What is A Course in Miracles?

01 Feb 2022 Comments Off on Lesson 32 – I have invented the world I see.

Lesson 32 – I have invented the world I see.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Jesus says that I am the inventor of the world I see. He is not speaking to me, Amy. Amy is just a fragment of the one ego mind. Ego does not listen to what Jesus has to say. Ego sticks its fingers in its ears and says, “I don’t hear you! I don’t hear you!”

Jesus is addressing all of us as One Brother, that is, Christ-consciousness, the Sonship, God’s Creation. Jesus is explaining that ego is an image-maker.

The outer world is a visual-figment of “my” imagination. The inner world is a thought-figment of “my” imagination. Who does this “my” belong to? The one ego mind. Who does the one ego mind belong to? Christ-consciousness. Who does Christ-consciousness belong to? God.

The ego is a mad scientist mixing concoctions of guilt, fear and death; of past and future; of images and form. Ego causes separation and the effect is separation. God causes Love and the effect is Love. Cause and effect are the same, but the ego makes them seem different.

Jesus tells us to apply the idea for today to any situation that may distress, such as, “I have invented this upset stomach as I see it. I have invented these despotic murders throughout the world as I see them. I have invented my longing to rescue that stray dog as I see it.” As I practice, something zooms out and I see that there is no stomach to hurt, there is no political tragedy, and there is no dog to stray. Light shines forms away …

It becomes clear that there is a sense of “me” drawing pictures that “I” get sucked into and forget were drawn by “me.” All pain melts away and is replaced by pure faith.

Then come the oscillations between pure faith and the heavy ego-gravity pull of compulsively reviewing the past and projecting into the future … the vise of ego identity insisting on its own existence although there is nothing between its jaws.

This is only to be expected as sleep melts away and the spiritual eye of the Soul blinks open. Do not be concerned with the final turns of the ceiling fan after the power has been cut off.

LESSON 32

I have invented the world I see.

Today we are continuing to develop the theme of cause and effect. You are not the victim of the world you see because you invented it. You can give it up as easily as you made it up. You will see it or not see it, as you wish. While you want it you will see it; when you no longer want it, it will not be there for you to see.

The idea for today, like the preceding ones, applies to your inner and outer worlds, which are actually the same. However, since you see them as different, the practice periods for today will again include two phases, one involving the world you see outside you, and the other the world you see in your mind. In today’s exercises, try to introduce the thought that both are in your own imagination.

Again we will begin the practice periods for the morning and evening by repeating the idea for today two or three times while looking around at the world you see as outside yourself. Then close your eyes and look around your inner world. Try to treat them both as equally as possible. Repeat the idea for today unhurriedly as often as you wish, as you watch the images your imagination presents to your awareness.

For the two longer practice periods three to five minutes are recommended, with not less than three required. More than five can be utilized, if you find the exercise restful. To facilitate this, select a time when few distractions are anticipated, and when you yourself feel reasonably ready.

These exercises are also to be continued during the day, as often as possible. The shorter applications consist of repeating the idea slowly, as you survey either your inner or outer world. It does not matter which you choose.

The idea for today should also be applied immediately to any situation that may distress you. Apply the idea by telling yourself:

I have invented this situation as I see it.

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

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Today's ACIM Lesson, Undoing the Ego, Unlearning Classroom, What is A Course in Miracles?, Workin' the Workbook Tags: My experience with the ACIM Workbook Lessons

31 Jan 2022 Comments Off on Lesson 31 – I am not the victim of the world I see.

Lesson 31 – I am not the victim of the world I see.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Detachment. Neutral observation. These qualities will allow us to separate from the ego thought system rather than separating from God.

We are advised to “let the stream [of thought] move on evenly and calmly, without any special investment on your part.” This is the mind training: watching our thoughts as if they are figures on a ticker tape; figures in which, contrary to ego thinking, we now have no investment.

We are beginning to recognize that the world we picture is the results of the thoughts we think. “You will escape from both together, for the inner is the cause of the outer.” As we learn this we “are making a declaration of independence in the name of your own freedom. And in your freedom lies the freedom of the world.”

As we rewind our thoughts and discover everything is really and truly happening in the mind, we become free of feeling that we can be the victim of anything that happens in the world. Our freedom frees everyone because there is only one mind to change and then the whole illusion unravels.

