A Course in Miracles with Amy Torres

03 Jan 2015 Comments Off on W-2: I have given everything I see all the meaning that it has for me.

W-2: I have given everything I see all the meaning that it has for me.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

This morning I did Lesson 2 while seated in a swivel chair. It was fun to slowly turn 360 degrees and apply the exercise to anything my eyes lit upon. This reminded me of whirling dervishes — when I do the Sufi turn, the eyes are kept open and eyesight is transformed to unseeing Vision as forms melt away and merge in Joy.

blue whirler zhikr

LESSON 2
I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that it has for me.

The exercises with this idea are the same as those for the first one. Begin with the things that are near you, and apply the idea to whatever your glance rests on. Then increase the range outward. Turn your head so that you include whatever is on either side. If possible, turn around and apply the idea to what was behind you. Remain as indiscriminate as possible in selecting subjects for its application, do not concentrate on anything in particular, and do not attempt to include everything you see in a given area, or you will introduce strain.

Merely glance easily and fairly quickly around you, trying to avoid selection by size, brightness, color, material, or relative importance to you. Take the subjects simply as you see them. Try to apply the exercise with equal ease to a body or a button, a fly or a floor, an arm or an apple. The sole criterion for applying the idea to anything is merely that your eyes have lighted on it. Make no attempt to include anything particular, but be sure that nothing is specifically excluded.

Let’s practice together! Watch and hear Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube. Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

To ask Amy a question, email [email protected]

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Undoing the Ego, Unlearning Classroom, Workin' the Workbook

03 Jan 2015 Comments Off on W-3: I do not understand anything I see.

W-3: I do not understand anything I see.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Lesson 3 states, “The point of the exercises is to help you clear your mind of all past associations, to see things exactly as they appear to you now, and to realize how little you really understand about them.”

cosmic heart infinity

We are asked to keep an open mind and suspend judgment. In the world, if I keep an open mind and suspend all judgment, couldn’t I get into trouble? But when Jesus firmly suggests that I follow his instructions and have my own experience, how can I refuse? I gaze around the room and find that my mind softens … I, who love precision, have no desire to even assign words to what I’m seeing … there is a blur of familiar objects devoid of names or relevance.

My heart eases in my chest as some internal pressure I live with daily abates. Something widens expansively, moving through the heart, the lungs, the arms, and radiates beyond the body. Here is the love, peace and joy the Course promises.

LESSON 3

I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].

Apply this idea in the same way as the previous ones, without making distinctions of any kind. Whatever you see becomes a proper subject for applying the idea. Be sure that you do not question the suitability of anything for application of the idea. These are not exercises in judgment. Anything is suitable if you see it. Some of the things you see may have emotionally charged meaning for you. Try to lay such feelings aside, and merely use these things exactly as you would anything else.

The point of these exercises is to help you clear your mind of all past associations, to see things exactly as they appear to you now, and to realize how little you really understand about them. It is therefore essential that you keep a perfectly open mind, unhampered by judgment, in selecting the things to which the idea for the day is to be applied. For this purpose one thing is like another; equally suitable and therefore equally useful.

Let’s practice together! Watch and listen to me reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube. Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, my online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

To ask Amy a question, email [email protected]

Let’s practice together! Watch and listen to me reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube. Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, my online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

To ask Amy a question, email [email protected]

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Today's ACIM Lesson, Undoing the Ego, Unlearning Classroom, Workin' the Workbook

01 Jan 2015 Comments Off on W-1: Nothing I see in this room means anything.

W-1: Nothing I see in this room means anything.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

The first time I did the A Course in Miracles Workbook, this lesson was disorienting and a little scary. But as I practiced, I felt a child-like sense of wonder and a good not-knowing. Now when I review Lesson 1, it’s amusing, relaxing, and freeing. To be told that nothing I see anywhere means anything, is to be offered a whole new experience of life. An experience which is free of pain, loneliness, inadequacy, guilt, sin, fear, and death. To absorb this lesson is to begin to know that everything I have held as meaningful is meaningless. This is not a mockery of me–it is a clarification of how I’ve been thinking. “Jesus can be snippy,” someone said to me the other day with pleasure, and I agree. What a relief to have Jesus be a bit impatient with a thought process which is driving all of us crazy, and for no reason!

magritte personal values

The purpose of this exercise, we are told, is to be indiscriminate, and to begin to experience everything as equally the same. “A comfortable sense of leisure” we are told, “is essential” to doing this lesson successfully. I get a kick out of this because one of my bigger challenges is to slow down and relax, and my spiritual teacher, Jesus, knows me so well.

