Unlearning Classroom

01 Feb 2013 Comments Off on Ask Amy: How to Deal with Abusive Relationships?

Ask Amy: How to Deal with Abusive Relationships?

Guy QuestionQ:  When people in our lives will not stop abusing us, should we continue to try to love them and have our emotions hurt or stepped upon forever, or should we put an end to it?

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAA:  When A Course in Miracles talks about love, it is a love that has nothing to do with the personal self or the personality of the people around us.  This Love is a recognition of the Inner Light which we all share.  When people in our life are abusive, we need to request guidance from the Holy Spirit.  He will direct us in a loving way.

As you open to guidance from your Internal Teacher (the Holy Spirit), signposts will appear.  This may involve getting help from a psychotherapist, support groups, reading books on healthy relationships, learning new communication skills, or whatever it may be.

Forgiveness, redefined by Jesus in ACIM as recognizing that “what we thought our brother did to us has not occurred,” is the healing tool on which the Course is based.

Jesus tells us to observe the ego vigilantly and uncover its beliefs so that we can free ourselves of victimization (e.g., see the ACIM Workbook, which addresses ego grievances in Lesson 68 – 78, and special relationships in Chapters 15 – 18).  There is more to be revealed from your relationship with this person.  Conversate with the Holy Spirit on a regular basis and miracles must follow.

But remember that you cannot dictate the form the miracle takes.  Miracle principle #3 says, “Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love” and this must be combined with “I need do nothing except not to interfere (with the Holy Spirit’s guidance).”

There is a Sufi quote I love, “The Message is a call to those whose hour has come to awake, and it is a lullaby to those who are still meant to sleep.”  If you are awakening, and interested in your Inner Light, and the abusive person in your life is still meant to sleep and remain in darkness a while longer, that is okay.  Eventually your perception of this person as “abusive” will shift to seeing her as fearful and calling for Love.

You can ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the Light in her, even if she is unaware of that Light.  Being willing to “see” her Light will empower you.  You can do this from a distance, without being in physical or verbal contact with her.

This Q&A appears in the Ask Amy column from the Jan-Feb 2013 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

29 Jan 2013 Comments Off on God’s Vision or the Ego’s Eyesight?

God’s Vision or the Ego’s Eyesight?

surreal eyeMore than one spiritual path explains that this world is an illusion. Even science now agrees. But what do they mean? And if this world is an illusion, what good does it do us to know that?

This is especially of interest to Course in Miracles students.  We are told right from the start, in the ACIM Preface, that “projection makes perception.”  Another way the Course puts it is that our thoughts are “an outward picture of an inward condition.”

Workbook Lesson 15 explains, “My thoughts are images that I have made.”  It teaches us, “It is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images that you do not recognize them as nothing. You think you think them, and so you think you see them. This is how your ‘seeing’ was made. This is the function you have given your body’s eyes. It is not seeing. It is image making. It takes the place of seeing, replacing vision with illusions.”

ACIM posits that we are hallucinating this world by projecting our imaginary ego thoughts outward.  We are literally a figment of our own imagination.

Let’s break this down: “… the thoughts you think you think”–this tells you that what you consider thinking is not really thinking. What the ego (our sense of individual identity) does is replace God’s One Ever-Extending Loving Thought with images–imaginary thoughts that appear as pictures. You view these pictures and call them “eyesight.” You believe in them, but that does not make them real. The function the ego gives the body’s eyes is to hallucinate images which are not real to distract us from the Reality of God’s Vision which is Unified and Formless.goldenlight1

But why would the ego want to distract us from God’s Vision? Because the ego knows that if we re-discover this Abstract Creative Light within ourselves, the personal self as we know it will unravel and “die.” Within this “death” lies Eternal Life–but that’s not the way the ego sees it (pun intended). One scientist put it this way, “If you look at the universe through a golf ball-sized lens, you will see a universe the size of a golf ball.” The ego limits our experience, but denies that it does this.

