A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and New Thought

In the "urtext" version of "A Course in Miracles," it is written:

"Man's spiritual eye can sleep, but as will shortly appear in the notes (reference Bob, elevator operator) a sleeping eye can still see. One translation of the Fall, a view emphasized by Mary Baker Eddy, and worthy of note, is that 'a deep sleep fell upon Adam'. While the Bible continues to associate this sleep as a kind of anaesthetic utilized for protection of Adam during the creation of Eve, Mrs. Eddy was correct in emphasizing that nowhere is there any reference made to his waking up. While Christian Science is clearly incomplete, this point is much in its favor."

Much of this will sound very strange to some " A Course in Miracles" (ACIM) students, for its specificity of expression is very different from the grand abstractions which many Crouse students seem to favor. However, in the ACIM urtext we have found many examples of the author discussing very specific persons, issues, and religious doctrine, both historic and contemporary to the early scribing (1965 - 1966).

In passage quoted above, the author states, essentially, that Mary Baker Eddy's teaching of Christian Science was right about at least some things, but that those teachings didn't take it far enough. Of course, many were inspired by Mary Baker Eddy to expand the ideas with their own unique insights, such as Charles Fillmore, founder of Unity Church, Ernest Holmes, founder of Science of Mind, and the entire "New Thought" movement, and to take the ideas further.

In the event that some brother might benefit from exposure to the writings of classic New Thought authors, we work to make them available, along with other writings mentioned in the ACIM urtext. Specifically, "Letters from the Scattered Brotherhood."


June 10, 2005
Louisville, Kentucky

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1968 - Bill Thetford looks for a publisher for ACIM - letters

In 1968, after the first volume of A Course In Miracles (the Text) had been transcribed, Bill Thetford and Helen Schucman began shopping the manuscript around, looking for a publisher. These two letters have never before been made public.

Carmen and I obtained copies of these letters on June 22, 2000.

Hidden ACIM - 1968 letters

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Revelations and the Real World

Compare the concept of the Real World in A Course In Miracles and The Revelations of John.

Attainment of the Real World
 

Sit quietly and look upon the world you see, and tell yourself, "The real world is not like this. It has no buildings, and there are no streets where people walk alone and separate. There are no stores where people buy an endless list of things they do not need. It is not lit with artificial light, and night comes not upon it. There is no day that brightens and grows dim. There is no loss. Nothing is there but shines, and shines forever." 

ACIM Text T-13.VII.1.1

"And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb."

Revelations of John 21:23 

In this small respect, at least, it seems that A Course In Miracles and standard American Christianity view the next world very similarly.

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

The ego can learn

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Louisville, Kentucky

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Accomplishing the atonement

"The Atonement will be accomplished by miracle workers, who understand and implement the miracles principles taught in ACIM. Principles, as in laws established by God and not subject to projected meaning by students wishing to change the curriculum. Miracles based on the complete equality of the real Sons of God and real brothers, not fear projected anti-miracles predicated on brothers as dream figures with no soul, and no individuality.

"Atonement as the complete restoration of the Sonship, not the disappearance of the Sonship."

— John Lopez on ACIM Chat

My note: There has been much hubbub about what A Course in Miracles means by the word 'disappearance.' Entire careers have been built upon the misuse and misunderstanding of that word. But, I say again, appearances and disappearances relate only to the world of perception. If, for example, the Course were to say the universe will disappear, it just means that perception will end where knowledge begins. The universe of God's creation will no longer be perceived, it will be known.

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Helen Schucman's reading habits

Early in the process of scribing the A Course in Miracles Text, Helen Schucman recorded waking “part-vision experiences” while she was doing her exercises. The significance of this look into the personal life of Dr. Schucman is the fact that at the same time she was scribing the Course, she was also reading other books.

We can tell from her writing style and the wide range of literary allusions contained within the Course that Helen was an avid reader. Her husband Louis was a bookstore owner. One can easily imagine that the library in the Schucman household was extensive and varied. Book lovers are rarely satisfied with a mere handful of books.

Apart from the influence of numerous psychologists and educators, and in addition to the various literary or philosophical themes reflected in the Course, we know that Helen and Bill were familiar with the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, Edgar Cayce, and specifically, Letters of a Scattered Brotherhood.

That title, an anthology published as a book in 1948, is specifically mentioned in the Course urtext by name.

Helen Schucman: Last night I felt briefly but intensely depressed, temporarily under the impression that I was abandoned. I tried, but couldn’t get through at all. After a while, I decided to give up for the time being, and . . .

He [the voice] said,“Don’t worry. I will never leave or forsake you.”

Helen Schucman: I did feel a little better, and decided I was really not sick, so I could return to my exercises. While I was exercising, I had some part-vision experiences which I found only mildly frightening at times, and quite reassuring at others. I am not too sure of the sequence, but it began with a very clear assurance of love, and an equally clear emphasis on my own great value, beauty and purity. Things got a little confusing after that.

First, the idea of “Bride of Christ” occurred to me with vaguely inappropriate undertones. Then there was a repetition of “the way of Love”, and a restatement of an earlier experience, now as if it were from Him to me:

He [the voice] “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord; Be it done unto you according to His Word.”

This threw me into panic before, but at that time, it was stated in the more accurate Biblical phrasing:

He [the voice]“Be it done unto ME according to HIS Word.”

This time I was a bit uneasy, but remembered I had misperceived it last time, and was probably still not seeing it right. Actually, it is really just a statement of allegiance to the Divine Service, which can hardly be dangerous.

