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Musings: “Forgiveness Is Still, and Quietly Does Nothing…”

January 16, 2017

What is forgiveness?

(by Lyn Corona)

The following are random notes that I made for a recent Course Immersion class on forgiveness. My goal is not to present a beautifully written document, but to help the reader to better understand forgiveness through comments, quotes from the Course and suggested sections on forgiveness.

Forgiveness is probably the most important word in A Course in Miracles. It is also the most misunderstood because we come to it with our own ideas about it. The process of forgiveness in the Course is unique among all the world’s spiritualities and must be learned from a teacher who stands outside of time and space. That teacher is Jesus, a symbol of love that is not of this world.

Forgiveness is the pathway to inner peace – the condition of our minds in which God is remembered. It combines a lofty view of reality with practical application as to how, despite the world’s illusory nature, we can live here — kindly, attentively and aware of our need to practice forgiveness while we reside where we are not at home.

"The heart of everything is at peace" — **The heart of everything is at peace.**

To indicate from the outset the uniqueness of the Course’s forgiveness here are a couple of quotes from What is forgiveness? Workbook, part 2. page 401. I recommend reading the entire section.

“Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred.”

“Forgiveness, on the other hand, is still, and quietly does nothing………….It merely looks, and waits, and judges not.”

We are ready to learn forgiveness when we are motivated by our own despair to seek another way to relate to the world and the relationships we find ourselves in. We have tried to fix them and evidence seems to indicate that they can’t be fixed so a statement like the following suddenly attracts us:

“Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way.” T. 2. III.3:5,6.

Seek not to change the world

“Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world.” Ch. 21. Intro. 1:7.
A good thing to keep in mind when turning within is that the correction to all our mis-thoughts are already with us in our right minds symbolized by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We just need the little willingness to be helped by inviting their Loving Presence to show us how to see the situation without the ego’s interpretation, from above the battleground (in the mind) and outside the dream. By looking we learn are the dreamer of the dream and not the figure in the dream. (For clarification on that subject read Reversing Cause and Effect in its entirety, in Chapter 28.)

Forgiveness: a new morality

The ego, representing the thought of separation, wants us to remain identified with the body as a dream figure so we remain mindless, unable to decide against it. The ego is nothing but a phantom, an impossible idea of separation held in place only by belief in it and all of its shenanigans. Jesus’ mission is to show us how to look at it with him, meaning without judgment. Forgiveness then, is looking at the ego and not judging it. Judgment makes it real and something we fight against. Forgiveness, on the other hand, undoes our identification and belief in it. Remember, first and foremost, ” forgiveness is still and quietly does nothing. It merely looks, and waits, and judges not.”

Further on in What is forgiveness? we read:

“Do nothing then and let forgiveness show you what to do, through Him Who is your Guide, your Savior and Protector, strong in hope, and certain of your ultimate success.” In many ways this is a new morality in which our behavior is informed by love instead of judgment.

You are the Decision Maker

No matter where we find ourself, and in whatever condition, we are the Decision Maker, and not the dream figure. We have only one decision to make: Who will direct the figure in the dream? Will it be the ego or the Holy Spirit? Given any situation in which we are fearful or angry, the Holy Spirit will, if given the opportunity, reinterpret it for us, and give us peace and joy in return. Isn’t this a fair trade for the ego which directs the figure in the dream to suffer physical and psychological pain and eventually die in order to prevent returning to the mind and choosing against it?

Bringing our projections back to the mind

“The miracle (forgiveness) establishes you dream a dream, and that its content is not true. This is a crucial step in dealing with illusions. No one is afraid of them (illusions) when he perceives he made them up. The fear was held in place because he did not see that he was author of the dream, and not a figure in the dream.” T. 28. II. Reversing Cause and Effect (taking back our projections)

We are the dreamer of the dream and not the physical/psychological person in the dream. The decision maker (in the mind) chooses either the Holy Spirit or the ego as the teacher. If the ego is decided for, it directs the body’s senses to seek and find guilt outside the mind. If the Holy Spirit is chosen, the dream is one of healing and forgiveness.

The content of all dreams is fear. Based upon our belief in the ego’s teachings of sin and guilt we believe we deserve to be punished and in fact demand it. The ego tells us we can get rid of the guilt in our mind by projecting it on to our body or someone else’s. Forgiveness is the process of bringing our projections – whether on our body, or someone else’s – back to the mind where they can be looked at with the help of a Loving Presence that shows us our guilt is entirely made up.

Forgiveness requires humility

“Resign now as your own teacher.”