“The idea for today is also a particularly useful one to use as a response to any form of temptation that may arise. It is a declaration that you will not yield to it, and put yourself in bondage.” Hmmmm. Well, that’s gonna take some more practice.

LESSON 31

I am not the victim of the world I see.

Today’s idea is the introduction to your declaration of release. Again, the idea should be applied to both the world you see without and the world you see within. In applying the idea, we will use a form of practice which will be used more and more, with changes as indicated. Generally speaking, the form includes two aspects, one in which you apply the idea on a more sustained basis, and the other consisting of frequent applications of the idea throughout the day.

Two longer periods of practice with the idea for today are needed, one in the morning and one at night. Three to five minutes for each of these are recommended. During that time, look about you slowly while repeating the idea two or three times. Then close your eyes, and apply the same idea to your inner world. You will escape from both together, for the inner is the cause of the outer.

As you survey your inner world, merely let whatever thoughts cross your mind come into your awareness, each to be considered for a moment, and then replaced by the next. Try not to establish any kind of hierarchy among them. Watch them come and go as dispassionately as possible. Do not dwell on any one in particular, but try to let the stream move on evenly and calmly, without any special investment on your part. As you sit and quietly watch your thoughts, repeat today’s idea to yourself as often as you care to, but with no sense of hurry.

In addition, repeat the idea for today as often as possible during the day. Remind yourself that you are making a declaration of independence in the name of your own freedom. And in your freedom lies the freedom of the world.

The idea for today is also a particularly useful one to use as a response to any form of temptation that may arise. It is a declaration that you will not yield to it, and put yourself in bondage.

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

30 Jan 2022 Comments Off on Lesson 30 – God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

Lesson 30 – God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Real vision is unlimited by space and time. Real vision does not depend on the body’s eyes at all. Real vision comes from “within,” that is, from God’s mind. Today we use “projection” as a way of seeing the All in all.

God is in everything I see … because God is in my mind. God is in my mind, and so everything I see is infused with God.

If God is Light, then Light is shining through my mind, and illuminating all that I see.

Darkness cannot exist in Light. Who am I? That Light which is Shining.

LESSON 30

God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

The idea for today is the springboard for vision. From this idea will the world open up before you, and you will look upon it and see in it what you have never seen before. Nor will what you saw before be even faintly visible to you.

Today we are trying to use a new kind of “projection.” We are not attempting to get rid of what we do not like by seeing it outside. Instead, we are trying to see in the world what is in our minds, and what we want to recognize is there. Thus, we are trying to join with what we see, rather than keeping it apart from us. That is the fundamental difference between vision and the way you see.

Today’s idea should be applied as often as possible throughout the day. Whenever you have a moment or so, repeat it to yourself slowly, looking about you, and trying to realize that the idea applies to everything you do see now, or could see now if it were within the range of your sight.

Real vision is not limited to concepts such as “near” or “far.” To help you begin to get used to this idea, try to think of things beyond your present range as well as those you can actually see, as you apply today’s idea.

Real vision is not only unlimited by space and distance, but it does not depend on the body’s eyes at all. The mind is its only source. To aid in helping you to become more accustomed to this idea as well, devote several practice periods to applying today’s idea with your eyes closed, using whatever subjects come to mind, and looking within rather than without. Today’s idea applies equally to both.

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

29 Jan 2022 Comments Off on Lesson 29 – God is in everything I see.

Lesson 29 – God is in everything I see.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

God is in everything we see because we are within God’s Mind. Seen correctly, every “thing” is not a thing at all, but an extension of One Formless Source.

Therefore, God is in this…and God is in this…

God is in everything I see … because I am within God’s Mind.

Pantheism regards the universe as a manifestation of God; pantheism is a doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws of the universe.* Today’s lesson is not saying that God created the physical universe. It is saying that what the ego mis-created can be used for God’s Loving Purpose which will help us see differently. The word “universe” is used to mean different things depending on its context in ACIM. In W-29, universe is used to mean Oneness.

Lesson 29 could also be titled, “The Whole Basis for Vision.” The alternate title I proposed for yesterday’s lesson was, “The Purpose of the Universe.” When we want to see things differently, the purpose of the universe is revealed: to see with God’s Unified Vision, not with the ego’s divisive dream-mind.