Un-think your way through this. Tell yourself, “I do not really think. What I think are my thoughts are actually images the ego made. These images are neither good nor bad, they simply are not real. Would I rather think these puny little thoughts that lead to suffering and death, or would I rather gently peel these images from my eyes today, and truly see what God would have me see?” Ask God, “What would You have me see?” He will show you.

Then you can decide for yourself whether you prefer the image-making eyesight of the ego, or God’s Vision.

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

24 Jan 2013 Comments Off on A Course in Miracles and Yoga

A Course in Miracles and Yoga

J meditatingA Course in Miracles offers us a highly individualized curriculum where we use the body as a learning device under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Yoga is one of the classrooms the Holy Spirit offers me, to use my body for spiritual purposes. ACIM provides a mind-training; therefore, all of its practices are in thought-form, or ideas. This can be challenging, since the body demands our attention all day long. Yoga offers a body-based sadhana, or spiritual practice, using the body and breath to reconnect with God’s Mind. This way, instead of letting the body run the show, we have concrete techniques so that the body serves the Mind.

“The body, valueless and hardly worth the least defense, need merely be perceived as quite apart from you, and it becomes a healthy, serviceable instrument through which the mind can operate until its usefulness is over.” W-135.

Most of us think of yoga as a physical practice, but the physical movements or asanas, known as hatha yoga, is but one of five yoga systems.  (Hindu philosophy speaks of hatha yoga, raja yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, and karma yoga. Each of these systems can be used autonomously to realize God, or they can be used in combination.)

Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word “yuj” which means “to yoke” or “join” as in union with our brothers and communion with God.  Swami Satchidananda defines yoga as “the science of mind” and explains that “the mind is a veil woven with thoughts.”  Yoga is a system that helps us harness the mind, because as long as the ego mind gives us the runaround, we’ll remain unaware of the One Mind in which we all truly live.

Hatha Yoga
SAMSUNG DIGITAL CAMERAHatha yoga is the physical movement of yoga, the asanas, or postures. The Rishis of five thousand years ago inadvertently “invented” hatha yoga when they surfaced from deep meditation and felt stiff. The stretching they did to limber up was based on what they saw around them in nature: they mimicked animals, mountains, and trees to loosen up and invigorate the body. Nowadays, hatha yoga is used as preparation for meditation. It can also be seen as a moving meditation in itself. When the movements are linked to the breath, and smooth transitions melt one pose into the next, the mind is smoothed also. By relaxing and strengthening the body, we calm the mind and are more able to harness our thoughts and concentrate, which leads to meditation.

ACIM is not strict about a formal ongoing meditation practice. “Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy.” T-18.VII.4:9-11. Yoga is an unhurried, ancient practice based, to some extent, on an accumulation of good karma. It takes time to balance chakras, activate kundalini energy, and transcend the sheaths of the koshas.2 The Course is a refreshing counterbalance to yoga in this way: ACIM promises us over and over again that it will save us time. It provides a structured practice of meditation in the Workbook Lessons, but after that, we are on our own, listening to our Inner Teacher and using the Holy Instant to connect with Universal Mind as often as possible, and in our own way.

Bhakti Yoga
gopis n krishnaBhakti yoga is a path of selfless devotion to God. Krishna’s gopis exemplified bhakti yoga. Gopi mean “cow- herding girl.” The story goes that when Krishna played his flute, gopi women dropped what they were doing, whether it was cooking, tending to the cows, or washing clothes. Everything would be left in the middle and the gopis would abandon their families to dance ecstatically around Krishna as he seduced them with his flute. At night, Krishna would visit every gopi, in a unique form just for her, and make love to her. Bhakti yoga has a quality of unreserved love and passion for God, a full faith that recognizes that God comes first above all others.

Mirabai, the thirteenth century mystic poet, valued her spiritual marriage to Krishna over her family’s arranged marriage for her. She spurned convention, surrendered entirely to her passion for Lord Krishna, and experienced Love alternately through knowing It, and yearning for It.