Then there was a strange sequence, in which Christ seemed to be making very obvious advances, which became quite sexual in my perception of them. I almost thought briefly that he turned into a devil. I got just a little scared, and the possession idea came in for a while, but I thought it SO silly, that there is no point in taking it seriously.

This morning we reviewed the whole episode.

He said he was:  “Very pleased at the COMPARATIVE lack of fear, and also the concomitant awareness that it WAS misperception. This showed much greater strength, and a much increased Right- Mindedness. This is because defenses are now being used much better, on behalf of truth more than error, though not completely so.The weaker use of mis-projection is shown by my recognition that it can’t REALLY be that way, which became possible as soon as denial was applied against error, NOT truth. This permitted a much greater awareness of alternative interpretations."

It was also explained:

“Remember the section in “Letters from the Scattered Brotherhood” you read last evening about ‘Hold fast’, and please do so. You know that when defenses are disrupted there is a period of real disorientation, accompanied by fear, guilt, and usually vacillations between anxiety and depression.

This process is different only in that defenses are not being disrupted, but re-interpreted, even though it may be experienced as the same thing. In the reinterpretation of defenses, they are not disrupted but their use for ATTACK is lost. Since this means they can be used only ONE way, they became MUCH stronger, and much more dependable. They no longer oppose the Atonement, but greatly facilitate it. The Atonement can only be accepted within you."

After much searching, the best I can determine is that the reference to Letters of the Scattered Brotherhood is to this passage:

If I told you that every time you pressed your finger on a given spot the wishes of your heart would be fulfilled, you would come here and press your finger on this spot. There is reality in doing a sensuous thing that you can feel. But if I told you that you could do the same thing with your mind, at once there would be a strange barrier.

This childlike lesson illustrates the whole teaching of Christ; his spirit must be felt as this touch is felt, then you have control. You feel this reality of the flesh, but it appears that when you are asked to touch with the mind, a lost feeling comes because man is so constituted that it is difficult for him to shape his imagination so that it is as one-pointed as this feeling of physical contact. To tell an ordinary man he can touch a spirit with his mind bewilders him; even you who have been trained in this way of life realize how far away you are from the practice of being in actual contact. And yet the traffic of daily living is carried on through thought, though even the presentation of the idea confuses the average man.

There are currents of thought that flow in all directions, and you can touch a layer, a sort of strata of impulses and be caught and held captive. An irritating presence concentrates the finger of the mind on a layer of dislike and its attending mutations. Because of the pleasure of dislike the mind is held, the contact is easy. Again the mind touches the current of material success. You hear that success breeds success; why? Because the flush of excitement, pleasure, gaiety involuntarily keeps the finger in contact. So it is with evil; you can touch it with all the passions. In fact, once started in the negative, and more familiar layer, the concentrated finger of the mind is held fast, touching these unseen realities.

The question is, have you the will necessary to make you one-pointed toward the spiritual impulses? Perhaps not as yet; and that is why our sympathy is profound and long-suffering, because you are asked to transcend all known experience. You are asked to believe in the invisible, in something beyond all known experience. We ask you to make as real as the touching of your finger in the physical contact this other experience-and that is to keep the finger of the mind on this thought of awareness. Awareness of the Presence in oneness with your inner you; to be aware of him about you and in every activity of your daily life. This taxes all your forces. It is hard, with everything flowing against you, snatching at you, to do this. And yet you have already known a curious breaking through the clouds, glimpses of a great reality that can be sustained. It is as if you saw a shaft of light so golden, so crystal clear,,,, so unlike any light of your experience that you were struck dumb, and even while you looked, it has gone, and in trying to reconstruct it you had dulled it.

But these are indeed glimpses of the Light of the Spirit; be not faint-hearted. Turn to it; stretch out the finger of your mind and touch this light; touch it, touch it all through the day and it will clear the mind of vain imagining, of fear thoughts. It will empty the sub cellars of lurking fears; it will keep you from overstraining. Don’t live like waltzing mice in a cage; wake up, stop wherever you are and touch with your mind this high state, this high spirit, this light where you are!

Who is master? The world or you? It is the eternal struggle; the world, so dramatic, so exciting; the Spirit, so gentle, so . . . still.

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Letters of the Scattered Brotherhood
House of Light digital edition

114 pages
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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Looking at the bad stuff

Carrie wrote: "Students of New Thought, or THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING, tell me it is a mistake to look at the bad gunk, or if I happen to notice the horror show, I should over-look it quickly. The reasoning is that looking makes it real. That is not the way of acim. We do not need to be afraid of looking. That is the beginning of getting honest. That is the first step in the forgiveness process."

My 2 cents: New thought ideas expressed by Unity Church and Emma Curtis Hopkins emphasize a two-step process of denial and affirmation. This is reflected in A Course in Miracles in many places, and it is central to the healing-forgiveness process. The best known example from the Course is:

Denial: I am not a body.

Affirmation: I am free as God created me.

Carrie wrote: "If your goal is to feel good, to feel happy and peaceful, then you will use ego defenses to cover up the bad gunk. If your goal is Truth, you will begin the task of looking at your projected guilt. You will begin the process of accepting help in undoing the ego belief system."

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Scraps of meanness

The Original Edition of A Course in Miracles reads:

"It has never really entered your mind to give up every idea you ever had that OPPOSES knowledge. You retain thousands of little scraps of meanness which prevent the Holy One from entering."

. . . . this was changed prior to the first FIP publication of the work to read:

"You retain thousands of little scraps of fear . . . . "

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Extension and projection

Stimulus: "A Course in Miracles distinguishes between "projection" and "extention."

Response: Yes. Extension, according to the Course, is an inherent property of mind as God created it/them. Extension is the will to create, the ability to create, the authority of God to create, and the knowledge of God that allows creation to proceed along the lines of God's own creation. It is unstoppable.

