Miracles Course Journal

Michael Talbot - The Holographic Universe

2009-12-15T10:10:00.004-05:00

In The Holographic Universe, Michael Talbot explores the idea that the entire universe is a hologram. Using this new description of reality the universe is actually a kind of 3-D projection and is ultimately no more real than a 3-D image in space,despite its apparent solid materiality.

Talbot examines the works of physicist David Bohm and neurophysiologist Karl H. Pribram, both of whom independently arrived at holographic theories or models of the universe. Talbot suggests that a holographic model might provide a scientific foundation for understanding various paranormal and anomalous phenomena, such as extrasensory perception, and provide a scientific basis for understanding mystical experience. He also ties in elements of Carl Jung's "collective unconscious" theory, and the synchronicity phenomenon, to suggest the existence of an underlying unified field that ties all things in the universe together.

Talbot explains in simple prose the theory behind a holograph and its traditional applications to science. In part two, he shows the panoramic way in which the holographic model makes sense of the entire range of mystical, spiritual and psychic experience. Finally, in part three, he explores the implications for other universes beyond our own.

Talbot often referenced Stanislav Grof, whose work on Holotropic Breathwork (The Holotropic Mind) was also of obvious influence. Talbot attempted to incorporate psychology, anthropology, spirituality, religion, and science to shed light on truly profound questions.

There is evidence to suggest that our world and everything in it—from snowflakes to maple trees to falling stars and spinning electrons—are also only ghostly images, projections from a level of reality so beyond our own it is literally beyond both space and time.

The main architects of this astonishing idea are two of the world's most eminent thinkers: University of London physicist David Bohm, a protege of Einstein's and one of the world's most respected quantum Physicists; and Karl Pribram, a neurophysiologist at Stanford University and author of the classic neuropsychological textbook Languages of the Brain. Intriguingly, Bohm and Pribram arrived at their conclusions independently and while working from two very different directions. Bohm became convinced of the universe's holographic nature only after years of dissatisfaction with standard theories' inability to explain all of the phenomena encountered in quantum physics. Pribram became convinced because of the failure of standard theories of the brain to explain various neurophysiological puzzles.

However, after arriving at their views, Bohm and Pribram quickly realized the holographic model explained a number of other mysteries as well, including the apparent inability of any theory, no matter how comprehensive, ever to account for all the phenomena encountered in nature; the ability of individuals with hearing in only one ear to determine the direction from which a sound originates; and our ability to recognize the face of someone we have not seen for many years even if that person has changed considerably in the interim. But the most staggering thing about the holographic model was that it suddenly made sense of a wide range of phenomena so elusive they generally have been categorized outside the province of scientific understanding. These include telepathy, precognition, mystical feelings of oneness with the universe, and even psychokinesis, or the ability of the mind to move physical objects without anyone touching them.

Indeed, it quickly became apparent to the ever growing number of scientists who came to embrace the holographic model that it helped explain virtually all paranormal and mystical experiences, and in the last half-dozen years or so it has continued to galvanize researchers and shed light on an increasing number of previously inexplicable phenomena.

Complete book online

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

The Control of Self and Environment

2009-12-15T01:02:00.001-05:00

Christ in You - Lesson 26
The Control of Self and Environment

The world around, or rather the visible world, is, as you know, full of wonderful possibilities, though yet imperfect, because un-mastered. The world you know is illusory and shadowy only because man has not reached the crown of being. As man evolves, the whole material plane is lifted into a higher condition. The seasons depend on God in man, and are according to the inner mind. The world is wild and lawless in some regions, so much so that man is subject to the nature or world spirit. Misused energy and uncontrolled force call for lord and master, as the trees of old asked for a king to reign over them.

The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fi g tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fi g tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheers God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fi re come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

Judges 9:8 - 15

If you read this parable carefully, you will find much hidden truth. God made man to rule and to have all things respond to him. The world is gradually learning some of these higher mysteries. If you had a tree or plant under your control, in time it would respond, and assume its highest possible form, on condition you became at one with its hidden laws, and you are meant to become this. I merely give you this simple truth to lead you higher. The physical world is governed by its own forces and passions, and not by the spiritual, the only real. For the teaching of this very lesson Jesus stilled the’ storm with the word “PEACE.” Since He had control over His own natural and physical self, He afterwards used the God-given right of dominion. You are the channels through which the divine will and energy manifests its one self. To effect this you must become selfl ess and at one, for the Lord thy God is one Lord and not many.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Spiritual eye - Walter Hilton

2009-12-15T00:43:00.003-05:00

Walter Hilton (1340 – 24 March 1396) was an English Augustinian mystic. Little is known of his life. He was the head of a house of Augustinian Canons at Thurgarton Priory, near Newark, in Nottinghamshire. He was closely in touch with the Carthusians, though not a member of that order.

His spiritual writings were widely influential during the fifteenth century in England. The most famous of these is the Scala Perfectionis, or Ladder of Perfection. In that work the phrase "spiritual eye" is repeated 30 times. These are a few quotes.

"For that is the life which is truly contemplative to begin here, in that feeling of love and spiritual knowing of God, by opening of the spiritual eye, which shall never be lost nor taken away, but shall be perfected in a far higher manner in heaven."

"Nevertheless inasmuch as thou hast not as yet seen what it is fully, for thy spiritual eye is not yet opened, I shall tell thee one word for all, in the which thou shalt seek, desire and find it; for in that one word is all that thou hast lost."

"I believe that if a man could see with his spiritual eye how foul pride and covetousness are in God’s sight, and how contrary they are to Him, he would more loathe a stirring of pride, and the vain liking of it; and also he would more abhor and rise against that evil will of envy, or anger to his neighbour than many a stirring or liking either of gluttony or of lechery."

"I mean that Humility which a soul feeleth through grace, in the sight and beholding of the endless being, and the wonderful goodness of Jesus, and if thou canst not see it with thy spiritual eye, yet that thou believe it; for through this sight of his being, either in full faith or in feeling, thou shalt esteem thyself not only the most wretched creature that is, but also as nothing in the substance of thy soul, though thou hadst never done any sin."

"What this opening of the spiritual eye is the greatest scholar on earth cannot imagine by his wit nor show fully by his tongue; for it cannot be gotten by study, nor by man’s industry alone, but principally by grace of the Holy Ghost, and with human industry. I am afraid to speak anything of it, for methinketh that I cannot, it passeth my attempt,274 and my lips are unclean."

"But then through opening of the spiritual eye into Jesus the love is turned, and the soul is raised up according to its own nature above all bodily creatures. And then the beholding and thinking, and the using of them is spiritual, for the love is spiritual."

"This tasting of this Manna is a lively feeling of grace had through the opening of the spiritual eye. And this grace is not another grace from that which a chosen soul feeleth in the beginning of his conversion; but it is the self-same grace, only it is otherwise felt and showed to a soul. For why? Grace groweth with a soul, and the soul groweth with grace."

