From sue at circleofa.org  Tue Jul  1 05:58:05 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 05:58:05 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 183 - July 2
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Lesson 183 - July 2

I call upon God's Name and on my own.

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

Purpose: To go past the defense of valuing other gods, of valuing the idols
of the world, and so experience the true God. This will intensify your
motivation and strengthen your commitment. 

Morning/evening quiet time: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

This lesson is the introduction of what I call Name of God meditation. This
meditation (which is described more fully in the cameo essay on p. XXX) can
be summarized in the following way:

* Choose a name for God that you will use. You may want to ask within for
this.
* Close your eyes and repeat the idea for today just once.
* After that, simply <repeat God's Name slowly again and still again> (6:1).
Do not, however, repeat it as a mere word. Repeat it as a heartfelt
invitation to God. Fully expect Him to hear. <And God will come, and answer
it Himself> (7:2). You are asking, then, for the experience of God, and of
your true Self, which is part of Him. Repeat the Name, then, with all the
desire you have to know God and yourself. Repeat it as <the only wish [you]
have> (6:6).
* Whenever your mind wanders and starts thinking about the idols of the
world, repeat the Name to dispel those thoughts. It will help if you repeat
it with the awareness that the Name is everything and the things you were
thinking about are nothing.

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

Do a short version of the morning/evening exercise. Close by asking for
God's guidance for the coming hour and thanking Him for His gifts in the
past hour.

Response to temptation: When tempted to cherish an idol, a valueless thing
of this world.

Repeat God's Name, realizing that this Name signifies everything you want,
while the idol is nothing.

COMMENTARY

God's Name, as the term is used in this lesson and the next, symbolizes His
Identity and our identity with Him. God's name is not Jehovah, or Krishna,
or Allah. Yet any of those symbols could be used to represent Him. When this
lesson urges us to <repeat God's Name,> what, then, do we say? The actual
word we use does not matter; it is the concept of His Identity that is to be
foremost in our minds. We might say the word <God> over and over, or
<Father,> or <Divine Mother,> or whatever word best symbolizes for us the
Identity of God.

The general practice outlined in this lesson is very similar to practices in
Eastern religions of repeating the Name of God over and over, and the intent
is very much the same. In the Eastern spiritual practices, this often takes
the form of chanting. The Hare Krishna religion, for instance, gains its
name from the practice of repeatedly and seemingly endlessly chanting, <Hare
Krishna, Hare Rama,> which (I think) basically means <Praise Krishna. Praise
Rama,> with Krishna and Rama being names of God. A Christian group I once
belonged to had a major emphasis on the practice of repeating the words <O
Lord Jesus> for extended periods of time, with exactly the same kind of
intent, and with often remarkable results. Although this kind of practice is
not a major emphasis of the Course, clearly it is one means offered by the
Course for helping us find the holy instant. The one difference I see here
is that (in 5:4) the repetitions are meant to be silent and done <within
your quiet mind,> rather than aloud.

By focusing on God's Identity, we loosen the hold that all lesser names have
on our minds. We counter the illusion of separation in recognizing the one
Name that represents everything there is: <There is one Name for all there
is, and all that there will be> (8:5).

Many results are attributed in this lesson to repeating the Name of God: it
reminds us of our identity with Him (1:5); it invites the angels to surround
us and keep us safe, recognizing the holiness we share with God (2:2); it
prompts the world to lay down all illusions (3:1); it causes all idols to
fall (4:1, 3-4); it calls upon our Self, the extension of God that we are
(5:1); it acknowledges God as sole Creator of reality (8:1).

We are encouraged, almost as an aside, to do this practice with someone
else, sitting together in silence and repeating God's Name in our minds;
this seems to have particular merit, for by it we establish <an altar which
reaches to God Himself and to His Son> (5:4). This is the only place I am
aware of in the Course in which meditation with another person is even
mentioned, but it is a very favorable mention, and indicates there is some
added value in joining with others in meditation.

The primary idea of the practice seems to be that the thought of God
replaces every other idea in our minds, and if other ideas enter, we can
respond to them with God's Name (8:3-5). Instead of praying for any specific
thing, or any specific persons (all of which have names that distinguish
them from everything else), we repeat the Name of God which includes them
all. <No prayer but this is necessary, for it holds them all within it>
(10:2). As we repeat God's Name we can alter our mental state to experience
the gift of grace (9:1); eventually we come to a place where <the universe
consists of nothing but the Son of God, who calls upon His Father> (11:4).





From sue at circleofa.org  Tue Jul  1 05:58:46 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 05:58:46 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 183 extra - Name of God Meditation
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAOSu6xYQGFtHpmftmSDWa6EBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



NAME OF GOD MEDITATION

We in the West, primarily through the influx of Eastern spiritualities, are
slowly discovering that meditation is an extremely powerful tool. If one
wants to scale the heights of the Divine, attempting this without meditation
might be the mountain-climbing equivalent of forgetting your gear, and your
hiking boots as well. If this practice is so central to our journey home,
what does A COURSE IN MIRACLES have to say about it?

I have argued for many years that one of the major goals of the Course's
Workbook is to train us in meditation. This training begins early on, in
Lessons 41 and 44, after which meditation instruction becomes a staple of
Workbook practice. The technique taught in the 40s is something I have
written about several times. However, there is another method of meditation
which is distinctly different from that one. This one is not introduced
until Lesson 183. This technique is not only accorded great importance in
that lesson (and in Lesson 184), but is a practice we are apparently
expected to continue in Part II of the Workbook (see W-pII.In.10:4 and
W-pII.222.2:1). It is a practice of entering into God's Presence by
repeating His Name over and over, to the exclusion of all else.

This is a method I have tried to use over the years, and have received some
benefit from. Yet it never quite clicked into place for me until a few
months ago when I took a personal retreat. One of the goals I had for this
retreat was to really <get> this method - both in theory and in practice -
in part because our group here in Sedona would soon be practicing Workbook
Lesson 183. Oddly enough, I just happened to take my retreat at a Catholic
retreat center which, I discovered upon arrival, is very focused on
Centering Prayer, a contemporary form of Christian meditation which is
rooted in the medieval mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing - and which is
very similar (though not identical) to the method taught in Lesson 183. The
focus at the retreat center on Centering Prayer gave me a feeling of support
and a renewed motivation. Then, while there, I did a close study of Lesson
183, which really clarified its method in my mind, so that when I went to
practice it, it began to work much better than it had before. As a result, I
enjoyed many wonderful meditations with this method during my retreat, and
since then it has become my preferred technique.

The purpose of this essay is to clarify this technique to Course students so
that they can make use of it, or make better use of it if they are
practicing it already. The rest of the essay is divided into three parts:
theory, technique, and instructions. 


THEORY

This method of meditation is grounded in a teaching which makes this
meditation seem like the most logical and natural thing one can do with
one's mind.

Our attention is naturally drawn to those things we think can bring us
happiness, or at least protect us from pain. When our eyes look at a
particular scene, don't they automatically gravitate to perceived sources of
pleasure? To put this differently, we give our attention to what we think
can answer our prayers. Attention, then, is an expression of desire, and
desire is prayer. When we place our attention on the things of this world -
which is where we usually place it - we are in essence praying to those
things, hoping that they can fill our needs and make us safe. Yet can they
really answer our prayers? Can they bring us true happiness? According to
the Course, the answer is an emphatic <no.> Only God can bring us true joy.
He is the only true Object of our desires. By giving our attention to things
of this world, we are making them into false gods, substitutes for the only
One Who can truly reward our attention. We are behaving like the ancient
worshipper who prayed to a lifeless piece of stone that could neither hear
nor answer his prayers.

We also give our attention to what we think is real. We don't spend a lot of
our time, for instance, thinking about pink elephants - they're not real.
Instead, we spend it thinking about the events and situations that face us
in our day, precisely because we regard these as real. The Course, however,
teaches that the world is a dream; only God is real. Certainly you and I are
also real (Workbook Lesson 132 has us say, <For I am real because the world
is not>), but our reality is part of God's. His reality encompasses ours, as
well as the reality of all things.This means that the characters we see
walking around in the world have two aspects to them, a real aspect and an
unreal one. They have the outer face they show us - their body and
personality - which, the Course tells us, is unreal. And then behind this
outer face lies their eternal spirit, the only thing truly real. And that
spirit is part of God. Therefore, by placing our attention on God, we are
simultaneously placing it on the truth within others, even while we are
withdrawing our attention from the face they present the world.

In summary, we place our attention on what we think is real and will make us
happy. The things of the world (in their outer aspect, the aspect we are
generally focused on) are unreal and cannot make us happy. Only God is real
(<only> because He encompasses all things real) and only He can make us
happy.

This has obvious implications for where to put our attention. It implies
that the most honest and appropriate thing we can do with our attention is
to remove it from the outer realm and place it on God. And that is the
essence of this meditation technique. We can see this as having several
aspects. We transfer our attention from the outer to the inner, removing it
from the sensory realm and placing it on God's Presence deep within. We
transfer our attention from the many to the One, withdrawing it from the
numberless external bodies and placing it on the One Spirit. We transfer our
attention from the thousand nameless things of the world (nameless, because
only real things deserve names) to the one Name, which stands for all of
reality. We remove our desire from the little gods of the world, since they
cannot answer our prayers, and we give it to the One God, Who yearns to
answer all our prayers with the priceless gift of Himself.

An important element of this technique is that it uses only one word. This
is part of the Workbook's focus in the latter half of its year, where it
sets the goal of gradually going beyond words. Ultimately, we will not need
words at all for our practice. With a single motion of our will, we will be
instantly ushered into God's Presence. Reducing our practice from many words
to just one is an important step towards this goal. Given that using only
one word is central to this technique, I would not recommend using multiple
names for God within a single meditation.

TECHNIQUE

1. Selecting a name. Select a name of God to use (since the Workbook does
not dictate which name you use for God). It can be any word that signifies
God to you, but it should be a single word - preferably a short word of one
or two syllables. It should have maximum personal meaning to you, maximum
ability to evoke your desire and love for God. You may want to ask within
for guidance on what word to choose. 

2. Beginning the meditation. Sit comfortably. Close your eyes. The
meditation consists in repeating the Name, slowly and intentionally, over
and over. You can repeat it constantly, or regularly every several seconds
(synchronized with your breath, if you like), or irregularly, whenever you
feel moved to. The Workbook is silent on these issues and generally
considers such matters unimportant.

3. Focusing only on repeating the Name. Draw your attention in from
everything else and put all your attention and desire on the Name:

Practice but this today; repeat God's Name slowly again and still again.
Become oblivious to every name but His. Hear nothing else. Let all your
thoughts become anchored on This. No other word we use except at the
beginning, when we say today's idea but once. And then God's Name becomes
our only thought, our only word, the only thing that occupies our minds, the
only wish we have, the only sound with any meaning, and the only Name of
everything that we desire to see; of everything that we would call our own.
(W-pI.183.6:1-8).

4. Repeating the Name as a call for everything real and desirable. The
meaning, the feeling, you place in this Name is important (as you can see in
the above quote). Some suggestions about that:

4a. Don't say God's Name just as a word. Speak it directly to God, as a
communication from you to Him. Expect Him to hear and respond. <Thus do we
give an invitation which can never be refused. And God will come, and answer
it Himself> (W-pI.183.7:1).

4b. Repeat the Name as a call, <Which calls out for a response from God.>

* You are calling to God to come and reveal Himself to you in direct
experience. Let this call contain all your desire to experience Him.

* You are calling to your true Identity, Which is part of God. You are
asking to know Who you really are.

* You are calling to all things real - including the reality of your
brothers - since everything real is a part of God.

* You are calling for everything you truly want, since God is the only One
you really want. As the Course asks us to pray, <Yet is Your Love the only
thing I seek, or ever sought. For there is nothing else that I could ever
really want to find> (W-pII.231.1:3). 

In other words, with this one single word, you are calling for <everything>.
You are calling for everything that is real and everything you truly want.
Don't try to consciously include all of the above meanings in your mind. It
is important to repeat the Name gently, without strain. However, while you
do, also say it with meaning. Make it the appeal of your heart. As THE CLOUD
OF UNKNOWING (a medieval mystical text) put it, make this repetition into <a
dart of longing love.>

5. Drawing your mind back from wandering. Whenever your thought wanders to
something of the world, or to anything besides God's Name, respond by
repeating the Name. This wandering will be a regular occurrence, so don't be
distressed by it. Expect it. Simply be ready to respond by repeating the
Name and so dispelling the extraneous thought. Do this as often as you need
to. <If you spend the whole time doing this and nothing else, the time will
have been well spent.>

Sit silently, and let His Name become the all-encompassing idea that holds
your mind completely. Let all thoughts be still except this one. And to all
other thoughts respond with this, and see God's Name replace the thousand
little names you gave your thoughts, not realizing that there is one Name
for all there is, and all that there will be.	(W-pI.183.8:3-5)

In repeating the Name to dispel wandering thoughts, it helps if you remember
that what you were thinking about is essentially nothing - it is unreal and
unsatisfying, and that God's Name represents everything - all that is real
and all that you really want. So, when you notice a wandering thought,
repeat God's Name in the awareness that it represents everything and what
you were thinking about is nothing.

INDUCTION PROCESS

I have found the following instructions useful for beginning the meditation.
They are a way of turning the Name into a full and heartfelt call. Since
they only take a few minutes, they are just there to get you started on the
right foot.

At the beginning of the meditation, repeat God's Name two or three times, as
a way of addressing Him directly. Treat Him as a real Person. Expect Him to
hear.

And now repeat God's Name as an act of calling on Him, calling Him to come
to you and reveal Himself to you in direct experience.

And now repeat the Name as a way of calling on the awareness of your true
Identity. By calling on God you also call on your true Self, for They are
one.

Now repeat the Name as a way of calling on all of reality, including the
reality of your brothers, for everything real is part of God.

And now repeat God's Name as a prayer that asks for everything you truly
want, a prayer that contains all possible prayers. Say it as the prayer of
your heart.

And now repeat His Name in love; as <a dart of longing love.>


Now let all of these meanings blend together into one, so that by speaking
this one word you are calling on everything - everything real and everything
you truly want. As you continue the meditation, continue repeating His Name
in this spirit.

And whenever your mind wanders to something besides His Name, repeat the
Name gently as a way of drawing your mind back to focus. Repeat it as an
affirmation that God's Name represents everything, while the thing you were
thinking about is really nothing.




From sue at circleofa.org  Wed Jul  2 05:54:03 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 05:54:03 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 184 Extra - THINK NOT YOU MADE THE WORLD?
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THINK NOT YOU MADE THE WORLD?

There is a very puzzling statement in Workbook Lesson 184, so puzzling that
I have been asked about it several times:

Think not you made the world. Illusions, yes! But what is true in earth and
Heaven is beyond your naming. (W-pI.184.8:1-3)

The apparent problem with this passage is obvious: The Course tells us many
times that we made the world, yet here it says with great emphasis that we
should not think we made the world. What's more, it suggests that there are
<true> things in the world, the very world we have been repeatedly told is
an illusion!

How can we harmonize this passage with the rest of the Course? It's too easy
just to ignore it, to pass it off as Helen having a bad day, a glitch in
taking down the Course, or that the Course is just inconsistent. I think
such a passage calls for a serious attempt to reconcile what is said with
the rest of the Course.

Our first impulse when facing this kind of issue is often to draw upon our
overall understanding of the Course. We ask ourselves: Based on the Course's
overall thought system, how can I explain this passage? Many readers, no
doubt, have already asked themselves this question in the course of reading
this article.

I think there is a far better way. The answer to this kind of question
almost always lies in IMMEDIATE CONTEXT, in the material immediately before
and after the puzzling passage. Read that material very carefully, looking
for words and ideas that also occur in your puzzling passage. So let's do
that with the passage we are looking at here. You might even want to go to
Lesson 184 and read it from the start through paragraph 8, where our passage
occurs.

If you read the lesson from the beginning, you notice a central topic which
also occurs in our passage: the topic of NAMING (<naming> being the last
word of our passage). The beginning paragraphs of the lesson talk about our
process of giving names to everything around us. We are told that assigning
something a special name appears to <carve it out of unity> (1:4), making it
seem to be <a separate entity> (1:3) with its own <special attributes>
(1:5). In the wake of this naming project, we end up with a <reality>
composed of distinct entities separated by the unnamed space between them.
The naming process is thus really a MAKING process, whereby we become (at
least in part) the author of what we name-which is why there is so much
pride in inventing a name that sticks. This discussion of naming concludes
by saying, <This is the way reality is made by partial vision, purposefully
set against the given truth> (4:1).

Do you notice anything important about this sentence? Here we have another
idea found in our passage: the idea of us making our own reality. This
lesson appears to be talking about a somewhat different concept of making
the world. Usually, the Course seems to be referring to us making the world
through an unconscious process of dreaming time and space into <existence.>
Here, the Course is talking about a process closer to the surface: using
names to separate our perceptual field into distinct and separate entities.

Let's now go on to the lines immediately following the passage we are trying
to explain:

When you call upon a brother, it is to his body that you make appeal. His
true Identity is hidden from you by what you believe he really is. His body
makes response to what you call him, for his mind consents to take the name
you give him as his own. And thus his unity is twice denied, for you
perceive him separate from you, and he accepts this separate name as his.
(8:4-7)

To explain our puzzling passage, we need to answer a specific question: What
are the illusions we made and what are the true things we didn't make? The
answer to this question is right there in the lines just quoted. They
contain a clear contrast between two things, one illusory and one real. Can
you spot these two things? The illusory thing is the body, which merely
seems to be what our brother is. The real thing is our brother's <true
Identity,> who he really is, which (as we know from elsewhere in the Course)
is the Christ, a bodiless, boundless spiritual Self.