A Course in Miracles asks us for the same level of devotion. Lesson 157.5, “Into His Presence would I enter now” expresses it this way, “From this day forth, your ministry takes on a genuine devotion, and a glow that travels from your fingertips to those you touch, and blesses those you look upon.”

Jnana Yoga
acim book coverJnana yoga uses the study of scripture as a means to comprehend our true Self. What starts out as an intellectual pursuit deepens into a felt experience. Jnana uses inquiry to uncover meaning beneath meaning beyond meaning until the Self is revealed. The great sage and realized master Ramana Maharshi taught through the question, “Who am I?” This question, aimed at everything, takes us back to the Witness, the Observer, the Decision-Maker (in Ken Wapnick’s parlance). “It undoes the veils that the ego has interposed between its little slice of mind and its Source.

Jnana yoga helps us return to the decision-making part of our mind by stripping away the false self, layer by layer. “This single purpose creates perfect integration and establishes the peace of God.” T-3.II.5:6. Ultimately, the Course tells us to “Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.” W-189; but, until we reach that point, immersing ourselves in scripture can be the royal road Home. Rather than be lost in the ego’s unconscious, we saturate ourselves in the Holy Spirit’s teachings.

Karma Yoga
happy crowdKarma yoga is the yoga of taking action in the world through selfless service. It is a pure practice of brotherhood. It is the natural expression of the miracle, seeing Christ in everyone indiscriminately.  It is the application of the Course concept of “generalization,” which, essentially, recognizes that all actions should be equally loving toward all people, places and things, because we are all the same. “You will recognize that you have learned there is no order of difficulty in miracles when you apply them to all situations. There is no situation to which miracles do not apply, and by applying them to all situations, you will gain the real world.” T-12.VII.1:3-4.  And the way to do this is to see Christ in each other.

Raja Yoga
Patanjali, the sage who compiled the Yoga Sutras, lays out the path of raja yoga. Raja means royal and is considered a complete system. Its goal is to improve our concentration so we can move all our attention toward our Being in order to become that Being. Raja yoga is also called ashtanga yoga because of the eight limbs on which the system rests:

crown_chakra_poster-r31596d0ab74c4af2819dd4bc933ed9ef_w2q_525They are 1) Yamas, outward morality, consisting of non-harming, truthfulness, non-stealing, self- discipline and non-coveting 2) Niyamas, inner ethics, consisting of cleanliness, contentment, purification of body, mind and nervous system, study of metaphysical principles and self-examination, contemplation of God 3) Postures, or asanas 4) Control of breath and life currents, or pranayama 5) Withdrawal of the senses in order to turn within, or pratyahara 6) Concentration, or dharana 7) Meditation, or dhyana: prolonged periods of concentration which becomes contemplation and 8) Holy Trance, or samadhi, what the Course would call revelation, a direct experience of God.

As the Course says in the Clarification of Terms, “A universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary.” ACIM also has a curriculum, and uses a text, workbook, and manual for teachers as its “limbs,” which, when used vigilantly, integrate its teachings and deepen our learning. The ACIM curriculum is not aimed at teaching Love or samadhi because that is beyond what can be taught and is naturally revealed as we remove the blocks to the awareness of Love’s presence.

The Yoga of ACIM
Though I was introduced to yoga first, along the way it became clear to me that ACIM is my path. The lack of ceremony and ritual, the lack of deities and complicated practices, suits me. I have a gypsy nature, which finds the “no baggage” dancing girl via bettina casimir clarkstyle of the Holy Spirit alluring. Still, it comes naturally for me to practice ACIM hatha yoga, where I find my mind often goes pleasantly blank and I spontaneously experience the peace of God. And ACIM bhakti yoga emerged effortlessly too, as it became natural to devote the fruits of my practice to God. ACIM jnana yoga is the pleasure of reading and re-reading the Course, experiencing a deeper and deeper understanding as I do, as well as cultivating the relationship with my guru, my inner teacher, the Holy Spirit. ACIM raja yoga is applying the practices, the Workbook lessons, and allowing the Course to work through me as an integrated whole. ACIM karma yoga is seeing Christ in my brother.

