a pathetic  voice telling us that we must deserve whatever we
get in the way of pain, or  that what joy we have may be taken from us
because we are undeserving of it.

To those who begin to list their complaints about the world and how it
 mistreats them, the Course has very abrupt advice: "Give up these
foolish  thoughts!" (M-15.3:1). It is in my power to reverse these
things. All I need  to do is to assure myself, "God wills that I be
saved from this" (1:1). God  does not will my pain, my sadness, or my
loneliness. By changing the way I  think of all this, I can change the
world.

We think our hurt and sadness is caused by the events of the world;
the  Course is teaching us that it is the other way around. Our belief
in God's  anger is what brings us suffering; our belief in His mercy
and Love can  transform our lives. What needs changing is not out
there in the world, but  here, in my own mind. Let me today remember,
Father, that I am "safe forever  in [Your] Arms" (1:3). Let the
thought that You will my happiness fill my  mind today. If You are
Love, if You love me, what else could You want for  me?

WHAT IS SALVATION?

Part 5: W-pII.2.3:1-3

Salvation is undoing in the sense that it does nothing, failing to
support  the world of dreams and malice. Thus it lets illusions go.
(3:1-2)

To participate in salvation is not the addition of a new activity, but
the  letting go of our ancient drama of dreams and malice. To be saved
is to  <stop> supporting our illusions, to cease adding fuel to the
fire of anger,  attack, and guilt that has ravaged our minds for eons.
Salvation is not a  doing but an undoing. It is to end our resistance
to the flow of love, both  the flow from God to us, and the flow from
us to God and to our brothers.  Salvation means we stop inventing
excuses not to love. It means we stop  inventing reasons why we are
not worthy of it.

"The ego has no power to distract you unless you give it the power to
do so"  (T-8.I.2:1). The only power the ego has is what we give to it;
it uses our  own power against us. All ego illusions are funded by our
investment in  them. When we withdraw that power, and stop our support
of the ego's  illusions, they "quietly go down to dust" (3:3). How is
the ego undone? By  our choice to no longer support it.

"The secret of salvation is but this: That you are doing this unto
yourself" (T-27.VIII.10:1).

From suelegal at gmail.com  Sun Aug 24 08:37:31 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Carrier Roth)
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:37:31 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 237 - August 25
Message-ID: <998250c70808240537p72acdb17mceaaa1c0e67c492b@mail.gmail.com>

Lesson 237 - August 25

"NOW WOULD I BE AS GOD CREATED ME."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions.

A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open
Mind Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

COMMENTARY

These lessons in Part II all seem to be about realizing Who or What I
really  am. As the introduction to the Workbook says:

The workbook is divided into two main sections, the first dealing with
the  undoing of the way you see now, and the second with the
acquisition of true  perception. (W-In.3:1)

So the emphasis in this entire last section of the Workbook, the last
145  lessons, is on true perception. The assumption is that the reader
has at  least become aware of the ego thought system in his life,
although by no  means is it supposed that the ego is entirely undone.
If that were the case,  additional lessons would not be needed.

What we are doing in these last lessons is putting the positive side
of the  Course into practice, and attempting to bring it into
application. "Now I  would be as God created me." The goal is not just
to understand the idea and  file it away under "Facts: human nature,
true," but <to be> the Son of God,  by bringing that truth to my
awareness throughout the day, and living  accordingly.

"I will arise in glory" (1:2). Each day can begin in glory. Radiance,
bright  outshining. Glory, according to my dictionary, means "majestic
beauty and  splendor; resplendence." It is not a word we easily
associate with  ourselves. Today I can make a conscious effort to be
aware of my glory. I am  a radiant being. The light of love and joy
shines out from me to bless the  world. Let me sit a moment in
silence, just picturing that, being aware of  my own shining.

As I go through the day, let me

allow the light in me to shine upon the world throughout the day. I
bring  the world the tidings of salvation which I hear as God my
Father speaks to  me. (1:2-3)

This has more to do with being than with doing. It has more to do with
 radiating than with speaking. We teach peace by <being> peaceful, not
so  much by talking about it. If I am joyful, restful, loving, and
accepting of  those around me, my attitude will speak louder than my
words.

So in this day, as I work and visit with friends, let me be radiant. I
am as  God created me, so I <am> radiant; I don't need to do anything
to become  radiant. All that is needed is to notice what my thoughts
would do to dim  that radiance, and to choose otherwise.

In a certain sense this supersedes the earlier lesson where I ask the
Holy  Spirit where to go, what to do, and what to say. Now the
emphasis is on what  I am. It really doesn't matter so much where I
go, what I do, or what I say,  as long as I am acting as the being
whom God created rather than my  independent self.

I come to see "the world that Christ would have me see" (1:4), and I
see it  as "my Father's Call to me" (1:4). Seen through the eyes of
Christ the world  can become a constant call to be who I am, to shine,
to radiate His Love, to  be His Answer to the world.


WHAT IS SALVATION?

PART 7: W-PII.2.4:1

If the altar to God is within me, yet remains largely hidden from my
habitual awareness, what I need to do is to "come daily to this holy
place"  (4:1). This is the practice of the holy instant recommended by
the Text (see  T-15.II.5-6 and T-15.IV), a premeditated turning aside
from our routine  activities to bring our minds into this holy place,
with Jesus at our side  ("Let <us> come...and spend a while together"
[4:1, emphasis mine]). If you  are open to it, it seems to me that
Jesus is here asking us to spend some  time, daily, with him, in God's
presence. If the figure of Jesus is somehow  discordant for you,
picture an anonymous spiritual guide, perhaps  representing your
higher Self. With him or her, you enter this temple, stand  by the
altar, and spend time there in communion with God.

We need to form this habit of bringing our minds into the holy
instant,  reminding ourselves of the presence of Jesus (or the Holy
Spirit),  remembering this altar to God within ourselves, with His
Word written on it  (3:4). That Word, I think, is the Word of
salvation, the promise He made  that we would find our way to Him
(1:1). It is the Thought of peace, which  will replace our thoughts of
conflict. This meeting place is where we  experience the unbroken
communication between ourselves and God. This is  where we bathe in
the flow of love that streams constantly between the  Father and the
Son.

Chapter 14, Section VIII of the Text describes this holy meeting
place, and  says:

All this is safe within you, where the Holy Spirit shines. He shines
not in  division, but in the meeting place where God, united with His
Son, speaks to  His Son through Him. Communication between what cannot
be divided cannot  cease. The holy meeting place of the unseparated
Father and His Son lies in  the Holy Spirit and in you. All
interference in the communication that God  Himself wills with His Son
is quite impossible here. Unbroken and  uninterrupted love flows
constantly between the Father and the Son, as Both  would have it be.
And so it is. (T-14.VIII.2:10-16)

<And so it is>. This is what I want to know and experience daily, in
coming  to this place. Here I bring my guilt and fear and lay it down,
accepting  Atonement for myself. Here my mind renews its contact with
its Source. Here  I rediscover the unending communion which is mine,
my inheritance as God's  Son. Here my nightmares are all banished, and
I breathe the fragrant air of  Heaven and of home.