"And therefore the grace of the Holy Ghost, shutting the fleshly eye, causeth the soul to sleep from worldly vanities, and opening the spiritual eye, keepeth it awake to the sight of God’s majesty covered under the cloud of His precious Humanity."

"These are the tokens of inspiration in opening of the spiritual eye. For when the eye is opened, the soul is in full feeling of all the aforesaid virtues for that time."

"Unto this I answer that bodily feelings, be they never so comfortable, are not to be desired nor regarded much if they come; but spiritual feelings, such as I have spoken of, if they come in that manner as I have said, should ever be desired. I mean the killing of all worldly love, the opening of the spiritual eye, purity of spirit, peace of conscience and all other spoken of before. We should ever covet to feel the lively inspiration of grace made by the spiritual presence of Jesus in our souls, if we could."

"For by opening of the spiritual eye it is wholly applied to grace, ready to pray."

"Then mayest thou be secure, that at what time thou feelest thy soul stirred by grace, specially in that manner as I have said before, by opening of thy spiritual eye that thou seest and feelest Jesus, hold Him fast whilst thou may, and keep thyself in grace, and let Him not easily go from thee."

"See now, then, how grace openeth the spiritual eye, and Heareth the senses of the soul wonderfully above the frailty of corrupt nature. It giveth the soul a new ability whether it will read holy Writ, or hear it, or meditate in it, for to understand truly and savourly the truth of it in th manner aforesaid; and also for to turn readily all reasons and words that are literally spoken in spiritual understanding."

"And this is another work of Contemplation, to see Jesus in the Scriptures after the opening of the spiritual eye. The cleaner the sight is in beholding, the more comforted is the affection in tasting."

"The drawing of a soul fully to perfect love, is, first by the showing of spiritual things to a clean soul, when the spiritual eye is opened; not that a soul should rest therein, and make an end there, but should by that search Him and love Him who is highest of all, without any beholding of any other thing than He."

"And all this spiritual sight is nought else but the sight of Jesus, not in Himself but in His merciful secret works, and in His righteous judgements every day showed, remembered and renewed to reasonable souls. Moreover, to see with the spiritual eye the pains of the reprobate and the joy and bliss of chosen souls is full comfortable. For truth cannot be seen in a clean soul without great delight and wonderful content of blessed burning love."

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Hotel infinity

2009-12-14T23:59:00.001-05:00

The paradoxical nature of infinity is illustrated by the idea of a grand hotel, with an infinite number of rooms — all of which are occupied by guests at all times — but which can nevertheless always manage to accommodate a new guest by moving each existing guest over, one by one, to other rooms.

"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

Eagles: Hotel California (live acoustic music video)

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Gregg Braden - The Science of Miracles

2009-12-14T18:24:00.000-05:00

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Drunken road trip to beyond infinity

2009-12-14T09:34:00.002-05:00

Deb "If A Course in Miracles truly does teach that being "here" proves I am separate from God then I know that I know it's not true."
------
The conceptual simplicity of it got edited out when Helen had her first post-scribal meltdown and went a little more nuts than was usual for her.

You are a thought of God. I am a thought of God. The Original edition of the Course retains the name the Course uses for these thoughts of God.

The Original edition of the Course calls these thoughts of God . . . . souls.

As God created you, you are a . . . soul. "Your soul is your only reality."

Forget everything else you ever imagined or was told about the meaning of the word "soul." The Course redefines that word "soul" just as it does with so many other words.

A "soul" is a "though of God," and thoughts never leave their source. Who you are in reality as God created you, your soul, you as a though of God, is safe and sound and cradled in the warm-fuzzy mind of God.

As a beloved child of God, your father gave you everything he had to give, including his will to create. Some idiot . . . maybe it was me . . . came up with the crazy idea that it might be fun to create differently than God . . . and YOU bought into it, just as I did. We are co-conspirators in the biggest baddest joke in eternity.

So, off we went along with a bunch of our peeps, high school friends and Facebook buddies on a miscreation tour of God's mind (the universe), generally acting the fools.

We got drunk and crazy.

I'm not blaming anybody. I thought it was a good idea too, but who knew THIS would happen?

What's the name of that song about waking up in Las Vegas?

Katy Perry - Waking Up In Vegas - Official Video

Aside: I'm thinking it's possible one of God's Laws is: "You broke it, you bought it."

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

A Course in Miracles - resources

2009-12-11T10:40:00.000-05:00

A Course in Miracles 1975 — Online at Wikisource

Related pages - A Course in Miracles

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Fox's ACIM dictionary - nondualist

2009-12-11T09:40:00.010-05:00

Nondualist: A fish who has gone to war with water and whose chief weapon is to deny the sea in which it swims. The assumption is that denial is the most effective way to rid oneself of illusions.

Low expresion: Fundamentalist evangelical missionary nondualists, or 'born again' nondualists.

To the nondualist, reality is ultimately neither physical nor mental. Instead, it is an ineffable state or realization. Nisargadatta Maharaj, when asked how to tell when someone is approaching this nondualistic understanding, commented:

"Even then it is a concept again. But I give you a criterion by which one can sort of judge something. When a stage is reached that one feels deeply that whatever is being done is happening and one has not got anything to do with it, then it becomes such a deep conviction that whatever is happening is not happening really. And that whatever seems to be happening is also an illusion. That may be final. In other words, totally apart from whatever seems to be happening, when one stops thinking that one is living, and gets the feeling that one is being lived, that whatever one is doing one is not doing but one is made to do, then that is a sort of criterion."

The Ultimate Medicine: Dialogues with a Realized Master by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

The realization that experiential nondualists seek involves a total lack of responsibility for the events and circumstances of their lives and the world around them. In other words, this nondualistic goal is one of utter powerlessness. Latter day nondualists think of themselves as being 'meat puppets.'

The phrase, "one stops thinking that one is living, and gets the feeling that one is being lived, that whatever one is doing one is not doing but one is made to do" is similar to the realization of being 'mechanical' proposed by G. I. Gurdjieff and the various schools that he either started or inspired.

The primary difference between the this nondualist attitude and that of Gurdjieff is that for Gurdjieff a realization of being a powerless automation is a starting point for genuine self-discovery, or perhaps the discovery of a genuine unconditioned self. It is not a stopping point.

See also: Idries Shah, The Commanding Self

A Course in Miracles suggests that all illusory things can be used for awakening. It is simply a matter of re-interpretation through a direct personal connection with spirit.

ACIM has several nondualistic aspects. The dualistic aspects of ACIM predominate, but it is an error to insist upon either to the exclusion of the other.

You see, the apparent schism between dualism and nondualism is itself a dualistic formulation, which many idiological nondualists ignore somehow.

The first way the Course is non-dualistic is to refute the idea that evil exists in eternity as an opposing force to God. There is no devil or power of darkness that is on par with the level of the Godhead. In other words, there is no error so great that it cannot be corrected. Nothing real can be threatened. This, obviously, is contrary to the thinking of many mainstream Christian organizations and individuals, which are inherently and fundamentally dualistic. Sometimes painfully so.