lotus headstandIt’s fun to reverse my upside-down perception simply by doing a headstand, and to evoke the holy instant by chanting “aum.” It’s fun “to let my words be chosen for me by ceasing to decide for myself what I’m going to say” (paraphrased from M-21). Recently, I heard myself giving a guided meditation to my yoga class during savasana inviting them to contact a glowing light within them that is always there, allowing it to permeate their bodies and then extend, radiating Its light through them, so that their very presence was a source of healing to all they came in contact with the rest of the day. “The light is in you,” I said, not realizing it was a line from Chapter 18, channeling straight through me. “You need do nothing except not to interfere,” I continued, transmitting Chapter 16 from the True Empathy section. The Light flowed through me on Its way to them.

In concluding, I say to you, “Namaste. The divine Light in me bows to the divine Light in you” or, in ACIM– speak, “You are one Self with me, united with our Creator in this Self. I honor you because of What I am, and What He is, Who loves us both as One.” Lesson 95.15:3.

———————————————
1 These are five well-known yogic systems. Kundalini yoga, tantric yoga, and kriya yoga are also frequently studied and applied, and the list goes on.

2 Yoga is a vast subject and there are countless books and online resources to explore karma, the chakras, kundalini energy and the koshas, as
well as many other esoteric topics, if you are so inclined. David Hoffmeister has an interesting chart in his book, Awakening Through A Course in Miracles, that maps the ego mind and the layers are remarkably similar to the koshas.

 

Copyright 2009 Amy Torres. All rights reserved worldwide.

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

22 Jan 2013 Comments Off on How the Homeless Made Me Feel at Home

How the Homeless Made Me Feel at Home

A sthomeless shopping cartudent of mine mentioned her encounters with homeless people and it brought to mind a spiritual experience I’d like to share with you.

She was sharing how defensive and guilty she feels during her walk downtown where there are lots of homeless people.   I also felt guilty when I was living in New York City and there were many homeless on the streets.  Some were mentally ill, some were HIV positive, some were out of work, some chose a life on the street.

Some had kittens, some had dogs, some owned a grocery cart overflowing with neatly bound bundles of stuff.  Some hallucinated and shadow boxed.  Some drank and sat in their own excrement.  Many slept under cardboard boxes which made them invisible in broad daylight.  Some smiled, some lashed out, some were dead silent and hid behind their sign.  They all had the obligatory “begging cup.”greek coffee cup

I got to know certain “regulars”–folks who would usually be planted in a particular spot.  For the most part, all they required was, “Good morning!,” a splash of change in their coffee cup, and a smile.  If they disappeared from their appointed spot, I would feel uneasy, concerned about them.

penny or a smileBut more often, I felt guilty, and sometimes afraid, when I was around them–even if I gave money.  I didn’t want to feel that way–and I was determined to let the fear and guilt evaporate.  I just didn’t know how.  My heart was open … it seemed that I needed less guilt and more courage in my gut.  I began to feel increasingly irritated when I heard people say, “If I gave to all the homeless in NYC, I’d go broke!”  Something about that didn’t ring true.  In fact, it seemed a feeble excuse to look the other way.

One day, I decided to put that statement to the test.  I started putting a dollar into every coffee cup I encountered. It turned out that it was quite affordable to give to all, everyday.

I felt less guilty, now that I was being true to myself.  Often my encounters with the homeless were loving and uplifting.  At first, the gratitude they showed embarrassed me, but then I realized it would do me good to accept their appreciation.  As I relaxed and accepted their “thank yous” and “God bless yous” Love started to flow freely between us.  In fact, homeless people blessed me on a regular basis.