From sue at circleofa.org  Mon Aug 25 05:59:52 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:59:52 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 238 - August 26
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAGiJ8onnVeZPrzmCDoBteSgBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 238 - August 26

"On my decision all salvation rests."

Practice instructions

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestion: I suggest making this line more specific from time to
time today. Pick someone you are with, or someone with whom you feel
irritated, or someone who needs you, and insert that person's name: <"On my
decision [name's] salvation rests.">

Commentary

In Lesson 236 I saw that I alone rule my mind. God has created me free to
choose to listen to His Voice, or not to listen. Salvation thus rests
entirely on my decision. The message of today's lesson is that if this is
true, God must have a great deal of trust in me. As humankind is typically
pictured, it is weak, vacillating, or downright rebellious. Sinners at the
core, and totally untrustworthy. But if God "placed [His] Son's salvation in
my hands, and let it rest on my decision" (1:3), that dark picture cannot be
the truth. If I were such an untrustworthy being, if humankind were so
unreliable, God would never have put such enormous trust in us. Therefore,
"I must be worthy" (1:1). "I must be beloved of You indeed. And I must be
steadfast in holiness as well" (1:4-5). In sum: If God trusts me, I must be
worthy of that trust.

It isn't just my own salvation that rests on my decision; "all salvation"
rests on it, because the Sonship is one. If one part remains separate and
alone, the Sonship is incomplete. Yet God "gave [His] Son to me in certainty
that He is safe" (1:5). If God is certain that the Son is safe in my hands,
He must know something about me that I have forgotten. He knows me as I am
(1:2), and not as I have come to believe I am. The trust He displays is
amazing, because the Son is not simply His creation, the Son is "still part
of" Him (1:5). God has entrusted part of His very Being to my care, in
confidence of what my decision will be: to freely, willingly choose to join
with and enter into His Love and His Will. He knows that in the end I will
not choose otherwise and cannot choose otherwise, for He formed me as an
extension of His own Love.

Let me, then, today, reflect often on how much God loves me, how much He
loves His Son, and how God's Love for His Son is demonstrated by entrusting
all salvation to my decision. Let me rest assured that the outcome is as
inevitable as God. Let me take confidence in God's confidence in me.

WHAT IS SALVATION?

Part 8: W-pII.2.4:2-5

When we come daily to this holy place, we catch glimpses of the real world,
our "final dream" (4:2). In the holy instant we see with the vision of
Christ, in which there is no sorrow. We are allowed to see "a hint of all
the glory given us by God" (4:3). The goal of the Course for us is to come
to the place where we carry this vision with us always; where our minds are
so transformed that we see nothing but the real world, and live a life that
is one continuous holy instant. That time may seem far off to me, but it is
much nearer than I believe, and in the holy instant I experience it as
<now>. It is by repeatedly coming to the holy instant, repeatedly immersing
our minds in the vision of the real world, that this world becomes the only
reality to us, the final dream before we waken.

In this happy dream, "earth is being born again in new perspective" (4:5).
The images of grass pushing through the soil, trees budding, and birds
coming to live in their branches speak to us of springtime, of a rebirth
after a long winter. The images stand for the new perception we have of the
world, in which our spiritual night is gone, and all living things stand
together in the light of God. We look past illusions now, past what has
always seemed like solid reality to us, and see something more firm and sure
beyond them, a vision of everlasting holiness and peace. We see and hear
"the need of every heart, the call of every mind, the hope that lies beyond
despair, the love attack would hide, the brotherhood that hate has sought to
sever, but which still remains as God created it" (W-pI.185.14:1).

Here, in the vision of the real world, we "hear the call that echoes past
each seeming call to death, that sings behind each murderous attack and
pleads that love restore the dying world" (T-31.I.10:3). We see that the
only purpose of the world is forgiveness. "How lovely is the world whose
purpose is forgiveness of God's Son!" (T-29.VI.6:1).

"How beautiful it is to walk, clean and redeemed and happy, through a world
in bitter need of redemption that your innocence bestows upon it!"
(T-23.In.6:5).





From sue at circleofa.org  Tue Aug 26 05:58:28 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:58:28 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 239 - August 27
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAACmSntqyJa5Pi/BcR69626ABAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>

 
Lesson 239 - August 27

"The glory of my Father is my own."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Prt II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestions: As you repeat today's idea, be aware that "glory"
means "divine radiance." Thus, according to this idea, whatever holy light
radiates from God is your light as well. Try to imagine this as you repeat
the idea. I have found it helpful to add the following lines (based on
paragraphs 1 and 2): <"I claim this glory, setting all false humility aside.
I see it in my brothers and realize this glory unites us with each other and
unites all of us with God.">

COMMENTARY

"Let not the truth about ourselves today be hidden by a false humility"
(1:1).

One thing I am aware of as I have not been before while doing the Workbook
is that when it uses the words "we," "us," and "ourselves," it is not
referring to just us students of the Course. The "we" includes Jesus. After
all, it is Jesus who is speaking throughout the book. This is no ordinary,
generic "we" that any author might use. Jesus is identifying himself with
us, and us with him, each time a third-person pronoun is used.

The "truth about ourselves" is the truth about you, me, and Jesus. In
recognizing that, I get a sense of his joining with me that I've never quite
had before. And I see in his use of the terms a purpose, to focus my
attention on the sameness of himself, myself, and my brothers.

When I see traces of sin and guilt "in those with whom He shares His glory"
(1:3), I am seeing them in myself. That is a false humility! When I see my
brother as guilty or sinful it is because I am putting myself in that same
class, and thus hiding the truth about myself. Guilt can take a seemingly
saintly form: "We are all just poor students of the Course, weak and frail
and constantly failing." And that guilt, that false humility, obscures your
glory and my own.

It is true that we are all just students, that we are on the lower rung of
the ladder and just beginning to be aware of all we really are. It is false
spirituality to pretend to what we do not experience. But it is false
humility to constantly emphasize our weakness by judging or focusing on
failures. We all have egos, but we also all share the same glorious Sonship.
We need to spend time, from time to time, giving thanks for "the light that
shines forever in us...We are one, united in this light and one with You, at
peace with all creation and ourselves" (2:1, 3).

What I dwell on in my brothers is what I am seeing and dwelling on in
myself. How I view my brothers only reflects my view of myself.

Perception seems to teach you what you see. Yet it but witnesses to what you
taught. It is the outward picture of a wish; an image that you wanted to be
true. (T-24.VII.8:8-10).