So, very simply, the illusions we made are bodies, the forms of this world,
the visible aspect of this world. Yet behind each illusion is a brother, who
is an invisible, spiritual mind, and who ultimately is the Christ Himself.
This brother is real. He was not made by us but created by God. He is not
even really in this world. His true location is Heaven. He seems to be here,
however, trapped inside this body. That, I believe, is why our confusing
passage speaks of <what is true in earth and Heaven.> The true things in
this earth are not really in the earth at all; they are part of Heaven.

The confusion in our passage is really explained by now. But before pulling
together what we have discovered, I would like to uncover a little more,
just to show how much meaning there is here. Notice, in the lines quoted
above, how the process of naming is carried further than before. A whole
process is sketched, which goes something like this: You have in front of
you a human body. You believe that this body is who your brother is. You
express this belief by calling your brother by the name the world has given
him. This name does not designate his true Identity, Which is one with all
things and so could not have a special name. This name stands for a
particular separate entity moving through space and time. It stands for a
physical body. Thus, simply by calling him this name, you affirm that he is
a separate body. Then, upon hearing your call, he accepts this name as his
own. His mind thinks, <Yes, that is me. I am the body with that particular
name.> As a result, his body responds to you, standing in for his actual
identity and playing its role. This is how <his unity is twice denied.> By
calling him a unique name, you have denied his true state of oneness with
all reality. When he accepts this name as actually referring to him, he too
has denied his oneness.

Now we are in a position to understand our initially puzzling passage with
complete clarity. All we need to do is pull together all the things we have
discovered through inspecting its immediate context. Here again is the
passage:

Think not you made the world. Illusions, yes! But what is true in earth and
Heaven is beyond your naming.	(W-pI.184.8:1-3)

And here is what we have discovered that it means:

First, you made a world of separate bodies in order to hide the unified
field of minds which lay behind those bodies. Then, you NAMED each body,
further cementing the idea that this separate body-rather than the mind
behind it-was the true person. Through this double process (of making forms
then naming the forms) you made the world you see. But you think you made
much more than this. Through this process, you think you made your brother
(one of those unified minds) into the creature you see before you. You think
you carved him out of unity; changed him from a boundless, unified spirit
into a separate physical creature, designated by a special name. What an
arrogant thought! For you only made the illusions of the world. Your brother
was not made by you and so cannot properly be named by you, nor shaped and
molded by your naming. He is far beyond all that. His reality may seem to be
encased in a body, may seem to be part of this world, but in truth he abides
in Heaven, where God placed him.

If we look carefully at the immediate context of any passage in the Course,
we not only gain clarity, we also gain a much fuller meaning than we saw
before.




From sue at circleofa.org  Wed Jul  2 05:54:07 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 05:54:07 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 184 - July 3
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAN1Hcc5DdtlDnekU7Fv56uMBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 184 - July 3

THE NAME OF GOD IS MY INHERITANCE.

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

Purpose: To go past the inheritance you gave yourself-the little, separate
things of the world, each with its own name-and experience the inheritance
that God gave you: everything, all of Heaven. This experience will help
<make your weak commitment strong; your scattered goals blend into one
intent> (W-pI.In.181-200.1:1).

Morning/evening quiet time: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

The practice in this lesson is the same as yesterday-what I call Name of God
meditation-with perhaps a slightly modified emphasis:
* Close your eyes and repeat today's idea one time.
* After that, simply <repeat God's Name slowly again and still again>
(W-pI.183.6:1). As you repeat this Name (remember you can use a name of your
own choosing), realize that you are calling upon the awareness of all of
reality, including the true reality of all your brothers. You are really
asking for the inheritance God gave you as His Son. He has passed on to you
everything He has, which is everything there is. This is what you are asking
for, so ask with desire.
* When your mind wanders to all the little names that denote the things of
this world, use God's Name to dispel those names, remembering that
everything that is real has only one Name.

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

Do a short version of the morning/evening exercise. Close by asking for
God's guidance for the coming hour and thanking Him for His gifts in the
past hour.

COMMENTARY

There is a lot we could think about in this lesson. The way names, which are
symbols, are based on separation and distancing of things. The way that
perception is built up by these names and distinctions. How all of this
forces us to view wholeness as an enemy. The way that the learning of the
world consists primarily in learning all these names and ways of classifying
things.

All of this is in contrast to the reality that is represented by the Name of
God. The Name of God stands for wholeness, oneness, <the one Identity Which
all things share> (10:2). Our perception has taught us an illusion, based on
thousands of names for discrete parts we see as separate things; reality,
however, is wholeness, undifferentiated, unseparated. The picture of parts
we have manufactured hides the reality of the wholeness from us.

So, then, are we to attempt to completely set aside our perception of parts
with separate names, and to live, somehow, seeing only the oneness? Is it
somehow <wrong> for us to use the names and symbols of the world, to act as
though Marilyn is different from Bob? Are we to treat a bluebird like our
own baby? No. The lesson affirms the absolute truth, but it does not insist
we attempt to make this world fit into that picture.

First, it says quite clearly that learning all the little names and symbols
of separation <is a phase of learning everyone who comes must go through>
(7:2). As some teachers of transpersonal psychology (the branch of
psychology that teaches that ultimate wholeness transcends individual ego
development) have said, you cannot transcend the ego until you have
developed a healthy ego. Ego development seems to be a necessary step in our
overall growth. Children have to become healthy, adult egos before they can
successfully go beyond the ego. If an adult is still wrestling with problems
of personality development that, in <normal> growth, should have been
handled in childhood or adolescence, those problems probably need to be
addressed, on their own level, before the person seeks to transcend their
ego entirely.

I am extrapolating on the lesson a good deal here, and expressing what have
to be classed as opinions, not necessarily something taught by the Course.
But I do think this section comes pretty close to implying this: EVERYONE
has to pass through the <teaching of the world> (7:1) stage before they can
begin to question its premises. We do not want to stop short at the teaching
of the world (7:4), but it does seem we have to pass through it. <In its
proper place, it serves but as a starting point from which another kind of
learning can begin> (7:5).

Not only do we all need to pass through the world's kind of learning as a
starting point, but after we have begun to <go beyond all symbols of the
world,> there is still reason for us to continue to use them: we have a
teaching function (9:1). We still continue, for instance, to call people by
name, to treat them as individuals with individual needs, but we are <not
deceived> (9:3) by these apparent differences. The names and symbols of the
world are necessary for purposes of communication, but <they become but
means by which you can communicate in ways the world can understand, but
which you recognize is not the unity where true communication can be found>
(9:5). We are using the symbols of the world to communicate the fact of
wholeness; we are using symbols to undo the symbols.

This is a tricky game. It is easy, remaining in the world and playing by the
rules of separation, so to speak, to forget the reality these symbols of
separation are hiding. That is exactly why the practice of holy instants is
so important!

Thus what you need are intervals each day in which the learning of the world
becomes a transitory phase; a prison house from which you go into the
sunlight and forget the darkness. Here you understand the Word, the Name
which God has given you; the one Identity which all things share; the one
acknowledgment of what is true. And then step back to darkness, not because
you think it real, but only to proclaim its unreality in terms which still
have meaning in the world that darkness rules.	(10:1-3)

Practicing with the Name of God enables us to let go of <all foolish
separations-which kept us blind> (14:3). In our quiet times we remember the
wholeness and forget the differences. We may still see differences, but what
we see has not changed the truth (13:3). All things still have one Name. In
our practicing we renew this awareness, and then we <step back to darkness>;
we return to the world of symbols and dreams in order to proclaim to it the
reality we have experienced in the holy instant:
Father, our Name is Yours. In It we are united with all living things, and
You Who are their one Creator.  (15:1-2)




From sue at circleofa.org  Thu Jul  3 05:50:59 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 05:50:59 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 185 - July 4
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAACWDaMsqQv1HsXKyCQvZouYBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 185 - July 4

I want the peace of God

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE To let go your attachment to the things of the world, so that you
can unify your intent behind the peace of God, realizing that His peace is
the only thing you ever really wanted.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

*   Search your mind carefully for the dreams-the things in this world-you
still cherish. Locate them not by the words you use, but by your desire for
them. <Consider but what you believe will comfort you, and bring you
happiness> (8:4). In other words, be honest in your search. However, don't
be dismayed by what your honesty uncovers. You may feel shame over certain
dreams and be tempted to conceal them. Instead, realize that all dreams are
one. Of every dream you thus uncover, ask this question: <Is this what I
would have, in place of Heaven and the peace of God?>
*  The goal is to reach a place where you can say with real sincerity, <I
want the peace of God.> To really mean this, you must also mean that you
DON'T want the things of this world, for the two are mutually exclusive. It
also helps to realize that <I want the peace of God> does not mean <I have
come to want His peace,> but <I have come to realize that His peace is the
only thing I ever wanted.>

REMARKS: The point today is to unify your intent. <You have been weak at
times, uncertain in your purpose, and unsure of what you wanted, where to
look for it, and where to turn for help in the attempt> (10:5). Today, try
to have a single intent. Ask for God's peace and mean it. <Make this request
with deep sincerity> (10:3). Make the request for everyone, not just
yourself, for this is what everyone wants. Realize that you are uniting your
intent with the call of every heart and with the Will of God Himself.

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

Do a short version of the morning/evening exercise. Close by asking for
God's guidance for the coming hour and thanking Him for His gifts in the
past hour.

COMMENTARY

Kind of interesting that a lesson about the peace of God falls on the day
that celebrates a revolution (Independence Day in the USA). Our local Unity
minister suggested that instead of <Independence Day> we should celebrate
<Inner-dependence Day,> which I thought was a nice play on words and quite
appropriate.

This lesson teaches two seemingly opposing things. First, it teaches us that
we do not yet really mean it when we say, <I want the peace of God.> For if
we meant it, we would have it. <No one can mean these words and not be
healed> (2:1). 

Many have said these words. But few indeed have meant them. You have but to
look upon the world you see around you to be sure how very few they are.
(2:6-8) 

Indeed, all you need to do is watch the evening news. Or spend one day at
your job.

Second, it teaches us that, in spite of our obvious dedication to things
other than peace, at heart we REALLY DO want the peace of God. All of us do.
<We want the peace of God. This is no idle wish> (7:2-3). <You want the
peace of God. And so do all who seem to seek for dreams> (10:1-2).

The task the Course sets before us is uncovering and fully accepting BOTH of
these facts. To accept them fully, they must be accepted as true of
everyone, not just of ourselves. Underneath all the seeking for illusions,
everyone wants peace. This is something that is universally true, a fact
that can be totally depended upon. It is true, as the line I quoted in the
last paragraph asserts, even of those who seem to be seeking for something
else. They may not be AWARE that the peace of God is what they really want,
but it is true, nevertheless (10:4). Our job in interacting with others is
to remember this universal longing of every heart, and to join ourselves
with it in the other person, even when they are totally unaware of it
themselves.

Yet before we can firmly believe that we, and everyone, want the peace of
God above all else, we have to face the fact that we have foolishly believed
we wanted something else more than peace. For if we wanted only peace, we
would have only peace; that is how the power of our minds works. So there
must be something, or some things, that we have valued more than peace. Our
first job, then, is uncovering these competing desires, assessing them
honestly, recognizing that they are only idle wishes, and letting them go in
favor of peace.

We want the most amazingly trivial things instead of peace. I watch a young
child burst into tears and throw a tantrum because he cannot have his
favorite breakfast, and I think, <The only difference between him and me is
that I have developed sophisticated ways of camouflaging my tantrums.> I
share a house with Robert Perry and his family and another single man, and
we often have guests. I have found myself losing my peace over empty ice
cube trays and vanishing rolls of toilet paper. I have given away my peace
in concern about who last emptied the garbage.

Perhaps, today, we can all stop ourselves when these <little> moments of
separation occur and ask ourselves, <Is this what I would have, in place of
Heaven and the peace of God?> (8:8). Do I really value a roll of toilet
paper more than God's peace?

Let me point out one more interesting observation of this lesson: you cannot
have peace alone. <The mind which means that all it wants is peace must join
with other minds, for that is how peace is obtained> (6:1). To have peace we
have to be willing to let the other person into our hearts. We have to
recognize their desire for peace equally with our own.

The temptation is always to think, <I want peace; the problem is with the
other person.> Always remember, though: if you want peace, you will have it.
No one else can take it from you. If you cannot be at peace when the other
person seems to want something besides peace, what you are teaching that
person is that your peace depends on their changing. This just reinforces
the same belief in the other person, and they continue to believe that their
peace depends on them changing you.

Our job is to see past the competing desires in that other person to the
universal reality that lies underneath. However we respond to them, if we
are to teach peace, our actions must affirm to that person that peace
already lies within them, ready for them as soon as they are willing to
receive it. We join our own intent with what they seek above all things
(10:4). By our faith in that intent, however hidden it may appear, we draw
it out of them; we give them the opportunity to recognize it within
themselves and align their mind with it:

It is this one intent we seek today, uniting our desires with 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.(14:1)




From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Jul  4 13:25:14 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 13:25:14 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 186 - July 5
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAO9DzU08SQNFlHMbV6b0gB8BAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 186 - July 5

SALVATION OF THE WORLD DEPENDS ON ME

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To go past both your self-made roles and your doubts about your
worth and adequacy, and hear and accept your assigned role in God's plan for
salvation. This will unify your scattered energies behind a single goal.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.
Today's practice consists of listening to the Holy Spirit, asking for Him to
tell you what your role in His plan is (this is similar to Lesson 135). To
really listen, you will need to set aside your notions of your roles in
life, realizing how shifting they are and how much they scatter your
energies. You will need to open your mind to the fact that you have an
essential role in the Holy Spirit's plan for the salvation of the world.
Don't let your ego tell you that such an idea is arrogant, that you cannot
possibly be worthy, that you are not strong enough, wise enough, or holy
enough. Banish this arrogant chatter from your mind. Let go of all words.
Open your mind and listen in genuine humility. Let the Voice for God reveal
to you what He would have you do in His plan. Trust that the role He has
selected for you suits you perfectly, that you can do it, because He knows
you better than you know yourself. If the role you hear sounds beyond your
capabilities, ask yourself who is more likely to be right: your ego's voice
or God's Voice?

If you hear nothing, keep repeating your question with genuine desire. And
keep setting aside the ego's chatter as it intrudes. Know that you are at
the very least drawing closer the day when the answer will be yours.
End the practice period by trying to genuinely <accept the function given
you> (10:1). If you have received a sense of what it is, try to accept that
as your role in life. If you haven't received anything, try to accept your
role in advance.

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

Suggestion: Thank God for His gifts to you in the hour gone by. Then let go
of your notions of your role in the coming hour, and ask God's Voice what
role He has selected for you in that hour.

COMMENTARY

Our individual salvation and our happiness depends on our accepting what
this lesson teaches: the salvation of the world depends on us. Our function
is to save the world, to bring the light and joy and peace of God to every
mind within our reach - which is a far greater number than we imagine.

The lesson is not simply saying that it would be a good idea for us to
accept this thought. 
It is saying that acceptance is imperative to our own personal freedom:

There is one way, and only one, to be released from the imprisonment your
plan to prove the false is true has brought to you. Accept the plan you did
not make instead.(5:1-2) 
The Course is often so uncompromising: <one way, and only one.> If we want
to experience our own wholeness, if we want to find our Self, we MUST accept
that salvation of the world depends on us. Why? Because the nature of Who we
are demands it. If I am an extension of God, and if Love, which created me,
is what I am, then how can I possibly accept that fact and NOT accept that
my function is to give myself to the world? Giving is what Love does!

To take our place among the saviors of the world is not arrogance, if we are
as God created us. It is merely accepting what has been given to us by our
Creator: <We did not establish [our function]. It is not our idea> (2:2-3).
In fact it is arrogant NOT to acknowledge this as our function. The
self-image we make in arrogance pictures us as weak, ignorant, and helpless
(6:3-4). It seems humble, but it is mountainous arrogance masquerading as
humility. This self-image thumbs its nose at the Creator and says, <I am
what I make of myself, and not what You created me to be.>

The last week or so I have frequently been finding myself feeling at loose
ends. I seem to drift from one task to another, and to have a great deal of
difficulty concentrating on anything. The description in 10:4 seems to
describe me exactly: <The functions which the world esteems are so uncertain
that they change ten times an hour at their most secure.> And as I read this
lesson I recognize that I have been trying to define my function for myself,
instead of simply accepting the one God gave me. I have been fighting my
function. Yet when it is accepted, it is so unambiguous that life simply
straightens out, and all the confusion is gone: <In lovely contrast, certain
as the sun's return each morning to dispel the night, your truly given
function stands out clear and wholly unambiguous> (11:1).

So then, let me today stop resisting my function. Let me stop listening to
my self-made image, which trembles as God speaks to me of my true function,
sensing that the basis of its existence is being cut away (7:1-2). Let me
simply let go of my plans for myself and surrender to the plan I did not
make, trusting that everything I need to fulfill it has been given me;
trusting that I am worthy to be counted among the saviors of the world;
trusting that all my needs are answered by God, even though He does not see
them, in whatever form is most useful at the moment (13:4-5).

Salvation of the world depends on you who can forgive. Such is your function
here.(14:5-6)




From sue at circleofa.org  Sat Jul  5 10:18:43 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 10:18:43 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 187 - July 8
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAEQ6BnRsI7RCkwgVn1QXSrwBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



LESSON 187 - JULY 6

I BLESS THE WORLD BECAUSE I BLESS MYSELF

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

Purpose: To bless yourself by looking upon the purity in you, and then to
bless the world with that same purity. To give the world the lilies of
forgiveness you find on the altar within you, and then to find those lilies
returned to you, thereby dispelling your belief that giving is sacrifice.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

This is another meditation aimed at experiencing the purity within you, like
Lessons 181 and 182. The lesson speaks of this using the imagery of a holy
altar within you, and you may want to use this imagery in your meditation.
Quiet your mind and go to find that holy altar in you. You might imagine, as
other lessons suggest, that you are traveling through thick fog, until it
clears and you reach the altar. Be unafraid to look upon it. There on the
altar, you will see the lilies of forgiveness your brother has given you and
you have given him. There before the altar, you stand united with all your
brothers. With them, repeat the Name of God, for this altar is the place in
you that is perfectly devoted to your Father. How can you possibly fear Him
when such purity abides in you? This is your true nature, which is so pure
and so blessed that looking on it will leave you enraptured. You will forget
about all earthly gifts, as the gift of your holiness becomes the only thing
you want.