We are advised, “Do not attempt to apply it to everything you see for these exercises should not become ritualistic.” We might think that if we apply “That [object] does not mean anything” to absolutely everything we see that we could erase our entire thought system right then and there. But that is a fear-based approach, superstitious (similar to avoiding stepping on every crack in the sidewalk) and compulsive, (in order to this exercise well, I will overdo it, that is, do it totally and completely and double check myself afterwards), as well as perfectionistic (God doesn’t really know what the instructions for this exercise should be–I’ll show Him how to really do it well). Ha ha ha! Do it for yourself and find out that He really does know what He’s doing ;-)

LESSON 1

Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything.

Now look slowly around you, and practice applying this idea very specifically to whatever you see:

This table does not mean anything.
This chair does not mean anything.
This hand does not mean anything.
This foot does not mean anything.
This pen does not mean anything.

Then look farther away from your immediate area, and apply the idea to a wider range:

That door does not mean anything.
That body does not mean anything.
That lamp does not mean anything.
That sign does not mean anything.
That shadow does not mean anything.

Notice that these statements are not arranged in any order, and make no allowance for differences in the kinds of things to which they are applied. That is the purpose of the exercise. The statement should merely be applied to anything you see. As you practice the idea for the day, use it totally indiscriminately. Do not attempt to apply it to everything you see, for these exercises should not become ritualistic. Only be sure that nothing you see is specifically excluded. On thing is like another as far as the application of the idea is concerned.

Each of the first three lessons should not be done more than twice a day each, preferably morning and evening. Nor should they be attempted for more than a minute or so, unless that entails a sense of hurry. A comfortable sense of leisure is essential.

Let’s practice together! Watch and hear Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube. Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

To ask Amy a question, email [email protected]

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Today's ACIM Lesson, Undoing the Ego, Unlearning Classroom, Workin' the Workbook

30 Dec 2014 Comments Off on How to be your natural Self

How to be your natural Self

If you’re anything like me, you’ve broken a lot of New Year’s resolutions. That’s because personal willpower only goes so far. It takes tremendous effort to assert your individual will to get what you want, rather than plugging in to your original power Source, God, to give and receive what He wants.

“To use the power God has given you as He would have it used is natural.” (T-26.VII.18:1)

The power God has given you is your natural state. When you get out of your own way and open to It, you follow guidance and just know what comes next. This power comes from pure innocence and beautiful humility. It is always available, but we rarely avail ourselves of It.

Happily, a part of your mind insists on awakening to your True Power, or you wouldn’t be drawn to A Course in Miracles. Jesus tells us in the Introduction to the ACIM Workbook that Part I (the first 220 lessons) deals with “the undoing of how you see now” and Part II (lessons 221-365) with “the acquisition of true perception.” True perception allows you to live from your natural power.

Isn’t this quietly thrilling? Even if you don’t quite know what it means, something inside stirs at being handed the key to unchain your mind.*

That’s what the ACIM Workbook is for — to help you, one day at a time, undo how you see now and acquire true perception! You can do the Workbook on your own. But I’m happy to hold your hand with my e-course, Workin’ the Workbook. People tell me it really helps: Testimonials

Here’s a peek at the daily emails. Workin’ the Workbook is an online VIDEO class that helps you stick with the ACIM Workbook practice, clarify concepts from the Text, develop a relationship with your Inner Teacher, and experience miracles for yourself! WtW guides you through the entire 365-day workbook practice found in A Course in Miracles.

This is a flexible program with the ability to receive daily emails and/or visit the online classroom at your own pace. You can start at Lesson 1 or pick up at a lesson further along where you left off or got stuck. “Other good stuff” ties the Text in with the lessons. Worksheets help you structure a journaling practice. And much more.

Click here to register and for more details on WtW’s many benefits! ONE MONTH FREE if you sign up by Dec 31st, 2014.

Sign up now and make 2015 the year you find out how to be your natural Self. It’s so much easier and happier than anything the ego dreamed up.