Projection, as has been made clear in the Original Edition, is the same law of mind as is extension, except distorted and unlike God's creation.

The real world can actually be perrceived. All that is necessary is a willingness to perceive nothing else. For if you perceive both good and evil, you are accepting both the false and the true and making no distinction between them. The ego sees some good, but never only good. That is why its perceptions are so variable. It does not reject goodness entirely for that you could not accept, but it always adds something that is not real to the real, thus confusing illusion and reality. For perceptions cannot be partly true. If you believe in truth and illusion you cannot tell which is true. To establish your personal autonomy you tried to create unlike your Father, believing what you made to be capable of being unlike Him. Yet everything in what you have made that is true IS like Him. Only this is the real world, and perceiving only this will lead you to the real Heaven because it will make you capable of understanding it. The perception of goodness is not knowledge, but the denial of the opposite of goodness enables you to perceive a condition in which opposites do not exist. And this IS the condition of knowledge.  —  A Course in Miracles

Projection distorts creation of reality by adding something that is not there.

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Images of fear

George Rouault crucifixion redeux

The type of images one is attracted to and shares can be used as a psychological self-diagnostic tool. It seems strange that such an indirect method might be necessary. If one ever looked at one's self directly and honestly, the attraction to fear and violence would be obvious. Fear begets denial of fear which results in an attempt to escape fear by inappropriately using our brother as a scapegoat. This is also known as projection, in Course terms.

Roosevelt was right. The only thing to fear is fear itself.

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Existential angst

"Existentialist philosophers use the term "angst" with a different connotation. The use of the term was first attributed to Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855). In The Concept of Anxiety (also known as The Concept of Dread, depending on the translation), Kierkegaard used the word Angest (in common Danish, angst, meaning "dread" or "anxiety") to describe a profound and deep-seeded spiritual condition of insecurity and fear in the free human being. Where the animal is a slave to its instincts but always conscious in its own actions, Kierkegaard believed that the freedom given to people leaves the human in a constant fear of failing his/her responsibilities to God. Kierkegaard's concept of angst is considered to be an important stepping stone for 20th-century existentialism. While Kierkegaard's feeling of angst is fear of actual responsibility to God, in modern use, angst was broadened by the later existentialists to include general frustration associated with the conflict between actual responsibilities to self, one's principles, and others (possibly including God). Martin Heidegger used the term in a slightly different way."

from Wikipedia

The description of existential angst is similar to the Course's description of the fear that always comes with ego-identification.

Whether it is a dull nagging dread, a cold mental numbness, or moments of pure white-knuckle terror . . . it is all the same fear, and it is no fun. I've tried every flavor at various times in my life and I know it is no fun at all.

But, it is possible to think of this as a big red flag indicating the assurance that "This need not be."

This is the time to remember, "There must be a better way."

This is the time to cry out in pain and ask for help.

Then, be willing to recognize and accept the help when it arrives.

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Forgive us our sins as we do

The forgiveness teachings of Jesus of Nazareth contained in the Gospels is based upon the same principle as are the forgiveness teachings within A Course in Miracles. In recent decades this principle has been called the Law of Attraction, meaning that what you put out or express through your heart's desire is what you get back and experience yourself.

In A Course in Miracles, this principle is usually discussed in terms of thoughts not leaving their source, or as cause and effect being united in oneness, or as projection making perception.

In short, what you give is what you get back.

In eternity the giving and the getting are as one, but in time the giving seems to come first.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Mathew 6:12-15

In the Lord's Prayer, given as coming from Jesus himself, the Law of Attraction is offered as a blessing upon oneself. Even if one might be tempted to ask to receive better than what one actually gives, that would not in fact be a good thing. If we want forgiveness, we can have it. If we wish total absolution, just give it and it is ours.

Accept forgiveness for yourself

by extending it to others.

The prayer for forgiveness is nothing more

than a request that you may be

able to recognize

what you already have.

Although it is very different from the usual ideas of Christianity, where forgiveness is bestowed by God because Jesus paid the price in blood, 2000 years ago, Jesus really taught that the power to forgive belonged to humans.

And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, “This man blasphemes”. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, “Thy sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Arise, and walk?” But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins.

Arise, and take up thy bed, and go up unto thy house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they were afraid, and glorified God, who had given such authority unto men.

Matthew 9:2 -8

God gave the power to forgive to humankind, just as it is described in A Course in Miracles.

The lesson is simple:

And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Mark 11:25

If you want forgiveness for yourself alone, you can't have it. To receive forgiveness or to remember that you were never condemned by God in the first place, give forgiveness and relinquish the idea of guilt. Love does not condemn.

Spirit will teach you how to

see yourself without condemnation,

by learning how to look on

everyone else without it.

Condemnation will then

not be real to you,

and all your mistakes will be forgiven.

Whose soever sins you forgive, they are forgiven unto them.
Whose soever sins you retain, they are retained.

John 20:23

Jesus' own words reported in the Gospels align nicely with the forgiveness teachings of A Course in Miracles. But, in both cases it is very different from the world's idea of forgiveness, which is pardon for convicted sinners. It did not make any sense to the religious scholars of the day.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying,
“Who is this that speaks blasphemies?
Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

Luke 5:21

Then and now Jesus is teaching that forgiveness is not from God, it is from ourselves.

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The Gift of Forgiveness - free ebook


Concise version of A Course in Miracle's teaching on forgiveness.