If we want a better way that way is forgiveness. It must be learned from a teacher that represents love that is not of this world. We turned against it when we chose to believe the “tiny mad idea” of separation. If we define our problems ourselves we also are setting limits on their solutions. What the Course directs us to do is to make a deliberate choice to look at our problems differently, meaning with help, instead of defining them and then trying to solve them. We choose to expose their darkness to the light of truth. In the process we learn there is but one problem and one solution.

“When you have been caught in the world of perception you are caught in a dream. You cannot escape without help, because everything your senses show merely witnesses to the reality of the dream. God has provided the Answer, the only Way out, the true Helper.”
from What It Says

Developing trust in the Holy Spirit

As we develop trust the the Holy Spirit as the Great Corrector of our misperceptions our faith begins to grow. In fact the measure of our advancement in the curriculum is our willingness to turn all problems over to Him. We need to develop trust in a Loving Presence within our minds that helps us look at the guilt we have heretofore denied and projected. Our part is to grow in trust in this Teacher show us the truth instead of the illusions the ego has raised as a mighty fortress against it (truth). Our part is to be still, watch, wait, and do nothing.

(Suggested reading: Chapter 18. I Need Do Nothing)

Here is an excellent account of the three steps of forgiveness

“This is the shift that true perception brings: What was projected out is seen within, and there forgiveness lets it disappear. For there (within the mind) the altar (the point where we choose the Holy Spirit or the ego) to the Son is set, and there his Father is remembered. Here are all illusions brought to truth and laid upon the altar. What is seen outside (the mind) must lie beyond forgiveness, for it seems forever sinful. Where is hope while sin is seen as outside (the mind)? What remedy can guilt expect? But seen within your mind, guilt and forgiveness for an instant lie together, side by side, upon one altar. There at last are sickness (separation) and its single remedy joined in one healing brightness. God has come to claim His Own. Forgiveness is complete.” Manual for Teachers, From the Clarification of Terms
True Perception – Knowledge, page 86 (My notations are in parentheses)

The Three Steps of Forgiveness

The first two steps require your co-operation; the third does not. Our relationships reflect back to us the guilt that is in our own minds and give us the opportunity to reverse the projection by bringing it back to the altar where, brought to the light of truth it is shined away.

Step 1. Reversing our projection. and bringing guilt back within the mind.
The cause of my upset is not external. It’s an interpretation that I am making about me.
In other words, I become the victim of my own interpretation.

“ The secret of salvation is but this: That you are doing this unto yourself. No matter what the form of the attack, this is still true. Whoever takes the role of enemy and of attacker, still is this the truth. Whatever seems to be the cause of any pain and suffering you feel, this is still true. For you would not react at all to figures in a dream you knew that you were dreaming. Let them be as hateful and as vicious as they may, they could have no effect on you unless you failed to recognize it is your dream.” Ch. 27. VIII.10: 1-8.

We are never upset at a fact. We are upset at our interpretations of a fact. This amounts to “taking it personally.” Our conclusion is always about us being an innocent victim and someone else the victimizer and therefore the guilty one. This enables us to wear a “face of innocence”, gained at someone else’s expense. Through our projection of guilt onto others we imagine we have are innocent and they are now “the home of evil, darkness and sin” not us.

Step 2. Recognizing that the guilt is in me and looking at it with help. Now “I am the home of evil, darkness and sin.”(Les.#93) This is referred to as the dark night of the soul.

The ego’s survival depends upon us never looking within our minds. It shrieks, “Do not look within.” It made the body to look out and seek for guilt in someone else. Keeping the problem in someone else prevents us ever looking at the ego and learning that it has no power other than the power we give it. At that point its days are numbered.

As we bring the darkness to the light we must have help to look at the ego without judgment. It must be a Teacher that is in our minds, but one whose voice is NOT OUR EGO’s. Jesus/Holy Spirit are symbols of this loving Teacher. The ego can masquerade as the Holy Spirit. If the result of your listening to the Holy Spirit makes you special and therefore separates you from others then it is likely the ego’s Holy Spirit that is advising you.

IMPORTANT: Jesus/Holy Spirit do not take guilt from us. They simply stand with us and help us look at it without fear. They are really part of our right minds and we will eventually become them.

The dark night of the soul myth goes something like this: “I ruined my entire life and everyone else’s around me. I withheld love from myself, my brothers, and God. I am indeed ugly, vicious, and mean.”
Look at the guilt involved in that and not judge it.

Step 3. Do nothing. The blocs to love’s presence have been removed. What was always there in your mind will reveal itself if you relax and don’t interfere.