Email me at [email protected] if you have any questions.

* Click here to watch Unchain Your Mind

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Undoing the Ego, Unlearning Classroom, Workin' the Workbook

24 Dec 2014 Comments Off on Begin the year in joy and freedom

Begin the year in joy and freedom

Are you willing to begin 2015 in joy and freedom?
Do you dare to take your place in the Great Awakening?
In Chapter 15, sometimes referred to as “the Christmas chapter,” Jesus invites us:

So will the year begin in joy and freedom.
There is much to do, and we have been long delayed.
Accept the holy instant as this year is born,
and take your place, so long left unfulfilled,
in the Great Awakening.
Make this year different by making it all the same.
And let all your relationships be made holy for you.
This is our will.
Amen.
(T-15.XI. 10:8-14)

Enjoy this beautiful video from the Foundation for Inner Peace:
Celebrating Christmas with the Course

You are certain to join the Great Awakening, because no one is left behind.

The question is, how long will it take you to choose to follow your Internal Teacher, Who offers joy and freedom, instead of the shackles of the ego?

Happy Holy Days~ Amy

P.S. If you haven’t already signed up for Workin’ the Workbook,
this is your chance to begin on Jan 1st, 2015!

WORKIN’ the WORKBOOK is a 365-day online VIDEO class that helps you experience miracles as a normal part of your daily life.

Miracle Principle #6: “Miracles are natural.

When they do not occur something has gone wrong.”

Only $37 a month, and ONE MONTH FREE if you sign up by Dec 31st, 2014.

Click here for more details and to register

Make 2015 your year of joy and freedom!

(It’s easy to cancel if it’s not for you.)

by Amy Torres in Today's ACIM Lesson

16 Dec 2014 Comments Off on Every Day Is A Holy Day

Every Day Is A Holy Day

Amy Thanksgiving 2014 Holidays schmolidays! I’m not a curmudgeon — it’s just that holidays are no big deal when every day is a holy day.

It’s a new and holy day today,
for we receive what has been given us.
Our faith lies in the Giver,
not our own acceptance.
(W-168: Your grace is given me. I claim it now.)

A holy day is spent claiming God’s Grace. You do this by opening to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. You open by surrendering your will to His. Remember, you are not your body, you are not your personality, you are not your name, gender, nationality, social security number — you are Spirit! And Spirit is Whole and Holy.

One way to sustain your connection with your holiness is to do the ACIM Workbook practice. Workin’ the Workbook, my online VIDEO class, guides you one day at a time through the entire 365-day workbook practice found in A Course in Miracles.

WtW helps you stick with the ACIM Workbook practice, clarifies concepts from the Text, invites you to develop a relationship with your Inner Teacher and experience miracles for yourself!

You can do the Workbook on your own. But since the Holy Spirit moved through me and produced Workin’ the Workbook with over 365 videos to support the ACIM workbook practice, WtW is here if you want it. People tell me it really helps: Testimonials

If you’d like to see what the daily WtW emails look like, just scroll down to the previous blogpost. Click here for more info and to sign up.

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Undoing the Ego, Unlearning Classroom, Workin' the Workbook

06 Dec 2014 Comments Off on “I’m so in love with you, honey”

“I’m so in love with you, honey”

Remember Danny’s Song by Kenny Loggins? It used to make me cry with hope that I would one day have a beautiful family. After my marriage ended in divorce and bankruptcy, and my child-bearing days were over sans kids, I cried with despair that happiness would never be mine.

Now Danny’s Song brings tears of joy to my eyes because ACIM has proven to me that “everything will bring a chain of love.” For the past 18 years, through thick and thin, I have been happy — and I know you can be happy, too.

Last email (if you aren’t on my email list and would like to be, the sign up box is to your right), I asked you to read the Introduction to the ACIM Workbook. It’s one and a half pages of pure inspiration. In it, Jesus promises you “undoing of the way you see now” and “the acquisition of true perception” which will light up your life forever. He assures you that even if you don’t understand or actively resist the ideas in the Workbook, they will work anyway — if you just do them.