Their smilhomeless womanes and blessings nurtured me and gave me a feeling of community.  It was a time in my life when I was painfully lonely–I was homeless in my heart.  The connection with people who literally didn’t have a roof over their heads, and more importantly, didn’t have a community that embraced them, pulled my heartstrings.  I was having holy encounters with them, and being shown a perfect demonstration of the spiritual law, “Giving is Receiving.”  All for a dollar!

After a while, something in me shifted. The next time I was faced with the second coffee cup of the day, out of my mouth popped, “I gave today.”  I was met with a big smile and, “Bless you.”  No hard feelings.  This homeless person seemed to understand that I, too, had needs.  A Message was communicated:  do what you can, and everyOne will be okay if you continue to let go and let God.   I went back to giving once a day for a while–this time, guilt-free.

Ehomeless man smilingventually, something in me shifted again. The next time the cup was proffered, I cheerfully, yet kindly said, “No, thank you.” WHAT A MOMENT THAT WAS!  No one was more surprised than me, when those words popped out of my mouth.  “No, thank you”????  What did this even mean?  I had to think about it: the homeless person asked me for money, and I said, “No, thank you,”  … meaning they were offering me a service, and I was refusing it because I didn’t need it at this time.  I had reached a new level of faith, equality, and guiltlessness. 

What freedom to feel so INNOCENT.  How liberating to now know that the homeless person had a higher power and an Inner Teacher, just as I did, just as everyOne did.  I didn’t have to play God anymore.  I didn’t have to save the world, one person at a time.  I just needed to Love and Be Loved.

My first encounters with the homeless had been fearful and guilty.  As I practiced seeing the face of Christ in all my brothers (which I first learned from yoga teachers), I opened up to an empowering humility.  The more I approached people on the streets of New York who needed a smile, a buck, and to be treated like an equal, with an open heart and the Holy Spirit at my back, what a healing we both received!

crown_chakra_poster-r31596d0ab74c4af2819dd4bc933ed9ef_w2q_525From then on, I embraced Service at a new level.  My crown chakra opened, Grace flowed through the vessel I call my body, and Loving Light left a trail of sparkles on the streets of NYC for all to be sparked by, whenever they were ready.

Rarely have I uttered sweeter words than, “No, thank you!”  They were my proclamation of Innocence and Liberation.  And they freed us all!

 

 

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

10 Jan 2013 Comments Off on Confusion is a Great Opportunity

Confusion is a Great Opportunity

If you are practicing the Workbook from A Course in Miracles and you are feeling confused, take that as a good sign.   Spiritual paths are meant to disorient you.  If you remain unmoved and unshaken, you are not really allowing the teaching to affect you–which indicates you are too mentally organized and too emotionally defended.

After all, if you actually understood everything the Course says, you wouldn’t be studying the Course.  Intellectual comprehension can only take us so far.  The real work begins when the ground shifts under our feet, when our way of seeing and hearing, listening and communicating, being and existing, changes.

Confusion helps us open our minds.   Learning to tolerate confusion, and, eventually, to even welcome and relax into confusion, is, paradoxically, the quickest way to clear the fog.

Confusion can be experienced in many ways:

1.  You may feel out of control or disoriented.  Maybe the world feels a bit surreal–like you’re in it but not of it.  This disorientation is natural as you bridge the gap from the ego thought system to the Holy Spirit’s One Loving Thought.  Think of it as stretching 🙂

2.  You may feel conflicted and call it confusion, even though it’s more of a back and forth between, “I want my personal life to be happy” and “I want to awaken to the truth that I am really formless Loving Light.”  It’s understandable to struggle between wanting a happy dream and wanting (or not wanting) to take responsibility for being the dreamer of the dream.  Here lies the ongoing opportunity to choose again: ego as teacher … or Holy Spirit?

3.  You may feel foggy and unable to think clearly.  Confusion can be experienced as a thick mist obscuring what is just ahead and making us grope slowly towards … we don’t know what.  This holds the promise of moving through the fog into the Light–if we can tolerate the unknown and make small leaps of faith.