Your Inner Teacher, the Holy Spirit, provides a Vision bridge for you to cross.

The manifestation of the Holy Spirit, Jesus, holds out his hand for you to help you cross that golden bridge.

Since we are equals with Jesus, we are also manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

Cross the bridge and find out for yourself.

Jesus Hand

LESSON 29

God is in everything I see.

The idea for today explains why you can see all purpose in everything. It explains why nothing is separate, by itself or in itself. And it explains why nothing you see means anything. In fact, it explains every idea we have used thus far, and all subsequent ones as well. Today’s idea is the whole basis for vision.

You will probably find this idea very difficult to grasp at this point. You may find it silly, irreverent, senseless, funny and even objectionable. Certainly God is not in a table, for example, as you see it. Yet we emphasized yesterday that a table shares the purpose of the universe. And what shares the purpose of the universe shares the purpose of its Creator.

Try then, today, to begin to learn how to look on all things with love, appreciation and open-mindedness. You do not see them now. Would you know what is in them? Nothing is as it appears to you. Its holy purpose stands beyond your little range. When vision has shown you the holiness that lights up the world, you will understand today’s idea perfectly. And you will not understand how you could ever have found it difficult.

Our six two-minute practice periods for today should follow a now familiar pattern: Begin with repeating the idea to yourself, and then apply it to randomly chosen subjects about you, naming each one specifically. Try to avoid the tendency toward self-directed selection, which may be particularly tempting in connection with today’s idea because of its wholly alien nature. Remember that any order you impose is equally alien to reality.

Your list of subjects should therefore be as free of self-selection as possible. For example, a suitable list might include:

God is in this coat hanger.
God is in this magazine.
God is in this finger.
God is in this lamp.
God is in that body.
God is in that door.
God is in that waste basket.

In addition to the assigned practice periods, repeat the idea for today at least once an hour, looking slowly about you as you say the words unhurriedly to yourself. At least once or twice, you should experience a sense of restfulness as you do this.

* Source of definition: Merriam-Webster.com/dictionary and Google dictionary

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.

26 Jan 2022 Comments Off on Lesson 26 – My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

Lesson 26 – My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

This is one of those lessons that is thunderous. It reverberates through my mind with powerful claps because my memory of God is sparked by it. It says, “The idea for today introduces the thought that you always attack yourself first.”

The ego mind scared itself into believing that we had separated from God’s mind and that in order to alleviate that fear we lashed out at God as if He had done something wrong (first projection). This led to us believing that now we could be attacked in return.

First we believed we could be attacked by God–before we were even in a form. We believed this while just an ego thought without the coverings and the veils of space and time and worlds and bodies. Next we believed that our brothers could attack us … we were so delusional we thought our brothers were separate entities. As if the fingers on our hand were separate entities independent of our hand, arm and body.

Every person we see “out there” is a piece of us. We are all aspects of the same ego mind. One aspect may be homeless and in the gutter, another may be English royalty, but both are facets of the same One.

This lesson helps us really comprehend that. “And what would have effects through you must also have effects on you. It is this law that will ultimately save you, but you are misusing it now. You must therefore learn how it can be used for your own best interests, rather than against them.”

The practice today is worth writing out on paper. Very deep and powerful. We are asked to be specific in recounting what concerns us, what we fear could happen, and then to tell ourselves, “This thought is an attack on myself.” What a relief!

If this is not the first time you’ve done the ACIM Workbook, you might want to partner W-26 with W-38 which provides a further antidote. In 12-step they say the only person you can change is yourself. ACIM goes beyond the person entirely and shows us that with God’s help, little “me” is naturally absorbed back into my True Self once and for all.

LESSON 26

My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

It is surely obvious that if you can be attacked you are not invulnerable. You see attack as a real threat. That is because you believe that you can really attack. And what would have effects through you must also have effects on you. It is this law that will ultimately save you, but you are misusing it now. You must therefore learn how it can be used for your own best interests, rather than against them.

Because your attack thoughts will be projected, you will fear attack. And if you fear attack, you must believe that you are not invulnerable. Attack thoughts therefore make you vulnerable in your own mind, which is where the attack thoughts are. Attack thoughts and invulnerability cannot be accepted together. They contradict each other.