REMARKS: This is how you bless yourself, by looking on this holy altar. Now
that you have received blessing, you can give it. <Now we are blessed, and
now we bless the world> (11:1). So spend the day taking the lilies of
forgiveness from your inner altar and giving them to your brothers. The
lesson expects that this will often take concrete form: giving of your time,
your abilities, and even your material means. If you fear that this is
sacrifice, you can afford to laugh at that thought, for whatever you give
you receive. Picture the outer gift you are giving as a lily of forgiveness,
and realize that this lily will then be laid on your altar, as further
testament to your purity. From there, this lily will manifest in your life
in the <form most helpful> to you (5:7).

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

Do a short version of the morning/evening exercise. Close by asking for
God's guidance for the coming hour and thanking Him for His gifts in the
past hour.

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: When tempted to believe you are making a sacrifice.

Repeat the idea and then take the blessing you have been given within, and
give it to your brother. All thought of sacrifice will vanish in the face of
the receiving and giving of blessing.

COMMENTARY

We find it easy to understand that in order to give a thing, you first must
have it. That's obvious. We find it more difficult to believe that giving
actually increases what you have.
The key to understanding this, says the lesson, lies in the fact that
<things but represent the thoughts that make them> (2:3). To understand how
giving away what we have increases it, we have to begin to recognize that
<things> are not real; what is real are the thoughts behind them. This is
not necessarily saying that if I give $100 to a brother in need I will
immediately receive $200 in return from some other source. However, it is
saying that when I give $100 away knowing that money is just an idea, I will
be increasing the thought that brought money to me in the first place.
Therefore, that will eventually result in more money, or more <wealth and
abundance> in some form. The form may be identical or it may not:

Perhaps the form in which the thought seems to appear is changed in giving.
Yet it must return to him who gives. Nor can the form it takes be less
acceptable. It must be more.	(2:5-8)

In other words, what is returned is always greater than what is given.
I have begun to learn this by giving away ideas directly, in my study group
and in my writing. I have indeed found it true that as I give away these
ideas, they increase in me. I get at least as much, if not more, benefit
than anyone who is <receiving> from me. I am quite aware that I am blessing
the world because I am blessing myself; I am doing this for my own benefit.

It is harder when it comes to material things. It is not so easy to make the
connection that money is just an idea, or a tape is just an idea, a book is
just an idea, a car is just an idea. I learn in little ways. I give away
newsletters that cost me money, believing that it will return to me
eventually. I give hours of my time to the study group, believing that the
return will come. I still FEEL that as basically giving it away. The return
has only just begun.

I think when I learn this lesson fully it will be no big deal to give up the
idea of ownership entirely and to share everything I possess with anyone who
needs it. But I am a long way from that as yet.

The next paragraph is very important:

Ideas must first belong to you, before you give them. If you are to save the
world, you first accept salvation for yourself. But you will not believe
that this is done until you see the miracles it brings to everyone you look
upon. Herein is the idea of giving clarified and given meaning. Now you can
perceive that by your giving is your store increased.	(3:1-5)

To give salvation I must first accept it for myself. But to know I have it,
I have to give it away. That must mean that I have to start giving before I
know I have it! The gift that giving brings is knowing that I have the gift
I give.

The lesson advises us to protect what we have by giving it away. It warns,
<Yet value not its form> (4:3). In other words, you may not get it back in
the exact form you give it. If I give $100 cash, I may receive a gift in a
different form: a tape player, computer software, a burst of physical
energy, or whatever. If I give away a particular book, I may not ever
receive that particular form again, and I have to learn not to value the
form, but the thought behind the form. It is foolish to value forms. <No
form endures> (4:5). 

Remember: 

What [the giver] seems to lose is always something he will value less than
what will surely be returned to him.	(5:8)

Every gift I give is always a gift to myself. I never lose! I gain, and so
does the recipient of my gift, especially if he or she learns from me to
give again. <Who understands what giving means must laugh at the idea of
sacrifice> (6:2). Laugh, because there is no such thing as sacrifice. What I
give is given to myself; I never lose, I always gain. How can that be called
sacrifice!

The lesson clearly applies this to all forms of <giving> and all forms of
<sacrifice,> including pain and loss, sickness, grief, poverty, starvation,
and death. When I <give up> a relationship in the form I thought I wanted,
according to this lesson I receive something I will value far more. Perhaps
I may learn to accept the gift of self-sufficiency, for instance.

I'm sure the same will be true as I make other <sacrifices.> Mistakenly I
fear the <loss> I will feel with these things absent from my life. There
will be no loss, no sacrifice. What I gain will far exceed the apparent
loss. And in reality I lose nothing except a false identification.

For instance, I think I get a certain satisfaction and comfort from eating a
nice meal. The pleasure of the taste; the pleasure of being full. I falsely
identify these feelings with the object, the food. But pleasure,
satisfaction, and comfort are just the ideas behind the food. If I were to
dissociate food from those ideas, I would not be giving up those ideas; I
would be affirming them. I retain them, and they grow. There will be
pleasure, satisfaction, and comfort in other forms, more lasting and more
generalized. I have gained the general form by giving up the specific
identification of those ideas with <food.>

In general, we will go through many iterations of apparent giving up,
apparent sacrifice, until we learn that the thing is not the idea, that no
particular form can be identified with the idea behind it. We will learn,
eventually, to hold on to no form, but to always value not the form, but the
thought behind it.

Ultimately we go beyond the idea of many different thoughts to see only one
Thought-the innocent Son of God, the Christ. We see that Thought within
ourselves, and <what we have looked upon we would extend, for we would see
it everywhere> (11:2). <To ensure this holy sight is ours, we offer it to
everything we see> (11:5).





From sue at circleofa.org  Sun Jul  6 11:14:07 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 11:14:07 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 188 - July 7
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAC2TjDquH/VCiYXwS6bHIdkBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



LESSON 188 - JULY 7

"The peace of God is shining in me now."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

Purpose: To go past thoughts of the outer world and so experience the peace
of God shining in you now. This brief taste of your goal will strengthen
your resolve to reach it completely.
Morning/evening quiet time: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

This is a meditation in which you seek to contact the peace of God shining
in you now. To make sense of the discussion of thoughts in paragraphs 6-9,
you might imagine that your thought is a stream or current that stretches
all the way from the world outside, which is where your thoughts are focused
now, to its source at the center of your being. At the outside of the
stream, your thoughts are tainted "by the dream of worldly things outside
yourself" (6:6), full of "strange desires and disordered wishes" (9:6). As
the stream moves inward, however, your thoughts become "honest thoughts"
(6:6) that actually "lead you back to peace" (7:5). They seek the light in
you, the peace of God in you. Finally, at the inmost part of the stream,
they become "the thoughts we share with God" (9:2), thoughts that are at one
with His peace. 
Your task in this meditation is to follow this stream inward, to move your
thought-your attention-from the stream's outermost place to its innermost
place. Begin by withdrawing your thoughts from their focus outside. As you
withdraw them, they become washed clean, and they will start to draw you
inward, for they feel the call of God. Now "let your thoughts fly to the
peace within" (6:4). Trust that "they know the way" (6:5). Let them draw you
along that stream until you reach its source, and rest in God.

As your thought reaches the peace of God within, know that that peace will
extend from your heart around the world, blessing each living thing and
returning to you with all the gifts you gave. "From you salvation radiates
with gifts beyond all measure, given and returned" (4:2).

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

Repeat, "The peace of God is shining in me now. Let all things shine upon me
in that peace. And let me bless them with the light in me." Then draw your
attention inward and seek the peace of God in you. Finish by thanking God
for His gifts in the hour gone by and asking for His guidance in the hour to
come.

Response to temptation: When tempted to blame the world for what you thought
it did to you.

Realize that the world hasn't done anything to you; what you see is what you
chose. So choose that the world be pure and innocent, and lay your "saving
blessing on it" (10:5) by repeating, "The peace of God is shining in me now.
Let all things shine upon me in that peace. And let me bless them with the
light in me."

COMMENTARY

I always seem to hear the emphasis in this sentence on the last word, "now."
It speaks to me of the holy instant. It tells me that whatever storms seem
to be raging in my mind, whatever chaotic circumstances I find myself in,
there is within me a constant beacon of peace, forever shining,
uninterrupted and uninterruptible. It calls me to stop for a moment,
withdraw my attention from all the turmoil that makes up my "life" in this
world, and reconnect to that peace. Somewhere within me, there is a place
that is always at perfect peace, like the eye of a hurricane. And I can find
that place any time I choose to do so, truly desiring to find it.

The Course is consistent in its vision. Nothing separates us from the Love
of God. Complete salvation, perfect peace, pure joy, and full forgiveness
are always available right now. "Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a
change at all" (1:4). What we call enlightenment is simply recognizing the
presence of the light, which has never left us. It is realizing that the
only reason we cannot see the light is that we have our hands over our eyes.
That is why we "need do nothing." We don't have to do, we simply undo. We
stop blocking the light, which is always there.

The particular block being addressed in this lesson (you'll recall that this
series of lessons was billed as directly addressing certain specific blocks)
is simply the tendency to see enlightenment as a future thing. The opening
words sound the keynote: "Why wait for Heaven?" (1:1). "Why wait to find it
in the future, or believe it has been lost already, or was never there?"
(2:2). All that we need do to discover its reality is to look for it within
ourselves, where it has always been.

But the peace of God is not only within me, it is shining in me. "The peace
of God is shining in you now, and from your heart extends around the world"
(3:1). I may feel as bottled up as Custer at the Last Stand; I may feel as
fertile as the Sahara. But from within my being, nevertheless, the peace of
God is being broadcast like a universal beacon to the entire world. My right
mind is extending itself in global beneficence to all creation, pausing "to
caress each living thing" (3:2) (what a beautiful image that brings to my
mind!), and leaving an everlasting blessing with whatever it touches. That
is part of what I am bringing to my awareness; that is part of the picture
of my Self that I am learning to recognize each time I stop, become quiet,
and look within. When the Course tells me that I am among the saviors of the
world, it isn't telling me about something I have to achieve, it is telling
me what I already am.

Within me there is, even now, and even in my darkest moments, a living flow
of thoughts of light. There is a heavenly current constantly surging through
me to extend love and blessing to the world, and to myself. That flow of
thoughts is something I can, in the holy instant, become aware of and tune
in to.

"Accept His Word for what you are" (8:2); that is what this lesson is
calling on us to do. We read of the Christ, we read of the Buddha and his
heart of compassion. The Buddha is you. And that is Jesus' message to us,
that we are as he is. "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so
to walk, even as he walked" (1 Jn 2:6). We are the Christ; that is what we
are; that is what we need to accept. It seems too high, too far beyond our
concept of ourselves. But in the holy instant, in the quiet, when we
withdraw from the world and "let [our] thoughts fly to the peace within"
(6:4), we can know ourselves in this way. We can sense the depth of love
that wants to express itself through us.

Oh, we may not do such a great job, just yet, at letting that love out. We
may get in the way more often than not. But the love that would embrace the
world, heal its wounds, and dry its tears is in us, and is us. We all know
that is so, if we are willing to look at it. We can look upon the whole
world today and everyone within it, and we can say:

We will forgive them all, absolving all the world from what we thought it
did to us....Now we choose that it be innocent, devoid of sin and open to
salvation. And we lay our saving blessing on it, as we say:

	The peace of God is shining in me now. 
	Let all things shine upon me in that peace, 
	And let me bless them with the light in me.	(10:2, 4-7)






From sue at circleofa.org  Mon Jul  7 05:30:54 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 05:30:54 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 189 - July 8
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAHfEpauBCcJGpJ/lOejr7pMBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 189 - July 8

I feel the Love of God within me now.

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To go past all your thoughts of self, world, and God and so
experience the Love of God within you now. This will go far towards enabling
you to give your total willingness to the
Course's way.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

This is an exercise in what I call <Open Mind Meditation.> Follow the
instructions in paragraph 7 (you may even want to use them as an induction
process): Empty your mind of all thoughts and try to let go of all your
beliefs as well, including your highest spiritual beliefs. Even ideas from
the Course must not be allowed into your mind. <Empty your mind of
everything> (7:2). And then stand there, with your mental hands completely
open, ready to receive God's Love. Trust that He <knows the way to you>
(8:1), and that all you need do is remove the obstacles and <His love will
blaze its pathway> (9:4) into your mind. As always, whenever any words or
thoughts intrude, repeat the idea and then return to waiting empty-handed
for God's Love.

HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: One or two minutes as the hour strikes (reduce if
circumstances do not permit). Do a short version of the morning/evening
exercise. Close by asking for God's guidance for the coming hour and
thanking Him for His gifts in the past hour.


COMMENTARY

By this point in the Workbook, any time we see the word <now> we should be
seeing it as a probable reference to the holy instant. The word <feel> also
has significance, directing our attention to the realm of experience, as
opposed to conceptual understanding. Given these two points we can realize
that this lesson is about entering a holy instant in which we have an
experience of God's Love within us.

<There is a light in you the world can not perceive> (1:1). The lesson
begins by referring, as did yesterday's lesson, to the light that is within
us, inherent in our creation. It is not something visible to the body's
sense organs (1:2), but quite visible to a different kind of sight. To see
this light and to feel the Love of God are synonymous (1:7). We are being
directed to experience this other kind of seeing.

We can see <through darkened eyes of malice and of fear> (3:2), or with a
mind permeated with the experience of Love's presence within the mind. What
we see within determines how we see the world. Based on our state of mind,
we see either a world poised to attack us, or a world that reaches out to
bless us. Either picture of the world makes the other picture inconceivable
to us (3:5; 4:1).

If I am seeing <a world of hatred rising from attack> (3:5), the description
of the world given in paragraph 2 seems to be no more than wishful thinking.
People encountering the teaching of the Course for the first time often
raise this objection. For instance, I once heard a man who had listened to a
lecture on forgiveness say, <You people must be crazy! All you have to do is
walk down the street in New York and you can't possibly maintain that love
is all there is.> He was seeing a world of hatred rising from attack; there
was no room left in his mind to see anything else.

If I am seeing the world of hatred, how can I possibly see a world of love?
No logical argument will ever change my mind. What is required is something
that will change what my mind is seeing within itself, because the world I
see is nothing more than a reflection of that, <the outside picture of an
inward condition> (T-21.In.1:5). If I am seeing a world of attack it is
because within myself I am seeing an attacking mind. <What they have felt in
them they look upon, and see its sure reflection everywhere> (4:3). The holy
instant can, and does, change that self-perception. <I feel the Love of God
within me now.> That experience will literally transform the way I see the
world. <If you feel the Love of God within you, you will look out on a world
of mercy and of love> (5:5).

This is why we are asked to <lay aside all thoughts of what [we] are> (7:1),
to be still, and to allow something else to enter our minds. We are being
asked to set aside every conclusion we have ever made about anything, to
allow for a moment at least that all of it may be misinformed and misguided,
and to <come with wholly empty hands unto your God> (7:5). In asking us to
forget even <this course> (7:5), the lesson is not saying that intellectual
comprehension of the Course is not useful, but it is saying that only
something that transcends the intellect can truly turn the tide of our wrong
perception. Even our understanding of the Course is bound to be distorted
when it is based on a mind firmly rooted in fear and in the concept of self
we have built up. We may mistakenly use that imperfect understanding to
dictate to God the way He should come to us. So we are asked to set even
this aside, and to allow God to come to us in whatever way He wants to come.

To forget the Course is not a permanent principle, but a temporary expedient
to be practiced in our moments of stillness, designed to allow a new kind of
experience. It is merely part of removing the barriers to the experience of
ourselves as Love, for even our ego-based <understanding> of the Course can
interfere with the experience of its true meaning. So we are being told,
when seeking the holy instant, to lay aside any assumption that we
understand anything at all. Let everything be open to change. If we are
willing to do this, <His Love will blaze its pathway of itself> (9:4).

We cannot force ourselves to see the world differently. But if we can, just
for an instant, see ourselves differently, and feel the Love of God within
ourselves, the way we see the world will change of itself, because the way
we see the world is the way we see ourselves.




From sue at circleofa.org  Tue Jul  8 05:33:56 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 05:33:56 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 190 - July 9
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAE7YtpPmU39EkBi87UrfllsBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 190 -  July 9

I choose the joy of God instead of pain.

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To realize that pain is deceptive illusion, and that joy is reality
and truth. To go past pain and experience the joy that lies beyond it. This
will help <your scattered goals blend into one intent>
(W-pI.In.181-200.1:1).

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.
This is a meditation in which you set aside all thought of attack and
defense, all judgment and all assault. These are simply attempts to hide
your holiness. Lay down these thoughts of war and sink into the stillness of
Heaven's peace. In this holy place, you will feel the joy of God arise in
you. Here, you will realize that pain, not joy, is the naive illusion. You
will understand that joy is reality, it is awakening, and it is truth.
HOURLY REMEMBRANCE: One or two minutes as the hour strikes (reduce if
circumstances do not permit). Do a short version of the morning/evening
exercise. Close by asking for God's guidance for the coming hour and
thanking Him for His gifts in the past hour. RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION:
(Suggestion) when tempted to think that the world causes your pain. Realize
this is a judgment, and that this judgment is a sword you hold against your
throat. Then repeat the idea; choose the joy of God instead of pain.

COMMENTARY

This is a tough lesson. It confronts us with another of those blocks we've
been talking about: the apparent reality of pain. As the lesson very clearly
states, pain seems to bear witness to <a nightmare of abandonment by an
Eternal Love> (2:5). <It witnesses to God the Father's hatred of His Son>
(1:7).