The Course is also nondualistic when it briefly discusses the levels of ultimate reality that is beyond both words and perception, but it doesn't dwell upon it because it has no real practical significance or application to us as we presently think.

We can't get there from here. The Course is not suggesting any escape from the level I am at, whatever that is, directly to the Godhead. The Course specifically talks about correcting error from the bottom up. It is a progressive system of ascending levels. It specifically mentions the level of nightmare, the level of happy dream, the level of real world, and the level of heaven. It is expressed in many different ways. Another is: The totally insane, the partially insane, and the sane. Different levels. Few if any transition directly from totally insane to sane, without passing through the middle ground. Maybe you know of an exception to this.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

ACIM Gather Radio

2009-12-09T18:10:00.005-05:00

ACIM Gather Radio Schedule of events
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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Soul seekers

2009-12-09T17:37:00.009-05:00

Longing is the core of mystery.
Longing itself brings the cure.
- Rumi -

You were eternally fixated on God in your creation, and the pull of this fixation is so strong that you will never overcome it. The reason is perfectly clear. The fixation is on a level so high that it cannot be surmounted. You are ALWAYS being pulled back to your Creator because you belong to Him. Do you really believe you can make a voice that can drown out His?

- A Course in Miracles

Bring Me to Life

Without a soul, my spirit is sleeping somewhere cold.
Now that I know what I am without, you can't just leave me.
Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul, don't let me die here.

Find it there and lead it back home.

Evanescence - Bring Me to Life (music video)

The Holy Longing: Spiritual Yearning and Its Shadow Side
— by Connie Zweig, PhD.

In many only the spark remains, for the great rays are obscured. Yet God has kept the spark alive so that the rays can never be completely forgotten. If you but see the little spark you will learn of the greater light, for the rays are there unseen. Perceiving the spark will heal, but knowing the light will create. Yet in the returning the little light must be acknowledged first, for the separation was a descent from magnitude to littleness. But the spark is still as pure as the great light because it is the remaining call of creation. Put all your faith in it, and God Himself will answer you.

- A Course in Miracles

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Society of Friends

2009-12-07T22:36:00.013-05:00

The Society of Friends is a religious movement with roots with some 17th century
Christian English dissenters. Today the movement has branched out into many
independent national and regional organizations. The most familiar name used for
the movement is Quaker, but various groups go by many other names:

Children of the Light
Friends
Friends Among Friends
Friends of the Truth
Quiet Helpers
Religious Society of Friends
Saints
Seekers of Truth

The name "Quaker" was first used in 1650, when George Fox was brought before
Justice Bennet of Derby on a charge of blasphemy. According to Fox's journal,
Bennet "called us Quakers because we bid them tremble at the word of God", a
scriptural reference (e.g., Isaiah 66:2, Ezra 9:4). Therefore, what began
apparently as a way to make fun of Fox's admonition by those outside the Society
of Friends became a nickname that even Friends use for themselves.

The names "Children of the Light" and "Friends of the Truth", reflecting the
central importance in early Quaker theology of Christ as an Inner light that
shows you your true condition.

George Fox and the other early Quakers believed that direct experience of God
was available to all people, without mediation (e.g., through hired clergy, or
through outward sacraments). Fox described this by writing that "Christ has come
to teach His people Himself."

Since Friends believe that each contains God, much of the Quaker perspective is
based on trying to hear God and to allow God's Spirit free action in the heart.
Isaac Penington wrote in 1670: "It is not enough to hear of Christ, or read of
Christ, but this is the thing — to feel him my root, my life, my foundation..."

Quakers try to bear witness or testify to their beliefs in their every day life
- an expression of "spirituality in action". These ways in which they testify
are often known as Quaker testimonies or Friends' testimonies - these are not a
formal, static set of words, but rather a shared view or attitude of how many
Quakers relate to God and the world. This leads to each Quaker having a
different understanding of what the testimonies are, and while the ideologies
remain quite similar for all Quakers, they go by different names, and different
values are included throughout the Religious Society of Friends. The Testimonies
are interrelated and can be seen as a coherent philosophical system, even
outside Christian theology. The testimonies have not always been consistent, but
throughout their history they have challenged Friends and provided them
guidance.

Source: Wikipedia

Testimony of Peace

Friends' peace testimony is largely derived from beliefs arising from the
teachings of Jesus to love one's enemies and Friends' belief in the inner light.
Quakers believe that nonviolent confrontation of evil and peaceful
reconciliation are always superior to violent measures. Peace testimony does not
mean that Quakers engage only in passive resignation; in fact, they often
practice passionate activism.

Testimony of Equality

Friends believe that all people are created equal in the eyes of God. Since all
people embody the same divine spark all people deserve equal treatment. Friends
were some of the first to value women as important ministers and to campaign for
women's rights; they became leaders in the anti-slavery movement, and were among
the first to pioneer humane treatment for individuals with mental disorders, and
for prisoners.

Testimony of Integrity

Early Friends believed that an important part of Jesus' message was how we treat
our fellow human beings. They felt that honest dealing with others meant more
than avoiding direct lies. Friends continue to believe that it is important not
to mislead others, even if the words used are all technically truthful. Early
Friends refused to swear oaths, even in courtrooms, believing that one must
speak truth at all times, and the act of swearing to it implied different
standards of truth with and without oaths; this doctrine is attributed to Jesus
in the Sermon on the Mount (specifically Matthew 5:34-37).

The essence of testimony to integrity is placing God at the center of one's
life. Quakers believe that the Spirit is in everyone. Integrity means focusing
and spending time listening to the small voice of the Spirit and being open to
being led by it - whether the Spirit is speaking within oneself or through
another.

Giving testimony to truth and integrity also means refusing to place things
other than God at the center of one's life - whether it be one's own self,
possessions, the regard of others, belief in principles (such as rationality,
progress or justice) or something else. It is the understanding that even good
things are no longer good when they supplant God as one's center.

Testimony of Simplicity

Simplicity to Friends has generally been a reference to material possessions.
Friends have often limited their possessions to what they need to live their
lives, rather than accumulating luxuries. The testimony is not just about the
nature of one's material possessions, but rather also about one's attitude
towards these material goods. Many Friends who have been considered exemplary
have also been wealthy; their commitment to the testimony, however, led them to
use their wealth for spiritual purposes, including aid to the poor and
oppressed. On the other hand, some Friends, such as John Woolman, gave up much
of their wealth and economic position when they felt it to be a spiritual
burden.[1] In recent decades Friends have given the Testimony an ecological
dimension: that Friends should not use more than their fair share of the Earth's
limited resources.

Additional:

Metaphysics and The Illusion

The following was written in a letter to Friends from Fox:

All along ye may see, by faith the mountains were subdued; and the rage of the wicked, with his fiery darts, was quenched. Though the waves and storms be high, yet your faith will keep you, so as to swim above them; for they are but for a time, and the Truth is without time. Therefore keep on the mountain of holiness, ye who are led to it by the Light.