Good reading on this subject is:
Lesson 189: I feel the love of God within me now, Paragraphs 7, 8, and 9.

Recap/summary

My anger at you was a cover for my anger at me. With the Holy Spirit’s help, I can learn I made them both up.
#1 – I say “no” to my judgment of others: You are the home of evil, darkness, sin… ”NOT!”
#2 – I say “no” to my judgment of myself: I am the home of evil, darkness, sin… “NOT!”
#3 – The slate is now clean. The Word of God/Atonement replaces illusions.

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

The three steps of forgiveness appear very succinctly for the first time in paragraph 5, sentence 2. It is speaking of undoing the cause of the world.

“This change requires, first, that the cause be identified and then let go, so it can be replaced.”

Forgiveness is the process that gives your life true meaning.
It is all internal so you can apply it anywhere, with anyone, and become a “happy learner” in which you learn there is no world that can harm, hurt or effect you in any way because “there is no world”. (Lesson 135: “If I defend myself I am attacked.”)

You are truly a decision making mind, and not a body. You only have one decision to make, OVER AND OVER AND OVER, until the you, the decision maker in your mind, listens only to ONE VOICE, and learns all of the lessons He has to teach.

The most important things to remember about forgiveness:

It doesn’t ask you to do anything….in fact, it requires that you do nothing so you can be taught.
It doesn’t have anything to do with someone else.
It is applied to illusions, not to truth.
It teaches you how to “see” with your mind instead of your eyes.

Important forgiveness lessons:

Lesson 23 – I can escape the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. The three steps of forgiveness appear very succinctly for the first time in paragraph 5, sentence 2.
Lesson 62 –Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
Lesson 72 – Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.
Lesson 121 – Forgiveness is the key to happiness
Lesson 122 – Forgiveness offers everything I want.

Racine, Wisc. Healing Retreat Sept.22-25

August 18, 2016

We will visit Wisconsin to do a four day fall retreat on “Healing & Forgiveness.” It will take place at the beautiful Siena Retreat Center in Racine, on the banks of Lake Michigan. We have been invited by our new friends at Light of Grace, a Miracle’s Center, in Milwaukee, to come out and conduct a retreat. We are really excited about this opportunity to travel, meet them, and share in the Course’s teachings on healing and forgiveness.

The dates include the last weekend in September (Sept. 22nd – 25th, 2016.)

It will start on Thursday evening @ 7pm and run through noon on Sunday.

Tentative Retreat Schedule: scroll down to bottom of this page…

Check out the Siena Retreat Center at: http://www.racinedominicans.org/retreats.cfm

“Google Earth: Siena Center”

The Topic: Healing & Forgiveness

What is the Course’s approach to healing? How is it different than our traditional ideas about healing? How is healing related to forgiveness? What is the process for healing our minds and returning home?

The program will include lectures, discussion, small group breakouts, meditations, videos, and more…

Facilitators:

There will be three presenters from the School for A Course in Miracles in Denver, including Lyn Corona and Tim Wise. Lyn has been studying and teaching the Course since the late 1970’s, and Tim since 1985. Both love the Course, continue to practice it daily, and collectively have taught hundreds of classes and done dozens of retreats and seminars on the Course over the years. You can see their bios at: https://www.schoolforacourseinmiracles.org/about/

We are pleased to announce that Whitney , an excellent presenter from the SFACIM, will be our third facilitator. Her bio can be seen also at the above link.

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Cost includes entire program, room for 4 days/3 nights, and all 7 meals (Fri. breakfast, lunch & dinner; Sat. breakfast, lunch & dinner; Sun. breakfast):

Each single room has one twin bed. Each double room has two twin beds. Each room has its own bathroom. There is an elevator available if you are assigned a second floor or third floor room. Rooms can only be locked from the inside. (There are no keys to lock your bedroom from the outside.) You may of course choose to keep valuables on your person. We have been assured by many folks who have stayed there that the Siena Center is a very wonderful and safe place in a beautiful surrounding along the shore of Lake Michigan.

***Any questions call Tim @ 720-391-9294.***

Commuters:

No more commuter space available… ($198 included entire program and 4 meals: lunch and supper on Friday and Saturday)… call Tim @ 720-391-9294 for details.

In all of the School for A Course in Miracles classes, workshops, and retreats, we only use (and recommend getting) the second or third edition of “A Course in Miracles” printing from 1992 (or newer)… specifically published by the Foundation for Inner Peace. It contains numbered paragraphs and sentences throughout the entire book for easy reference.