Anyone who has experienced serious pain knows what this is talking about.
Anyone who has had a loved one endure deep, constant pain knows the
questions it raises in the mind. <How could God allow this to happen, if He
is love?> Even the milder forms of pain tell the same story, raise the same
questions.

I am not going to pretend that I have entirely succeeded in removing this
block from my mind. I find it hard to write about this lesson because I
recognize that a very present part of me still sees pain as real, rather
than illusion. Yet, I do believe that what the lesson says is true. I choose
to believe it, and I want to believe it. So I do not see myself as being in
conflict over this issue. I am learning, more and more, to look my fears
straight in the face, and to recognize that I still do believe, in large
measure, that pain is real. And if this lesson is true, this must mean that
part of me believes there is no God (3:3 4), that the impossible has
happened, and Eternal Love has abandoned me. If I have been reading the Text
with any discernment, this is not news to me. What then? Do I need to wallow
in guilt because my mind has not yet been entirely renewed? Of course not: 

The time has come to laugh at such insane ideas. There is no    need to
think of them as savage crimes, or secret sins with    weighty consequence.
(4:2 3) 

If the way to remember the Love of God is to look without judgment on my
denial of Him, then seeing these <insane ideas> in my mind is a necessary
part of the process, and an indication of progress, not regression. And the
cure is not guilt, but laughter!


Basically, we have two choices in regard to pain. Either it is caused by
something outside of us, which means ultimately that we are innocents
suffering at the hands of an angry God (or that there is no God and we are
subject to blind fate), or it is caused by myself, my own thoughts. If the
former is true I have no hope of escape. If the latter is true, I can escape
by changing my thoughts. I prefer to believe the latter! Even if I am wrong,
what have I got to lose?

The Course's position is crystal clear: 
    It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain. Nothing    
    external to your mind can hurt or
    injure you in any way . No one    
    but yourself affects you.    (5:1 2, 4) 

It takes some practice to learn to use these thoughts without any guilt. We
are responsible, but not guilty; the Course is very clear on that as well.
It also takes practice, perhaps even more, to use these thoughts when
interacting with someone else who is in pain. May God forbid that we should
ever use this line of reasoning to make someone guilty for their pain! The
Course is equally clear that if we are unable as yet to fully accept this,
if our level of fear is still too high to rely solely upon the mind to
relieve pain, a compromise approach is necessary. To attempt to forgo
medication, for instance, when to do so increases our fear, is
counterproductive (see T-2.IV.3 5 and T-2.V.2). Healing is the release from
fear; what increases fear cannot be healing. Let me, then, learn to
increasingly apply this lesson in ways that my level of fear can tolerate.
Let me realize, for instance, that the person who cuts me off in traffic has
not hurt me; only my thoughts about it hurt me. Let me realize that the
person who seems to reject my love has not brought me any pain; only my
thoughts about it cause me pain. Let me practice with physical pain as well
as I can; if I have a headache, upset stomach, or cold, let me realize that
my thoughts are the source, not anything outside of my mind. Let me realize
that if I take medication I am masking the symptom, not curing the problem,
and let me give equal attention to the healing of my mind. If I experience
more severe or chronic pain, let me deny what it seems to witness to (God's
anger or nonexistence), laugh at the idea that God is angry, and realize
that the pain is only showing me that my mind is mistaken in what I think I
am (2:3). Let me not focus on making the pain go away, but on healing the
thinking that causes it. Using <magic> (physical means) to alleviate the
pain while I devote myself to retraining my mind simply makes sense, and
frees my mind to do what it needs to do.

And let me take frequent holy instants, to <come without defense into the
quiet place where Heaven's peace holds all things still at last> (9:1). Let
me feel the Love of God within me, and set aside my unmerciful self-judgment
(9:4), even if I can do so only momentarily. I can testify to having
experienced this, at least; I have seen pain disappear during the holy
instant, both in myself and in a friend who was in chronic pain. These holy
instants can train us to experience deeper and more lasting release from all
pain, and liberate the joy that has been smothered by our pain.

   Pain is illusion; joy, reality. Pain is but sleep; joy is    awakening.
Pain is deception; joy alone is truth.     (10:4 6)




From sue at circleofa.org  Wed Jul  9 06:06:47 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 06:06:47 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 191 - July 10
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAADadaqp0retGpzk4Li8sFcABAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 191 - July 10

I am the holy Son of God Himself

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To go past your self-perception as weak, frail, and afraid which
comes from the denial of your Identity and remember that you are the holy
Son of God Himself. This will release you and will save the world from
suffering.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

There are no specific instructions for the longer practice periods, just a
strong focus on the use of these lines: <I am the holy Son of God Himself
[<Himself,> by the way, refers to God]. I cannot suffer, cannot be in pain;
I cannot suffer loss, nor fail to do all that salvation asks.> By saying and
meaning these lines, you reverse your denial of your Identity. You accept
the power and glory that is your true nature. You typically see the world as
your jailer, filled with enemies massed against you. Yet this role is not
inherent in the world. Rather, your denial of your Identity turns the world
into this in order to support your false identity. Your denial imprisons the
world. Thus, when you reverse that denial (through the words of today's
practice), you set the world free. By unveiling your glory as God's Son, you
release those in chains, those who see no mercy in the world, those who
suffer pain, and even those who die. This is your motivation to practice
today their release and your release.

Beyond devoting some time to repeating these words, with as much certainty
and sincerity as possible, the rest of the practice period is up to you to
your inspiration and your guidance from the Holy Spirit. You can't go wrong
with meditation, especially since nine of the last eleven lessons have been
devoted to it.

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

Do a short version of the morning/evening exercise. Close by asking for
God's guidance for the coming hour and thanking Him for His gifts in the
past hour.

COMMENTARY

Once again the Course sounds its keynote: You are as God created you.
Anything God creates is like Himself holy, sinless, guiltless, an endless
spring of love, and immortal. To put a different twist on a familiar saying,
we are not human beings seeking a spiritual experience; we are spiritual
beings who think we are having a human experience. We did not suddenly
spring into existence at birth, and we do not pass out of existence when the
body stops functioning. We are aspects of an immortal being, existing
entirely outside of time. <I am the holy Son of God Himself.>

How we see ourselves determines how we see the world. It may not be obvious
at first, but if we see ourselves as other than the holy Son of God, we are
<giving to the world the role of jailer to the Son of God> (1:3). If we see
ourselves as separate, isolated beings, we are inevitably cast in the role
of victim. We become a mote of dust in a hurricane, whirled about by the
universe without any consideration for our wellbeing (3:2).

The world then takes on an appearance that reflects this mistaken identity
we have assumed. The whole world witnesses to our frailty; all our
experience here seems to testify that death is certain, and loss inevitable
(2:5 6). That is what projection does. The world becomes our jailer, our
victimizer. If we deny our Identity as the holy Son of God, as God created
us, we make the world into a place of chaos, evil, sin, and death. We then
resent the world for it, although we have laid this role on the world! As I
look at the world today, let me ask myself, <What have I done that this
should be my world?> And let me answer myself, <I have denied my Identity as
God's Son.> Thus, to accept my Identity is to forgive the world for what it
did not do to me.

Rectify that single mistake, and we have changed the world we see. The world
cannot truly be as we see it, because Identity cannot truly be denied. Our
imagined identity as not-the-Son-of-God is no more than a silly game, with
no real effects and no real consequences. If we can begin to accept our
Identity, all illusions that derive from this error disappear (4:1 6). 

Again we are asked to <practice> recognizing our Identity in the holy
instant. For a brief time, we <let today's idea find a place among [our]
thoughts> (5:1). In that holy instant we rise far above the world (5:1) into
a place of safety, where we recognize the impossibility of the world's
victimizing us, because we see our own eternal, invulnerable nature. And
from that place of safety we return to the world and set it free (5:2).
Notice the similarity of this description to the earlier one in Lesson 184
(paragraph 10). In the holy instant we accept Atonement for ourselves, we
recognize our true Identity. And then we return to bring the message of this
shared Identity to all the world, that it may be free with us.

The realization of our Identity is enough to free us from every problem
forever, and to free the world with us. To cling to our little, individual
identity is to perpetuate <a devastating image of yourself walking the world
in terror, with the world twisting in agony because your fears have laid the
mark of death upon its heart> (6:5). Do I really want to go on playing this
silly, tragic game? Do I want to continue to hold the world to task because
it has not met my needs, but has denied me what is my right? Or will I
recognize today that I have done this, I have denied my Self and blamed the
world for it?

In the latter part of this lesson it speaks in glowing terms of <the Son of
God> Who <has come in glory to redeem the lost> (8:3). Who is this <Son of
God>? It is not speaking of Jesus. It is speaking of you and me. It appeals
to us to realize that our glory is the light that saves the world, and asks
us not to withhold it (10:5 6). It asks us to see the suffering in the world
(not to brush over it, saying, <It's only an illusion!>), and to find it in
our hearts to respond to it (10:7 8). How can we release our brothers from
suffering? By accepting our own release, by finding our own Identity (11:1
5). 

   You are the holy Son of God Himself. Remember this, and all the    
   world is free. Remember
   this, and earth and Heaven are one.     (11:6 8)




From sue at circleofa.org  Thu Jul 10 06:03:20 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:03:20 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 192 - July 11
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAHFgxjjmcYJBm0Attapp1BQBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 192 - July 11

I have a function God would have me fill

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To fulfill your function by forgiving your brother his sins and so
experiencing that you are what he is: the Son of God. This experience will
firm up <your willingness to make your weak commitment strong>
(W-pI.In.181-200.1:1).

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

As with yesterday, there are no specific instructions for today's practice.
Begin, as always, by repeating the idea, and then spend the time doing
practice that you have found helpful and that you feel prompted from within
to do. You may want to meditate, using either Down-and-Inward Meditation,
Name of God Meditation, or Open Mind Meditation. Or you may want to focus on
forgiving those people whom you are holding prisoner.

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

Spend the first minute or so as you choose, perhaps in quiet meditation or
focusing on forgiveness. Close by asking for God's guidance for the coming
hour and thanking Him for His gifts in the past hour.

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: When a brother tempts you to be angry.
<Realize you hold a sword above your head> (9:4). You may even picture this
in your mind. Choose to avert the sword by repeating the idea, which means
that your function on earth is to forgive, to let go of anger. Realize that
you owe this brother thanks, for he has given you a blessed opportunity to
choose right and free yourself.

COMMENTARY

In Heaven we have a high and holy function: it is creation. The first
paragraph describes it as well as it can be put into words, although when it
comes down to it we on earth cannot even truly conceive of what it is (3:1).
Creation is to complete God, to extend Love in His Name. What does that
mean? We cannot fully know until we are there again, experiencing its
meaning directly.

On earth, therefore, we have <a function in the world in its own terms>
(2:1), something we can grasp and understand in the context in which we find
ourselves. <Forgiveness represents your function here> (2:3). <Forgiveness
is the closest it [creation] can come to earth> (3:3). Creation is formless;
forgiveness is creation translated into form, a kindly dream so close to
Heaven that, when we fully enter into it, our eyes are <already opening [to]
behold the joyful sights> (3:6) the happy dreams are offering us.

Forgiveness as presented in the Course is far more than just letting go of
specific grievances we hold against those we feel have wronged us. It is a
radical shift in our perception of the entire world. The basic stance of the
ego is to see the world as the cause of our unhappiness. There seems to be
ample reason for such a view. How can we ever be content when nothing lasts,
when pain and suffering seem to be everywhere, when things and persons dear
to us are snatched away by fate, and when, no matter what we do, death
awaits us at the end? Forgiveness means that we set aside such a view of the
world, and allow the Holy Spirit to replace it all with a new perception. It
includes even a reassessment of our own bodies, in which we disidentify with
them and no longer see ourselves as bound to them. We come to see the body
as <a simple teaching aid, to be laid by when learning is complete, but
hardly changing him who learns at all> (4:3). We realize that we are, in
reality, a <mind without a body> (5:1). <Only forgiveness can relieve the
mind of thinking that the body is its home> (5:5).

That is the goal to which the Course is leading us. Yet although forgiveness
is far more than letting go of specific grievances, it begins there. Through
working with the specifics we learn the principles, and gradually learn to
generalize them and apply them to the entire world, including our physical
cages.

It may seem we are being asked to give up a lot. Indeed, we are being asked,
eventually, to give up the entire world, including our bodies; this entire
<life> in which we think we live. 

    Yet, when it has been achieved, when our anger at the world is gone, 
    we will perceive that, for Christ's vision and the gift of sight,
    no sacrifice was asked, and only pain was lifted from a sick and
    tortured mind. Is this unwelcome? Is it to be feared? (6:1-3)

If we can come to forgive the world, we will see it as the illusion it has
always been, and let it go gladly, aware that it was never more than a
nightmare of pain and death. Paradoxically, if we have not forgiven it, we
end up <worshipping what is not there> (7:4). We value it precisely because
it punishes us, because in our insanity of guilt we secretly believe we
deserve it. Our anger at the world imprisons us. We become the jailer,
vigilant to hold the world at fault, and in so doing condemning ourselves to
prison with the prisoners we are watching. Unless the <jailer> forgives
<everyone he sees or thinks of or imagines> (8:1), he has to live in the
jail keeping watch on the criminals. This is the very thing that holds us to
this world; not its beauty, not its potential, but our anger at it for not
being what we think it should be. Our anger is holding a sword above our own
heads (9:4).

Therefore, the way out of prison is to release all the prisoners. We can
learn this by recognizing that every time we are tempted to be angry, which
can be anything from intense fury to a mild twinge of annoyance (see
W-pI.21.2:5), we are being offered an opportunity to release ourselves. We
can be merciful instead of wrathful. We can forgive. We can even be grateful
for the opportunity (9:7). This is our only true function here (10:6). This
is the lesson all of life is teaching us. This is A Course in Miracles.





From sue at circleofa.org  Fri Jul 11 05:48:38 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:48:38 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 193 - July 12
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAOU/j2sqrqhOjTtLmwn0JxcBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 193 - July 12

All things are lessons God would have me learn

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To learn the lesson that God would have you learn in every
situation: forgiveness. To <overcome a thousand seeming obstacles to peace
in just one day> (10:1) by applying forgiveness to every painful, worrisome
situation.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

Repeat the idea. Then search your mind for all the things you kept to solve
by yourself, instead of giving them to the Holy Spirit. With each one you
uncover, turn it over to Him by repeating, <I will forgive, and this will
disappear> (or by saying to yourself, <Forgive, and you will see this
differently>). Realize that any pain in the situation that seems real comes
from your own unforgiveness, not from the situation itself, and that as you
forgive, the pain will disappear. This is how you learn the lessons
contained in each situation.

REMARKS: Give as much time to your morning and evening practice as you can,
and then <give a little more> (11:1). <Do not let the time be less than
meets your deepest need> (10:6), for you can free yourself from a thousand
obstacles to peace today and go in haste to your Father's house. This is
time's true purpose.

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

 We begin a new form of hourly practice today. Search your mind for any
happenings of the previous hour that have any negative feeling attached to
them. Apply the lesson to each one, saying either <I will forgive, and this
will disappear> or <Forgive, and you will see this differently.> By doing
this, you enter each new hour free of the old one. <Thus will you remain
unbound, in peace eternal in the world of time> (12:5). Response to
temptation: Whenever pain seems real, whenever you feel apprehension, care,
terror, or distress.

Remember that <there is a way to look on everything that lets it be to you
another step to Him, and to salvation of the world> (13:1). Then repeat, <I
will forgive, and this will disappear> or <Forgive, and you will see this
differently.> These words <give you power over all events that seem to have
been given power over you> (6:3). They <release all minds from bondage>
(6:2). They are the key to Heaven's gate.

COMMENTARY

The central thought of this lesson sounds similar to things said in many
spiritual teachings: There is a lesson in everything, if we are open to see
it and to learn. But the meaning here is quite different. Many people
believe that every event, even every adversity, carries some meaning for us.
<What is the lesson in this for me?> is the natural question when something
seems to go wrong. If we follow this line of thinking, we can spend a great
deal of our time trying to figure out the answer to that question, over and
over, and we can become quite puzzled at times when we cannot seem to find
what <the lesson> is.

But this Workbook lesson is quite forthright in telling us, flat out, that
the lesson is always the same in content, no matter what the form. We do not
need to waste our efforts trying to figure out what the lesson is. There is
only one lesson. It is always the same:    Each lesson has a central
thought, the same in all of them. The form     alone is changed, with
different circumstances and events; with     different characters and
different themes, apparent but not real. They     are the same in
fundamental content. It is this: 
    <Forgive, and you will see this differently.>    (3:3 7)

Lest we miss the point, it is stated again in slightly different words
towards the end of the lesson:

   This is the lesson God would have you learn: There is a way to look
    on everything that lets it be to you another step to Him, and to
    salvation of the world. To all that speaks of terror, answer thus:

     <I will forgive, and this will disappear.>  (13:1 3)

Forgiveness is the central theme of the Course. It entails, as we saw
yesterday, a radical shift in our perception, one that allows the light of
Heaven to shine upon everything we see. Forgiveness is the one lesson that
everything, literally everything, is teaching us. Everything can teach us
this lesson because, in our madness, we have a grievance against the
universe. What the Course is teaching us is a different way of looking on
everything, a way that allows us to see it not as a threat, not as some kind
of loss, not as an attack that deprives us of our happiness, but as a step
to God, and to the salvation of the world.

When the Course tells us, as it did in earlier lessons, that forgiveness
offers everything we want, that forgiveness is the key to happiness, we
cannot at first understand. We are confused by the message because we do not
see unforgiveness as a major problem in our lives. The lesson recognizes
this:  
    Certain it is that all distress does not appear to be but
    unforgiveness. Yet that is the content underneath the form.     (4:1 2)

The consistent direction of the Course's instruction is towards helping us
to recognize, in all the wide variety of forms of distress in our lives,
this same underlying content. Gradually, as we study the Course and apply it
to our daily lives, we begin to recognize the one, unique problem that
besets us, whatever form it may appear to take: unforgiveness. Forgiveness
is the answer to every problem, the <hidden> lesson in every distressing
event of our lives.