You can do the Workbook on your own, but for many this is easier said than done. That’s why the Holy Spirit guided me to develop Workin’ the Workbook, an online class that helps you stick with the ACIM practice, clarify concepts from the Text, develop a relationship with your Inner Teacher, and experience miracles for yourself! Students says it really works: Testimonials

Before you look at the online class, let’s sing along with Kenny Loggins: Danny’s Song

Okay, now take a peek! You will receive daily emails like this: Daily Email Lesson 34

Sign up here for WORKIN’ the WORKBOOK, a 365-day online VIDEO class (available on smartphones, tablets, desktops, PCs, MACs)
that helps you experience miracles as a normal part of your daily life.

“Miracles are natural.

When they do not occur something has gone wrong.”

(Miracle Principle #6)

Only $37 a month. Just about a dollar a day.

ONE MONTH FREE if you sign up by Dec 31st, 2014.

Click here for more details and to register

If you want a miraculous life,

there’s no reason not to give it a try!

(You can always cancel if it’s not for you.)

Give yourself or a friend Workin’ the Workbook as a holiday gift. It’s not a lotta money and it is a lotta Love!

(Hey, that’s a Neil Young song! Listen with the Holy Spirit: Lotta Love)

Email me at [email protected] if you have a question about Workin’ the Workbook or would like a quick tour of the program.

Whole lotta love! Amy

(Wait, that’s Led Zeppelin — here ya go: Whole Lotta Love)

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Today's ACIM Lesson, Undoing the Ego, Unlearning Classroom

01 Dec 2014 Comments Off on Ask Amy: What Is the Mind?

Ask Amy: What Is the Mind?

Q: According to the Course, the mind is not the brain because the brain is a body part and we are not our bodies. But how do we think if not with the brain? What is the mind?

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA A: Your question cuts to the core of the metaphysics of A Course in Miracles. What is beyond the body that can comprehend the message of ACIM? And who is reading the Course if not you, the person, encased in a body complete with a brain?

There is no way to actually explain or pinpoint the mind because it is formless and beyond the deliberate limits the ego has set on human comprehension. “Problems that have no meaning cannot be resolved within the framework they are set.” (W-96.3:1)

Having said that, it is a major turning point in the life of every Course student when she or he realizes that Jesus is always addressing the mind — not each of us as people.

ACIM uses the term “mind” in three ways: ego mind (wrong-mind), God Mind (One Mind), and the decision-making part of the mind that has free will and choose to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance (right-mind). The ego dreamt up the body and its brain as a symbol of separation to keep us unaware of our Source, God’s Unified Mind. Ego thinking is dualistic and based on opposites, contradictions, comparisons, judgment, guilt and attack.

But the Holy Spirit can translate what the ego has made and give it a loving purpose. “Yet God created One Who has the power to translate in form the wholly formless. … Only forgiveness can relieve the mind of thinking that the body is its home.” (W-192)

Throughout the Course, Jesus is addressing our power of decision as a right-mind, not as a person with an ego-brain, to stop deluding ourselves about our true Identity. When we “remove the blocks to the awareness of Love’s presence” (ACIM Intro) it is revealed that we are a formless Oneness joined as One.

Whereas the brain is tangible, the mind is abstract, meaning it is not a physical entity. “Complete abstraction is the natural condition of the mind.” (W-161) Over and over, Jesus tells us that “Ideas leave not their Source.” and “You are as God created you.” Somewhere inside we all know, “I am as God created me.” That knowing is what led you to ACIM. That knowing is what is reading this column right now. That knowing is helping you awaken to your true Identity.

“A sleeping mind must waken, as it sees its own perfection mirroring the Lord of life so perfectly it fades into what is reflected there. … the wakened mind is one that knows its Source, its Self, its Holiness.” (W-167)

The answer to your question lies in your willingness to not know anything as a person. Step back and let the Holy Spirit lead the way. Lesson 45 teaches, “God is the Mind with which I think” and asks, “Where, then, are your real thoughts?” … We will have to look for them in your mind, because that is where they are.”

God Thoughts are not based on memory or language — they are extensions of love equally shared with all. You, your One Self, is God’s Thought.

I invite you, right now, into your One Self. Be willing to trust the Holy Spirit completely in this moment. Allow your attention to shift from ego-brain to One Mind. In this holy instant discover your mind is within the Heart of God where it has always been.

For more on this subject, watch Metaphysics of A Course in Miracles on YouTube.