The idea for today introduces the thought that you always attack yourself first. If attack thoughts must entail the belief that you are vulnerable, their effect is to weaken you in your own eyes. Thus they have attacked your perception of yourself. And because you believe in them, you can no longer believe in yourself. A false image of yourself has come to take the place of what you are.

Practice with today’s idea will help you to understand that vulnerability or invulnerability is the result of your own thoughts. Nothing except your thoughts can attack you. Nothing except your thoughts can make you think you are vulnerable. And nothing except your thoughts can prove to you this is not so.

Six practice periods are required in applying today’s idea. A full two minutes should be attempted for each of them, although the time may be reduced to a minute if the discomfort is too great. Do not reduce it further.

The practice period should begin with repeating the idea for today, then closing your eyes and reviewing the unresolved questions whose outcomes are causing you concern. The concern may take the form of depression, worry, anger, a sense of imposition, fear, foreboding or preoccupation. Any problem as yet unsettled that tends to recur in your thoughts during the day is a suitable subject. You will not be able to use very many for any one practice period, because a longer time than usual should be spent with each one. Today’s idea should be applied as follows:

First, name the situation:

I am concerned about _____________.

Then go over every possible outcome that has occurred to you in that connection and which has caused you concern, referring to each one quite specifically, saying:

I am afraid _____________ will happen.

If you are doing the exercises properly, you should have some five or six distressing possibilities available for each situation you use, and quite possibly more. It is much more helpful to cover a few situations thoroughly than to touch on a larger number. As the list of anticipated outcomes for each situation continues, you will probably find some of them, especially those that occur to you toward the end, less acceptable to you. Try, however, to treat them all alike to whatever extent you can.

After you have named each outcome of which you are afraid, tell yourself:

That thought is an attack upon myself.

Conclude each practice period by repeating today’s idea to yourself once more.

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.

25 Jan 2022 Comments Off on Lesson 25 – I do not know what anything is for.

Lesson 25 – I do not know what anything is for.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Jesus tells us in Lesson 25, “… the ego is not you.” This means you are not the ego; you are not your body; you are not your personality; you are not a person. In Chapter 6, we learn “When God created you He made you part of Him.”

Our goals have been centered around the person and the body, not our Self. When we begin to experience clicks of recognition that we are not the person, but God’s Child (One Self), we want to withdraw our interest in worldly goals. At first there is some inner conflict, but then it becomes clear that to Love and Be Loved because we are Love is our sole purpose and meaning.

We understand the purpose of worldly things, like a cell phone is used to make contact with another person. But that contact is not true Communication. Communication is what the ego has tried to interfere with (inter-fear), and Communication is what the Holy Spirit helps us restore.

Lesson 25 is a step in the direction of being willing to give up the goals we have established for everything.

“You cannot know the conflict until you fully understand the basic fact that the ego cannot know anything. The Holy Spirit does not speak first, but He always answers.” (T-6.VI.3:1-2)

My practice today goes like this:

“I do not know what that door is for. I do not know what this cat is for. … I do not know what that machine-thing is for. … I do not know what that square is … I do not know what anything is for … because I do not know anything.” There is a bit of irritation in the stomach … and then a long, full exhale of relief.

How relaxing to give up all my goals. All my goals. Life is now–not the ego’s version of the present, but the Timeless-Always-Now. I do not know what anything is for when I’m looking with the ego’s eyes. But place myself in Spirit’s hands and golden vision filters through the dream while “I” still seem to be a bit groggy.

LESSON 25

I do not know what anything is for.

Purpose is meaning. Today’s idea explains why nothing you see means anything. You do not know what it is for. Therefore, it is meaningless to you. Everything is for your own best interests. That is what it is for; that is its purpose; that is what it means. It is in recognizing this that your goals become unified. It is in recognizing this that what you see is given meaning.

You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals. These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests, because the ego is not you. This false identification makes you incapable of understanding what anything is for. As a result, you are bound to misuse it. When you believe this, you will try to withdraw the goals you have assigned to the world, instead of attempting to reinforce them.