I am not saying that you had a flat tire because you got angry at the
grocery clerk, nor that you suffer lack of success in your relationships
because you haven't forgiven your mother or father. Although sometimes such
things may be true, the lesson God is trying to teach us is more
far-reaching than that. What ultimately must be corrected is our
unforgiveness of everything and everyone in the world, everything that
appears to be outside of our own minds. Our general attitude towards the
world is at issue here.

When I first read this lesson, I thought it was saying that whenever
something went wrong in my life I had to start searching my heart for what
or whom I had not forgiven. Often that search was just as frustrating as
trying to figure out <What is the lesson in this?> I went through a period
in which, one by one, I dug up every imaginable grievance I had against
anyone, and tried to let it go. That can be a useful exercise, but it is
only scratching the surface of what real forgiveness means. Forgiveness is
aimed at transforming my perception of everything I see. What does the
Course mean by unforgiveness, or misperception? Hear this very clear
definition, and let it sink into your awareness:

    How can you tell when you are seeing wrong, or someone else is
    failing to perceive the lesson he should learn? Does pain seem
    real in the perception? If it does, be sure the lesson is not
    learned. And there remains an unforgiveness hiding in the mind
    that sees the pain through eyes the mind directs.     (7:1 4)

<Does pain seem real in the perception?> That is the sure indicator of
unforgiveness, as the Course understands it. Remember that difficult
Workbook lesson about choosing the joy of God instead of pain (Lesson 190)?
Forgiveness is the answer. What is forgiven no longer hurts. In response to
the question <How can you tell when you have really forgiven someone?>
someone once said, <You know you have forgiven someone when you feel
comfortable in their presence.> That is saying the same thing; when you have
forgiven, there is no more pain. Another way of picturing it is that you are
free to laugh with the person. God's Will is that laughter should replace
all tears (9:4 5).

Forgiveness is what time was made for (10:4). This is where our attention is
best focused. This is what speeds us on the way to Heaven. In our quiet
practice times, we can <think about all things we saved to settle by
ourselves, and kept apart from healing> (11:4). We do not know how to look
on them so that they disappear, but the Holy Spirit knows; give them to Him.
We are even advised to stop every hour, review the hour that has passed, and
bring each little grievance to Him for healing, so that it does not carry
over into the hour that follows. <Let no one hour cast its shadow on the one
that follows> (12:4). This is the way we learn to <remain unbound, in peace
eternal in the world of time> (12:5).




From sue at circleofa.org  Sat Jul 12 08:34:33 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:34:33 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 194 - July 13
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAIdD+Ym9am5PonxLDVJAFxUBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 194 - July 13

I place the future in the Hands of God

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To accept today's idea, and so pass countless obstacles and set
your foot on the lawns before the gate of Heaven. This is the last of the
Workbook's giant strides. 

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

Today again there are no specific practice instructions for morning and
evening. I would suggest beginning by going through the various situations
that are causing you concern (see W-pI.47.4-5) and, with each one,
repeating, <I place the future in the Hands of God.> Then, after about ten
minutes of this, spend the rest of your time in meditation, resting
untroubled in God's Hands, sure that only good can come to you.

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

Review the happenings of the previous hour that are still weighing on you,
and with each one, release the pain it appears to thrust on you by
repeating, <I place the future in the Hands of God.> 

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Whenever you feel tempted to become upset.

Quickly react by repeating today's idea, realizing that this is an appeal to
God to choose for you to abandon temptation. And as you leave temptation
behind, the world does as well.

REMARKS: If you really see the value in today's idea, you'll give consistent
effort to making it part of your thinking, both today and afterward. Do your
utmost to make it a rule of thought, <a habit in your problem-solving
repertoire> (6:2), a key device in your response-to-temptation toolkit.

COMMENTARY

The block to remembering our Self that is dealt with in today's lesson is
the <fear of future pain> (7:6). Again, the holy instant is a major part of
the remedy. All the references to <in no one instant> (3:1; 3:2; 3:3) and
<the instant in which time escapes the bondage of illusions> (5:2) are
indirect references to the holy instant, which is directly referred to in
5:3: <Then is each instant which was slave to time transformed into a holy
instant.>

The idea is a simple one: placing the future into God's Hands. Yet it is
referred to as another <giant stride> toward quick salvation (1:1; the other
<giant strides> were in lessons 61, 66, 94, and 135). This giant stride is
said to take us all the way to the lawns that welcome us to Heaven's gate.
It is the remedy for anxiety, pits of hell, depression, thoughts of sin, and
guilt. How can this simple idea be so powerful?

Think, for a moment, how your life and your mental attitude would change if
you deeply and fully knew not just believed but knew that your future was
wholly in the Hands of a loving God. Isn't it fairly easy to see how this
would remove anxiety, fears of hell, depression, temptation, and even guilt?
Simple as it is, this is an extremely powerful idea, and a powerful one to
practice.

Once again we are not expected to suddenly shift from a state of
near-constant anxiety (Ernest Becker, in his book The Denial of Death,
refers to man's so-called normal state as one in which there is <the rumble
of panic underneath everything>) to one of blissful trust in God. We are
being asked to practice having instants of such trust, free of panic. For a
moment, just for a moment, <let the future go, and place it in God's Hands>
(4:5). In so doing, we will understand that by doing this we have given past
and present to God as well. In that holy instant we will be free of grief
and misery, pain and loss. The light within us will be free to shine and
bless the world.

In any particular instant, when we take that instant for itself, without
past or future, we cannot feel depression, experience pain, or perceive
loss; nor can we experience sorrow, or even die (3:1 3). Every such
experience depends on our awareness of the past or future to sustain it and
give it the illusion of reality, but none of them exist in the present
moment.   Take grief, for instance. Grief is so clearly based on the past
that it hardly requires explanation to say that if the past were momentarily
put out of our minds, grief would vanish. The mind is calling up memories of
our loved one, and then insisting that the absence of that loved one now
demands emotional pain. Yet when the loved one was part of our life, there
were thousands of moments in which they were not physically present with us,
and we were still happy; why, then, cannot we be happy now? Grief is really
nothing more than a cruel mental trick we are playing on ourselves. The
future enters into grief because we envision an endless string of moments
that lack the beloved. But those moments are not now; again, it is a mental
trick. Grief does not exist when we are wholly in the present moment, in the
holy instant.

As we learn to give the future into God's Hands, one instant after another,
we are released. <And so each instant given unto God in passing, with the
next one given Him already, is a time of your release from sadness, pain and
even death itself> (3:4). Note the similarity to yesterday's practice of
applying forgiveness at the end of each hour to all that has passed in the
hour, freeing the hour that follows. This kind of thing, says the lesson,
needs to become <a thought that rules your mind, a habit in your
problem-solving repertoire, a way of quick reaction to temptation> (6:2).
That is what all this practice is about: developing new habits of
spirituality that break the pattern of our deranged thinking, freeing us for
a new experience. The more we experience, the more we will want it, until
eventually it takes over our minds entirely. 




From sue at circleofa.org  Sun Jul 13 09:46:55 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2008 09:46:55 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 195 - July 14
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAACtpTk82PxtKvB3pNFqdNwcBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 195 - July 14

Love is the way I walk in gratitude

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To <learn to think of gratitude in place of anger, malice and
revenge> (9:1). To let true gratitude replace our ungrateful attitude (in
which we feel pushed about by the world) and our unloving gratitude (in
which we thank God that we're better off than others). 

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

Again we are given no specific instructions. We are only told that today is
a day for learning gratitude. This means replacing both our ungrateful
attitude (see 9:3) and our unloving gratitude with true, loving gratitude.
Unloving gratitude means being thankful because we are better off than
others. This obviously involves comparisons, which are essentially
competitive and therefore unloving. <Love makes no comparisons> (4:2).
Loving gratitude thanks God for blessings that He has bestowed on everyone,
not just on us. It also means being thankful for all our brothers, even
those <who walk the way of hatred and the path of death> (5:2).  Given this,
you may want to spend the longer practice periods trying, in some way, to
replace your ungrateful attitude and your unloving gratitude with true
gratitude. You may want to thank God for the items on the list below.
According to the lesson, we should be grateful:

    *to Him alone Who made all cause of sorrow disappear throughout the
      world (1:7)
    *to One Who offers you the certain means whereby all pain is healed
(2:2)
    *to God our Father that in us all things will find their freedom
(4:4)
    *for the sick, the weak, the needy and afraid, and those who mourn
    *a seeming loss or feel
    *apparent pain, who suffer cold or hunger, or
    *who walk the way of hatred and the path of death  (5:2)
    *that we are separate from no living thing, and therefore one with
        Him  (6:1)
    *for our brothers (7:2) and for every living thing (6:3)
    *that everything has earned the right to love by being loving, even
        as your Self (8:6)
    *that We have been given everything  (9:2)
    *that God has cared for us, and calls us Son (9:5)

You can also thank God for specific blessings you have received, but you
must choose to view these as windows onto the nonspecific blessings He
bestows on everyone.

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

Review the happenings of the previous hour that are still weighing on you,
and let each one go by repeating, <Love is the way I walk in gratitude.>
Imagine yourself walking the pathway of love, without a care in the world,
filled with gratitude toward your Father for the gift of everything.

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: Whenever you feel mercilessly pushed about by the
world.

Repeat the idea, replacing your exasperation with true gratitude, which is
justified, since God has given you everything.

COMMENTARY

Gratitude is viewed in this lesson both from a dark side and a light side.
The lesson first considers how, so very often, when our thinking is aligned
with our egos, our gratitude is really a kind of attack on others. Then, it
goes on to consider sincere gratitude, which can only occur when joined with
love (4:3).

The dark side of gratitude comes from an ego perspective. This is the
<gratitude> that prays, <Thank God I am not as others; thank God I am better
off.> It is the kind of gratitude based firmly on comparisons. It is the
thankfulness we feel when we have a bigger house than others, a better car,
a more attractive spouse. It is a kind of thankfulness that depends on
others who have less, who suffer more than we do. It comes from a view that
sees our brother as the rival for our peace (3:1), and rejoices when he is
in distress. This kind of <gratitude> is really nothing more than a form of
vengeance. And if we examine ourselves honestly we will find ourselves
indulging in this kind of false gratitude far more often than we realize.

True gratitude is something far different. <We thank our Father for one
thing alone; that we are separate from no living thing, and therefore one
with Him> (6:1). <We offer thanks to God our Father that in us all things
will find their freedom. It will never be that some are loosed while others
still are bound> (4:4 5). This gratitude gives <thanks for every living
thing, for otherwise we offer thanks for nothing> (6:3).

Today I am joyful that the gifts I have received belong to everyone. I am
grateful for every living thing, every person I meet. I rejoice that
everyone goes with me, that no one is excluded. I am grateful that each of
you who reads this is a part of me, that none of you can ever lose your
inheritance and so diminish me. I recognize that if anyone is diminished, I
am diminished, and I thank God that <everything has earned the right to love
by being loving,> for all is part of my Self (8:6).

Today, if I feel badgered by the world, or pushed about without any thought
or care for me, I will choose to replace such foolish thoughts with
gratitude (9:1 4). <God has cared for us, and calls us Son. Can there be
more than this?> (9:5 6).

Another word for gratitude is <appreciation.> I offer you these thoughts
about appreciation from the Course:

    Only one equal gift can be offered to the equal Sons of God, and that
    is full appreciation.  (T-6.V(A).4:7)

   Only honor is a fitting gift for those whom God Himself created
    worthy of honor, and whom He honors. Give them the appreciation
   
   God accords them always, because they are His beloved Sons
     in whom He is well pleased. (T-7.VII.6:1 2)

   There are no idolaters in the Kingdom, but there is great appreciation
    for everything that God created, because of the calm knowledge that
    each one is part of Him.     (T-10.III.6:1)

   God knows His Son as wholly blameless as Himself, and He is approached
    through the appreciation of His Son.   (T-11.IV.7:2)

   Only appreciation is an appropriate response to your brother.
    Gratitude is due him for both his loving thoughts and his appeals for
    help, for both are capable of bringing love into your awareness if you
    perceive them truly.    (T-12.I.6:1 2)

   In the holy instant we share our faith in God's Son because we
    recognize, together, that he is wholly worthy of it, and in our
    appreciation of his worth we cannot doubt his holiness. And so we love
him.  
    (T-15.VI.2:5 6)




From sue at circleofa.org  Mon Jul 14 06:03:25 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:03:25 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 196 - July 15
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAANYwuSVR9uZFjJRVT4SGK5sBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



LESSON 196 - JULY 15

IT CAN BE BUT MYSELF I CRUCIFY

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To realize the truth of today's idea and thereby take an important
step forward, so that you may go ahead from here quickly, taking each future
step as it comes to you. 

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

As usual with these final lessons of Part I, we are given no specific
instructions. We are simply told to take a major step forward in our
awakening by practicing today's idea. To do this, we must see the idea not
as a statement that we are doomed to continually crucify ourselves, but as a
statement of liberation, which contains <the light of resurrection> (3:4)
and <salvation's song> (9:1). Our belief in the opposite of today's
idea-that we can crucify others yet remain free ourselves-has unconsciously
convinced us that God is our <deadly enemy> (5:5), Who has been using the
world's injustices to punish us for our unkindness.

Today's idea is the antidote for that. We must devote our practicing,
therefore, to doing our utmost to realize the truth of this idea. This may
involve applying it to specific examples in our life, or perhaps letting
related thoughts come (see Lesson 42), or some other practice. The idea
contains the most wonderful news, that we never actually crucify others, and
therefore that God is not out to punish us. Instead, there is a murderer
within us, who tricks us into attacking others so that it can crucify us
from within. We must strive today to realize this. We must pray to enter
into an instant of profound inner discovery, in which we look upon the
murderer within, and realize that IT, not God, is the source of all our
pain. Only then can we truly, deeply view God as our Friend, and call on Him
to save us from the murderer within.

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

Search your mind for the happenings of the previous hour in which you felt
crucified by the world, or in which you felt tempted to crucify others. In
response to each one, repeat the idea.

COMMENTARY
This is a restatement of one of the fundamental lessons of the Course, the
first step of forgiveness in another form: taking the problem back from
outside ourselves, withdrawing the projection, and seeing that <I am doing
this to myself.>
The ego likes to misuse this idea to punish us, or to make us think we
inevitably punish ourselves. The ego makes us think we are inherently
self-destructive. The truth is, we do self-destructive things but we have a
choice in the matter. We don't have to do that, and at the core it is not
our will to do so. We are not devils; we are the holy Son of God.
The block to awareness this lesson addresses is our belief that we have
injured or <crucified> the world. It is the belief that we have made
ourselves into monsters who cannot be trusted, ready to lash out without
provocation to hurt and to kill.

The Course calls the acceptance of today's idea-that any way in which we
crucify another is actually crucifying ourselves-<one step we take in
leading us from bondage to the state of perfect freedom> (4:1). It urges us
to take <every step in its appointed sequence> (4:2), that is, not to skip
steps. Today's idea is a step that is differentiating self from the body and
the ego: 

     Thus do you also teach your mind that you are not an ego.
     You will not believe you are a body to be crucified.	(3:1, 3) 

Because we believe we made ourselves into egos, we think we are guilty.
Because we believe in guilt, we made the body to suffer punishment.
Recognizing that we are the ones inflicting punishment upon ourselves is the
first step in freeing ourselves from the whole mess. To recognize that we
are the ones inflicting punishment we have to step back from the ego and
body, and become aware of a greater part of ourselves. We thus realize that
the Self is something other than ego or body, something greater than both.
This something greater also includes my brothers and sisters. We are all
part of that Self. The <others> I thought I injured are really parts of my
Self.

If I believe that I can <attack another and be free> myself (6:1), I am
really reacting, says the lesson, from a hidden fear of God; from the belief
that God is other, an enemy who waits to destroy me. My relationship to
those around me always reflects the unconscious belief I have about my
relationship to God, to the ultimate Unity and Whole. <The fear of God is
real to anyone who thinks this thought [that I can attack another and be
free myself] is true> (6:4). If I can attack another and still be free, so
can God. Therefore, God is to be feared.

Paragraph 7 seems crucial to me. It is saying that the thought I can attack
others and still be free has to be CHANGED IN FORM before I can even
question the idea, at least to the point where I stop being afraid of
retaliation and start to become responsible, start to realize that <it is
but your thoughts that bring you fear, and your deliverance depends on you>
(7:3). If I begin to realize that I am not attacking others, but attacking
myself, I can stop being afraid of retaliation from these <others> I thought
I was attacking. Before this thought changes, I am afraid of others; after
it changes, I realize my fear is coming from my own thoughts. If that is
true, I have the potential for changing those thoughts.

It seems to me from the lesson that the turning point, the point at which
the fear begins to abate, is found in 9:2: <If it can but be you you
crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not fear its vengeance and
pursuit.> Freedom from fear of vengeance from the world is the start of
freedom from fear of God, when <God.can be welcomed back within the holy
mind He never left> (8:5).

I feared my own strength and freedom because I thought I was dangerous! I
thought I was a threat to the world; I thought that I had injured it. No
wonder I don't want to be strong and free. If I were, I might destroy the
universe. I thought I might attack and damage things to the point where the
universe would turn in anger and wipe me from the face of the earth. In fact
I have secretly believed, all along, that this describes things exactly as
they are, and that is why I have been afraid, both of the world and of God.

The Course seems to be saying here that our unconscious fear of ourselves,
hidden by our projection of cause to outside factors, has to become
conscious, at least for a brief, terrifying moment. <When you realize, once
and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as split>
(10:2). <Now, for an instant, is a murderer perceived within you, eager for
your death, intent on plotting punishment for you until the time when it can
kill at last> (11:1).