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This ebook is NOT designed to be printed.  My intention is that it be read on-line here at Scribd.com or downloaded and read on-screen with an Adobe Acrobat PDF reader.  There are only a few sentences per page, sometimes only one sentence per page, with many pages.  Each of the pages has a colored background.  If printed, this file will eat through paper and ink at an unreasonable rate.  So, please don't print it out on paper.  Save a tree, and all that.



Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Expressing miracles

Admittedly, one stumbling block with the idea of miracles is a tendency to fixate upon effects at the expense of focusing upon cause, which the Course is all about.  That is one reason I favor this translation of a familiar Course quote:

That why expressions of love are natural, and when they do not occur something has gone wrong. Expressions of love are merely the sign of your willingness to follow  spirit's plan of salvation, recognizing that you do not understand what it is. Spirit's work is not your function, and unless you accept this  you cannot learn what your function is.

On the other hand, if you ignore, deny, or devalue the apparent effects of love expressing love to love, and the catalytic change it produces in your world, you may be crazy.

-  oOo  -

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Epigrams

An epigram is a brief, clever, and usually memorable statement. Derived from the Greek: "epi-gramma" meaning to write on or inscribe, the literary device has been employed for over two millennia.

Example: — "May the mind that was in Jesus of Nazareth also be in you. Or, do you expect better than that?"

1. With some, what passes for enlightenment is just being slightly less full of shit.
2. Whatever it was that caused you pain in the past, it wasn't love.
3. Totality is everything. No joke.
4. Some things get hidden so deep, you forget they are there at all.
5. For those to whom eternal life has been given, death is not an option. Easter Sunday 2010
6. Test the many voices. But, remember the voices of deceit will not suddenly speak the truth just because you ask nicely.
7. "The fear of loss is a path to the dark side." Yoda, Star Wars III
8. Everyone occupies the Bell curve in all positions, somehow or another.
9. Use of the word 'singularity' in spiritual discourse creeps me out.
10. It is impossible to cure indoctrination by means of different indoctrination. Indoctrination itself is the problem.
11. "You are not wrong brother, you are just mistaken." - an ACIM student
12. Some of my best ideas come from the sublime state of disgruntlement.
13. It is better to plant one marigold than it is to curse the landscape.
14. I'm thinking that chocolate pudding with strawberries on top is part of the universe of ideas that God created, and therefore real.
15. I finally understand. The dark side of detachment is narcissism.
16. The prayers, "Dear God please rip the darkness from my heart," is a theoretical metaphysical impossibility. God don't know nothing about no darkness.
17. Tell you about it? Words cannot be transcended by means of more words. You need experiences and insights. The more the better to connect the fracking dots.
    