Do not think that anything will outlast the Truth. For the Truth standeth sure; and is over that which is out of the Truth. For the good will overcome the evil; the light, darkness; the life, death; virtue, vice; and righteousness, unrighteousness. The false prophet cannot overcome the true; but the true prophet, Christ, will overcome all the false. (Here and below, Ch. XVII, "At The Work of Organizing, 1667-1670," quoted from a letter from Fox to Friends)

Here Fox speaks of time vs. eternity. He exhorts us to "keep on the mountain of holiness" or to stay in our right mind connected with Holy Spirit, so that we stay true to our eternal selves and not be tempted by the temporal. The false prophet is what ACIM calls ego. Like ACIM, Fox focuses Friends on the truth of their eternal spirit, rather than investing in what they see in this world of time and ego illusion.

Regarding his vision of the New Jerusalem he wrote:

…I saw the beauty and glory of it, the length, the breadth, and the height thereof, all in complete proportion. I saw that all who are within the Light of Christ, and in His faith, of which He is the author; and in the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, which Christ and the holy prophets and apostles were in; and within the grace, and truth, and power of God, which are the walls of the city; — I saw that such are within the city, are members of it, and have right to eat of the Tree of Life...

Here he is stating that these members are not only within the city but are the spirit, the faith, and therefore the walls. Thus, they must be one with the city _ they are part of this New Jerusalem or, as ACIM calls it, "heaven" or "the real world." In ACIM, when we reach the real world it will be when we are living on earth as one. We will know that we are truly dependent on one another, not in a co-dependent way but because we are truly one. Our minds, thoughts and energy affect the consciousness of the planet, so we need to realize our interdependence and that we `go together or not at all' since we are all part of the one son of God. According to ACIM until we all understand this, and are united, we cannot return to heaven.

from: www.universalistfriends.org - The Teachings of George Fox and A Course In Miracles - By Jean Weston, author of Course Koans

www.quaker.org

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Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Vision quest 2010

2009-12-06T15:35:00.001-05:00

Vision quest 2010

Questioning illusions is the first step in undoing them, but fear inhibits the tendency to question at all. The questioning mind perceives itself in time, and therefore looks for answers in the future. The fear that inhibits questioning is the fear that the future will be worse than the present.

The unquestioning mind is closed because it hopes the future will be the same as the present.

The fear that inhibits questioning is the fear of change.

Since perceptions change, their dependence on time is obvious. How you perceive at any given time determines what you do, and action must occur in time. When it is said that "now is the only time," the literal nature of this statement does not mean anything to the ego. At best, it is interpreted to mean "don’t worry about the future."

That is not what it really means at all.

The ego has a very strange notion of time, and it is with this notion that your questioning might well begin. The ego invests heavily in the past, and in the end believes that the past is the only aspect of time that is meaningful. This ensure the ego's continuity by making the future like the past, and thus avoiding the present. By the notion of paying for the past in the future the past becomes the determiner of the future, making them continuous without an intervening present.

The ego uses the present only as a brief transition to the future, in which it brings the past to the future by interpreting the present in past terms.

What for?

This is the question which you must learn to ask, in connection with everything your mind wishes to undertake. What is the purpose? When you make a decision of purpose, then, you have made a decision about your future effort, a decision which will remain in effect unless you change the decision.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Two extraordinary discoveries about ACIM

2009-11-21T13:22:00.001-05:00

While working with the material last night, I discovered two extremely interesting and suggestive facts about the scribing of A Course in Miracles.

You will see miracles -

The publicity materials issuing forth from the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) and the Foundation for A Course in Miracles (FACIM) over the years has consistently presented the story of the Course's scribing as beginning with the sentence, "This is a course in miracles, please take notes."

In fact, however, this is not true.

The Helen Schucman's steno notebook page for October 21, 1965 actually begins with the sentence, "You will see miracles through your hands, through mine." This sentence , "You will see miracles . . . . ", was edited out of all subsequent versions of the Course past the urtext typescript.

The scribes and editors of the Course in the early years were personally disturbed by the entire concept of miracles, and there is plausible evidence that they each, in their own way, deprecated the concept as much as possible. Miracles are living visible proof that everything you believe about yourself and the world is simply not true.

Miracles are very disturbing things to ponder.

Great comet of 1965 - Ikeya-Seki - Wikipedia

Comet Ikeya-Seki was unknown until it was first seen in the night sky on September 18, 1965. The comet raced toward the sun in its elliptical orbit until reaching its closest point on October 21, 1965. It proved to be one of the brightest comets seen in the last thousand years, and is sometimes known as the Great Comet of 1965. It was so bright that it was clearly visible in the daytime sky next to the Sun. The comet was seen to break into three pieces just before its passage of the sun. The three pieces continued together in almost identical orbits.

October 21, 1965 was the day that Helen Schucman first begin scribing A Course in Miracles.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Grieving the loss of paradise

2009-11-19T12:19:00.001-05:00

Working toward an ACIM perspective on Milton and Kübler-Ross

Carmen came up with the idea of applying the Five Stages of Grieving to our emotional loss of Paradise. My mind went to John Milton's "Paradise Lost," as being representative of 17th Century Christian thinking. Very modern at the time (1667), but old, rusty, and falling apart today . . . regardless of how many people still believe that story without question.

-oOo-

Grieving the loss of paradise

John Milton and Genesis

Adam and Eve's expulsion from Eden, roughly based upon the Bible's Genesis story, forms one part of John Milton's 1667 epic poem "Paradise Lost". Another parallel story line in Milton's work is that of Lucifer's rebellion against God. Although the story of Lucifer is not based upon the Bible at all, it is a story that is deeply rooted in Western cultural beliefs.

The story of Lucifer in "Paradise Lost" follows the aftermath of Lucifer's war in heaven seeking to overthrow God. It begins after Satan and the other rebel angels have been defeated and cast into Hell.

Lucifer employs his skill to organize his followers. Lucifer nominates himself to subvert the newly-created Earth, and he braves the dangers of the Abyss alone in his journey to Eden.

The story of Adam and Eve's temptation and fall is a domestic saga. Adam and Eve are presented for the first time in Christian literature as having a functional relationship before the fall, while they were still without sin. They each have passions and distinct personalities in Milton's telling. The are presented as real people.

Lucifer successfully tempts Eve by preying on her vanity and tricking her with sly words. Adam, seeing Eve has sinned, knowingly commits the same sin. He declares to Eve that since she was made from his flesh, they are bound to one another so that if she dies, he must also die. In this manner Milton portrays Adam as a heroic figure but also as a deeper sinner than Eve since he knows that what he's doing is wrong, and he does it anyway.