Another way of describing the goals you now perceive is to say that they are all concerned with “personal” interests. Since you have no personal interests, your goals are really concerned with nothing. In cherishing them, therefore, you have no goals at all. And thus you do not know what anything is for.

Before you can make sense out of the exercises for today, one more thought is necessary. At the most superficial levels, you do recognize purpose. Yet purpose cannot be understood at these levels. For example, you do understand that a telephone is for the purpose of talking to someone who is not physically in your immediate vicinity. What you do not understand is what you want to reach him for. And it is this that makes your contact with him meaningful or not.

It is crucial to your learning to be willing to give up the goals you have established for everything. The recognition that they are meaningless, rather than “good” or “bad,” is the only way to accomplish this. The idea for today is a step in this direction.

Six practice periods, each of two-minutes duration, are required. Each practice period should begin with a slow repetition of the idea for today, followed by looking about you and letting your glance rest on whatever happens to catch your eye, near or far, “important” or “unimportant,” “human” or “nonhuman.” With your eyes resting on each subject you so select, say, for example:

I do not know what this chair is for.
I do not know what this pencil is for.
I do not know what this hand is for.

Say this quite slowly, without shifting your eyes from the subject until you have completed the statement about it. Then move on to the next subject, and apply today’s idea as before.

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.

by Amy Torres in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Today's ACIM Lesson, Undoing the Ego, Unlearning Classroom, What is A Course in Miracles? Tags: My experience with the ACIM Workbook Lessons

23 Jan 2022 Comments Off on Lesson 23 – I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.

Lesson 23 – I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

This lesson is riveting. We are given the “only way out of fear that will ever succeed.” And it cannot fail. The cause of the world I see is my attack thoughts. Period. If I give up my attack thoughts, my perception of the world will change–this is the happy dream which the Course talks about in the Text.

First, we need to identify what has caused the world–choosing the ego thought system. Second, we need to be willing to let go of our attachment to the ego thought system. Third, God via the Holy Spirit, takes the final step for us and reveals the Light and Love which we already are.

One tricky point is that our thoughts of attacking someone or something else are exactly the same as our thoughts that someone or something (e.g., a tsunami) is attacking us. We have to get the hang of understanding that an attack thought is an attack thought no matter which direction it is going … it still indicates we have chosen the ego.

And now, here comes one of the many Course definitions of “salvation.” Salvation is escaping from the cause of the world. Salvation is that moment of decision when we opt for the Holy Spirit’s Vision rather than ego-seeing, eyesight. Then loveliness can light all of our images.

Now get this: “There is no point in lamenting the world. There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. [emphasis mine]” What a huge relief. I no longer have to lament the world. I do not have to worry about Mother Nature and the countless ways we defile Her. I do not have to hate myself for not being an organ donor, for not adopting every orphan child and animal out there, for not always recycling!

What’s more, I need to grasp that the world is an effect of my choice to think through the ego mind. It is a narrow mind, filled with guilt and fear, and it believes it has separated from God. That’s what’s happening. That is the cause of me picturing a world. I am outpicturing, projecting an image outwards … an image of attack, hatred, fear, retribution, vengeance. And the world I see is the effect of my thoughts.

So Jesus says if I change my thoughts I will change my mind. I will literally switch over from the limited ego edition mind 🙂 to the Full God Edition Mind. We see a world but we don’t see ourselves as the image maker of the world. We call that arrogance, to claim we could make a world–isn’t that a brilliant way of avoiding the Truth?

This led to a discussion between me and Scott about the law of attraction. Scott said that he read a book on the subject a while back and found that “there was no traction in the law of attraction” for him. He didn’t feel drawn to the teachings–he had an innate sense of this lesson: I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts, which originated during his 12-year-old lacrosse experience (see blogpost “W-21: I am determined to see things differently” posted on Jan 21, 2022).

There’s been some public concern about the law of attraction being used for greedy manifestation without spirituality. True law of attraction taps into a higher vibration that guarantees the highest good of all.

My sense of the law of attraction is that the undoing process can bring us to the point when a piece of God’s mind said, “Let’s try being separate from God. Let’s try duality. Let’s try felt experience and gross form” and that this pure moment was free of fear, attack, hatred, guilt, death, etc. This was still within eternity and could be achieved playfully in endless ways … this is my sense of what the law of attraction provides: a way to write our dream script in all variety of gorgeous, abundant, brilliant, peaceful, harmonious ways, just for the fun of it.