This seems like a terrible moment; why would we deliberately seek it? <Yet
in this instant is the time as well in which salvation comes> (11:2). Now,
seeing the enemy within instead of outside our mind, we no longer have
reason to fear God. Recognition of our own terrible responsibility makes us
realize that it has not been God punishing us; it has been ourselves. We
stop projecting our own dreams of vengeance onto God. <And you can call on
Him to save you from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself
His Son> (11:4).




From sue at circleofa.org  Tue Jul 15 05:55:27 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:55:27 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 197 - July 16
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAGQzk2Uvj25OsmdKe4mWutUBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 197 - July 16

It can be but my gratitude I earn

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To realize the truth of today's idea, to realize that you don't
need visible gratitude from others, that your own gratitude for your gifts
is sufficient.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

Once again there are no specific instructions. The focus of the lesson is on
being grateful for the gifts that you give others, especially the gift of
forgiveness. Often, says the lesson, you will withdraw your gift of love and
forgiveness unless it is received with <external gratitude and lavish
thanks> (1:3). When you are tempted to withdraw your love, you should
realize that <your gratitude is all your gifts require> (3:3). You have the
right to be grateful, for your gifts are given to you. Also, remind yourself
that somewhere deep in your brother's mind, he is thanking you. And realize
that God Himself has received your gift and thankfully acknowledges it. So
instead of taking it back, be grateful to this brother of yours. Be grateful
for what he is, for the fact that, as part of your Self, he makes your Self
complete. How do you turn these ideas into a practice period? One
possibility is to search your mind for times when you felt that another
didn't show enough gratitude to you. With each case, repeat the idea,
realizing that your own gratitude is all your gift requires, and that by
snatching your gift away, you snatch it away from yourself. Then replace
your ingratitude with gratitude toward yourself and toward your brother, for
being part of your Self.

After spending time practicing gratitude in this way, you may want to spend
the rest of the practice period in meditation.

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

Search your mind for the happenings of the previous hour that are still
burdening your mind. With each one, let it go by repeating the idea. Realize
that you can give that situation the gift of love right now, and that the
only gratitude you need in return is your own. Response to temptation:
(Suggestion) whenever you feel incensed because another is not sufficiently
grateful to you. Repeat the idea, realizing that your gifts were received by
you, and that the only gratitude you require is your own.

COMMENTARY

This lesson identifies itself as <the second step> (1:1) in freeing our
minds from the belief in outside forces pitted against us. Yesterday's
lesson was the first step (W-pI.196.4:1 2). It taught us that our attacks
are always directed at ourselves, and that the attacks we thought were
coming from outside of ourselves were really coming from our own minds. In
other words, <It is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts>
(W-pI.196.8:3). Today's lesson takes the other side of the coin: gratitude.
This is definitely a step beyond yesterday's lesson. We may understand that
our attack is coming from ourselves, and yet not realize that any gratitude
we receive is also coming from ourselves, and not from outside forces.

I remember attending a workshop of Ken Wapnick's with a friend, when Ken was
talking about how to respond to criticism and even outright attack from
people who were close to us. Ken's advice was to remember that such attacks
are just the other person's ego reacting to its perception of our ego;
<Don't take it personally,> Ken advised. The next day my friend went to Ken
with a personal issue. He'd begun to lead some groups in healing techniques,
and he had received many glowing compliments. He was worried that all the
praise (or gratitude) would go to his head. Ken's advice to him was quite
memorable, coming on the heels of the earlier advice about criticism: <Don't
take it personally!>

While some of us may have problems with receiving gratitude, we have a much
greater problem with not receiving it. Every Course student goes through the
experience of expressing love, kindness, and forgiveness to someone, only to
have it rejected or thrown back in their face. This lesson directly
addresses the way we react to such a situation. What we are being asked to
do is to express that kindness and love, to <give our gifts,> without any
attachment to the response of the other person. All the gratitude we
require, the lesson says, is our own gratitude for the opportunity of giving
and forgiving! (3:3). Gratitude does not come from outside us any more than
attack does.

If we fail to understand this, when someone fails to acknowledge our gifts,
we will typically react by taking them back. <Well, I tried to forgive you
and overlook your error, but if this is how you are going to treat me in
response, then to hell with you!> And quite obviously, our attempts at
kindness have turned into attack! (see 1:2 3).

The lesson says it quite directly: <It does not matter if another thinks
your gifts unworthy> (4:1). In other words, in our giving, let us be
completely unconcerned with the response of the person we are giving to, and
whether or not they express gratitude. Our giving to them is sufficient gift
to ourselves, and our own gratitude for the gift we have given is all that
we need. If we take back the gifts we give when they are not received with
<external gratitude and lavish thanks> (1:3), then we will always suspect
that God's gifts are equally undependable. If we take back our gifts, we are
taking them away from ourselves. I am the one who needs to be grateful for
the gift I have given, for I am the one who has received it! (3:5).

To help us understand why external gratitude isn't necessary, Jesus explains
that there is a part of the other person's mind that is grateful, even when
that isn't expressed outwardly (4:2). The other person's <right mind> is
very grateful to you for the gift, and receives it with thanks. The gift
will be held, waiting until the person is consciously ready to receive it.
As the Manual puts it: 

   No teacher of God should feel disappointed if he has offered
   healing and it does not appear to have been received. It is not
   up to him to judge when his gift should be accepted. Let him be
   certain it has been received, and trust that it will be accepted
   when it is recognized as a blessing and not a curse.  (M-6.2:7 9)

The Manual goes on in a way that very clearly echoes the thought we have
been discussing:

   It is not the function of God's teachers to evaluate the
   outcome of their gifts. It is merely their function to give
   them.    (M-6.3:1 2) 

This entire section of the Manual, and the one that follows, might be very
interesting reading in light of today's lesson. If we fail to learn this
second step, that gratitude as well as attack comes only from within
ourselves, we will forever be uncertain about the gifts of God (5:3).




From sue at circleofa.org  Wed Jul 16 05:54:51 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:54:51 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 198 - July 17
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAFfiMDlq8W1AuXpRWGEjHtkBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 198 - July 17

Only my condemnation injures me

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To go past your argument with forgiveness and truly embrace it. If
you accomplish this, it will be cause for great celebration, in Heaven and
on earth, for it will mean that today your deliverance has come.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

Although we have no specific instructions, we are told today to practice
forgiveness (9:1; 10:4).

The lesson assumes that we are familiar with forgiveness, but that we have
been opposing it, arguing with it (4:3), trying to find other ways to
happiness. Instead, today, we are supposed to take a major step forward in
ending our argument with forgiveness and accepting it as our way home. <Now
is the time for your deliverance> (13:4). To take this step forward, we are
given extremely powerful lines as the focus of our practice: <Only my
condemnation injures me. Only my own forgiveness sets me free.> One way to
use these lines would be to call to mind various people in your life and
then apply these lines to each one specifically: <Only my condemnation of
[name] injures me. Only my own forgiveness of [name] sets me free.> Or, you
may want to search your mind for situations in your life in which you are
experiencing pain or stress. Identify the person who seems to be the source
of the stress and say, <Only my condemnation of [name] injures me. Only my
own forgiveness of [name] sets me free.>

After this forgiveness practice, you may want to use the remainder of your
practice period for meditation.

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

Apply the lines we are given today (<Only my condemnation injures me. Only
my own forgiveness sets me free>) to the happenings of the previous hour
that still have you wrapped in their chains.

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: (Suggestion) when tempted to succumb to any form of
suffering or injury.

Realize your pain really comes from a condemning thought and say, <Only my
condemnation injures me. Only my own forgiveness sets me free.> You may want
to use the more specific form of these lines that I suggested above.

COMMENTARY

When I condemn another, I am offering injury to myself. How is that so?

When I condemn anyone, I am wishing injury on them, some form of punishment
for their <wrong.> At the very least, my condemnation states that the person
is less worthy of love. I am believing, therefore, that I can injure, even
that I would be justified in offering injury or withholding love. The
principle I have established by this belief, however, can be turned against
me. I can be injured, too. If I measure my love to others according to my
perception of them, I am affirming that this is how love works. Therefore, I
am asserting that God measures His love to me based on my appearance or my
current state of character development, for instance. Do I really want that?

In reality, <Injury is impossible> (1:1). Neither God, nor my true Self as
His creation, can be injured in any way. Nor have they been. But <illusion
makes illusion> (1:2), and the illusion of condemnation makes the illusion
of injury. We will continue, therefore, to experience injury until we lay
down condemnation as an undesirable tool, <unwanted and unreal> (1:4).

There is a principle that lies underneath the surface of this lesson that is
really quite important in understanding the Course. Injury is impossible; so
is condemnation (2:5). <What seems to be its influence and its effects have
not occurred at all> (2:6). Thus, as the Course says in many places, the
separation never happened, there is no sin, there is no death, sickness is
illusion, and even our bodies and this world do not really exist. <There is
no world!> (W-pI.132.6:2). We are not really here where we think we are; we
are asleep in Heaven, dreaming of exile. The apparent problem has already
been solved, and indeed, it never happened! This is the truth on the level
of what the Course calls knowledge or Heaven.

And yet what? For there is an <and yet> to the Course's teaching. It does
not state the ultimate truth and stop; it has something to say about the
apparent illusion. It affirms with meticulous care the unreality of the
illusion, and yet it deals with it! 


   What seems to be its influence and its effects have not occurred
   at all. Yet must we deal with them a while as if they had. (2:6 7)

What are the influence and effects of condemnation? Every form of <injury>
imaginable. The apparent effects of our self-judgment include the making of
the world and of bodies as well. These are the things, then, that we must
deal with as if they had really occurred for a while. Time itself is an
illusion, yet the Course talks a good deal about saving time, and urges us
to use time wisely, particularly in the practice instructions that are part
of these lessons. It knows time is illusory, and yet it deals with it as if
it were something real, using the very illusion to lead us out of illusion;
using time to bring us back to eternity.

We meet illusion with illusion; we meet the effects of condemnation with
forgiveness. In reality there is nothing to forgive because nothing
happened. But to undo the illusion of what happened and so become aware of
the unchanging reality, we need the illusion of forgiveness.

The Course affirms that this world is illusion, and yet, for a time, it
teaches us to deal with it as if it were not an illusion; as if it had
really occurred. The only way to thus deal with it is to forgive it, to
proclaim to it that <there is no condemnation in God's Son> (10:1).
Forgiveness is the bridge that brings illusion to the truth, that provides
the escape passage out of illusion entirely. 




From sue at circleofa.org  Thu Jul 17 05:56:59 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:56:59 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 199 - July 18
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAACLws0Bh/hJAulFF0wxg45QBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



Lesson 199 - July 18

I am not a body. I am free

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To go past your identification with the body, to experience the
freedom of abiding in the boundlessness of God. To free your mind from
bodily limits and give it to the Holy Spirit's use, that He may use your
body to carry the message of freedom to those who still think they are
imprisoned in a body.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.
As is usual by now, we are left on our own to decide how to spend our longer
practice periods.

Choose some form of practice that reflects today's goal. The goal is to
realize that you are not a mind imprisoned within a body, but rather that
you are a <mind within the Holy Spirit> (6:6), a mind that <rests in God>
(2:3). Your mind, then, is inherently free, <unlimited forever> (2:1), and
your body is gone from your self-concept. The body, then, rather than the
slave master, becomes <a worthy servant> (6:6) of the Holy Spirit's plan to
extend forgiveness to every mind. It will then return to mind whenever it is
needed to communicate forgiveness.

I would suggest a meditation in which you try to feel your mind surrounded
by the Holy Spirit, resting in God, unbound by any limits whatsoever. Sink
into the feeling that this is your home, not the body, so that the body
vanishes from your picture of yourself.

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

Search your mind for the events of the past hour that are still compromising
your peace. Noticehow each one has something to do with the body how your
body was treated by another's body, what your body said or did, how it
feels, how well it is functioning, how it looks, etc. Then free yourself of
these bodily limits by repeating, <I am not a body. I am free. I hear the
Voice that God has given me, and it is only This my mind obeys.> This means
that your mind does not obey the body, it only obeys the Voice of freedom.

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: (Suggestion) when tempted to engage in any thoughts
which reinforce a bodily identity.

Repeat, <I am not a body. I am free. I hear the Voice that God has given me,
and it is only This [rather than the body] my mind obeys.>

OVERALL COMMENTS: This is a hugely important idea. To make progress on this
path, we are told, we must accept this idea and even <hold it very dear>
(3:1). We are encouraged to use it in all of our practice periods, even
beyond today, for it will boost the power of each lesson we combine it with
(5:3). Indeed, in a couple of days, we will be instructed to use it
precisely in this way for twenty straight days.

COMMENTARY

To the ego, today's idea is <quite insane> (3:2). Yet it is one of the basic
principles the Course uses to free us from our bondage. The lesson attaches
a great deal of importance to it, more than to most ideas the Course
presents. We are told to <cherish> it and <practice it today and every day>
(5:1). And evidently Jesus expects us to integrate the idea that <I am not a
body> into every practice period from now on! (5:2).

Let's face it: Before we encountered the Course, the body was something we
took for granted. If we knew anything, we thought, we knew we were a body.
Our bodies held a very different place in our lives from every other
physical object. If someone stepped on a CD we owned, we might say, <Hey!
You're breaking my CD.> But if they stepped on our toe (part of our body),
we would say, <Hey! You're stepping on me!> It is part of our consciousness.
<I> am where my body is. We say, <I am eating. I was asleep. I am in my car.
I am sick.> And all of those <I's> refer to the body. Even if we have been
Course students for ten or fifteen years, we are probably still saying those
same things, and still, out of habit, thinking of the body as our self.

The ego has expended millennia of effort at mentally programming into the
mind the identity of <me> and the body. It isn't something the mind will let
go of easily; it is a habit of thought that will take a great deal of
counterprogramming to unlearn. That is why we are urged to make it a part of
daily practice. The body-as-self identity will not be broken by a few simple
repetitions. We all still believe in it. As Ken Wapnick has said, if you
doubt that you still believe in the identity of body and self, just try
holding your breath for ten minutes.

What are we to do with our awareness that we hold this false belief about
ourselves? The lesson tells us, <Be not concerned> (3:2). Like a runner
practicing to break the four-minute mile, we need not be concerned that we
haven't done so yet. We just need to keep on practicing, doing what needs to
be done to achieve that goal. Our goal is to realize we are a <mind [that]
no longer sees itself as in a body, firmly tied to it and sheltered by its
presence> (1:4). That is the state of mind in which total freedom is found.
When we have entered that state of mind, we will be right-minded, and in the
real world. Our only concern now is to move in that direction.

The holy instant offers us foretastes of that state of mind. The body
recedes from awareness in the holy instant, and what we are aware of is
oneness, something so vast no body or collection of bodies could ever
contain it. As we experience this state more and more it will come to
dominate our consciousness. We still have a body, but we realize we are not
bound to it. It becomes simply 

   [a] useful form for what the mind must do. It thus becomes a
    vehicle which helps forgiveness be extended to the all-inclusive
    goal that it must reach, according to God's plan.     (4:4 5)

Ironically, the more we detach our mind from our body, the more perfect the
body becomes. <It becomes perfect in the ability to serve an undivided goal>
(6:4). If perfecting the body is the goal, we will never achieve it; the
body will find wholeness only when our goal becomes unified with the Holy
Spirit in seeking to extend forgiveness to everyone and everything, which
places the body in its proper place. Trying to hold on to the body destroys
it; letting it go brings it health.

The body is not the home of the mind; the Holy Spirit is (6:1). Our aim in
practicing, in each holy instant we take, is to free our mind from its
connection to the body, and to give our mind to the Holy Spirit for His
purposes. Our energy then is not directed at acquiring food or clothing, or
housing, or physical well being, but at bringing forgiveness to the world.
If we do this, the Holy Spirit promises that He will take care of all the
rest. As Jesus put it in the Bible: <Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you> (Mt 6:33).

Or, as the Course puts it: <Once you accept His plan as the one function
that you would fulfill, there will be nothing else the Holy Spirit will not
arrange for you without your effort> (T-20.IV.8:4).




From sue at circleofa.org  Sat Jul 19 07:44:22 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:44:22 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] REVIEW VI INTRODUCTION
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAIEixxXKhzZEjNbzg28MGzUBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>




REVIEW VI INTRODUCTION

This is the final review of the Workbook, the end of Part I. Back in the
introduction to the Workbook we were told: <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). The last
forty lessons or so have said they were preparing us for Part II of the
Workbook. So now we are coming to the end of the first phase of our
training. Presumably, if we have been doing the exercises as instructed (and
that is the real key, of course), we are now ready to enter a new, higher
phase of our practicing.

Two things are clearly different about the second part of the Workbook.
First, the written lessons are much, much shorter; none is more than a half
page, although we will be asked to read a one-page teaching section ten
times, once each day along with the lesson. The emphasis in the second part,
as we will see, is much less on learning new ideas (or unlearning old ones),
and much more on having new experiences, and on reinforcing the habits we
have formed during Part I.

The second major difference is that, from this review which ends Part I and
the introduction to Part II forward, the lessons contain <no more practice
instructions>. It seems quite clear that the pattern of practice we are
meant to follow has been established, and we are expected to know what it
is, and to follow it for the remaining 145 lessons of Part II.

That pattern was begun in Lesson 153, which established the longer morning
and evening quiet times, and the hourly remembrances. The remaining two
elements-frequent reminders between the hours, and response to temptation as
needed-remained somewhat optional for the rest of the lessons through 200.
It is only here, in the introduction to the final review, that they are
added in as something definitely expected of us every day.