After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve have lustful sex in Milton's poem. This preserved the popular, if not strictly doctrinal, position that sex itself is the original sin. At first, Adam is convinced that Eve was right in thinking that eating the fruit would be beneficial. However, they soon fall asleep, have terrible nightmares, and after they awake they experience guilt and shame for the first time. Realizing that they have committed a terrible act against God, they engage in mutual recrimination. Adam and Eve try to shift the blame onto the other.

"Those who think that they are sin must die for what they think they are." A Course in Miracles

Eve's pleas to Adam reconcile them somewhat. Her encouragement enables them to approach God, to "bow and sue for grace with suppliant knee," and to receive grace from God. Nevertheless, hey are cast out of Eden and the archangel Michael says that Adam may find "A paradise within thee, happier far." They now have a more distant relationship with God, and a flaming sword bars the way back to paradise.

Lucifer is the symbol for man and the ego

It is easy to see the similarity between Lucifer's expulsion from the paradise of Heaven and Adam & Eve's expulsion from the paradise of Eden. Each rebelled against God, and each were punished by God, as is commonly believed. A Course in Miracles recognizes this parallel. "After all, Lucifer fell, but he was still an angel. He is thus the symbol for man," the Course (urtext) states. Similarly, God's children rebelled and fell, but they were still God's children. Lucifer's story epitomizes the Course's description of the ego.

One can characterize the entire melodrama as a transaction among egos, useful from beginning to end to illustrate Course teachings. It is even possible to analyse Lucifer's behavior in terms of the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross model for the five stages of grief.

Although originally developed from observation of terminally ill hospital patients in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying, it has been applied to the greif associated with any loss. But the statement,"Lucifer literally projected himself from heaven," from the Course urtext is a reminder that Lucifer's exile from Heaven was self-imposed.

The first stage of grief is denial.

"Listening to the ego’s voice means that you believe it is possible to attack God." - A Course in Miracles

Lucifer's denial was the denial of truth, the denial of sanity, and the denial of his own identity. He forgot it is impossible or not adventageous to attack God, the source and sustainer of his own being. Satan's desire to rebel against his creator stems from his unwillingness to accept the fact he is a created being, and that he is not self-sufficient, which is rooted in his extreme pride.

"The ego believes that ALL functions belong to it, even though it has no idea what they ARE. This is more than mere confusion. It is a particularly dangerous combination of grandiosity AND confusion which makes it likely that the ego will attack anyone and anything for no reason at all. This is exactly what the ego DOES. It is TOTALLY unpredictable in its responses because it has no idea of WHAT it perceives." - A Course in Miracles

There is no war against God, and there never was.

"Do you not realize a war against yourself would BE a war on God? Is victory CONCEIVABLE? And if it were, is this a victory that you would WANT? The death of God,if it were possible, would be YOUR death. Is this a VICTORY? The ego ALWAYS marches to defeat, BECAUSE it thinks that triumph over you is possible. And God thinks otherwise. This is no war. Only the mad belief the Will of God can be attacked and overthrown. You may IDENTIFY with this belief, but never will it be more than madness. And fear will reign in madness, and will SEEM to have replaced love there. This is the conflict’s PURPOSE. And to those who think that it is possible, the means seem real." - A Course in Miracles

The second stage of grief is anger.

Clearly, this is the stage where we first find Lucifer in Milton's tale. He is angry at God for his imagined punishment. "It is the ego’s fundamental doctrine that, what you do to others, you have escaped." This is why he conspires to seduce Eve into disobedience and rebellion, so that she and Adam will also suffer the same fate of exile from paradise. Lucifer's survival depended on his belief that he was exempt from his own evil intentions. We also see Adam and Eve angry with each other after the forbidden fruit was eaten.

The third stage of grief is bargaining.

After eating the forbidden fruit and remembering the consequences for that disobedience, Adam and Eve both approach God, to "bow and sue for grace with suppliant knee," and to ask pardon from God, in Milton's version. It is a form of bargaining. In Genesis, Adam and Eve "knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons," is another form of bargaining.

The forth stage of grief is depression.

In Paradise Lost, Adam goes on a vision journey with an angel where he witnesses the errors of man and the Great Flood, and is saddened by the sin that they have released through consumption of the fruit.

The fifth stage of grief is acceptance.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

Marigold Millennium

2009-10-06T14:14:00.009-04:00

Marigold millennium

The Marigold Millenium

How it works:

I have collected several thousand seeds from dwarf marigolds and from standard size marigolds grown in my back yard. I will send you enough of my marigold seeds for you to grow in your own garden or in a pot starting in the Spring of 2010.

When your marigolds bloom next summer, they will produce an abundance of marigold seeds. I will teach you how to gather, dry, and store these seeds. Then, you can share your marigold seeds with others.

Subscribe to Marigold Millennium

Email:

Visit this group

Marigold Millennium Blog
-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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What are the odds

2009-10-02T12:31:00.021-04:00

What are the odds that this is the truth. In light of what we know about the numerology of A Course in Miracles, what are the odds that there were ever exactly 50 miracle principles? It is a minor point, but illustrative of how easy it is to be blind to the obvious.

There are 31 chapters in the ACIM Text. Thirty-one is a prime number. Thirty-one cannot be evenly divided by any whole number except itself and by the number one. The metaphysical symbolism of prime numbers indicates unitary wholeness. Metaphorically, prime numbers are indivisible wholes.

A prime number is a near-perfect conceptual reference for the idea of "oneness" . . . the many indivisibly united in the one.

As mentioned, the Text has 31 chapters. The Manual for Teachers has 29 sections and twenty-nine is a prime number. In the Urtext there were initially 43 Miracle Principles. Forty-three is a prime number. When Chapter One of the Text was edited by Bill Thetford to produce the 1972 version of the Course, there were 53 Miracle Principles, and fifty-three is a prime number as well.

What are the odds the mind that liked prime numbers so much is the same mind that decided there were to be fifty miracle principles?

Counting in tens . . . 10, 20, 30, etc. . . . seems natural because we are strongly identified with bodies having ten fingers. Finger counting is the basis for why we feel comfortable with nice "round" numbers like 50.

For someone who knows he is not a body, and who does not use fingers to count, the number 50 would have no special significance. The prime numbers 29, 31, 43 and 53 feel unnatural to one with strong unconscious body identification.

In Absence from Felicity, Kenneth Wapnick wrote:

"Bill [Thetford] insisted that there be fifty miracle principles, even though in the original dictation there were only 43, later changed to 53 in the two re-typings by Helen . . . In these numbering changes, incidentally, no text was added or deleted; the material was simply rearranged."

We know for a fact that Wapnick's statement "no text was added or deleted" during the final editing of the Course is simply not true. We know that Wapnick did not have access to the original dictation and the urtext prior to Helen's death in 1981. Furthermore, Wapnick's characterization of the editorial work done by Bill Thetford as a "re-typing"is a distortion.