"How can you manifest the Christ in you except to look on holiness and see
Him there?" (T-25.I.2:1). In other words, you manifest the Christ in you
only by looking on your brother and seeing the Christ in him.

Perception tells you <you> are manifest in what you see. (T-25.I.2:2)

Perception is a choice of what you want yourself to be; the world you want
to live in, and the state in which you think your mind will be content and
satisfied....It reveals yourself to you as you would have you be.
(T-25.I.3:1, 3)

If I would not hide the truth of my own glory, I cannot hide that of my
brother. "What is the same can have no different function" (T-23.IV.3:4). If
I deny the truth in my brother, I am denying it to myself. I am denying it
in him <because> I am denying it about myself. When I mentally separate
myself from someone, and make him or her less than myself by judging, I am
seeing only what my mind is doing to myself. I am hiding my own glory, and
therefore judging another, projecting the guilt outside. My judgment of
another can then become a mirror to show me that I have forgotten who I
really am. It can remind me, cause me to remember, and cause me to choose
again, to remember my status as Son of God, "at peace with all creation and
[myself]" (2:3).

WHAT IS SALVATION?

Part 9: W-pII.2.5:1-2

We turn from the world to the holy place within; we enter the holy instant,
where our illusions fall because we no longer support them, and we begin to
see with the vision of Christ, seeing the real world. And <then we return to
the world>. "From here we give salvation to the world, for it is here
salvation was received" (5:1). This movement is repeated again and again in
both Workbook and Text: Away from the world of dreams--into the holy
instant--returning to give salvation to the world. The Course does not plan
for us to retreat from the world, but to save it. It does not urge us into a
withdrawn, contemplative life, but urges us <from within the state of mind
we find in contemplation> to offer what we have found to the world.

"The song of our rejoicing is the call to all the world that freedom is
returned" (5:2). Our inner healing bubbles over in a "song of our
rejoicing," and that song, that ebullient joy, becomes the very thing that
calls the world back to its freedom. Nothing is so healing as a person whose
face is radiant with joy. It is not so much that we come to the world
preaching a new religion (see W-pI.37.3:1-2), but that we transform it by
our joy. We represent a new state of mind. As the Manual puts it, we "stand
for the Alternative" (M-5.III.2:6). We save the world by being saved.





From sue at circleofa.org  Wed Aug 27 06:09:21 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:09:21 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 240 - August 28
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAMfWOhJOA0BIs+Z9UmX7I5oBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 240 - August 28

"FEAR IS NOT JUSTIFIED IN ANY FORM."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestion: Try to be vigilant all day for any instance of fear,
including worry, anxiety, or nervousness. When you notice an instance,
repeat the line in this specific way: <"Fear is not justified in this form,
because fear is not justified in> any< form.">

COMMENTARY

"Fear is deception" (1:1). When we are afraid, we have been deceived by some
lie, because given what we are (Sons of God, a part of Love Itself) (1:7-8),
nothing can ever harm us or cause us loss of any kind. Therefore, when fear
arises, we must have seen ourselves as we could never be (1:2). The reality
of what we are is never in danger: "Nothing real can be threatened"
(T-In.2:2). All the things in the world that appear to threaten us are
simply impossible, because we cannot be threatened. "Not one thing in this
world is true" (1:3). "Nothing unreal exists" (T-In.2:3).

All the threats of the world, whatever their forms, witness only to one
thing: our illusions about ourselves (1:4-5). We are seeing ourselves as
something vulnerable; a body, a fragile ego, a physical life form that can
be snuffed out in an instant. That is not what we are, and when we fear,
that is what we are thinking we are. In order for us to come to believe that
we are something else--the eternal Son of God, forever secure in God's Love,
beyond the reach of death--we must be willing to learn the unreality of all
that the world seems to witness to. Eventually we must come to see that to
attempt to hold on to the reality of this world is to hold on to death.

If we insist on making the world real, today's statement, "Fear is not
justified," will never seem true to us. <Everything> in this world is
vulnerable, changeable, and will ultimately pass away. If we try to hold on
to it, fear is inevitable because the end of what we are holding on to is
also inevitable. The only way to be truly free from fear is to cease to
value anything but the eternal.

This does not mean that we cannot enjoy what is temporary, that we cannot,
for instance, pause to appreciate the beauty of a sunset which passes in
minutes. But we come to understand that it is not the sunset we value, but
the beauty it mirrors for a moment. It is not the touch of a body we value,
a body which withers and is gone, but the eternal love it catches and
expresses in the moment. Not the form, but the content. Not the symbol, but
its meaning. Not the overtones, the harmonics, or the echo, but the eternal
song of love (S-1.I.3:4).

Let me practice, then, today, by repeating, "Fear is not justified in any
form." And when fears arise, let me remember they are foolish (2:1). Let me
recall there is no real reason for them. Let my very fears remind me that
the truth of what I value <never> passes away.

WHAT IS SALVATION?

PART 10: W-PII.2.5:2

Salvation results not in a perfect material world, but in a state in which
"eternity has shined away the world, and only Heaven now exists at all"
(5:2). As we enter more and more fully into the holy instant, and the vision
of the "real world" it brings, we are literally hastening the end of time
itself. The phrase "the real world" is in actuality an oxymoron, a
self-contradictory pair of words, for the world is not real (see
T-26.III.3:1-3). The real world is the goal of the Course for us, and yet,
when we have attained it fully, we will barely have time to appreciate it
before God takes His last step, and the illusion of the world vanishes into
the reality of Heaven (see T-17.II.4:4). The nightmare is gradually
translated into a happy dream, and when all the nightmares are gone there is
no longer any need for dreaming; we will awake.

Salvation, then, is the process of translating the nightmare into the happy
dream, the process of undoing the illusions, the process of removing the
barriers we have built to love, the process, in short, of forgiveness. The
experience we are now in is our classroom. The reason we are here is to
learn the truth; or rather, to unlearn the errors. The Course urges us to be
content with learning, and not to be impatient. We will not be, and cannot
be "abruptly lifted up and hurled into reality" (T-16.VI.8:1). It would
terrify us, like a child in kindergarten abruptly being made President, or a
first-year piano student being forced to do a solo recital in Carnegie Hall.
Each of us is exactly where we belong, learning just what we need to learn.
Let us, then, enter wholeheartedly and joyously into the process, practicing
our holy instants, receiving our little glimpses of the real world, each one
assuring us of the reality of our goal, and the certainty of its attainment.





From sue at circleofa.org  Thu Aug 28 07:09:01 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:09:01 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 241 - August 29
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAPB1RIKJ9shOloMK0jqwmIQBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 241 - August 29

"THIS HOLY INSTANT IS SALVATION COME."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 

A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

PRACTICE SUGGESTION: The following visualization may help you more fully
experience the meaning of today's lesson:

Imagine a city or town, a place where there are large amounts of people,
just before sunrise.