<Besides the time you give morning and evening, which should not be less
than fifteen minutes, and the hourly remembrances you make throughout the
day, use the idea as often as you can between them> (W-pI.rVI.1:2). The word
<besides> makes it clear that these frequent reminders are now being given
<in addition> to the morning and evening quiet times and the hourly
remembrances. The response to temptation is clearly added as well, in
paragraph 6:
     When you are tempted, hasten to proclaim your freedom from temptation, 
     as you say: <This thought I do not want. I choose instead _____.> And
then 
     repeat the idea for the day, and let it take the place of what you
thought.	(6:1-4)
     
Those four elements of practice, firmly set in place in this final review,
are meant to be the instructions we follow on a daily basis for the rest of
the year:
    1. Morning and evening quiet time of not less than fifteen minutes each
    2. Hourly remembrances of a few minutes, in which we recall the idea for
the day and 
       apply it to the hour past and the   hour to come
    3. Frequent reminders in between the hours, when we simply call the idea
to mind
    4. Response to temptation, in which we deliberately replace our ego
thoughts with the thought for the day

We are told that any one of the ideas we are given is <sufficient for
salvation, if it were learned truly. Each would be enough to give release to
you and to the world from every form of bondage, and invite the memory of
God to come again> (1:3-4). This is true of the ideas to come, and also of
the ideas in the last twenty lessons. Notice the conditional phrases that
modify this statement, however: <if understood, practiced, accepted, and
applied to all the seeming happenings throughout the day> (2:2). Any one
idea is enough-<if> we apply that idea without exception (2:4).

If any single idea is enough, why do we need 365 lessons? The answer is
simple. The author knows perfectly well that we won't apply any single idea
without exception to every happening throughout every day. <And so we need
to use them all and let them blend as one, as each contributes to the whole
we learn> (2:5).

In this final review, which lasts for twenty days, repeating each day one of
the thoughts from the previous twenty days, we are asked to let our
practicing center around a unifying theme:
     I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.
(3:3-5)
     
We are asked to repeat these three short sentences every morning and
evening, every hour, and every time in between that we remember our true
function here. We repeat it along with the review idea for the day. That
simple repetition is the only specific instruction we are given. Beyond
that, all that we are asked to do in our practice times is, in a short
phrase, to clear our minds of any opposing thoughts (3:8). This is to be a
<deep relinquishment> (3:8), not simply a blanking of the mind; a letting go
of every thought that stands in the way of sanity and truth.
     We merely close our eyes, and then forget all that we thought we 
     knew and understood.	(4:3)

In this final half of the Workbook we are moving <beyond all words> (4:1).
We are seeking to experience serenity and the peace of God.

The only exception is something we do when an <idle thought> (5:2) intrudes
itself into our quiet. Paragraph 5 gives us clear instructions about how to
deal with these intrusive thoughts, which will surely occur. The main point
is not to allow such a thought to simply pass by unchallenged. Rather, we
instruct our minds, <This is not a thought I want,> and replace it with the
idea for the day. We follow the same practice all through the day, whenever
we are tempted by our egos.

This is a rigorous kind of mind training. It asks a great deal of us. I
believe it is what is meant by the phrase in the Text, <Be vigilant only for
God and for His Kingdom> (T-6.V(C).2:8). How can we expect our minds to
become free of ego thinking if we let the ego's thoughts go unchallenged?
Early in the Text, Jesus tells us we are <much too tolerant of mind
wandering> (T-2.VI.4:6); this vigilant watchfulness, challenging the ego
thoughts and replacing them with thoughts of God, is the Course's remedy.

Jesus, the author, says that he places our practice periods in the hands of
the Holy Spirit (6:6; 7:1-2). We are to listen to Him for specifics about
what to <do and say and think, each time you turn to Him> (7:2). The primary
emphasis seems to be on simple quiet (6:6). Yet the mention of what we do
and say and think leaves us a great deal of latitude. Generally speaking, I
think, we can use any of the techniques we have practiced earlier in the
Workbook, such as forgiveness exercises, offering peace to the world,
reviewing situations in our lives and applying the idea for the day, and so
on. The major emphasis is on quietly listening to the Voice for God and
allowing our minds to come to serenity and peace. The Workbook has ended its
specific practice instructions, but now we are to learn to listen to the
Holy Spirit instead,
     allowing Him to teach us how to go, and trusting Him completely 
     for the way each practice period can best become a loving gift of
freedom to the world.	(7:4)




From sue at circleofa.org  Sat Jul 19 07:44:46 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:44:46 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] REVIEW VI - PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAF5iqDFfUodPj1o/cI5r8x0BAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>



REVIEW VI PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

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  Sat Jul 19 07:44:53 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:44:53 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] REview VI, Lesson 201 - July 20
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAN207XBucAVHtyACLIrZQdwBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Lesson 201 - July 20

CENTRAL THEME:

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

REVIEW OF:

(181) "I TRUST MY BROTHERS, WHO ARE ONE WITH ME."


PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI Practice Instructions


COMMENTARY

Today, let us remember, as often as we can, that there is no one who is not
our brother. Let us remember that we are all part of the one Self, and that
our oneness with All-That-Is is a blessing we can never lose.

Together, we are a whole. Apart, we are nothing.

There is only one of us.

Everyone is linked immutably to God and to each other. Everything that is,
is a direct offshoot of the Creator, equally worthy, equally holy, equally
loveable.

My brothers and sisters are my joy and my delight. Let me see each one today
as the blessing that they are to me.




From sue at circleofa.org  Sun Jul 20 07:24:00 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:24:00 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 202 - July 21
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Review VI, Lesson 202 - July 21

CENTRAL THEME:

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

REVIEW OF:

(182) "I WILL BE STILL AN INSTANT AND GO HOME."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Part VI Practice Instructions

COMMENTARY

Right now, this very instant, and every instant of this day, I have the
opportunity simply to be still, to quiet my mind, and to go home to Heaven.
Heaven is here. Heaven is now. There is no other time and no other place.

This world of turmoil is not my home; my home is in peace. This world of
sorrow is not my home; my home is in joy. This world of hatred is not my
home; my home is in love. This body is not my home; my home is in God.

The Voice of God is calling me constantly to come home, and I can do so any
time I choose to. How thankful I am today for this inner calling! How
grateful I am that, no matter where I go, no matter what I do, this Voice is
always with me, always calling me home.

When I hear this Voice, why would I choose to stay an instant more where I
am not at home? Every reason I might think to give dissolves into nothing
when I become aware of the sweet and gentle calling of His Voice. I will
remember right now, and at every opportunity during this day. "I will be
still an instant and go home."




From sue at circleofa.org  Mon Jul 21 08:23:09 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:23:09 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] apologies
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAP7G9KLfRZlFsV9SsJqW2bMBAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>

Dear Ones,

For some Lesson 200 never made it to the list.  I'm going to send it in
addition to today's mailing.

Blessing, 

Sue Roth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Forgiveness takes away what stands between your brother and yourself.
It is the wish that you be joined with him and not apart  ~~ACIM
XXVI:VII:ix:i



From suelegal at gmail.com  Mon Jul 21 08:24:38 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:24:38 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 203 - July 22
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAJhNbFRpggxHifiv5xupdkcBAAAAAA==@gmail.com>


 

Review VI, Lesson 203 - July 22

Central theme:

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

Review of:

(183) "I call upon God's Name and on my own."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI practice instructions.

COMMENTARY

To "call upon" the Name of God is not simply to repeat a word, but to reach
out from within myself, affirming my connection to my Source. To call upon
this Name means to remind myself of my union with God. "It is my own [name]
as well as His" (1:2). In a sense, it is similar to the way soldiers in
battle might cry out the name of their king, or the way a football crowd
chants the name of a favorite player. It is a means of identification, an
affirmation of a solidarity and unity.

Yet it is more than any such thing that we might compare it with in this
world, because God's Name is my name in a much deeper sense than mere
emotional identification. I am the extension of God. What He is, I am as
well. I am created of the essence of Godhead. "I am still as God created me"
(1:5). I affirm this every time I call upon His Name.

To call upon God's Name is to remind myself that the lesser name and the
lesser self with which I commonly identify is not who I am. "I am not a
body" (1:3). In the midst of the daily crunch of "busy-ness," when I call on
this Name, I am delivered "from every thought of evil and of sin" (1:2).
When I feel limited or confined, I can rediscover my freedom by calling on
His Name. I remember that I am not this body; I am free.

As I sit in quiet today, let me open to the experience of God. Let me become
aware of the vast Love without boundary or restriction. Let me sink into His
limitless peace. Let me be transported in His joy. And as I do, let me
remember that all that I experience of God, <I am>. Let me call, too, on <my
own name>. In remembering God, let me remember, "This is me."


From suelegal at gmail.com  Mon Jul 21 08:25:23 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:25:23 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Lesson 200 - July 19
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAFSMipt1vohGjlwMl+qEPMUBAAAAAA==@gmail.com>



Lesson 200 - July 19

There is no peace except the peace of God

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

PURPOSE: To no longer seek peace from things of the world, but only from
God. To no longer wander off the path seeking worldly satisfactions, but
take the straight path to God.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.

Again we are not given specific instructions. The goal today is to cement
our determination to seek peace only from God, not from the world. We find
God's peace through choosing a new perception of the world, a perception in
which <all the world is seen by you as blessed> (5:3).

The way to reach this new perception is forgiveness (see paragraph 6).
Rather than forcing things to go our way, we forgive them for not going our
way. That is how we find the peace of God.

You may want to ask your internal Teacher what kind of practice period will
allow you to reach this goal. What form of practice will help you no longer
be lured off the path by the siren song of the world but instead take the
straight road to God? 

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

Search your mind for the happenings of the previous hour in which you didn't
get what you wanted. Then let each one go by repeating, <There is no peace
except the peace of God, and I am glad and thankful it is so.> Realize you
don't want the thing you thought they could give you. All you want is the
peace of God.

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION: (Suggestion) when tempted to seek peace from
anything of this world.
Quickly repeat, <There is no peace except the peace of God, and I am glad
and thankful it is so.>

COMMENTARY

The basic message of this lesson is that every means we use to try to find
peace THROUGH OR FROM THE WORLD will fail; only the peace that comes from
God, a peace that we already have as part of our created being, is real and
eternal. (Some good sections to read in conjunction with today's lesson are
Section 11 in the Manual, <How is peace possible in this world?> and the
Text, Chapter 31, Section IV, <The Real Alternative.>)

Everything in this world ends in death. This world is hell, because no
matter what course we follow, no matter how hard we strive, we wind up
losing everything in the end. What a depressing game it is, when the only
outcome is losing! This is the source of <the agony of bitter
disappointments, bleak despair, and sense of icy hopelessness and doubt>
(1:3). If we are playing the game of the world, seeking for <happiness where
there is none> (2:1), we can only be hurt. We are <asking for defeat> (2:3).

We may not be fully conscious of this despair, yet it underlies everything
we do. Ernest Becker's book THE DENIAL OF DEATH is all about the ways in
which we anxiously and firmly push the awareness of death out of our minds,
burying it in the trivia of daily life, struggling to find meaning in
something to which we can attach ourselves and somehow achieve immortality.
Becker reaches the same conclusion as the Course, in some respects: that we
are all insane, all bound up in denial and projection. The only difference
between us and those called <insane> is that our form of denial is a little
more successful than theirs. Yet in some ways the <insane> are more honest
than we are. They have admitted the emptiness of the world and have chosen
to create their own fantasy world in its place, or have become suicidal in
despair. The rest of us still stumble along in naive hope that the world
will yet bring us satisfaction.

The lesson asks us to give up the futile search for happiness through our
bodies and the world, and to relax into the peace of God. If we can simply
accept the fact that we will not find happiness or peace anywhere else, we
can save ourselves all this misery. If I look at my own life, my most
miserable moments have been those in which someone or something on which I
had pinned my hopes for happiness failed me: a marriage, a church, a job, a
noble purpose, a hope of romance. The lesson is saying these are not
isolated events. They represent the whole. The search for peace apart from
the peace of God is hopeless, and the sooner we realize it, the sooner will
we find true happiness.

<This world is not where you belong. You are a stranger here> (4:3 4). So
give it up. Let it go. Stop expecting it to make you happy; it never will.
<But it is given you to find the means whereby the world no longer seems to
be a prison house or jail for anyone> (4:5). THERE IS A WAY OUT! <You must
change your mind about the purpose of the world, if you would find escape>
(5:2).

The Text tells us the same things:
    Until you see the healing of the Son as all you wish to be accomplished
    by the world, by time and all appearances, you will not know the Father
    nor yourself. For you will use the world for what is not its purpose,
    and will not escape its laws of violence and death.   (T-24.VI.4:3 4)
    To change all this, and open up a road of hope and of release
    in what appeared to be an endless circle of despair, you need
    but to decide you do not know the purpose of the world.  You give
    it goals it does not have, and thus do you decide what it is
    for. You try to see in it a place of idols found outside
    yourself, with power to make complete what is within by
    splitting what you are between the two. You choose your dreams,
    for they are what you wish, perceived as if it had been given
    you. Your idols do what you would have them do, and have the
    power you ascribe to them. And you pursue them vainly in the
    dream, because you want their power as your own. (T-29.VII.8)

If we can decide that we do not know the purpose of the world, we will be
free to receive the purpose the Holy Spirit sees in it. Until we give up our
imagined purposes, His purpose will seem dim and indecipherable. It is the
letting go of what we think the world is for that allows its only true
purpose to dawn upon us. That purpose, in a word, is forgiveness; or as the
line in Chapter 24 puts it, <the healing of the Son> (T-24.VII.4:3).
Forgiveness is needed in hell, and this world, therefore, must be hell
(6:4). Forgiveness offers, to me and to everyone <the escape from evil
dreams he imagines, yet believes are true> (6:5). All the world is good for,
we might say, is for us to <learn to look on it another way, and find the
peace of God> (7:6).

If the world is such a terrible, depressing place, we might think that
logically, the way to find peace is to leave the world. To die. To get out
of this body. But that is not what the lesson says. <Peace,> we are told,
<begins within the world perceived as different> (8:2). Notice: peace begins
WITHIN THE WORLD. It begins with a new perception of the world, not as a
prison house, but as a classroom. Beginning here, the road of peace will
lead us on <to the gate of Heaven and the way beyond> (8:2). But it must
begin here.

In poignant images of a road <carpeted with leaves of false desires,> we can
see ourselves lifting our eyes away from the <trees of hopelessness> to the
gate of Heaven (10:3). It is the peace of God we want, and nothing but the
peace of God. In the holy instants we enjoy in today's practicing, we
recognize the peace we have sought, and <feel its soft embrace surround your
heart and mind with comfort and with love> (10:6).

The closing lines, given us for practice, sum up the whole lesson. Most of
us, if confronted with the thought that there is no peace but the peace of
God, do not yet respond with gladness and thanks. The message that <there is
no hope of answer in the world> (T-31.IV.4:3) seems a dour and bitter pill
to swallow. Instead of joy, we feel sad, and a bit resentful. We wistfully
cling to our vain hopes that the idols of this world will still, somehow,
satisfy us. We want them to, so very much. Only when we have learned to
release them gladly and thankfully will we be, finally, free of their hold
upon us. Let me, then, in today's practicing, seek to find that gladness and
thanks within myself. The Christ in me wants to <come home> (4:1). There is
a part of me that breathes a sigh of relief as I begin to realize the world
can never satisfy me, and whispers to me, <At last! At last you are
beginning to let go of the source of your pain. Thank you!> Let me connect
with that part of my mind that is native to Heaven, and knows it does not
belong here; it is the only part there is in reality. The more I connect
with it, the sooner will I know the peace that is my natural inheritance.




From suelegal at gmail.com  Tue Jul 22 09:33:34 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:33:34 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 204 - July 23
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAOn7CbYjYsBEphGRBJUyV4cBAAAAAA==@gmail.com>



Review VI, Lesson 204 - July 23

CENTRAL THEME:

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

REVIEW OF:

(184) "THE NAME OF GOD IS MY INHERITANCE."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI practice instructions.

COMMENTARY

If I bear the Name of God, I am His Son. I have the heritage of God's
family--and what an inheritance that is! I am not the offspring of random
molecules of DNA. I am not the product of survival of the fittest in a
vicious battle for supremacy in life. I am not the product of my human
family, my upbringing, my education, my failures, or my culture. What I am I
have inherited from God Himself.

As the Son of God I am "not slave to time" (1:2). I am not limited to the
short span of my body's "life" on earth. I do not require long years of
development to attain my inheritance; it is mine now. Nor am I the product
of my past. I do not need to fear the future. I am free of all limitations
time might try to impose on me.

I am "unbound by laws which rule the world of sick illusions" (1:2). Laws of
time, of space, of economics, of health and nutrition, or any laws we think
are immutable and inevitable here, do not rule me. I am a child of God. I am
spirit. I am free. I am "forever and forever one with Him" (1:2).





From suelegal at gmail.com  Wed Jul 23 06:00:09 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:00:09 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 205 - July 24
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Review VI, Lesson 205 - July 24

Central theme:

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

Review of:

(185) "I want the peace of God."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI practice instructions.

COMMENTARY

The introduction to Review VI says that "each of these ideas alone would be
sufficient for salvation, if it were learned truly" (W-pI.rVI.In.1:3). It
adds, "Each contains the whole curriculum if understood, practiced,
accepted, and applied to all the seeming happenings throughout the day"
(W-pI.rVI.In.2:2). I find that easy to believe about today's lesson. If you
are into memorization (as I am), this lesson is an excellent one to add to
your repertoire.

It's worth noticing the list of four verb forms that are identified as steps
in making any of these ideas into "the whole curriculum":

Understood: No matter how strongly the Course advocates experience, and
points out that a universal theology is impossible (see C-In.2:5), you
cannot get around the fact that it makes understanding very important. How
can we enter into the experience of an idea if we do not understand it?
Understanding is here presented as the fundamental step. Before we can
really utilize the idea "I want the peace of God," we have to understand it.
Implied in the idea (and clearly presented in Lesson 185) is the fact that
there is a very strong thought in my mind, perhaps unacknowledged, that I do
not want the peace of God, and this is demonstrated by the fact that I do
not experience it. That contrary thought, however, is a mistaken one, to be
dismissed whenever we become aware of it, and replaced with the truth: I
<do> want the peace of God.