4.  You may feel overwhelmed.  You could be overwhelmed by choices, by the demands of your schedule, or by your emotional reactions.  “Overwhelm” takes many forms.  As a Course student, the Shakepearean prose, and the amount of material to read is often felt to be “too much.”  You can join with your brothers–there are more ACIM groups and resources than ever before.  Just ask the Holy Spirit for guidance–and it doesn’t hurt to “google” too!  If you are taking an online class like my Workin’ the Workbook, take advantage of all the support that comes with the program.

5.  You may feel paralyzed or trapped in endless procrastination.  In Gestalt psychotherapy, there is a tremendously promising moment that occurs if the work is going well, and we call it “the impasse.”

The impasse is an opening in the mind in which our former defense mechanisms are dismantled and new ones haven’t formed yet.  Visualize a clock that you’ve taken apart.  All the pieces are laid out on a table.

clock parts

Those pieces are components of your personality–the way your experience, your conditioning, and your temperament have come together to form your character.  There is great opportunity in this temporary dismantling.  Trust yourself to reorganize in a healthier way, free of old defenses.  ACIM Lesson 153 teaches us, “In my defenselessness my safety lies.”  One way of applying this lesson is to our relationship with ourselves.

A Course in Miracles, in Lesson 69, says it this way, “From where you stand, you can see no reason to believe there is a brilliant light hidden by the clouds.  The clouds seem to be the only reality.  They seem to be all there is to see.  Therefore, you do not attempt to go through them and past them, which is the only way in which you would really be convinced of their lack of substance.”

Only by walking into the thick mist, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will we emerge with clarity.  First, we must be willing to be confused.

goldenlight1

Copyright since 2013.  All rights reserved worldwide.

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

28 Dec 2012 Comments Off on On This Clean Slate Let My True Function Be Written for Me

On This Clean Slate Let My True Function Be Written for Me

love blackboard

It’s almost January 1st.  Time for a new beginning.

And where better to start than the loving classroom of A Course in Miracles?  To bring in the new year right-mindedly, I’d like to share with you some phrases from the Course that are so simple and beautiful they lift the heart, bring tears to the eyes, and open the doorway to Heaven.

In one of the early lessons, Lesson 12, we’re told, “If you could accept the world as meaningless and let the truth be written upon it for you, it would make you indescribably happy.”  It goes on to say, ” … you are impelled to write upon it what you would have it be.  … Beneath your words is written the Word of God.  The truth upsets you now, but when your words have been erased, you will see His.”

Lesson 65 gives us an exercise to help us discover the function God gave us, “On this clean slate let my true function be written for me.”

And Lesson 276, “The Word of God is given me to speak” asks and answers, “What is the Word of God?  My Son is pure and holy as Myself.”

The Course explains that the entire ego thought system is based on guilt.  When we allow God’s Word to be written, we discover our Innocence.  This Innocence has nothing to do with naivete, purity or the body.  It is the Innocence of Unity.  What is Unified cannot be guilty of anything for It is Joined in an Absolute Loving State of Mind.  It is a return to Love.

Ask yourself, “What is the Word of God?”  Then answer, “I am pure and holy as God Himself.”  This year, open to receive the Loving Message God has for you.  How powerful and beautiful to be a clean slate …

If you are interested in using the ACIM Workbook practice as a means to awakening, perhaps you’d like to join us in Workin’ the Workbook.  Click here to find out more.

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

23 Dec 2012 Comments Off on Welcome me not into a manger, but into the altar to holiness … *

Welcome me not into a manger, but into the altar to holiness … *

NativityIsn’t it interesting that in the section in A Course in Miracles which mentions Christmas, Jesus tells us not to welcome him “into a manger” which limits him (and us) to the world?  He throws tradition out the window, and, instead, reminds us to return to the altar of holiness in our Mind.  That’s where Perfect Peace abides.  Then he goes on to reiterate that giving is receiving–a Message on which the Course is based.