18. Can't talk a way out of projection and perception. Can't even buy your way out.
19. OK. But if I see that your hair is on fire, I promise not to dump the bucket of water on my head.
20. How do you learn what you don't know by clinging to what you do know?
21. So, ya think Helen got all the words exactly right? I doubt it.
22. King of the world. Then hit an iceberg and drown. So it goes. Only the love remains.
23. Enlightenment: Once is not enough.
24. There is no act too small to make a difference.
25. With many, the ego is smarter and more determined than you. Learning involves change, not rigidity.
26. To those without eyes and ears, everything is a surprise.
27. If you don't trust my intentions, you won't trust my words either, so why bother?
28. You expect me to correct your thinking? Start with that idea. It's a mistake.
29. It takes a special type of holy fool to pet a growling dog.
30. The Holy spirit cannot speak English.
31. A Course in Miracles in not philosophy or metaphysics, it is psychology.
32. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine de Saint Exupery
33. Simple logic: If complexity is of the ego, then a complex metaphysics must be of the ego.
34. The state of "normal" (as in "miracles are normal") involves the habitual unconscious expression of love. "By this shall all men know that you are my followers, if you have love one to another" (John 13:35 ), bypasses all professions of faith.
35. It is impossible to be a friend to Jesus with a knife clenched in your teeth.
36. Miracles are normal. Don't think about what is on the other side of miracles until you at least reach the state of . . . normal.
37. What you call miracles are simply laws you do not understand
38. Everyone goes through infancy, including spiritual infancy. A reasonable goal is to grow out of it.
39. The only part of me that is uncertain of my own existence is the part of me that does not exist. Being a thought of God is a happy thought.
40. Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. ~ Carl Jung
41. The degree of ideological passion may be directly related to the degree of willful ignorance and fear.
42. "Better late than never" is meaningless to eternity. Now is a good time.
43. Responsibility without authority equals guilt.
44. This singularity ain't big enough for the both of us.
45. Mad cow disease explains everything.
46. Any day that doesn't involve human sacrifice is a good day.
47. Before someone can change, they have to learn, and before they learn, they have to cease being scared. - Seth Godin
48. I'm wondering if boredom is an unloving thought. Have a clue?
49. Anyone who has had the birth of Christ within knows exactly what the virgin birth is all about. Adyashanti
50. You know, like a one-eyed man watching a 3-D movie.
51. One concept notably lacking from ACIM is the idea of a food chain. "Eat me?" is not part of the picture.
52. Question: When is the best time to plant a tree? Answer: 20 years ago.
53. Being of "one mind" begins at home.
54. You long for something different and call it a search for God. Isn't this what got you into trouble in the first place?
55. The vow, "I won't be fooled again!" is the first step to being fooled again.
56. Locating God is easy. Shutting up long enough to hear what she has to say is the hard part.
57. If you focus on spirit long enough, you will see things you've never seen before.
58. Mayan greeting E'en Lakesh which translates I am another yourself. We are one.
59. A Course is Miracles is just like Christianity, except without all the b.s.
60. Sometimes the very young do not do as they are told.
61. You have the information, now is the time for transformation.
62. Test everything. Hold on to the good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
63. If I drop a rock on my foot and it hurts like hell, is that the result of fear?
64. Forgiveness alone brings confidence, comfort, and joy, and bids fear and despondency flee away.
65. Many wish to "get it" for the sole purpose of "being done with it."
66. If you could just rotate fast enough, you might get a psychic vortex going.
67. As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. — Carl Jung
68. They ain't nothin' woofin' but the peas in the pot, and they only woofin' cause the water be hot!
69. The instructions for getting out of the box are printed on the outside of the box.
70. The only way to know the truth is to make yourself fit to receive it.
71. Yet if you do not accept the necessary conditions for knowing Him you have denied Him. — ACIM
72. "If you follow the Bab around like a dog, do not be surprised that the Bab treats you like a dog." — Sayings of the Bab
73. Hubris - trying to beat God at her own game.
74. Shut up and put your money where your mouth is. That's what you get for waking up in Vegas - Kate Perry
75. Save me from the nothing I've become. - Evanescence
76. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?" - Martin Luther King, Jr.
77. Complex metaphysics my ass.
78. I say again: Appearing and disappearing relate only to perception.
79. It's impossible to know for sure something that isn't real.
80. The English word 'fox' has the same meaning as 'renard,' except it's not as froggy.
81. Crucifixion is quicker and easier than death by paper cuts.
82. Perception ends where knowledge begins.
83. Sure, Jesus promised that awakening is better than sex. But, is it better than fantasy sex?
84. “When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.” — Catherine Ponder
85. Switching from believing to not believing doesn't actually change anything.
86. Salvation is not theoretical. — ACIM Manual for Teachers
87. The Course is a fertile source for daydreamers everywhere to imagine about.
88. My dreams are full of meaning, but not necessarily a lot of understanding.
89. It is not the function of God's teachers to evaluate the outcome of their gifts. It is merely their function to give them. — ACIM
90. Don't focus on reducing the pain that you experience yourself, focus on reducing the pain that you cause others.
91. Love or die. That's a choice, right?
92. New shorthand notation: CAIRI - meaning the Course as I Read It.
93. I haven't worn all the tread off my set of egos, but they are losing traction and are starting to slip. Somewhat. Now and then.
94. Like a snake that sheds its skin, I grow a new one.
95. All illusions are equally false. They are not, however, equally useless.
96. Joining with another mind is fearful because it means the end of secrets and lies.
97. Priest: Someone paid to be kind and forgiving. It hasn't always worked out that way.
98. Catholicism: Failed attempt to impose a universal theology.
99. 99 out of 100 voices in your head are lying.
100. Life is just like lucid dreaming, minus the lucidity.
101. Blowing smoke can be done figuratively or literally. I prefer to do it literally.
102. Abandon all blame, ye who enter here.
103. What if . . . on the other side of that brick wall . . . it's Toontown?
104. One reason for level confusion is that the Big Lie is different on every level.
105. Turn the beat around. Rhythm carries all the action. Turn it upside down. Love to hear it.
106. Mantra: Yes, that too is within me, and I within it.
107. Is that singular, plural, or both, with the "you"? This is English, not some sensible language.
108. Is anyone planning to unlearn how to tie a shoelace?
109. A big problem with 'God the Father' is that many earthly fathers are assholes. 'God the Mother' is not always an improvement.
110. I am under no obligation to accept your limitations.
111. It is impossible to be in communication with and through spirit by means of deception.
112. The way Jesus saw is good enough for me, and I've got the instruction manual.
113. When they say "Know thyself," which self do they mean?
114. The way of spirit is to keep the love and forget the rest, if I recall correctly.
115. A distinction without any difference is not a distinction. It is arbitrary and meaningless.
116. Truthiness is a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts.
117. Conversation stopper no. 1: This is obviously true!
118. There are some problems in this world which either get solved quickly
     or not at all.

Also posted on Miracle Course Journal

-  oOo  -

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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The Pace of Learning

Stimulus: My partner thinks I am not learning and changing fast enough and moving fast enough along the path or working hard enough, and has given an ultimatum.

Response:

I think your partner has adopted a bad strategy, having made the classic mistake of thinking finite-self-image-called-me understands the fundamental nature of time, what it means, who is driving the bus, and what the bus route ought to look like. There is the improbable tale from the seed-time about a work gang. A bunch started at the crack of dawn and the Bab said she would pay them each $250 bucks US for a full day of hard work.

That was a very good deal, and they took it.

After lunch a new gang of workers showed up on the job and pitched in.

Then about an hour before quitting time, another group of workers arrived.

Then the day was done and the Bab got out her purse to pay the workers. She gave each person there the same amount of cash. $250.

The ones who had been on the job since the crack of dawn looked around and saw what happened and said, "Bugger! This ain't right!" with some emotion. "Them guys that only worked for half a day and those who worked for just an hour get paid the same as us? That's not fair."

The Bab, of course, had been through this before and had her answer quick. "You thought it was a good deal and agreed to it. We're not re-shuffling the deck at this late hour, and I'm the dealer. Take your money with my blessing, and quit your bitching," she said. "Everyone gets what they are entitled to, which is exactly the same as what everyone else gets. Their reward is no greater than yours, and no less."

This is Biblical. Matthew 20:1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard . . . . "

Connect the dots here, please.

My plan is to enjoy all things in moderation and be happy right up to the last minute and then kiss it goodbye.

Who is the smart, albeit extremely lazy, one?

-  oOo  -

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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ACIM is NOT nihilism

The term "nihilism" comes from the Latin word "nihil", which translates to the English word "nothing". Most commonly, the philosophical doctrine of nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism. Existential nihilism argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.