The sun begins to peek over the horizon, but this is not the usual sun.

This is the sunrise of salvation. Now hear these lines:

"The day has come when sorrows pass away and pain is gone" (1:4).

Imagine that, wherever the rays of this sun touch, sorrows pass away.

Imagine them touching a hospital, and all pain within it is gone.

"The glory of salvation dawns today upon a world set free" (1:5).

What is dawning is not mere physical light. It is salvation.

Because of this dawning, the world will be set free today.

"This is the time of hope for countless millions" (1:6).

Imagine countless millions waking up to this sunrise.

Not as they normally do, numb with despair and dreading what the day may
bring, but filled with hope.

"Watch fear disappear from every face as hearts rise up and claim the light
as theirs" (W-pI.168.4:3).

"They will be united now" (1:7).

Picture people all over joining with one another. See them joining hands.

See them feeling at one.

See countless millions greeting this sunrise as one family.

Now realize that this sun is not just salvation. It is something far more
specific.

It is your forgiveness of the world.

Your forgiveness has this kind of power. It has the power to set the world
free.

It has the power, once unleashed, to give the world this kind of dawn.

So choose someone you have not forgiven and say to him or her,

<"This holy instant is salvation come, because I have forgiven you,
[name].">

Keep repeating it, realizing that each repetition invites this glorious dawn
to illumine the world.

COMMENTARY

When the lesson says that today "is a time of special celebration" (1:2), I
rather suspect it is using the word "special" in the same way it uses it in
one place in the Text, where Jesus says, "All my brothers are special"
(T-1.V.3:6). Today is special because, in the holy instant, salvation has
already come. And yet, "You can claim the holy instant any time and anywhere
you want it" (T-15.IV.4:4). Whenever you claim the holy instant, it is a
special time! A day of joy!

This is just like telling a child that they can have Christmas every day if
they want it. And indeed the Course tells us exactly that, in the section
titled "The Time of Rebirth," written at Christmas. It tells us that
Christmas is the time of Christ, and the time of Christ is the holy instant
(see T-15.X.2:1); then it tells us, "It is in your power to make the time of
Christ be now" (T-15.X.4:1).

And so, why not today? Why not every day? Why not now? Any time I want to, I
can make it a time "when sorrows pass away and pain is gone" (1:4). The
practice of the holy instant offers me this. Within my mind I can, at any
instant, open a window onto the real world, and breathe its fragrant
atmosphere. I can experience a united world, drawn together by my
forgiveness.

I do not yet find that I experience bliss the moment I close my eyes and
say, "This holy instant is salvation come." The reality I have experienced,
from time to time, is always here; I am certain of that. Yet my awareness of
it remains spotty. (<Very> spotty!) But once you have tasted it, and in that
instant <known> that what you are experiencing is eternal, you can never
fully doubt its eternal presence. There are still many barriers blocking my
awareness of it. I am still holding on to quite a few of those barriers. My
grievances are still, most of the time, hiding the light of the world from
me. But it is there. My forgiveness can release it (1:7-2:1).

Every time I pause to remember, every time I attempt to claim the holy
instant, another barrier falls, another drop of willingness is added to my
reservoir. What better way could I possibly spend my time? As Lesson 127
said: "There is no better use for time than this" (see paragraphs 7 and 8).

One aside: Notice that in 1:8, Jesus speaks of our forgiving <him>. Let me
examine myself today, to see if there is something I still hold against him;
something in him I mistrust; some way in which I still fear him, or blame
him, or resent him. Even if I respect him as my teacher, it is very easy to
feel resentful of one's teachers.

What Is the World?

PART 1: W-PII.3.1:1-4

The first sentence answers the question: "The world is false perception"
(1:1). The rest of the page is the explanation of this summary statement.
Some of us, on first reading the Course, think that perhaps the Course is
not saying that the world is unreal, but that our perception of it is false.
Yet here, quite clearly, Jesus is saying that the world and false perception
are the same thing. The world is a hallucination; we are perceiving
something that isn't there.

In my perception, "I" am inside my head, looking out at a world that is not
me. Separate. And that is simply not the truth. There is no world outside my
mind (see T-18.VI.1:1 and T-12.III.6:7). "What is projected out, and seems
to be external to the mind, is not outside at all" (T-26.VII.4:9).

The world was "born of error" and it has not left our minds which sourced it
(1:2). As the Course so often says, ideas leave not their source. The world
is the mistaken idea of separation in our minds (1:4), and it has never left
our minds. When our mind (the one mind we all share) no longer cherishes the
idea of separation, the world which represents that idea will simply
disappear.

Many who were raised in a religious tradition which taught that God created
the world have gone through a lot of distress and confusion, wondering how
God could ever have created such a mess! If He was responsible for this, we
weren't sure we wanted to know Him. What a relief it is to realize that He
did <not> create it; it was born of the error of our mind, from our
mistakenly entertaining the idea of separation. The misery of this world
only reflects the misery brought to our mind by the thought of separation.
It is as if we wondered, "What if we were separate?" and were instantly
given a virtual reality tour of what would result.

An early lesson said, "I can escape from this world by giving up attack
thoughts" (W-pI.55.3:1, reviewing Lesson 23). The thought is the same. Heal
the attack thoughts, the thoughts of separation which I still cherish, and I
can leave the world behind. The Course is helping us to do just that; to let
our attack thoughts go, and solve the problems of the world at their source.





From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Aug 29 09:17:57 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:17:57 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 242 - August 30
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAACcdQI1fKVBNvWmnkDAyoGUBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


Lesson 242 - August 30

"THIS DAY IS GOD'S. IT IS MY GIFT TO HIM."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

COMMENTARY

"I will not lead my life alone today" (1:1).

In a day that seems rushed and over full with things to do, it is a relief
to remember that I need not lead my life alone. I can burden myself with a
thousand little decisions, or I can relax into His hands. I may list what
needs to be done, but I can let go of all attachment to doing any of them.
In each moment, I can trust that I will know what to do next, and that my
choice will be perfect.

What is important, however, is not the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but His
companionship. I will not be alone today, although I may have no other human
presence with me. I can consciously be with God, and God with me. Instead of
talking out loud to myself, why not talk out loud to Jesus? He is a much
wiser companion than my limited mind.

"I do not understand the world, and so to try to lead my life alone must be
but foolishness" (1:2).

There is such resistance in me, in us all, to realizing that we do not and
cannot understand the world. I understand nothing. My awareness of what is
going on is about one five-billionth of just our physical planet and its
people. I know nothing of other planets and galaxies, and I am nearly
totally unaware of the numberless realms beyond the physical--spirit beings,
angels, ascended Masters, whatever there may be. I don't know that the clerk
in the laundry may need a smile, or whatever else is going on in minds
apparently separated from me. How can I even think of rationally deciding
what to do, where to go, what to say, all on my own?