Wapnick has proved himself to be an unreliable witness of the events surrounding the early days of the Course, and his assertions ought be taken with a grain of salt.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

Tom Fox on Facebook

References:

Anonymous, A Course in Miracles - Original Edition
Bracken, Joseph A., S.J., The One in the Many: A Contemporary Reconstruction of the God-World Relationship
Clarke, W. Norris, The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics
Wapnick, Kenneth, Absence from Felicity

Angels of love and hope

2008-10-30T12:19:00.002-04:00

Give the gift of hope. That's the idea anyway. For the materialistic minded stuck in specifics, it may boil down to giving a pretty coffee mug. If it is the thought that counts, it's cool if the gift itself contains the thought.

Here are about two dozen unique angel miracle coffee mugs through CafePress.com based upon the angel illustrations of Carmen Cameron, coupled with quotes and ideas borrowed from A Course in Miracles.

Christmas Angel Miracle Mugs

Alphabet Angel Miracle Mugs

From: Give the gift of hope on The Learning Curve

Aloneness or Oneness?

2008-10-15T14:46:00.010-04:00

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 - 1980) was the leading figure in 20th century French philosophy, in the Existentialist tradition. Sartre was also a playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. His 1944 No Exit is perhaps his best known play. It has been adapted to film three times, with the most recent being the 2006 version directed by Etienne Kallos.

No Exit begins with the character Garcin being led into a room that the audience soon realizes is in hell. The room has no windows, no mirrors, and only one door. Eventually Garcin is joined by two woman. After their entry, the valet leaves and the door to the room is shut and locked. All expect to be physically tortured, but no torturer arrives. Instead, the characters come to understand they are there to torture each other.

Most of the play is about the pain they try to inflict upon each other verbally. They apply psychological torture to each other effectively by probing the other's flaws, desires, failings, and unpleasant memories, without compassion and absent the will to heal. Near the end of the play, Garcin demands he be released, and at his words the locked door flies open. However, none of the three will leave.

" . . . . Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
’relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave! "

Hotel California - Eagles

No Exit is the source of Sartre's most famous quotation, "Hell is other people." This quote is perhaps the most succinct summation of how the ego belief system views a world full to the brim with others. It is an attitude that may reliably be categorized as an ego belief because a major lesson of the Course is the right-minded view of our brother as our savior. Every encounter with an other has the potential for being a Holy Encounter. The Course teaches us the polar opposite of Sartre's statement, "Hell is other people."

"The analysis of the ego's "real" motivation is the modern equivalent of the inquisition, for in both a brother's errors are "uncovered" and he is then attacked for his own good. What can this be but projection? For his errors lay in the minds of his interpreters, for which they punished him. Whenever you fail to recognize a call for help you are refusing help. Would you maintain that you do not need it? Yet this IS what you are maintaining when you refuse to recognize a brother's appeal, for only by answering his appeal can you be helped. Deny him your help and you will not perceive God's answer to you."

- A Corse in Miracles, Original Edition

The Course teaches that Heaven is other people. Heaven is here, Heaven is now, and the means are at hand through our relationships with others. Heaven is right here and now among us all. When Jesus said, "Lo, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21), he was talking to a crowd. The New International Version (NIV) of the Gospels gives an alternate translation for this passage, "the kingdom of God is among you." The "you" being spoken to is you (plural).

Greta Garbo is famous for saying, with some considerable sincerity, "I want to be left alone." It is easy to see that this sentiment is the sugar-coated version of "Hell is other people," and that it means the same thing. I want to be left alone because being with other people is hell, from the ego's point of view.

Super sugar-coated renditions of the idea, "Hell is other people," are found the writings of various Hindu gurus and mystics, and others. One such is the following quote from the Ashtavakra Gita, an ancient Hindu text that presents the traditional teachings of Advaita Vedanta:

"He has gained the fruit of knowledge,
as well as the fruit of practice of yoga,
who, contented and purified in his senses,
ever revels in his aloneness.
Oh! The knower of truth
knows no misery in this world,
for the whole universe is filled by himself alone."

- Ashtavakra Gita

Whatever similarities the Hindu teachings of Advaita Vedanta may have with A Course in Miracles, it is easy enough to spot the obvious differences. Advaita teaches that you alone are God, where the Course is clear that you are not God and you are not alone. The Course teaches an over-arching oneness of unified purpose and essential relationship between God and the Sonship. Advaita Vedanta teaches an ideal of total identification with the ultimate Godhead in its singular aloneness. The contrast could not be more clear.

To modern Western ears, the teachings of Advaita Vedanta and so-called "non-dualism" sound very similar to the idea of solipsism.

Solipsism is a word constructed from the Latin root words 'solus,' meaning alone, and 'ipse,' or self. Literally it means "the self alone," and it is the philosophical idea that "My mind is the only thing that I know exists." With solipsism, the external world and other minds cannot be known, and may not exist at all.

Although this may have some superficial similarity with some isolated teachings of the Course, it is certainly not the meaning of the Course when it is taken as a whole. Entire sections of the Course relating to the joining of minds would need to be swept under the rug or otherwise discounted. The Course takes the position that other minds not only can be known, the false divisions that create an appearance of separate minds must be healed to know the true Oneness of a unified whole.

If solipsism represents the idea that nothing exists outside yourself, the Course offers the view that if anything is seen outside of yourself is only because you have defined your 'self' as much too small. We don't know who we are, in other words, or even how big we really are. Not to mention where we are. It is an important distinction.

As Peter Scholtes wrote, "There is a difference between having a vision and suffering from a hallucination."

Reincarnation or recurrence?

2008-09-09T12:56:00.003-04:00

Memories of your childhood memories of a prior incarnation. I've heard that there are many well-documented cases of children knowing things of other lives and bodies in other places that cannot be easily explained by the usual means.

I understand that. What I do not understand is the tendency to take a trivially insignificant number of examples such as those presented and then try to form a general rule from it, applicable to everyone. In this case, it seems, there may be the desire to have a rule regarding the idea of reincarnation . . . that everyone reincarnates from, say, a lifetime in Nazi Germany to a life in post-war North America.

The Manual for Teachers says this about it:

"Changes are required in the of God's teachers. This may or may not involve changes in the external situation. Remember that no one is where he is by accident, and chance plays no part in God's plan. It is most unlikely that changes in attitudes would not be the first step in the newly made teacher of God's training. There is, however, no set pattern, since training is always highly individualized. There are those who are called upon to change their life situation almost immediately, but these are generally special cases. By far the majority are given a slowly evolving training program, in which as many previous mistakes as possible are corrected . . . "

Section 9. Are Changes Required in the Life Situation of God's Teachers?

A "a slowly evolving training program" would be more in alignment with the idea of recurrence.

The idea of recurrence is basically this - A seeming split second after last closing your eyes in the sleep of death, you re-open them with a slap on the butt while hanging by your feet, smacked by the same doctor, in the same hospital room, in the same city, on the same date these many decades ago when you seemed to be born as an infant child, of your same parents and with the same brothers and sisters. You live your life again with no "changes in the external situation."

You are right back where you started . . .