“On this side of the bridge to timelessness you understand nothing. But as you step lightly across it, upheld by timelessness, you are directed straight to the Heart of God. That knowing is helping you awaken to your true Identity.” (W-167)

This Q&A appears in the Ask Amy column from the Nov-Dec 2014 issue of Miracles magazine. Miracles is a well-loved staple in the ACIM community. To get a subscription, email [email protected] or call 845-496-9089. To ask Amy a question, email miracles (at) amytorresacim (dot) com

by Amy Torres in Ask Amy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Today's ACIM Lesson, Undoing the Ego

01 Oct 2014 Comments Off on Ask Amy: Insight Into Prayer: ACIM and Ho’oponopono

Ask Amy: Insight Into Prayer: ACIM and Ho’oponopono

Guy Question Q: I pray that we would know the Peace of God, but I have mixed feelings … for those I see as suffering in some way, I take responsibility by saying, “I’m sorry; please forgive me; thank you; I love you.” Can you offer some insight about prayer practice?

A: Let’s begin with what A Course in Miracles means by prayer. In Chapter 3, we’re told, “… the only meaningful prayer is for forgiveness … The prayer for forgiveness is nothing more than a request that you may be able to recognize what you already have.” (T-3.V.6:1-5) You can apply this to your brothers simply by requesting that they recognize what they already have — which is timeless, formless, unified Love.

In The Song of Prayer, an essential supplement to ACIM, it says, “Prayer is a stepping aside; a letting go, a quiet time of listening and loving. It should not be confused with supplication of any kind, because it is a way of remembering your holiness.” (S-I.5:1-2) Holiness belies suffering.

It may seem harsh or unrealistic to point this out, but suffering is only seen by the ego. Since ACIM is teaching us to identify the voice of the ego in order to be free of it, it is necessary to clarify your thought process. You’re not being asked to pretend or lie — if you see human suffering and your heart yearns to help in some way, prayer is a great choice. However, the way you pray makes all the difference.

Jesus is uncompromising in explaining that seeing suffering is not compassionate, and what we consider worldly problems are not only absurd, but unreal. Still, we are using the world as a classroom to discover that we are delusional and hallucinating, and prayer uncovers the Answer.

Your mixed feelings indicate you are lacking faith that God can provide the Peace of God. Your desire to take responsibility is an indication of playing ego god. As a Course student, look very honestly at your motivation for saying, “I’m sorry; please forgive me; thank you; I love you.” which is the Hawaiian practice of ho’oponopono.

According to www.ancienthuna.com, “Ho’oponopono means to make right. Essentially, it means to make it right with the ancestors, or to make right with the people with whom you have relationships. We call this the Hawaiian Code of Forgiveness, and it’s an important thought, because when we forgive others, who are we forgiving? Ourselves, of course.” Ho’oponopono is a valid spiritual path.

The Course also teaches that it is only yourself that needs to be forgiven, and that the only mind that needs healing is your own. The telltale sign that your choice to use ho’oponopono is ego-driven is that you have mixed feelings. Inner conflict is always of the ego.

If you were practicing with your Inner Teacher, your prayer would be that everyone recognize what they already have and what they already are. As a Course student, your prayer method is to step back and let the Holy Spirit lead the way. Say, “Holy Spirit, help me recognize what I already am, and, in so doing, save the entire world.”

Then you come to realize the world is not real and you have been dreaming! Prayer is both a process of discovering your true Identity, and a state of Being in which you live as your true Identity. Forgiveness helps you undo all belief in individuality and discover you are prayer.

Through the prayer process, you come to realize that by imposing a personal sense of responsibility you actually reinforce the very suffering you wish to heal. Rather, you need do nothing except to allow the Holy Spirit to use you as a conduit for His loving, light-filled miracles.

If you would like to pray together, watch Five Keys to Forgiveness on YouTube.

This Q&A appears in the Ask Amy column from the Sept-Oct 2014 issue of Miracles magazine. Miracles is a well-loved staple in the ACIM community. To get a subscription, email [email protected] or call 845-496-9089. To ask Amy a question, email miracles (at) amytorresacim (dot) com

by Amy Torres in Ask Amy, Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Undoing the Ego, Unlearning Classroom, What is A Course in Miracles?