Playing at God’s feet, so to speak, and awakening refreshed when we feel like it. Some of us want to pause here and have some fun in the world. Some of us are ready to go Home. What’s interesting to me is that Helen wasn’t thinking about the law of attraction when she scribed the Course–Jesus didn’t offer her an alternative to living in the world for manifestation purposes. He offered her an alternative thought system–a doorway Home because that must be what she asked for whether she always knew it consciously or not.

LESSON 23

I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.

The idea for today contains the only way out of fear that will ever succeed. Nothing else will work; everything else is meaningless. But this way cannot fail. Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed.

If the cause of the world you see is attack thoughts, you must learn that it is these thoughts which you do not want. There is no point in lamenting the world. There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The effect will change automatically.

The world you see is a vengeful world, and everything in it is a symbol of vengeance. Each of your perceptions of “external reality” is a pictorial representation of your own attack thoughts. One can well ask if this can be called seeing. Is not fantasy a better word for such a process, and hallucination a more appropriate term for the result?

You see the world that you have made, but you do not see yourself as the image maker. You cannot be saved from the world, but you can escape from its cause. This is what salvation means, for where is the world you see when its cause is gone? Vision already holds a replacement for everything you think you see now. Loveliness can light your images, and so transform them that you will love them, even though they were made of hate. For you will not be making them alone.

The idea for today introduces the thought that you are not trapped in the world you see, because its cause can be changed. This change requires, first, that the cause be identified and then let go, so that it can be replaced. The first two steps in this process require your cooperation. The final one does not. Your images have already been replaced. By taking the first two steps, you will see that this is so.

Besides using it throughout the day as the need arises, five practice periods are required in applying today’s idea. As you look about you, repeat the idea slowly to yourself first, and then close your eyes and devote about a minute to searching your mind for as many attack thoughts as occur to you. As each one crosses your mind say:

I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts about _________.

Hold each attack thought in mind as you say this, and then dismiss that thought and go on to the next.

In the practice periods, be sure to include both your thoughts of attacking and of being attacked. Their effects are exactly the same because they are exactly the same. You do not recognize this as yet, and you are asked at this time only to treat them as the same in today’s practice periods. We are still at the stage of identifying the cause of the world you see. When you finally learn that thoughts of attack and of being attacked are not different, you will be ready to let the cause go.

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.

05 Nov 2015 Comments Off on Six Recommendations Straight from the Holy Spirit

Six Recommendations Straight from the Holy Spirit

Imagine you are climbing a ladder to Heaven, rung by rung. Each rung gleams more resplendently as you draw nearer and nearer to Heavenly Light. You are open to receiving recommendations straight from the Holy Spirit.

His Light is almost blinding and you realize the Holy Spirit is not shining brighter – you are drawing nearer as His Magnetism becomes irresistible. And when you reach the top you realize there is no individual “you”… Enlightenment!

A Course in Miracles (ACIM) offers a workbook practice to help you reach Enlightenment. The practice reconnects you with your Internal Teacher, the Holy Spirit (HS). This connection changes everything. As you follow Spirit Guidance you are liberated from fear and empowered by Love. But … sticking with this guidance can be tricky, as the ego usually kicks up a fuss as it senses its ultimate demise.

This is why the Holy Spirit offers some very clear recommendations so you can stay on-track. As you stick with Spirit, you develop more focus, faith and trust in your own experience which then strengthens your connection to the Truth which is already in your mind. Here are six basic recommendations from the Holy Spirit as given by Jesus in ACIM:

Six Recommendations Straight from the Holy Spirit

★ Develop the good habit of practicing your workbook lesson as close to awakening, and going to sleep, as possible.

★ There is also a purification process involved, so it’s natural to experience unpleasant side effects at times. But remember, when swimming pools are disinfected, first the muddy, murky sludge that has gathered at the bottom is churned up to the surface. Only after the filter has been going for a while does the water become clear. In the same way, you are cleansed and purified through the workbook practice. After a while, fear and darkness dissolve, and all that remains is the loving light You Really Are.