Some Suggested Course Readings Prior to Retreat:

Text, Chap.9, p.168, sec.IV… “Holy Spirit’s Plan of Forgiveness,” paragraphs: 2 to 8
Text, Chap. 27, p. 584, sec.VII… “The Dreamer of the Dream,” par. 11 to 13
Workbook Lesson # 136… p.257 “Sickness is a defense against the truth.” par. 1 to 7
WB Lesson #91… p. 156 “Miracles are seen in light.” par. 3 to 7
Workbook p.401… #1 “What is Forgiveness?” par. 1 to 5
Manual p.17-18… #5 “How is Healing Accomplished?” sections I and II
Psychotherapy Pamphlet… p.9, sec. IV “Process of Healing,” par.1-3;
Psychotherapy Pamphlet… p.13, sec.VI “Definition of Healing,” par. 1-5

Tentative Retreat Schedule:

All Presentations, Morning Meditations, and Videos take place in the Birch Meeting Room…. All meals are in the Siena Center Cafeteria.

Thursday

4pm- 6:45pm… Check-in

5-6:30pm… (Optional, but highly recommended, if you can make it) Ken Wapnick video on “The Happy Dream of Forgiveness” in Birch Meeting Room during check-ins… This video helps set the tone and foundation for the major retreat themes of Forgiveness & Healing.

7-8:45pm… Orientation & Introductions with Tim, Lyn, and Whitney… and Presentation on “Course Metaphysics” with Tim Wise in Birch Room.

9-10pm… Socializing in Birch Room

Friday

7:30 am… 20 minute meditation in Birch Mtg. Rm.

8:00am… Breakfast

9:30-10:30am… Chart review & questions with Tim and Lyn.

10:30am… Break

10:45-11:45am… Presentation on “Three Steps of Forgiveness” with Whitney

12noon… Lunch

1:15-2:00pm… Recommended video on “How is Healing Accomplished?” in Mtg. Room.

2-3pm… Free Time

3:00-4:00pm… “What is healing, What it isn’t” with Lyn Corona

4:00pm… Break

4:15-5:15pm… Small group breakouts

5:30pm … Dinner

6:45pm… (Optional) Fun, insightful, historical video interviews with Helen Schucman, Ken Wapnick, and Gloria Wapnick in Birch Room

8:15pm… Socializing in Mtg Rm.

Saturday

7:30am… 20 min. meditation in Mtg. Rm.

8:00am… Breakfast

9:30-10:30am… Questions, then Presentation on “Looking at Guilt…Why and How?” with Tim Wise

10:30am… Break

10:45-11:45am… Presentation on “Resistance” with Whitney

12noon… Lunch

1:15-2:00pm… Recommended video on “Healing the Dream of Sickness, Part 2.”

2-3pm… Free Time

3:00-4:00pm… “Who is the Jesus of the Course?” with Lyn Corona.

4pm… Break

4:15-5:15pm… Panel discussion on personal experiences asking Jesus for help.

5:30pm… Dinner

6:45pm… (Optional) Movie in Birch Rm: “Invictus,” moving drama about Nelson Mandela and letting go of differences in apartheid South Africa, with Morgan Freeman.

9:00pm…Socializing In Birch

Sunday

7:30am… 20 min. meditation in Birch Rm.

8:00am… Breakfast

9-9:30am… Check out of rooms

9:30-10:30am… Review of Retreat Themes & Questions… with Whitney, Lyn, & Tim.

10:30am… Break

10:45-11:45am… “Message of Hope” with Lyn and Tim.

11:45am… Closing

Quiet time (no talking please) on sleeping floors and in bedrooms from 9:30pm to 7am. The Birch Meeting Room is always available for hanging out anytime between sessions and video presentations, and after 9pm each evening till whenever… Thanks!

If you would like to talk one-on-one with one of the presenters, you can pull them aside during a break and arrange to meet for a 15-20 minute interaction in the afternoon after-lunch break or evening after supper (on Friday or Saturday).

Six Week Series on Basic Principles of ACIM @ RMMC Sunday Gatherings, From July 31st thru Sept.4th

August 16, 2016

SIX WEEK SERIES ON COURSE BASICS

AT THE RMMC SUNDAY GATHERINGS

Understanding the fundamental principles of A Course in Miracles is essential for meaningful application. From July 31 through September 4, five Course teachers will present a series of six Sunday Gatherings (11:00am @ RMMC) covering basic Course principles including true forgiveness, healing the mind, and the need to look at guilt.