. . . and you get to choose again.

It is like the movie Groundhog Day, except it is your whole life and not just one day.

Manual for Teachers - 24. Is Reincarnation So?

Personal help desk - web improvements

2008-09-01T13:02:00.001-04:00

I've spent a good part of the weekend writing a server-side program to
handle web-based information requests from, and email contacts with,
spiritual advisers who offer one-to-one consultations based upon the
principles of A Course in Miracles. Here's how it works:

1. A pop-up window accepts a person's name, email address, and
question or request in standard web form fields.

2. When the information is submitted on-line, it is stored in a
temporary server file in the 'pending' category, and a confirmation
email is sent out to the email address the person provided.

3. When the person acknowledges that the message is authentic by
clicking the link provided, the email address of the spiritual advisor
is fetched from an off-line file, the message is sent, and the file is
removed from the 'pending' category.

After this, all communications are directly between the spiritual
advisor and the individual.

There is nothing the least bit new or innovative about this. The idea
has been around on the web for ages. It is just that I finally got
around to implementing my own version of it, the way I think it ought
to be done.

You can see the first public release in operation here, under Carmen Cameron, click on the link "Send a message or ask a question."

-oOo-

Peace,

Tom Fox
Editor, acimFIND.info

New cover design for the Course

2008-08-20T12:56:00.003-04:00

A Course in Miracles
Original Edition

Click for larger image

On at least three different occasions, Helen Schucman reported seeing dreams and visions of a black book. In one vision there was a gold cross on the cover. In another, a string of pearls was draped across the book.

When Carmen Cameron asked her guidance for a cover design for the CIMS editions of the Course, she was reminded of Helen's visions. This is how it is explained on the back of the CIMS complete Original Edition hard back dustcover:

"In the months just preceding the beginning of the dictation of A Course In Miracles, Dr. Helen Schucman experienced a series of vivid waking and sleeping dreams. In three of those dreams, she was presented with a book. It was thick and black and had large gold letters on the cover. In one of those dreams, she saw it draped in a strand of pearls. And that image had such an impact on her that it was recreated for the official documentary about the history of the Course.

"The dust jacket of this volume is in tribute to that image. And it is an homage to a deep and growing appreciation of Dr. Schucman’s perseverance and dedication to the completion of the Course.

"And, too, there is a very ancient and universal symbolism to pearls. From the earliest of times, pearls have been considered miraculous. Unique in all the world of nature, their beauty comes from the most mundane of substances and yet it is somehow transformed by a living organism into one of the most beautiful objects known to man. Pearls have become an archetypal image of what can happen to the human mind that dedicates itself to perfection, utilizing the hard knocks of daily living as a stimulus to growth.

“The Pearl of Great Price”. . .
that which is of such momentous value that you would sell all that you own to possess it.

“Pearls of Wisdom”. . .
thoughts which illuminate and simplify one’s thinking, bringing peace and clarity of mind.

“A String of Pearls”. . .
a veritable chain of wisdom and insights, spreading out and then interweaving as a string of brilliant flashes that lighten up the very dark world we see around us.

A string of pearls is thus a perfect symbol for A Course In Miracles.

Graphic design and pre-press by
Carmen Cameron & Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

I Digg the Course

2008-08-14T10:47:00.002-04:00

What is Digg.com?

Digg.com is one of the Internet's primer social bookmarking sites. It provides a means to share and comment upon favorite web pages, and to vote for pages that others have shared. To vote for a web page is to "Digg It!"

Millions of people scan the links on Digg.com every day. They are mostly young and technically savvy Internet users, and most could not care less about A Course in Miracles. But a few . . . a precious few, who might stumble across just the right idea at just the right time for them, could add another beacon of light to a troubled world.

Digging the Course on Digg.com is a way to extend the love, and you can add your blessing to the project quickly, easily, and without any cost to you. Setting up the Digg.com bookmarks in the first place is the hard part. That's the part we take care of. Joining Digg.com and voting for the pages is the easy quick part.

What can you do?

First, create an account on Digg.com. All that is needed is for you to provide a user name, an email address, a password, and a few other details. You will not receive any annoying solicitations from Digg.com, although you do receive email notices of membership activity. The annoying part of Digg.com is the slow-loading advertising on the pages.

Join Digg.com now

Second, once your account is created and you are logged-in (be sure to write down your user name and password), you can click on the ACIM bookmark links below and then click the "Digg" button on the Digg.com web page for that ACIM page:

Workbook Lesson 1
Workbook Lesson 2
Workbook Lesson 3
Workbook Lesson 4
Workbook Lesson 5
Workbook Lesson 6
Workbook Lesson 7
Workbook Lesson 8
Workbook Lesson 9
Workbook Lesson 10
Workbook Lesson 333

Also, you can allow us to become your friends on Digg.com. Follow these links to our personal Digg.com profile pages, and click the "Add Friend" button.

Carmen Cameron
Tom Fox

And, you may also add you own comments about the ACIM pages. Digg.com is open to anyone, so you might encounter some who are actively hostile to A Course in Miracles and its message, but that is to be expected.

Thank you for your participation.
Thank you for who you are.

August 14, 2008
Louisville, Kentucky

Sex, statistics, and editing the Course

2008-07-07T15:41:00.010-04:00

From the early Course-related documents available to us, we learn that Jesus used specific experiences from the lives of Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford to illustrate the ideas he was communicating. On one occasion while the Text portion of the Course was being given to Helen and Bill, Jesus used Helen's sexual attraction to a fellow co-worker at Columbia University, to launch into a concept he said was "an area the miracle worker must understand."

" . . . . [Helen's] confusion of sex and statistics is an interesting example of this whole issue. Note that night you spent . . . doing a complex factorial analysis of covariance . . . you wanted that design [for a psychology test], and Jack [a colleague at Columbia University] opposed it. One of the real reasons why that evening was so exhilarating was because it represented a 'battle of intellects'. . . each communicating exceptionally clearly but on opposite sides. The sexual aspects were naturally touched off in both of you, because of the sex and aggression confusion . . ."

There was more than just physical attraction that sparked between the two on that occasion. There was also "the complete respect each of your offered to the other’s intellect."

However, there was also an error involved.

"The error . . . [was] because neither of you was respecting all of the other. There is a great deal more to a person than intellect & genitals [physical attraction]. The omission was the Soul. Sex is often utilized on behalf of very similar errors. Hostility, triumph, vengeance, self-debasement, and all sort of expressions of the lack of love are often very clearly seen in the accompanying fantasies . . . . "

Neither Helen nor Jack were perceiving each other as complete beings, or in a way that included their spiritual or soul component. Certain aspects were selected out and focused upon to the exclusion of the whole.

It is not uncommon these days to focus exclusively upon physical characteristics of another and to exclude everything else. Thus the term 'sex object,' or not seeing the other as a person at all, but just as a means of personal sexual gratification.