Ken Wapnick** often teaches that the Jesus of A Course in Miracles is not the Jesus of the bible.  The bible-story Jesus has human emotions and works miracles that heal the body.  But the Course explains that “… the name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol.”  In other words,  Jesus the man is part of the illusory story the ego tells. ACIM would have us understand Jesus is actually the manifestation of the Holy Spirit–as are we.  For a deeper understanding of this, read the Manual for Teachers, #23. Does Jesus Have a Special Place in Healing? and Clarification of Terms #6. The Holy Spirit.

In the Song of Prayer supplement, we’re told, “Without guilt there is no scarcity.”  An Innocent Mind is a Whole, Unified Mind, and a Unified Mind overflows with abundance–It extends Love, Peace and Joy naturally, because that is All There Is.  Lesson 108: “To give and to receive are one in truth,” begins, “Vision depends upon today’s idea.” It’s a lesson worth reviewing during the “gift-giving” season. It offers a simple practice you might want to use:

To give is to receive. Today we will attempt to offer peace to everyone, and see how quickly peace returns to us. Light is tranquility, and in that peace is vision given us, and we can see.  Begin the practice periods by saying, “To give and to receive are one in truth.  I will receive what I am giving now. 

Then close your eyes, and for five minutes think of what you would hold out to everyone, to have it yours.  You might, for instance, say:  To everyone I offer quietness.  To everyone I offer peace of mind.  To everyone I offer gentleness.  Say each one slowly and then pause a while, expecting to receive the gift you gave.

* T-15.III.9:6
**Ken and  Gloria Wapnick have been teaching A Course in Miracles from the beginning and are founders of the teaching institute, Foundation for A Course in Miracles, which you can visit at www.facim.org.

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Unlearning Classroom

10 Dec 2012 Comments Off on The Sign of Christmas is a Star

The Sign of Christmas is a Star

“The sign of Christmas is a star, a light in darkness.” ~T-15.XI.2:1.

Let  us remember, this holiday season, that Christmas (and every religious celebration at this time of year) is really about awakening to our Oneness.  Oneness is holiness, and holiness is wholeness.  What makes us whole?  Remembering that we are Loving Light.

True love is unconditional, and it includes everyone–all our brothers, and ourselves.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you remember this Light within you.  Use this picture to shift your perception from the outer world to your Inner Light.

Feel how naturally the Light expands, illuminating you from within until you cannot help but radiate this luminous Love. Whether Christmas is a joyful time or a painful time for you, remember that you have an Internal Teacher Who can help ignite the spark that is always inside you. Can you feel that star of Light within you?  Can you let yourself be that radiant star?

Beneath your worldly cares lies the Truth.  Your Source, the life force from which you originate, is always available.  Holidays are a particularly good time to tune in to Inner Guidance so that you remember what is truly important:  Love.  To Love and Be Loved is the “being” part of “human being.”  Christ-consciousness is simply “being” an extension of God’s Love.

“Being” and “creating” are the same Loving state of Mind.  There is no “doing” in Truth–the undoing practice of A Course in Miracles teaches us to step back and let our Internal Teacher, the Holy Spirit (the memory of God within us), lead the way.  Jesus was a follower, and he teaches us to follow the Holy Spirit, as he did.  Surprisingly, to follow is to be empowered (that’s a subject for another day).  And following is an unfolding that occurs effortlessly and naturally … if we let go of everything we’ve ever believed.

Holidays are Holy Days.  Holiness is wholeness.  This holiday season, I offer you this prayer, inspired by A Course in Miracles.  It will help you let go of everything you’ve ever believed–and shine the Love of God instead.  Repeat as often as you like:

God, help me know that the Truth in me remains as radiant as a star, as pure as Light, as innocent as Love Itself.  Therefore, I am a beacon of Loving Light guided by the Light Within Me.  And so it is.  Amen.

 

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Unlearning Classroom

26 Nov 2012 Comments Off on The heart must be empty in order to receive the knowledge of God.

The heart must be empty in order to receive the knowledge of God.