Practiced: That is what we are doing in these Workbook lessons. Practicing.
Repeating frequently. Spending some extended time allowing the thought to
soak in and penetrate the recesses of our minds.

Accepted: Notice that acceptance comes after practice. Our minds do not
accept the idea at the start, even after we understand the idea. When we
begin to practice, we do not truly accept that we want the peace of God. We
think we want something else, something more, something besides peace. It
takes a good deal of practice to retrain our minds, until we begin to
realize that "the peace of God is everything I want" (1:2).

Applied: Having accepted the idea, we can now begin to apply it to each
different "seeming happening" during the day. When the car cuts us off in
traffic: "I want the peace of God." When we find ourselves wistfully longing
for a more fulfilling relationship: "The peace of God is everything I want."
When we begin to feel driven to obtain some earthly goal at any cost: "The
peace of God is my one goal" (1:3). When we start to think we don't know
what to do or where to go: "The peace of God is the aim of all my living
here." And when we start to feel impelled to fulfill some need of our
bodies: "I am not a body. The peace of God is everything I want. I am free."

Thank You, Father, for today's reminder of Your peace. There is nothing else
I need, and nothing else I want. Oh, may today's lesson become the keynote
of my life, so that I can say and truly mean: "The peace of God is my <one>
goal."





From suelegal at gmail.com  Thu Jul 24 06:01:02 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:01:02 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 206 - July 25
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAANpSy3CRPLlKiHxTvuFysIABAAAAAA==@gmail.com>



Review VI, Lesson 206 - July 25

CENTRAL THEME:

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

REVIEW OF:

(186) "SALVATION OF THE WORLD DEPENDS ON ME."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI practice instructions.

COMMENTARY

I am not a body; I am the Son of God. I am spirit, endowed with the gifts of
God. I am not what I appear to be, nor what I have thought I was for most of
my life. I am a spiritual being having a human experience, and my mission
here (if I will accept it) is to give the gifts of God wherever He asks me
to give them. And that is to everyone.

The Course requires a radical revision of my self-concept. I have thought of
myself as some sort of poor, lost soul, wandering, alone, afraid. I have
thought of myself as needy and lacking. I have felt like an orphan; as
though, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how many places I visited, I
never quite fit in. I have seen myself at the bottom trying to get up.

Now, this book comes along, a message from God to me, and tells me that the
salvation of the world depends on me. I am a key figure in the plan of the
ages. Everything depends on me, and that seems frightening. And yet, I have
the gifts to give the world that will save it. I can give it my love. I can
give it my trust. I can give it my kindness and my mercy. I can give those
around me my understanding and my faith in them. Through my forgiveness I
can release them from guilt.

This is such a startling idea of what I am that at first it seems ludicrous.
I think at first that to see myself this way would be the height of
arrogance. And yet...and yet, if this is how God created me, if this is what
He created me for, it is arrogant to refuse the task being given to me. He
is not asking me to set myself above anyone else. On the contrary, He is
asking me to demonstrate to everyone that they have the gifts of God as
well, that they are all like me.

God is asking me, "Are you ready yet to help Me save the world?" (C-2.9:1)
All Heaven waits breathlessly to hear my decision. Will I say, "Yes"? Will I
dare to say, with understanding, meaning every word: "Salvation of the world
depends on me"?





From suelegal at gmail.com  Fri Jul 25 05:00:43 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:00:43 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 207 - July 26
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAKXe8VGfMwlBpvheP2qXeUIBAAAAAA==@gmail.com>



 
Review VI, Lesson 207 - July 26

Central theme:

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

Review of:

(187) "I bless the world because I bless myself."

Practice instructions

See Review VI practice instructions.

Commentary

All that I need is already within me. It is released for me when I release
it to others, because in reality, there are no "others," there is only one.
We get caught up in questions such as "Do I forgive myself first, and thus
release myself to forgive others? Or do I forgive my brother, and thus find
forgiveness for myself?" and "Must I love myself before I can love others,
or vice versa?" When we ask such questions we are trying to figure out a
unified reality on the basis of duality; we can't get a clear answer because
the question is framed in the wrong terms.

To "accept His boundless Love for me" (1:3) and to accept that Love for
others is the same thing, because all of us are merely fragments of the one
mind we all share. There is no such thing as loving myself to the exclusion
of loving others; that is not love at all. Nor is it love to "love" someone
else and sacrifice myself on their behalf.

"I bless the world because I bless myself." This doesn't mean that meeting
the demands of my ego benefits everyone else. Many people, in the wake of
what ACIM teachers Hugh and Gayle Prather call "separation psychology" (in
their book <I Will Never Leave You>),1 think that loving yourself means such
things as looking out for your own happiness at the expense of marriage
partners and children. This is not what the Course is teaching here. The
pendulum has swung from sacrificing yourself for the family or your partner
(in the 1940s and 1950s) to sacrificing the family and partner for yourself
(in the 1980s and 1990s). Both are mistaken approaches based on dualism.

"I bless the world because I bless myself" could be reversed, with equal
truth, to read, "I bless myself because I bless the world." Giving and
receiving are the same thing; this is one of the major lessons of the
Course, and, by its own admission, one of the hardest for us to learn.

"God's blessing shines upon me from within my heart, where He abides" (1:2).
The radiant and all-embracing Love of God is within me. When I turn to it,
it engulfs me and instantly spills over to embrace everyone through me.
Discovering that is what the Course is all about. "I am still as God created
me." I am still that love. How can I know that I am love without expressing
it? Love, by its nature, extends to others and includes them in its heart.
The marvelous discovery of my own nature as love cannot be made without the
extension of that love to my brother. To bless myself and to bless the world
is a single event. It is when I bless the world that I learn to love myself;
and likewise, when I truly love myself, I become a blessing to the world
around me. I need my brothers, not to give me what I do not have, but to be
the recipients and sharers of What I am.




From suelegal at gmail.com  Fri Jul 25 06:00:21 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:00:21 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] RESEND - PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS REVIEW VI
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAFqjEHy9wwtKhkcVTCLikTIBAAAAAA==@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 suelegal at gmail.com  Sat Jul 26 05:00:17 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:00:17 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 208 - July 27
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Review VI, Lesson 208 - July 27

Central theme:

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

Review of:

(188) "The peace of God is shining in me now."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI practice instructions.

COMMENTARY

Over and over again, the Course urges us to "be still." It is remarkable how
much benefit can be derived from simply pausing, even just for ten seconds,
closing the eyes, and remembering the peace of God that is within me. Just
the word "peace," repeated silently, can have a soothing, healing effect on
the mind. This is not something that will come to us without conscious
cooperation. Practice is necessary. "I <will> be still" (1:2, emphasis
mine); it is an act of the will, a choice, a decision. The frantic onflow of
thoughts and concerns has to be interrupted, and the mind turned towards
that "stillness" (1:3) that "is within my heart" (1:4).

Most of our waking hours (and probably most of our sleeping hours as well,
although we aren't aware of it) are spent in various concerns that, when
stripped down to their basics, are concerns about our bodies, in one way or
another. The daily caretaking of bathing, grooming, dressing, feeding, and
resting our bodies goes on and on. The time we spend "earning a living" is
necessitated by the need for money to purchase food, clothing, and shelter,
and to entertain ourselves. But we are not bodies. We need frequent
reminders of that fact. We need to pause and say, "Peace, be still" to
ourselves. It seems easier not to make the effort, to just let the current
of bodily concerns carry us onward from one moment to the next. Yet when we
make the effort, when we step out of the flow for a minute to simply be
still and find the peace of God, everything begins to go more smoothly. We
find ourselves happier than we were before. As an old Christian hymn put it,
"Things that once were wild alarms cannot now disturb my rest."

We have a wellspring of peace within our hearts. It waits for us to simply
dip into it and drink from its refreshing pool. It is there now, shining
within us. Right now, and often today, "I will be still." I will draw on
that inner wealth, "which witnesses to God Himself" (1:4).




From suelegal at gmail.com  Sun Jul 27 05:00:27 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:00:27 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 209 - July 28
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Review VI, Lesson 209 - July 28

Central theme:

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

Review of:

(189) "I feel the Love of God within me now."



PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI practice instructions.

COMMENTARY

I was created by the Love of God (1:2). Creating and loving are the same
(see T-7.I.3:3). Love, by its nature, extends outward and creates more of
Itself, creates like Itself. "God created you by extending Himself as you"
(T-7.I.5:2). "Think you that you can judge the Self of God? God has created
It beyond judgment, out of His need to extend His Love" (T-15.V.11:1-2). Our
Self was created out of the need of Love to extend Itself. We are the
natural result of Love's extension.

Therefore, we are that Love, extended. What I am is Love; Love is what I am.
It is everything I am. There is no part of me that is not Love. I am wholly
Love. That in me which seems to be something else--which may seem this
morning to feel fearful, or depressed, or dull, or lifeless, or angry, or
spiteful--is only illusion, a figment of my imagination. It is not real. It
is not me. I am only Love, and therefore I teach only Love.

I am Love's Son, by Love's own proclamation (1:4). I am made in the image
and likeness of Love. I cannot be anything other than loving, nor have I
ever been anything other than loving. When I have believed I was something
else, I was only dreaming. I am not a body, obsessed with self-preservation.
I am free to love, and free to love freely. "God will never cease to love
His Son, and His Son will never cease to love Him" (T-10.V.10:6).

"The Love of God within me sets me free" (1:5). It is connecting with that
Love within myself that liberates me from my self-imposed bondage. It is
accepting this Love <as> myself that frees me from guilt. It is allowing
that Love to flow through me that frees me from sorrow and fills me with
joy. Love is my liberator.

Let me accept today that the Love of God is in me. Let me <feel> Its
presence. Let me be glad that Love is what I am. All the little things that
seem to trouble me, that seem to tell me I am less than Love, or that anyone
is less than Love, fade into nothing as I open my heart to Love.





From suelegal at gmail.com  Mon Jul 28 05:00:54 2008
From: suelegal at gmail.com (Sue Roth)
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:00:54 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 210 - July 29
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Review VI, Lesson 210 - July 29

CENTRAL THEME:

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

REVIEW OF:

(190) "I CHOOSE THE JOY OF GOD INSTEAD OF PAIN."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI practice instructions.

COMMENTARY

If we saw, clearly, that this was our choice--<joy> or <pain>--would there
be any difficulty in making the choice?

Learning that this <is> the only choice is what takes so much time.

We are so confused about what brings us joy. We are quite convinced that our
bodies can bring us joy. We are certain that a good romantic relationship
would bring us joy. (Is that an oxymoron, "a good romantic relationship"?)
We are very sure that giving up certain things in this world would bring us
a great deal of pain. It takes time, and sometimes the illusion of "giving
up," to learn that we give up nothing. "It takes great learning both to
realize and to accept the fact that the world has nothing to give"
(M-13.2:1).

"Pain is my own idea" (1:2). What a stunning statement! Pain is an idea I
thought up independently of God. In fact, pain <is> thinking independently
of God. Pain is trying to find happiness <in this world>. I have taught
myself that the greatest pleasure of all is total autonomy, complete
independence, absolute self-sufficiency. I have chosen this, and in doing
so, invented pain. Now, I am unlearning what I taught myself. Now, I am
learning to choose God's Will instead of what I made, joy instead of pain.
"I am teaching you to associate misery with the ego and joy with the spirit"
(T-4.VI.5:6).

Let me realize today that in saying, "I am not a body," I am choosing joy
instead of pain. In continuing to affirm, "I am a body," I am choosing pain
instead of joy.




From sue at circleofa.org  Tue Jul 29 05:52:04 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:52:04 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 211 - July 30
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Review VI, Lesson 211 - July 30

Central theme:

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

Review of:

(191) "I am the holy Son of God Himself."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

See Review VI Practice Instructions.

COMMENTARY

To seek the glory of God in my Self--that sounds a little pretentious. Yet
the lesson says we seek this glory "in true humility" (1:2). Naturally, the
Course is speaking of <the> Self, and not <my> self. "This does not refer,
however, to the self of which the world speaks" (M-4.VII.2:2). When someone
says, "The glory of God is in me," or "I am the Son of God Himself," it
makes a very big difference what "me" is being spoken of. If it is the self
that we believe exists separate from the billions of other selves in this
world, we are not speaking the truth. We <are> being pretentious. If it
refers to the Self that is shared by all those billions, the Self of which
my little consciousness is just one fragment, it is the truth that sets us
free.

The glory of God does not reside in the little self, but it does reside in
the Self. And beholding that glory "in the Son whom He created as my Self"
(1:2) does not lead to delusions of grandeur, but to true grandeur, a
grandeur that is instantly perceived as shared with all living things. There
can be no setting of myself above any others, for the glory in them is my
own.

These final review lessons, before Part II of the Workbook, refer a lot to
things like silence, and beholding the glory of God. In these times of
practice, let us seek to open ourselves to that kind of experience, to a
seeing that is not of the eyes, to an awareness of the reality of our Self,
God's Son. Let my little thoughts be silent, and let me hear the Voice for
God speaking within me, speaking to my self of my Self, wooing me back into
harmony with that vastness of Being to which I belong, gathering together
the seeming fragments of the Sonship into one harmonious whole. I am,
indeed, still as God created me. Not just a body, not bound by the body, not
characterized by the body, but "free of all limits, safe and healed and
whole" (W-pI.97.7:2). I am that which God created, the holy Son of God
Himself.





From sue at circleofa.org  Wed Jul 30 06:04:23 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:04:23 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 212 - July 31
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Review VI, Lesson 212 - July 31

Central theme:

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

Review of:

(192) "I have a function God would have me fill."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See REview VI Practice Instructions.

COMMENTARY

What is the function God has for me? Lesson 192, which this lesson reviews,
told me that "forgiveness represents your function here" (W-pI.192:2:3). I
need to be reminded of that. My function is not some particular career or
occupation. The content is what matters; the form will shape itself to that
content, based on the circumstances of my life. Forgiveness is the content.
If I am asking myself what my occupation should be, or what direction my
life should take, let me ask myself this question: How does forgiveness best
take form in my life right now? Or better yet, let me ask the Holy Spirit
that question.

An "occupation" is what occupies most of my life. How, in form, can I occupy
most of my life with forgiveness? How can I best serve to look upon
illusions and see them disappear? How can I best serve to assist myself, and
others, to let go of all guilt? How can I best reflect love in this world?

I work as a writer (you may do something quite different--fill in as you
please). But that occupation is not my function; it is only one means of
<expressing> my function, which is forgiveness--the same function God has
given to all of us. The form may change or disappear; my function remains
unchanged. A few years ago I was working as a computer consultant because,
at that time, I felt that was the best means I had of fulfilling my
function. Then, the form changed. But not the content.

Let me not seek any function in terms of form. Let me always seek the
content. It is the content of forgiveness, of reflecting love in this world
and releasing from guilt, that will set me free from illusions. No form can
do that, since every form is itself part of the illusion. So all that I
seek, and all that I lay claim to as mine, is the function God gave me (the
content) and not any occupation, or job, or situation.

I am not a body (a form). I am free. I am formless, and I am therefore not
tied to form of any kind.




From sue at circleofa.org  Thu Jul 31 06:05:30 2008
From: sue at circleofa.org (Sue Roth)
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:05:30 -0400
Subject: [acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 213 - August 1
Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAC7L3/ab9KJEgI2CxETFzADCgAAAEAAAAJ4kFwI7qR1As/Ocbs4H/v0BAAAAAA==@circleofa.org>


 
Review VI, Lesson 213 - August 1

Central theme:

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

Review of:

(193) "All things are lessons God would have me learn."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See Review VI Practice Instructions.

COMMENTARY

Every circumstance of life offers me the choice between a miracle and my own
ego thoughts, which will hurt me. Or as the Text puts it, "The choice is
miracles instead of murder" (T-23.IV.5:6). That is the lesson that all
things have to teach me, today and every day. Which voice, ego or Holy
Spirit, will I listen to in this moment, and the next, and the next? It's
always one or the other, never neither, never both. "You will not make
decisions by yourself whatever you decide. For they are made with idols or
with God. And you ask help of anti-Christ or Christ, and which you choose
will join with you and tell you what to do" (T-30.I.14:7-9).

In each situation I face today, this is what is going on. The ego offers its
interpretation, and the Holy Spirit offers His; I choose which to listen to.
I can choose the miracle, or murder. My choice determines my perception and
my experience of the situation. Which will I choose today?

When the temptation to attack rises to make your mind darkened and
murderous, remember you <can> see the battle from above. Even in forms you
do not recognize, the signs you know. There is a stab of pain, a twinge of
guilt, and above all, a loss of peace. This you know well. When they occur
leave not your place on high, but quickly choose a miracle instead of
murder. (T-23.IV.6:1-5)

This choice is what sets me free. The Holy Spirit is always with me to help
me make this choice. In each instant I can choose to learn the lessons God
wants me to learn, and forget what I have been teaching myself. Let me not
evaluate anything without His help.

If we could grasp just this one lesson, this habit of referring everything
to the Holy Spirit, rather than trying to figure it out by ourselves (which
always means <with the ego's help>), everything else would simply fall into
place. This alone is enough to set us free.

One thing the Holy Spirit sees differently from the ego is my body. "The
Holy Spirit does not see the body as you do, because He knows the only
reality of anything is the service it renders God on behalf of the function
He gives it" (T-8.VII.3:6). When I choose to protect the body, to make it
the center of what I am doing, mistaking the body for myself, I am choosing
murder. I am not a body. I do not exist for my body's sake; its purpose is
to render service to God as I carry out the function He has given me in the
world, and that is all. If I listen to the Holy Spirit, I have to be willing
to see the body as meaningless in itself (W-pI.96.3:7), and useful only as a
communication device with which to reach my brothers. Let me remind myself
that I am not a body, as in each moment I seek to hear the Voice for God.