★ All the workbook lessons should be done in an unhurried manner. A comfortable sense of leisure is essential. With our busy lives, this often seems impossible. But if you ask the Holy Spirit to help you find the time, HS will give you that miracle. After all, we’re told at the very beginning of the ACIM Text, in the 50 miracle principles, that miracles collapse time. Miracles are nothing if not practical!

★ 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. One thing is like another as far as the application of the idea is concerned. This is important because it impresses on the mind the first miracle principle: “There is no order of difficulty in miracles.” When this becomes real to us, there is nothing else to do but naturally and effortlessly spend our lives extending miracles.

★ “The curriculum is highly individualized, and all aspects are under the Holy Spirit’s particular care and guidance.” ACIM, M-29. Isn’t it comforting and inspiring to know that the Holy Spirit is working with you individually?*

★ Open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and feel His power surging Life and Love into you. Doing the workbook practice is like plugging in your cell phone – a powerful energy is charging you up! And there will be signs to boost your confidence along the way.

* There will come a day when you realize that you were working with the Holy Spirit, not HS with you. HS helps you awaken to Reality, not dream a better dream. When you choose the Holy Spirit’s guidance, you are choosing against illusions and enlightenment is recognized as always here, always true. “The Holy Spirit must work through you to teach you He is in you. This is an intermediary step towards the knowledge that you are in God because you are part of Him.” (T-7.IV.2:1-2)

For a long time, it seems as if your path is your own – very personal and filled with unique experiences. It is your particular set of experiences, relationships and understandings. This is because first you must become your self, and that readies you to realize your Self. “A tiny moment of surprise, perhaps, will make you pause before you realize the world you see before you in the light reflects the truth you knew, and did not quite forget in wandering away in dreams.” (W-131: No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.)

Now, after taking in these six recommendations straight from the Holy Spirit, try it again: Imagine you are climbing a ladder to Heaven, rung by rung. Each rung gleams more resplendently as you draw nearer and nearer to Heavenly Light. The Holy Spirit is not shining brighter – you are drawing nearer. And when you reach the top you realize there is no individual “you”… Enlightenment!

* * * * *

Workin’ the Workbook (WtW) is an online class that helps structure, clarify and support your Course in Miracles Workbook practice. WtW also helps you persevere and stick with all 365 lessons. Many people quit before completing the Workbook and don’t get to experience the rewards of choosing the Holy Spirit rather than the ego.

You can begin at any lesson — start with Lesson 1 or resume where you left off. The price is $37 a month (just a bit more than a dollar a day) and no one is turned away due to lack of funds (email me at [email protected] to ask about scholarships).

Let’s practice together! Click here for more information and to sign-up for Workin’ the Workbook, my online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

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

08 Sep 2015 Comments Off on Five Keys to Forgiveness Workshop

Five Keys to Forgiveness Workshop

A Course in Miracles teaches us a new definition of forgiveness. This new definition offers us an entirely different way of understanding ourselves and our relationships. As the introduction to ACIM states, the Course offers us a forgiveness practice as a way of “removing the blocks to the awareness of Love’s Presence” which naturally leads to giving and receiving miracles.

In the Five Keys to Forgiveness workshop, Amy Torres shares tools and tales for understanding forgiveness in new ways, and ideas for applying these principles in our daily lives. We cover:

* Forgiveness is an undoing process, removing loneliness, fear, blame, anger, guilt and shame

* Forgiveness contains the spiritual law that “giving is receiving” and offers us endless abundance.

* Forgiveness is a natural outcome of the willingness to be undone by following the spiritual guidance of your Inner Teacher, the Holy Spirit.

* Forgiveness brings inner peace, renewed faith, and lasting happiness.

* Forgiveness instills a sense of purpose and life is truly meaningful.

* Forgiveness changes our relationship with time, our understanding of death, and results in miracles.

* Forgiveness teaches us not to take ourselves personally and restores our True Self. Undoing leads to awakening.

* And much more, because forgiveness is a giving practice that just keeps on giving and giving and giving 🙂

(These bullet points are material we cover — the five keys are revealed during the workshop itself.)

Bring a notebook and pen. Wear comfortable clothes. Be prepared to remove your shoes.
You do not have to bring your A Course in Miracles book with you for the workshop.