Some event occurs, such as an appointment being juggled around from one time
to another and finally settling on the time I least wanted (by my
preferences). If I think I understand what is going on, if I think my
preference is all that matters, I could be upset. If I realize I don't
understand the world, I let go, I accept, I trust. And I show up at my
friend's door minutes after she has heard the news about a friend's sudden
death, present to comfort her when she needs it. And, not coincidentally,
prepared by an afternoon of discussing death with another friend, when I had
no idea why I agreed to take time for that discussion when I had other
things I thought important to do. How foolish not to let Him lead me!

So today, again, I resign as my own teacher and settle a bit more deeply
into the awareness that I do not know, I do not understand, and knowing that
is wisdom. I release this day into God's hands; "It is my gift to Him." This
is a really good deal! I let go of my day, and He makes it full of miracles!
That's what He wants it for. It takes great effort, at first, to let go of
wanting to understand. But when I do, nothing but joy follows.

But there is One Who knows all that is best for me. And He is glad to make
no choices for me but the ones that lead to God. I give this day to Him, for
I would not delay my coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to God.
(1:3-5)

"Best for me" doesn't necessarily mean that I will get done all I think I
have to do, or that everything will work out perfectly (in my eyes) in form.
Often it does mean that, but sometimes not. "Best for me" means the things
"that lead to God." It means "coming home" and making progress on "the way
to God." Because that is all that life in this world is for. "The healing of
God's Son is all the world is for" (T-24.VI.4:1), and nothing else. If I
give my day to God, to the Holy Spirit, I will end the day closer to God,
nearer home; that is my goal every day of my life. Nothing else. All other
events are stage props for this one unfolding drama.

No matter what else may happen, if I spend this day more conscious of Jesus'
companionship, a little more often at peace, a little more joyful in every
minute or a few more minutes spent joyfully, it is a success.

<And so we give today to You. We come with wholly open minds. We do not ask
for anything that we may think we want. Give us what You would have received
by us. You know all our desires and our wants. And You will give us
everything we need in helping us to find the way to You>. (2:1-6)

"Wholly open minds." No preconceptions about what should take place.
"Wholly" means totally, completely open. As for what we expect to come,
anything can fail to happen and we are not distraught. As for what we do not
expect, anything can come, and we are not dismayed. I recognize that my mind
does not want to be wholly open. For instance, I think if I did not finish
writing my article before lunch I might be upset. If I have that thought,
let me see it is only my thought. Not a fact. What other things am I
attached to today? Jesus, I want to be wholly open. And it isn't easy.

How can I let go of my wants and needs? By remembering that "You know all
our desires and our wants." He knows what I think I need, and I do not need
to ask Him for those things. He knows. And if the day does not bring what I
think I want, it is not because He did not know, or that He lost my case
file, or that He is punishing me for some imaginary guilt. It is because
what I thought I wanted was not best for me. The Holy Spirit is not
inconsiderate nor forgetful. He "will give us everything we need in helping
us to find the way to" God. Let me let down the defenses of my planning
mind, and follow this advice: "Let no defenses but your present trust direct
the future, and this life becomes a meaningful encounter with the truth that
only your defenses would conceal" (W-pI.135.19:2).

What Is the World?

PART 2: W-PII.3.1:4-5

If the world is simply the effect of the thought of separation in my mind,
then obviously it is true that

when the thought of separation has been changed to one of true forgiveness,
will the world be seen in quite another light, and one which leads to truth.
(1:4)

The antidote for the thought of separation is true forgiveness. If the
Course is a course in changing our thoughts, the thoughts that are being
changed are separation thoughts, and they are being changed into thoughts of
true forgiveness. The "wall" that keeps us separate is our unforgiveness,
our grievances, our judgment upon one another as undeserving of love. The
result of changing those thoughts to thoughts of forgiveness is that we see
the world very differently. Instead of a world of judgment we see the real
world. Instead of enemies we see brothers. And the vision of this real world
"leads to truth," beyond perception to knowledge; beyond the real world to
Heaven.

This light "leads to truth, where all the world must disappear and all its
errors vanish" (1:4). In other words, as we've already seen, the progression
is from "the world" (the result of the thought of separation) to "the real
world" (the result of the thought of forgiveness) and then to "Heaven" (the
truth), where there is no world at all.

The process we are going through in the world is the healing of our thoughts
of separation. As those thoughts are healed, we begin to see the real world
more and more, a world in which only love is reflected. But when the thought
of separation is <entirely> healed in every part of every fragment of the
mind, the world will not simply be seen differently; it will disappear. "Now
its source [the thought of separation] has gone, and its effects [the world
and all its errors] are gone as well" (1:5).





From suelegal at gmail.com  Sat Aug 30 05:00:45 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:00:45 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] [RESEND] The Practice Instructions to Part II
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAANKY/loiC8RErfUpl2pi6KgBAAAAAA==@gmail.com>




The Practice instructions to Part II

PURPOSE: The introduction to Part II talks as if, in the remaining part of
this year, we are trying to reach the end of our spiritual journey: "This
year has brought us to eternity" (10:8). However, the Manual, in Section 16
("How Should the Teacher of God Spend His Day?") implies a more modest goal:
to reach a place where we practice because of our own motivation and
inspiration, rather than because a book is telling us to. This would
transform our practicing from a special assignment into a way of life. Part
II of the Workbook, with its absence of daily practice instructions, is an
important step in this direction. If here, in the relatively formless
landscape of Part II, your practice can blossom, rather than wither, you are
close to graduating from the Workbook.

I think we need to combine these two goals: We should aim for eternity,
realizing that by aiming high we will carry ourselves farther than if we
didn't, even though we may only get as far as weaning ourselves from the
Workbook's support. In other words, we should aim to graduate from time and
space, <so that> we can reach the more realistic goal of graduating from the
Workbook.

Reading the lesson: The lessons in Part II take a very different form than
in Part I. After the day's idea, we find just two paragraphs, both worded in
the first person, which expand and comment on the idea. This makes the Part
II lessons look much like what we see in most of the reviews, where the idea
for the day is followed by a series of "related comments" (W-pI.rI.In.2:3;
3:3) which are worded in the first person and expand on the idea. In the
reviews, these related comments become part of the exercises. We read them
over several times, we think about them, we repeat them to ourselves, we
savor each word. We make them our own, which is why they are worded <as if>
they are our own. We so fully engage them that reading them becomes more
like a practice than a simple act of reading.

It makes sense that we should use the comments in the Part II lessons in the
same way that we used the comments in the reviews, simply because the two
are so similar. And the introduction hints at this. For it speaks of our
reading of those paragraphs as an "exercise" (2:1) that is meant to induct
us (1:4) into "the periods of wordless, deep experience which should come
afterwards" (11:2). Let's look at how we can turn the reading of those two
paragraphs into a genuine exercise.