It is the innocent and pure soul who has a capacity for learning. When a person comes to take a lesson on any subject, and he brings his own knowledge with him, the teacher has little to teach him, for the doors of his heart are not open. His heart that should be empty in order to receive knowledge is occupied by the knowledge that he already had acquired. In order to know the truth or to know God earthly qualifications and earthly wisdom or learning are not necessary. What one has to learn is how to become a pupil.

It is the receptivity of our heart and the passivity of our mind, it is the eagerness, the thirst and hunger after truth, it is the direction of our whole life to that Ideal from who all light and truth come, that alone can bring us truth and the knowledge of God. All knowledge of the earth is as clouds covering the sun. It is the breaking of these clouds and clearness of the sky, or in other words the purity of heart, which give the capacity for the knowledge of God.

The innocence of Jesus has been known through the ages. In his every moment, in his every action, he appeared to be as a child. All the great saints and sages, the great ones who have liberated humanity, have been as innocent as children and at the same time wiser, much more so, than the worldly-wise. And what makes it so? What gives them this balance? It is repose with passiveness.

When they stand before God, they stand with their heart as an empty cup; when they stand before God to learn, they unlearn all things that the world has taught them; when they stand before God, their ego, their self, their life, is no more before them. They do not think of themselves in that moment with any desire to be fulfilled, with any motive to be accomplished, with any expression of their own; but as empty cups, that God may fill their being, that they may lose the false self.

The heart must be empty in order to receive the knowledge of God.

Bowl of Saki, November 26, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Pir-o-Murshid  Inayat Khan is one of my spiritual teachers.  Thank you, Murshid. 

And thank you Wahiduddin for your selfless service in providing us with this priceless Bowl of Saki every day!  For those of you interested in seeing more of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings, which weave so well with A Course in Miracles, here’s a link:  Wahiduddin’s Web

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Unlearning Classroom

20 Nov 2012 Comments Off on Is Thanksgiving Necessary?

Is Thanksgiving Necessary?

Yes, thanksgiving is necessary–but not as a national holiday!

Use this practice from A Course in Miracles and experience the Peace, Joy and Love of true thanksgiving every day.

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

This is as every day should be. Today, practice the end of fear. Have faith in Him Who is your Father. Trust all things to Him. Let Him reveal all things to you, and be you undismayed because you are His Son. ~Lesson 232: Be in my mind, Father, through the day.

Practice means just that.  Repeat Lesson 232 over and over again.  Let everything that bothers you be a reminder to practice Lesson 232.  Be relentless.  See what happens.

Many years ago, when I thought I had come a long way and shouldn’t be in pain anymore, I reluctantly picked up Louise Hay’s classic book, You Can Heal Your Life, and read a section called, “My Daily Work”.  It turned out that even Louise Hay did daily maintenance.  One line from her routine stuck with me, and I’ve used it ever since, “This is one of the best days of my life.”

I was intrigued at the idea that every day, no matter what occurred, could be one of the best days of my life.  In fact, I took it one step further and revised it to, “This is the best day of my life”.  How liberating!  How mind-opening!  As a Course student, I knew that I cannot judge anything because I truly do not know what anything is for.  So no matter what seemingly happened, I could still see it as the best day of my life.  What a reversal!  What a shift in perception!

This is true thanksgiving.  Every day is the best day of your life, because every day is a day you can use to dwell with your Father.  Feel free to enjoy the holiday if that suits you.  Or not.  But whatever you do, remember:

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

This is as every day should be. Today, practice the end of fear. Have faith in Him Who is your Father. Trust all things to Him. Let Him reveal all things to you, and be you undismayed because you are His Son. ~Lesson 232: Be in my mind, Father, through the day.

Related essays: Giving Thanks to You, Giving Thanks and Receiving Is Giving, Admitting I Felt Ungrateful Released Me

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Unlearning Classroom

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