Moral nihilists assert that morality does not inherently exist, and that any established moral values are abstractly contrived. Subsequently there are no moral values with which to uphold a rule or logically prefer one action over another.

Nihilism can take an metaphysical or ontological form meaning that, contrary to our belief, perceived aspects of reality do not actually exist as such. Upon realizing there are no necessary norms, rules, or laws, one may develop a mood of despair at the perceived pointlessness of existence.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) posited an early form of nihilism which he referred to as "levelling". Levelling was the process of suppressing individuality to a point where the individual's uniqueness becomes non-existent and nothing meaningful in his existence can be affirmed.

"Levelling at its maximum is like the stillness of death, where one can hear one's own heartbeat, a stillness like death, into which nothing can penetrate, in which everything sinks, powerless. One person can head a rebellion, but one person cannot head this levelling process, for that would make him a leader and he would avoid being levelled. Each individual can in his little circle participate in this levelling, but it is an abstract process, and levelling is abstraction conquering individuality."

– Søren Kierkegaard, The Present Age

A Course in Miracles does not present or support a philosophy of existential nihilism.

-  oOo  -

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Reading A Course in Miracles

Jesus has led the way. This course has come from him because his words have reached you in a language you can love and understand. - ACIM

Over a period of forty-three years, the great Sufi master Jalaluddin Rumi (1207 - 1273) dictated his Spiritual Couplets (Mathnawi-i-Manawi) to a scribe.

In his 1964 book The Sufis, the great contemporary Sufi teacher Idreis Shah wrote of the Mathnawi that its poetry and imagery is, "of such power in the original that its recitation produces a strangely complex exaltation of the hearer's consciousness."

"It contains jokes, fables, conversations, references to former teachers and ecstatogenic [ecstasy-inducing] methods — a phenomenal example of the method of scatter, whereby a picture is built up by multiple impact to infuse into the mind the Sufi method. This message, with Rumi as with all Sufi masters, is arranged partially in response to the environment in which he is working."

Assume for a moment that A Course in Miracles is a rare spiritual classic at least on par with Rumi's 750 year old Mathnawi.   How would Shah's remarks about Rumi's work apply to the Course?

1. The effect of just reading or hearing the words.
2. The scatter method, using jokes, fables, and conversations.
3. Partially designed in response to current conditions.

First. There seems to be a strong tendency among many to consult secondary sources first, and to avoid reading the Course itself. Wapnick, Renard, Perry, Charles Anderson (a/k/a Master Teacher), and so on .  .  .  have each built careers around explaining A Course in Miracles.

The Course is a big book, highly abstract and difficult to read, and it requires a significant commitment of time. There aren't any pictures in it anywhere, just a lot of words. Surly, there has to be an easier way. The cry, "Just tell me what it says!" goes out, and it is answered.

Unfortunately, it is a lot like filtering wine through mud.  Not a lot of the wine gets through the mud, and the little bit that does get through is muddy.  "They lose the effect of what is in fact a special art form, created by Rumi for the express purpose of conveying meaning which he himself concedes have no actual parallel in ordinary human experience." Idreis Shah — The Sufis.

I can attest that on occasion I have been reading the Course and tears will suddenly start flowing out of my eyes and down my face, for no obvious conscious reason, accompanied by a deep inarticulate sense of boundless joy.  I have never had that experience reading anything written by Kenneth Wapnick, for example.

There is no substitute for reading A Course in Miracles yourself.  An easier way is not the same as a better way.

"I took a ride I didn't know what I would find there,
Another road where maybe I could see some other kind of mind there."

Got to Get You Into My Life — Lennon & McCartney

Second. The scatter method of teaching is evident throughout the Course.  A theme will be explored and dropped, only to be re-visited again several times later in the book.  The scatter method is a practical concession to limited attention span, different learning styles, multiple levels of psyche, and the value of repetition without indoctrination.  One aim of the Course is to change how you think, and not so much to change what you think.  It is not an alternate belief system in the sense of merely offering a new unorthodox credo.

Although nearly all of the conversational style, the jokes, and direct references to other teachers or psychologists were edited out by Schucman and Thetford to produce the 1972 Original Edition of the Course, those are now generally available again with the unauthorized publication of the ACIM urtext.

Third. A Course in Miracles was partially designed in response to current conditions.  Many have previously suggested that the Course is superior to the Christian Gospels, and the Course was intended to correct many of the errors that crept into Christianity over the millennia.  I have recently written The Easter Lily and cultural relativism in ACIM, on this subject.

-oOo-

50 Spiritual Classics

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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Reading the Gospels

October 1991 through October 1992 was my one-year stint in an intense super-secret Fourth Way teaching school that had relocated in Louisville from Colorado just as I joined, and which moved on to Lexington, Kentucky, shortly after I got myself kicked out.  There were two teachers who were husband and wife, and about twenty students.  At first, most of the students were the ones who had re-located with the teachers from Colorado.  The focus of study was through a direct line of teaching from G. I. Gurdjieff, through P. D. Ouspensky, through Rodney Collins.

It was here that my reconciliation with Christianity began.  It was here that I first encountered a plausible alternative interpretation of the Gospels that made sense to me at the time.  The value to me at that time was immense. It opened a crack in the seemingly monolithic and impenetrable fog of contemporary mainstream Christian discourse that I didn't believe or respect.  It involved questioning the purpose and intent of the gospels.