The discussion between Jesus and Helen up to this point was fairly straight-forward psychology, and was not directly a topic for the Course itself. The discussion outlined above was edited out of the 1972 version of the Course. The discussion was, however, the basis for something else. Something very important for miracle-workers to know and understand.

"The confusion of miracle impulse with sexual impulse is a major source of perceptual distortion, because it induces rather than straightening out the basic level-confusion which underlies all those who seek happiness with the instruments of the world . . . I want to finish the instructions about sex, because this is an area the miracle worker must understand. Inappropriate sex drives (or misdirected miracle-impulses) result in guilt if expressed, and depression if denied. We said before that all real pleasure comes from doing God’s will. Whenever it is not done an experience of lack results. This is because not doing the will of God IS a lack of self. . . The pleasure which is derived from sex as such is reliable only because it stems from an error which men shared. Awareness of the error produces the guilt. Denial of the error results in projection. Correction of the error brings release."

The "error which men shared," was that sex as such, or relating to bodies alone and without relating to the whole, was pleasurable by itself.

Although the clear topic of discussion here was sexual impulses, when the time came for Bill and Helen to edit the Course, they changed "sexual impulse" to "physical impulses," but left the remainder very similar to the original dictation. This is how it reads in the 1972 version:

"The confusion of miracle impulses with physical impulses is a major source of perceptual distortion because it induces, rather than straightens out, the basic level confusion which underlies the perception of all those who seek happiness with the instruments of this world. Inappropriate physical impulses (or misdirected miracle impulses) result in conscious guilt if expressed and depression if denied. all real pleasure comes from doing God's will. This is because not doing it is a denial of self. Denial of error results in projection. correction of error brings release."

Although Bill and Helen had reservations about express mention of sexual issues in their proposed public version of the Course, some of the basic message still shows through their editing. It was, however, rendered much less useful.

With the final round of editing immediately prior to first release of the Course to the general public in 1975, the passage took a bizarre twist. The published version first states that miracle impulses should not be confused with physical impulses, but in the next sentence it states, "Physical impulses are misdirected miracle impulses." The original "denial of error results in projection" is changed to "denial of self results in illusions."

It is amazing how a straight forward discussion of sex got so twisted around.

Christ control

2008-06-30T17:38:00.009-04:00

These are the references to Christ-control that were deleted from the edited version of ACIM published by the Foundation for Inner Peace. These excerpts are reproduced here for reference purposes. The concepts of the unconscious mind and of Christ-control are very important to understand what is required to be a miracle-worker.

1. Remember, you already have a point about the involuntary nature of miracles. We also have established the fact that everything involuntary belongs under Christ-control, not under yours. Under Christ-control, miracles replenish the doer as well as the receiver.

2. Christ-controlled miracles are part of the Atonement, but Christ-guidance is personal, and leads to personal salvation. The impersonal nature of miracles is an essential ingredient, because this enables me to control their distribution as I see fit. Christ-guidance, on the other hand, leads to the highly personal experience of revelation. This is why it involves personal choice. A guide does not control, by definition, but he does direct, leaving the following up to you.

3. Tell Bill that his slip [of tongue] should be noted. Some slips reach consciousness from the un-Christ-controlled subconscious, and betray lack of love. But others come from the superconscious, which is in communion with God, and which can also break into consciousness. His slip was an expression of a soul gaining enough strength to request freedom from prison. It will ultimately demand it.

4. Scribes must learn Christ-control, to replace their former habits, which did produce scarcity rather than abundance. From errors of this kind, the sense of deprivation IS inevitable, but very easily corrected.

5. The miracles you are told not to perform have not lost their value. They are still expressions of your own state of Grace, but the action aspect of the miracle should be Christ-controlled, because of his complete awareness of the whole plan. The impersonal nature of miracle-mindedness ensures your own grace, but only Christ is in a position to know where Grace can be bestowed.

6. Readiness here means keep your perception right side up, or valid, so you will always be ready, willing, and able. These are the essentials for "listen, learn, and do." You must be ready to listen willing to learn and able to do. Only the last is involuntary, because it is the application of miracles which must be Christ-controlled. But the other two, which are the voluntary aspects of miracle-mindedness, are up to you.

7. Christ-controlled miracles are selective only in that they are directed toward those who can use them for themselves. Since this makes it inevitable that they will extend them to others, a very strong chain of Atonement is welded. But Christ-control takes no account at all of the magnitude of the miracle itself, because the concept of size exists only in a plane that is itself unreal.

8. Fear cannot be Christ-controlled, but it can be self-controlled. Fear is always associated with what does not matter. It prevents Me from controlling it. The correction is therefore a matter of your will, because its presence shows that you have raised the unimportant to a higher level than it warrants. You have thus brought it under your will, where it does not belong. This meansyou feel responsible for it. The level confusion here is perfectly obvious. The reason that I cannot control fear for you is that you are attempting to raise to the mind level the proper content of the lower-order reality. I do not foster level confusion, but you can will to correct it. You would not tolerate insane behavior on your part, and would hardly advance the excuse that you could not help it. Why should you tolerate insane thinking?

Course inspired poetry by Thulananda

2008-06-30T09:42:00.008-04:00

The sticky bits

The laws of chaos held me prisoner
in darkness deep and searing pain.
Fierce anger burned as bright as fire
and cold as ice the howling wind:

No hands to hold, no smile to find
confusion rife, and love unseen
did crawl into my mind, my angry
blindness seeking but relief to escape
my drear dark sticky broken life.

I saw my brother stumble and his errors
were so fierce, affecting all around them
in forever loss and lack and blame:
I saw his pain,
and did not know how to respond.
oh, shame...

The need to blame then quickly found
its target blindly, slaying all that was so
good a while ago: all gone and lost
like sticky plastic blowing in the wind.

No religion nor belief could aid us,
helplessly entrapped in chaos' snares,
to follow but the call of money and
of wives and friends to suit our taste.

When looking now upon this saddened scene
I sought to lay the blame on me, for
it is me that what I see, and Shiva's
arms did rescue me from Kali's claws.

There is no blame! but darkness swelled,
my learning incomplete, despondency
then dwelled within my chest and eyes;
defeat my lot, and healing far behind.

This living death could not allay
a spark to enter here, and there,
to light this saddened life away
from never-ending sad despair.

These sparks, alive with love became
my guide, for nothing helps but light
to shine with beams in darkened night
and see the blighted terror flee away.

I cannot blame my brother for my blindness,
nor can I hide my nakedness from God.
Yet when I came before the Throne without defenses
a miracle or two and help was now my lot.

I stood there shiv'ring, and received
a cloak of peace to wear, with belt to fasten
to my heart and mind - to hasten Home !-
A crown was placed upon my head
with shining light therein:

forgiveness is the key to put away all sin.

Then I step back into Their Holy Arms
with innocence bestowed on all I see
and know those children lost,
my brothers! are like me:
and we are One.

I gratitude I know
that trusting all
will follow.

thulananda
2008-06-30
Yahoo! Group - I Know that I Am