First, the< commentary paragraphs> (the nonitalicized paragraphs). I
recommend that you read these over slowly, perhaps several times, and
imagine that these really are your own thoughts (which is how they are
worded). To facilitate this, you may want to emphasize words like "I," "me,"
"my," and "mine."

Second, the< prayers>. These read as if you yourself are praying them to
God, and I recommend doing just that. Fix one sentence at a time in your
mind and then close your eyes and say that sentence to God. Try to really
mean it and expect Him to hear you. These appear to be designed to carry you
into the meditative state, and many of them virtually say that. Lesson 307
says of its prayer, "And with this prayer we enter silently into a state
where conflict cannot come" (W-pII.307.2:1). To enhance this effect, you may
want to pray the prayer several times.

Morning/evening quiet time: As long as you need for the effect you want.

The longer practice periods are meant to consist of Open Mind Meditation.
Begin by repeating the idea for the day, but in a special way: as an
invitation to God to come to you. "We say the words of invitation that His
Voice suggests, and then we wait for Him to come to us" (4:6). After
repeating these words, go into a time of expectant, wordless waiting (the
word "wait" here occurs six times). To wait normally means to stay
physically still in anticipation of some event. Here it means to stay
<mentally> still in anticipation of a wondrous event: the dawning of God on
your mind. Wait as if holding your breath for this event. Wait with an
attitude that "the memory of God is shimmering across the wide horizons of
our minds" (9:5). Your waiting, then, though motionless, should be very much
alive. It should be filled with expectancy: "We...expect our Father to
reveal Himself, as He has promised" (3:3). The basis for your expectancy, in
other words, is your trust that God will keep His promises. He promised to
come to you when you asked. You are asking; He will come. Hold this state
without the aid of repeating words. However, whenever your mind wanders, you
should use words--repeat the idea to draw yourself back to this nonverbal
waiting. "We will use that thought...to calm our minds at need" (3:1).

If you find Open Mind Meditation either too challenging or too unrewarding,
I would recommend using either of the other two methods the Workbook has
taught: Down-and-Inward Meditation or Name of God Meditation. In fact,
Lesson 222 clearly instructs you to use Name of God Meditation: <"Father, we
have no words except Your Name upon our lips and in our minds, as we come
quietly into Your Presence now"> (W-pII.222.2:1).

Hourly remembrance: One or two minutes as the hour strikes (reduce if
circumstances do not permit).

Do a miniature version of the morning practice. Repeat the idea as an
invitation to God, and then wait in wordless silence for Him to come to you.

Frequent reminder: As often as possible within each hour.

"Repeat [the idea], and allow your mind to rest a little time in silence and
in peace" (W-pI.rIII.In.10:5).

Response to temptation: When you are tempted to let upset cause you to
forget your goal.

Repeat the idea as a way of calling on God to dispel your upset (see 2:9 and
10:2).

Reading the "What Is" section: Before one of the day's practice periods (not
necessarily the morning one), read the relevant "What Is" section. Don't
just read it casually. Read it slowly and think about it "a little while"
(11:4).

* * *

LET US PRAY

What are we supposed to do with the prayers in Part II of the Workbook for
<A Course in Miracles>? There are 140 of them, one for each lesson. This has
puzzled many a Course student who, upon reaching Part II, finds himself
confronted each day with an italicized prayer directed at God. Is this
prayer offered by the author of the Course on our behalf? Do we simply read
it? Do we actually pray it? If so, why?

Actually, I am only <assuming> that this issue has puzzled Course students.
I have never really heard much discussion about these prayers. They sit
there on the page, staring at us every day for five straight months, but we
don't seem to talk much about them. The only perspective I recall hearing is
that they must be metaphorical because God can't hear our prayers.

Having done the Workbook several times, I too didn't know what to do with
these prayers. Yet, to be honest, I hadn't really confronted the question. I
would just dutifully open my book and read the prayer attached to that day's
lesson. The prayers generally struck me as being a kind of Course word
salad: a series of typical Course words--Christ, peace, joy, Heaven,
etc.--tossed together as one would toss a salad.

Then one day a few years ago, all that changed for me. I was on a short
retreat and, for some reason, the first thing I did was sit down and try to
discover what the Course wants us to do with its prayers. Having spent many
years studying the Workbook's practice instructions, I had learned that
virtually all our questions about practice are answered right in the
Workbook, if we pay careful attention. Now, for the first time, it occurred
to me that this ought to be true for those prayers; we should expect there
to be instructions for what to do with them.

The logical place for those instructions was the introduction to Part II,
since that is where we find the practice instructions for the entirety of
Part II, where the prayers are found. Within minutes I found two sentences
that ended my search and changed my relationship with the Course and with
God. Here they are:

We say some simple words of welcome, and expect our Father to reveal
Himself, as He has promised. (WpII.In.3:3)

We say the words of invitation that His Voice suggests, and then we wait for
Him to come to us. (WpII.In.4:6)

>From these sentences and the paragraphs around them I obtained the following
picture:

The Course has given us words (from the Holy Spirit) which we are to say to
God as words of invitation and welcome. Once we invite Him with these words,
we sit in a state of silent expectancy, waiting for Him to come and reveal
Himself to us in direct wordless experience.

What are these "words"? In this context, they are definitely the thought for
the day, the lesson title. But are they confined to that? Don't these
"simple words of welcome" also sound like they could be the prayers? After
all, like these words, the prayers are words given us by the Course which
are written as if we are saying them to God.

So I turned the page and looked at the first prayers in Part II. They
resoundingly confirmed what I was thinking. This is how the first prayer
begins:

<Father, I come to You today to seek the peace that You alone can give. I
come in silence>. (W-pII.221.1:1-2)

Just as the introduction described, in this prayer we state our intention to
have an encounter with God in the silence of our minds. The comments that
follow this prayer continue along the same lines: "Now [that we have said
this prayer] do we wait in quiet....We wait with one intent...[for God] to
reveal Himself unto His Son" (W-pII.221.2:1, 6). Here is exactly what the
introduction said: Once we say these words of welcome, we wait in silence
for God to reveal Himself to us.

The next prayer was very similar. In it we state our intention to silently
enter into an experience of God's Presence:

<Father, we have no words except Your Name upon our lips and in our minds,
as we come quietly into Your Presence now, and ask to rest with You in peace
a while>. (W-pII.222.2:1)

This was a very intellectual process of detective work, but its results were
extremely practical: At last I felt I knew what to do with those prayers! I
am to say them directly to God as preparation for a direct wordless
encounter with Him.

So I immediately tried this out. I spent the next hour or so going through
the first twenty prayers in Part II, praying them as I had just discovered I
should. I will never forget that time. It was a pivotal moment in my journey
with the Course. Until that moment, I had no idea how much richness was in
those prayers. What seemed like word salad when read as information became a
wealth of emotional experience when repeated as prayer, when spoken to God.