The suggestion was simply this: The Gospels were never intended to be read literally.  The Gospels were written in coded language which could be understood only if the keys to understanding were shared by one who knew. The only way to know the secret was by direct transmission of the secret in an unbroken line by word of mouth only.  It is a Western form of Guru-ism, except the focus was not upon the teachers themselves, it was upon what they taught.

The written Gospels are a teaching tool and not a primary source of understanding.  There are four Gospels because there are four basic types of men and women, or four different levels of psyche.  Each Gospel speaks to a different level.  This explains the apparent inconsistencies.

I shall gather basic resource information and update here.

My theory is that reading A Course in Miracles apart from its relationship to everything else is a mistake. It is an ego mistake.

When you think about it, that's what the ego does - it separates, isolates and makes different. It makes "better-than" or special. Everything in the world, including sacred texts, can be used for opposite purposes.

So, I don't think it is even possible to usefully apply the teachings of A Course in Miracles without a basic knowledge of Christianity. But, I have found it very useful to read the Gospels with a questioning mind.

My reading the of the Gospels as suggested here was not an end-point for me. It was a starting point. After investigating the metaphorical meanings of the Gospel stories, there is then a return to literalism. Time is a spiral.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

The Easter Lily and cultural relativism in ACIM

The symbolic association of white trumpet lilies (Lilium longiflorum) with Easter, and the phrase "Easter Lilies," is a fairly recent development. The cultural significance of the symbolism is limited primarily to the English speaking parts of the world, and particularly the United States and Canada. These lilies are native to Japan and were not introduced to England and the United States until the 19th Century.

Although Brewer's 1894 Dictionary of Phrase and Fable discusses the symbolic meaning of lilies, it makes no connection at all between that flower and Easter. In England and also in Russia the pussy-willow is the flower traditionally associated with Easter. The most ancient association of Easter and a particular flower is with the narcissus. This is still the tradition in areas of Southern France and northern Italy.

When A Course in Miracles states, for example, "This week begins with palms and ends with lilies, the white and holy sign the Son of God is innocent," in connection to Easter, the average Russian or Italian might be hard-pressed to understand the meaning of the reference. If a translation of A Course in Miracles into Russian aimed to adopt a relevant cultural symbol of equal significance, that sentence might properly be rendered as, "This week begins with palms and ends with pussy-willows."

This would be in line with what the Course itself has to say on the subject of translation:

"Laws must be communicated if they are to be helpful. In effect, they must be translated for those who speak different languages. Nevertheless, a good translator, although he must alter the form of what he translates, never changes the meaning. In fact, his whole purpose is to change the form so that the original meaning is retained."

White trumpet lilies normally do not bloom in nature until June and July. Considerable planning and expense go into creating the artificial conditions required to force Easter lilies to bloom in time for Easter Sunday in late March or April. The final phase of forcing potted lily bulbs to bloom at Easter time involves several months of cultivation in hothouse conditions.

One might assume, therefore, that the "tradition" of the Easter lily was invented and popularized by commercial greenhouse growers in modern times, and quite successfully it seems. Easter lilies are the fourth most popular potted plant marketed in the United States today. Easter lilies are a big, but specialized, business. See: Easter Lily Research Foundation.

Although the connection between the white lily and Easter is of recent origin, there is no denying the emotional impact of the symbol in the North America. The National Society for Crippled Children, for example, launched its first "Easter Seals" campaign in 1934, incorporated the lily into its logo in 1952, "for its association with resurrection and new life," and officially changed its name to "Easter Seals" in 1967. See: Easter Seals Disability Services.

A Course in Miracles first mentions the lily in chapter 20. Before 1975 this chapter was titled "The Promise of the Resurrection," and it begins with, "This is Palm Sunday . . . . ." Those words were actually scribed on Palm Sunday, March 19, 1967.

 Lilies are used to symbolize love and innocence, in contrast with the image of thorns which are used as the symbol of fear and guilt. The contrast between lilies and thorns is used to emphasize and make clear the nature of the choice placed before us in every inter-personal encounter.

"Offer your brother the gift of lilies, not the crown of thorns; the gift of love and not the 'gift' of fear. You stand beside your brother, thorns in one hand and lilies in the other, uncertain which to give. Join now with me and throw away the thorns, offering the lilies to replace them."

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

---

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A Christian dialog - first

from Peace of God
A Christian dialog


Michaela: So, what does Contemporary Gospel mean?

Maz: Hi, its Maz Martin Weber-Caspers, Flevoland (a provence in the Netherlands).

Michaela: Hi Maz. I'm Michaela.

Maz: It means that the author of ACIM identifies himself as Jesus. He clarifies and correct 2 thousand years of upside down teachings. He gave the Course through inner dictation, great chunks in Iambic Pentameter Which is unworldy on the level of form, as well.

Michaela: Oh ok. I can see this isn't the room for me, Maz. But thanks for giving me a moment of your time to explain it. Take care...

Maz: No problem

Michaela: Cheers...

Maz: Look for yourself. Peace! BTW its NOT religious!

Michaela: Thanks.....it's living in me. Ok...that's no problem.

Maz: Good You may want to check out Ekkart Tolle or Marianne Williamson (Oprah's channels) for sharing ACIM "Perrenial Philosophy."

Michaela: Oh...Ok. I've heard a little about Williamson. I don't subscribe to her thoughts. But thanks. It might help you understand where I'm coming from if I mention I'm a born again Christian, and I believe the bible in its original text to be the supernaturally inspired word of God.

Maz: God Bless us all. Jesus is Savior to all. The Kingdom of Heaven is within.

Michaela: Not in the way you believe. But that's cool...thanks for your time. Bye now..

Maz: God's Plan of Salvation offers many paths, and cannot fail. Bye, take care.

Michaela: The bible says there is only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ.