Click here to watch Amy’s video on Five Keys to Forgiveness

If you would like Amy to give this workshop in your area, email miracles (at) amytorresacim (dot com)

Also, you can watch and hear Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube. And check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

by Amy Torres in Thoughts on A Course in Miracles, Uncategorized, What is A Course in Miracles?

26 Apr 2015 Comments Off on Remember to Laugh

Remember to Laugh

Amy crosslegged white Laughing is the application of ACIM principles. It’s right there in Chapter 27: “Into eternity, where all is one, there crept a tiny, mad idea, at which the Son of God remembered not to laugh. In his forgetting did the thought become a serious idea, and possible of both accomplishment and real effects. Together, we can laugh them both away, and understand that time cannot intrude upon eternity. It is a joke to think that time can come to circumvent eternity, which means there is no time.” T-27.VIII.6:2-5

Dr. Bernie Siegel, the author of Love, Medicine and Miracles, has many stories to tell about the power of laughter. There’s a whole school of yoga devoted to laughter. Comedian John Cleese says, “Laughter is a force for democracy.” Cancer thriver, as Kris Carr calls herself, has laughed in the face of terminal disease. Vice president Joe Biden shines light when he shares the tragic death of his wife and child. How do we laugh when we’re least likely to feel like laughing?

Biden considered suicide but came to find, “There will come a day, I promise you, and your parents, as well, when the thought of your son or daughter or your husband or wife brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye.” He was speaking to the families of military veterans, but it goes for the rest of us as well. It applies to anyone who has contemplated suicide or hurt inside in any way, for any reason.

“This is the great wake-up call, this is the great spiritual practice. What am I going to do now? Am I going to fold?,” asked Carr, author of Crazy, Sexy Cancer, who was given a death sentence but instead chose to keep smiling and become a peace revolutionary through a plant-based diet.

There is a saying, “Time heals all wounds.” A Course in Miracles promises to save us time. It teaches that miracles literally collapse time. The miracle of laughter uses time for healing rather than brooding, simmering, panicking, collapsing, or seeking vengeance.

“The Holy Spirit uses time as He thinks best, and He is never wrong. Psychotherapy under His direction is one of the means He uses to save time …” P-1.5:5-6

Laughter is psychotherapy. Laughter is good medicine. And when we just can’t bring ourselves to laugh, a wry comment, some dry humor, a small smile are better than nothing. They are the equivalent of raising our eyes up from the ground and looking out towards the horizon. There is some scientific evidence which shows that laughter, even when we force it, or fake it, stimulates chemical changes in the brain and body which are powerfully healing.

Of course, ACIM students learn that the only illness is mental illness and when we’re willing to change our minds, we find an inner peace that removes the wrinkles from our brow and puts a smile on our lips. Remembering to laugh is choosing to forgive. Lesson 121 is, “Forgiveness is the key to happiness,” and Lesson 122 follows with, “[Forgiveness] sparkles on your eyes as you awake, and gives you joy with which to meet the day.”

At the root of physical and emotional pain is always psychological pain. Whether our situation is dramatic or mundane, we deserve to exercise our option to choose light and laughter. Remembering to laugh is an undoing process that takes us from our personal problems all the way back to the one problem the Course says is the only real problem: believing the tiny, mad idea that we are separate from God. All we have to do to establish inner peace is choose again, choose to recognize the cosmic joke is on us, and forgive, forgive, forgive!

TIP: Paradoxically, sometimes the only way to laugh is to stop laughing. When I was going through a “dark night of the soul,” it was healing for me to stop laughing and smiling, because I blocked people from helping me with my constant good cheer. They just assumed I was okay. So if it seems to you that your smile is a defense, relax into your pain and allow that energy to move through you. This is easier said than done, because becoming vulnerable when we’re frozen with self-protection takes time. And certain emotions feel dangerous. But if you sincerely want to heal, the Holy Spirit will show you how, and will help you find a healer with whom to do release work. You will laugh again. And each time you do, time will melt into timelessness until you remember Who you already are.

Get your laugh on — click here to watch the miraculously funny Trevor Noah.

Read previous, related issues of The Unlearning Classroom:

God Is In Your Smile
Forgiveness is Fear-Removal
What Is Forgiveness?
Forgiveness is Understanding

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