I was astonished by the sense of loving intimacy with God that shone through
these prayers. I had never realized that <this> was how the Course wanted me
to think about God. God came across not as a remote metaphysical
abstraction, an impersonal essence that is completely unaware of us.
Instead, He came across as near and dear, as the most attentive, loving
Father one could possibly imagine, always there, always listening, always
answering, wanting only to lavish all of His Love upon us. "He covers me
with kindness and with care" (W-pII.222.1:4), one of the lessons said. And
that is exactly how I felt, blanketed in His kindness and care.

Since that day, these prayers have become a staple in my daily life. There
are few things I enjoy doing more than sitting down and spending time with
them. They have literally transformed my relationship with God. My sense of
God before was somewhat remote and abstract. Yet increasingly these prayers
have implanted in me <their> sense of God, so that my feeling for Him has
become a deep well of sustenance and comfort that I draw from daily.

As time went on, I fell into the habit of using these prayers before my
meditation time, because I found them to be the ideal way to prepare my mind
for seeking God in meditation. They gathered the scattered and chaotic
threads of my thought into a single desire to be with God. After I had been
using them in this way for some time, I remembered something: <This is
exactly what they are for>. This is what the instructions in the Workbook
say is their purpose. We are to use the words of these prayers to prepare
our minds for a direct, wordless encounter with God. I can attest to the
fact that they serve their intended purpose very well indeed.

I therefore encourage every student of the Course to avail him- or herself
of the great benefit of these prayers. Try them out and see if you are not
drawn to return to them. Here are some tips for getting the most out of
them:

1. <Focus on one line at a time>. Dwell on each line and let it sink in
before going on to the next.

2. <Say it directly to God>. When the prayer says "Father," have a sense of
speaking directly to God, and of Him in some sense hearing you.

3. <Make it from you>. When the prayer says "I" or "me," have a sense of you
being the one saying the prayer.

4. <Mean it>, as much as you can. Try to make it the prayer of your own
heart.

5. <Make it specific>. For instance, when the prayer we will use below says
"a something I have called by many names," list some of the names you have
given what you seek.

6. <Feel free to elaborate> on the prayer as it evokes additional thoughts
and feelings in you.

To try out this method of using these prayers, I would like to utilize the
following prayer from Lesson 231, "Father, I will but to remember You." My
suggestion is for you to repeat each line slowly, with concentration and
sincerity. Try to see the fullness of meaning contained in each line. Try
also to go through the prayer twice or more.

1. What can I seek for, Father, but Your Love?

2. Perhaps I think I seek for something else; a something I have called by
many names.

3. Yet is Your Love the only thing I seek, or ever sought.

4. For there is nothing else that I could ever really want to find.

5. Let me remember You.

6. What else could I desire but the truth about myself?

What was your experience in repeating these lines? Was it an experience you
want more of? I sincerely hope that the prayers in the Workbook will become
the blessing in your life that they continue to be in mine.





From suelegal at gmail.com  Sat Aug 30 05:00:45 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:00:45 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 243 - August 31
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAABwheeqV4xBMklpa2YD7Et8BAAAAAA==@gmail.com>



Lesson 243 - August 31

"TODAY I WILL JUDGE NOTHING THAT OCCURS."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* READ the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* PRAY the prayer, perhaps several times.

* MORNING AND EVENING: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* FREQUENT REMINDERS: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* READ THE "WHAT IS" SECTION slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestion: Think of some situation that has been upsetting you,
and repeat the following lines:

<I do not know what this means,
Because meaning is supplied by context,
And I do not see the whole context for this.
The whole context for this is> the< whole--totality, infinity.
Yet I see only bits of my perception.
I do not know what this means>.

COMMENTARY

If attempting to practice today's lesson does nothing else, it will show me
just how constantly my mind <is> judging. The eventual goal, of course, is
to truly relinquish all judgment, and to allow the Holy Spirit to judge
everything for us. Letting go of judgment is a key to transcending the ego:
"The ego cannot survive without judgment, and is laid aside accordingly"
(T-4.II.10:3).

"I will be honest with myself today" (1:1). The Course teaches us that
letting go of judgment is simply learning to be honest with ourselves. This
lesson is paralleled in the Manual:

It is necessary for the teacher of God to realize, not that he should not
judge, but that he cannot. In giving up judgment, he is merely giving up
what he did not have. He gives up an illusion; or better, he has an illusion
of giving up. He has actually merely become more honest. Recognizing that
judgment was always impossible for him, he no longer attempts it.
(M-10.2:1-5)

So giving up judgment is simply being honest about the fact that I <cannot>
judge. To judge accurately I would have to know many things that "must
remain beyond my present grasp" (1:2). I would have to know "the whole"
(1:3) just from what my limited perception is telling me. And I can't do
that. So any judgment I make has to be an illusion, no more valid than a
wild guess.

Still--just watch yourself doing it! Our minds automatically categorize
every person we see. We evaluate their clothes, their grooming, their sexual
attractiveness, the appropriateness of their behavior, the way they walk,
and on and on. We get up, see the sunshine, and say, "What a nice day!" or
we see rain and say, "What miserable weather!" We read a book and tell a
friend what a "great book" it is. We take a bite of food and instantly judge
it. The ego mind seems to do little else but judge. Just watch yourself.

That isn't going to stop overnight, if ever. What we can do, however, is to
become aware of these judgments constantly going on and realize that they
are without any real meaning. We can tell the ego, "Thank you for sharing,"
and choose to realize that we don't really know what anything means or how
to react to it, despite what the ego is telling us. We can turn instead to
our inner guidance. We can "leave creation free to be itself" (2:1) without
our constant interference. We can bring our judgments to the Holy Spirit and
ask Him to heal our minds. And, perhaps most important of all, we can simply
<desire> that judgment be undone. In the end, that desire is all it takes:

Vision would not be necessary had judgment not been made. Desire now its
whole undoing, and it is done for you. (T-20.VIII.1:5-6)

Undoing is not your task, but it <is> up to you to welcome it or not.
(T-21.II.8:5)

Don't worry about <how> your judgments can be undone. Don't try to undo them
yourself. Just desire that they be undone; just welcome the undoing. That is
all, and the Holy Spirit will do it for you.

What Is the World?

WPII.3.2:1-3

"The world was made as an attack on God" (2:1). That is probably one of the
most shocking statements in <A Course in Miracles>. It puts to bed any idea
that perhaps the world was, at least partly, created by God; God would not
create an attack on Himself. The world is the ego's attempt to replace and
displace God, and to provide us with an alternative satisfaction.