Maz: Yes, that's correct. I believe that.

Michaela: That's good. Who do you say Christ is?

Maz: "I and the Father are One" Christ is God's Son.

Michaela: And you? Who are you?

Maz: We are all part of Christ, God's eternal children, equal and saved.

Michaela: All are saved?

Maz: I am a Child of God, like Jesus and yourself.

Michaela: You believe all are saved?

Maz: Yes, God is Just.

Michaela: Oh...ok. So you believe you are equal with Jesus?

Maz: No, Jesus is CHRIST realized, I am on my way He helps me. He protects me. He teaches me. He is the Leader of the Atonement and of the Sonship. He is the first complete witness to God.

Michaela: Oh....ok, so do you believe that you are corrupt in nature, sinful, and in need of Christs work on the cross to be saved? Do you believe in repentance?

Maz: Yes. I believe that all sin is an error, and that all of God's Creations are sinless. The world teaches the opposite, that sin is real. I listen to God's Voice, not the world. The Bible says that Adam fell asleep, and nowhere does the bible mention his awakening. But the Atonement restores every Soul to its truthful inheritance, to the Glory of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus is leader of the Atonement. That's my faith and experience. And I thank Jesus, as I thank you.

Michaela: The 'world' believes they are good enough to enter heaven. The 'world' doesn't believe Christ is in fact God himself. The 'world' doesn't see its need for repentance. True Christians believe the opposite of the world. We believe what God says....that there are none who do good, and none who seek after God. We believe that man needs a saviour, and Jesus Christ is that person; that all things we see were created through jesus Christ, that Christ is not a created being, but like God the Father, has always been...

Michaela: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16...

Maz: Jesus showed himself to me and my wife. He lives and teaches salvation, and freedom from sin and error. Theology can not split humanity since Jesus joins all. There are so many wars based on interpretation. Peace is God's Will for us.

Michaela: Really? Yet he said 'I have not come to bring peace'

Maz: The sword of Divine Wisdom IS the Atonement. A weapon that can NEVER be used to attack. After we saw Jesus Face in the Clouds in 1991, and read the prophesies in the Bible, we learned from him. We invited him into our lives, and he came.

Michaela: If you believe that Jesus Christ actually showed Himself to you, then there's nothing I can say to you that you will listen to. But I pray that God would remove the scales from your eyes, as He has done for me and millions of others, and I pray that Satan's deception will release its hold over you and your lovely wife. You are being severly deceived, as I was, and I truly pray for your eyes to be opened to the truth.

Maz: That's all that counts for me. A personal relationship with Jesus.

Michaela: That's correct. A personal relationship with Him, but the Jesus you say you know, I know nothing of and the bible does not speak of.

Maz: You are very kind. Read the prophesies, his 2nd coming will be announced in the clouds.

Michaela: No argument there....

Maz: Its in the Bible, and I trust I am not deceived. He works many miracles in our lives. He heals and restores.

Michaela: He does indeed....he shows mercy to whom he will show mercy...

Maz: He is available in the Holy Spirit for eveyone who asks.

Michaela: But I'm sorry friend, you don't know him.

Maz: Aaah, and how do YOU know that?

Michaela: Because the doctrine you speak of is not biblical. And the bible is the inspired word of God. If it doesn't match up with His description, then it just ain't true.

Maz: 'I will never forsake you or leave you comfortless' is his promise, and he keeps it.

Michaela: Yes, but He is speaking to those who are saved by grace, through Jesus Christ. He is not speaking to everyone.

Maz: And you think you know I am not saved by grace because I have a non-biblical doctrine? Are you a judge about my salvation?

Michaela: Not me friend, but the holy word of God is your judge.

Maz: I have no doctrine except my Love and Faith for God and Jesus.

Michaela: I didn't write the contents . . . God did. We can believe what we want, but it is useless if it is not the truth.

Maz: Well, i don't think its kind to tell me that I lie and am deceived.

Maz: The Truth is of God, not of man.

Maz: No man should judge a brother's salvation. Or faith

Michaela: You don't think it's kind to try to warn someone of the desperate state they are in, to try to steer them on the right path?

Maz: Desperate? LOL What do you know about the Miracles that Jesus works in my Life? How can you judge me as deceived? Is your Bible telling you to do that? I don't think so.

Michaela: Because of the words that are coming from your mouth. My bible tells me to share the Gospel, and that's what I'm doing.

Maz: I am not judging you for your belief.

Michaela: Your salvation is God's business, I am only saying that what you are saying doesn't line up with the Word of God, and that is my guide.

Maz: I am a brother and I don't understand why you would see me desparate and deceived.

Michaela: I know you're not. And I'm not judging you, merely seeking to share the truth with you.

Maz: That is appreciated. Thank you.

Michaela: If you knew that 2 and 2 makes 4, and your life depended on knowing that, but your wife said it really made 5, wouldn't you try to persuade her otherwise?

Maz: I know that sometimes 1+1=3, so I will always ask Jesus if something is true or not.

Michaela: In the same way you are sharing your understanding with me, I am sharing what I believe is truth with you...

Maz: My wife does the same.

Michaela: lol 1 and 1 = 3?

Maz: Yes. How? See, we are judging too quick sometimes....

Michaela: So you're saying there are no absolutes, and that God's word is incorrect?

Maz: Take the color Yellow (1) and the Color Blue (1) and mix them at the edge: What do you see? 3 colors, Blue, Yellow and Green. It all depends on the level.


Michaela: Absolutely,but the third colour does not take away from the truth of the other two. they are still yellow and Blue

Maz: Yes, but in this case 1+1=3. That's all.