In Chapter 23, Section II, the Text speaks of "The Laws of Chaos," the ego's
laws. It tells us that these laws are what make the world real; it says,
"These <are> the principles which make the ground beneath your feet seem
solid" (T-23.II.13:5). The ego's laws are what made the world.

What of the world's beauty? What of the glitter of the stars, the fragile
beauty of a flower, the majesty of an eagle in flight? Nothing but glitter,
a shiny surface hiding the death-rot underneath. "Kill or be killed" is the
law of this world. Beneath the lovely, glittering surface of the ocean lies
a world of sharp teeth, cruel deception, and constant warfare, where life
consists of eating some things and avoiding being eaten by others.

"Can you paint rosy lips upon a skeleton, dress it in loveliness, pet it and
pamper it, and make it live?" (T-23.II.18:8). "There is no life outside of
Heaven" (T-23.II.19:1).

The world symbolizes fear, which is the absence of love. "Thus, the world
was meant to be a place where God could enter not, and where His Son could
be apart from Him" (2:4). The ego made the world as a place to hide out from
God, to get away from Him. Yes, we can find symbols of God in nature, and we
should; true perception sees nothing but love in all things. But that means
we see Him in tornadoes and earthquakes as well as in flowers and birds. It
means we see Him in everything because He is in our minds. But at its root,
this world is a place where God is not. That is why the ego made it. That is
our purpose in coming here, as egos. And we egos did a pretty good job;
people have been trying to "prove" the existence of God within the context
of this world for millennia, and nobody has ever done so except, perhaps, to
the satisfaction of a few who were already inclined to believe. Finding God
<in> the world is quite a stretch. The world does a far better job of hiding
God than it does of demonstrating Him.


What is the message in all of this for us? Remember, "The world is false
perception" (1:1). It is not the truth. The picture of the world,
symbolizing fear and attack, is the picture of the ego's thoughts. "It is
born of error" (1:2). This world is not what we want. We cannot attempt to
cling to its "better" parts and forget about the horror all around us. We
take it whole or let it all go. And so, we can learn to look upon the world
with love--all of it. Loving it gives it the only value it has (see
T-12.VI.3:1-3). With forgiveness, we look past the messages of hate and fear
it constantly tries to give us, and see there, as well as in the more
"pleasing" aspects, the universal call for love.

You do not want the world. The only thing of value in it is whatever part of
it you look upon with love. This gives it the only reality it will ever
have. Its value is not in itself, but yours is in you. As self-value comes
from self-extension, so does the perception of self-value come from the
extension of loving thoughts outward. Make the world real unto yourself, for
the real world is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and so it belongs to you.
(T-12.VI.3:1-6)




From suelegal at gmail.com  Sun Aug 31 06:00:35 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:00:35 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 244 - September 1
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAG58P1NRLuxOpZHJI1iFXMgBAAAAAA==@gmail.com>



Lesson 244 * September 1

"I am in danger nowhere in the world."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind
Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in
meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Practice suggestion: Whenever you think of it, especially when you are
feeling afraid, repeat the lesson in this more specific form: <"I am in
danger nowhere in the world, including in this situation.">

COMMENTARY

Who I have believed myself to be is in danger <everywhere> in the world. We
are assaulted constantly with signals of danger. Smoking can kill me; even
residual smoke is deadly. Our water is unsafe, I need a purifier.
Preservatives and coloring in foods cause cancer. Stay well away from your
microwave while using it. Don't sit too close to your TV or computer screen
(and watch out for carpal tunnel syndrome). Beware of computer viruses; even
more, beware of HIV viruses. Don't feed bears when camping. Don't use your
telephone in a lightning storm. Don't drink and drive, and watch out for
those who do.

In order to even begin to accept today's idea, I have to realize that I am
not who I have believed myself to be. This little identity of Allen Watson,
wrapped in a very fragile body, is not the one who is in danger nowhere in
the world: "Your Son is safe wherever he may be" (1:1). It is the Son Who is
safe; the Son Who is beloved of God, held "in the safety of Your Fatherly
embrace" (1:3). In my quiet times today I will recall that this is Who I
really am, and, at least in these moments, I will let go of my sense of
danger, relax my defensiveness, and enjoy the awareness of the Father's Love
and protection (1:2). I will realize that Who I really am "cannot suffer, be
endangered, or experience unhappiness" (1:3).

Let me attempt to feel my safety today. What would I feel like if I truly
knew, to the depths of my being, that I can never suffer, or be in danger,
or experience unhappiness? What effect would that have on the tension in my
shoulders, the knot in my stomach, or the rapid beating of my heart? Let me
thoughtfully consider this. Let me try to imagine the peace I would feel.
Let me experience the softening in every part of my body, and more
importantly, the melting of the hardness of my mind. I would feel, I think,
like the very young child who, when Mommy or Daddy says, "Everything will be
all right now," really believes it. The shuddering stops, the little body
relaxes, and the child falls asleep in Mommy's arms.

"And there we are in truth," "in the safety of Your Fatherly embrace" (2:1;
1:3). "In God we are secure" (2:3). Yes.

What Is the World?

Part 4: W-pII.3.2:4-7

The world is where perception was born (2:5). It was born because
<knowledge> could not give birth to thoughts of fear; knowledge knows only
the peace of God. Knowledge, in the Course, always speaks of Heaven and its
oneness; perception, on the other hand, is the only means of "knowing" in
this world. The two are often contrasted in the Text. Perception is
inherently unreliable: "Eyes deceive, and ears hear falsely" (2:6). We all
know this to be true. One has only to engage in one marital argument about
what was seen and said the evening before to demonstrate it to ourselves.
(Of course it is always the other person who seems to be perceiving
falsely!)

Has it ever occurred to me, in all the times my senses have deceived me,
that they were made deliberately to do so? "They were made to look upon a
world that is not there; to hear the voices that can make no sound"
(T-28.V.5:4; the rest of the paragraph is relevant also).

The body's eyes see only form. They cannot see beyond what they were made to
see. And they were made to look on error and not see past it.
(T-22.III.5:3-6)

With our dependence on our eyes and ears, we have made ourselves very
vulnerable to error: "Now mistakes become quite possible, for certainty has
gone" (2:7).

Unreliable and deceptive perception enables the ego to make this world seem
real. Perception shows us the sight of a world full of danger, demanding
defensiveness and constant vigilance against attack. "The world <is> false
perception" (1:1, my emphasis). Only the vision of Christ, which sees the
light of God, can reveal anything different.

The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness,
and provide you with a justification for forgetting it. It is the temptation
to abandon God and His Son by taking on a physical appearance. It is this
the body's eyes look upon.

Nothing the body's eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of
temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself. Yet we have
learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all the illusions you have
made, and therefore He sees another purpose in them. To the Holy Spirit, the
world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as
your sins. In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes
the spiritual recognition of salvation. (W-pI.64.1:2-2:4)