Week one (7/31)

Basic Metaphysics & the Chart– Tim Wise

Week two (8/7)

The Three Steps of True Forgiveness– Lyn Corona

Week three (8/14)

Healing the Mind– Susan Dugan

Week four (8/21)

Guilt: What is it? Where is it? And why look at it? — Tim Wise

Week five (8/28)

Jesus of the Course— Whitney

Week six (9/4)

**Seek Not to Change the Course— Lillian Paes**

Every presentation will offer Course teachings beneficial for beginners and on-going students alike. Attending the whole series is recommended for a comprehensive look at the Course’s essential teachings. However, each individual gathering will be insightful, practical, and helpful to all.

Donation basket is passed at end of each Gathering. Any donation is appreciated, and all donations go toward running the Rocky Mountain Miracle Center.

ACIM Online Immersion Program… January through April (every year)

“TUITION” section below… under the “How to Apply” section

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* After you register (by paying for a third or more of the Immersion tuition) for Immersion 2025, we require that you begin now (even before the actual Immersion program begins in 2025) to attend at least one or more of the other SFACIM Online weekly classes each week. This is fundamentally helpful for staying in a continuous “Course flow” in our SFACIM community.

** An ongoing requirement for being in the Immersion program is that when you register, and then throughout the Immersion, that you begin to attend at least one other weekly online SFACIM class every week, besides the four Sat. Immersion 2025 classes each month.

Access to all our regular weekly online classes are included in your Immersion tuition, from the time you complete your Immersion registration to the end of April 2025.

This helps all of us as Immersion participants to stay connected in awareness, both in mind and spirit in our SFACIM community.

For weekly class info & Zoom link: click here

** We recommend and prefer that those taking the Immersion program for the first time… that you not listen to other Course teachers nor attend other Course groups… during this four month Immersion period… other than our own SFACIM classes, Jeff Siebert’s FACIM classes (facim.org Wed. classes online), and our assigned Ken Wapnick’s audio seminars.

**Most other Course teachers and groups do teach and share A Course in Miracles quite** differently than we do … and it can become very confusing to listen to other Course teachers and teachings about ACIM while you are doing the Immersion, until you at first develop a firm understanding of how the SFACIM and Dr. Kenneth Wapnick approach, teach and practice A Course in Miracles.

Online 2025 Immersion Schedule

Saturdays:

9:30am – 11am Mountain Time (in USA)

on all Saturdays of each month,

Jan. thru April 2025.

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Please adjust for time shift in USA on March 9th, 2025 to Daylight Savings Time, one hr forward (depending on when and if your state or country changes).

Our four-month online Immersion program is different from our regular weekly classes. It is for people new to A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and anyone desiring to increase their understanding and practice of the Course from the ‘ground up,’ in what can be described as an online ‘ACIM intensive’ of basic training in the gentle arts of forgiveness and healing.

(1) Before considering registering for the Immersion in 2025:

Our approach to A Course in Miracles (ACIM) can be quite different than other Course teachers in content and practice… so please watch a couple of our free YouTube video introductory presentations on the way we conduct the classes and how we see and practice A Course in Miracles.

(Click Here)

and then please also attend a couple of our weekly live online classes … to see how we conduct our classes and cover A Course in Miracles material.

(click here)

(2) After you have attended some of our live classes, carefully look over this entire post on the Immersion Program.

Then please call or email us (lyncorona@msn.com) to arrange for a brief interview on Zoom if we have not talked to you yet… to see that we are on the same page in terms of Immersion class requirements and goals … thanks!

(Tim 720 391 9294)

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The open attitude to learn that the student brings to the Immersion program will eventually develop (we believe) each one’s blossoming respect and appreciation for the depth and breadth of the magnitude of A Course in Miracles.

** We ask then for your willingness to make it your primary spiritual practice, for at least this four month period.

The consistent daily application and integration of Course principles is the goal.

Online Course Immersion 2025

An ultimate in “A Course in Miracles” education and practice!

Come, study, and experience A Course in Miracles (ACIM) with our School for A Course in Miracles (SFACIM) facilitators, who have collectively learned, practiced, and taught the Course for over 250 years. This is a four month online program from January 2025 through April 2025.

We cover and methodically explore in-depth all of the fundamental ideas on forgiveness and healing in the Course, and the how-to’s for practical application in our everyday lives. This four month process has been meticulously put together by long time teachers of the Course who have created a simple but effective plan for a complete fundamental understanding and integration of A Course in Miracles principles, starting from ‘scratch.’

Our program is based on the brilliant and insightful teachings on A Course in Miracles by Dr. Kenneth Wapnick, whom our School considers to be the preeminent and the best-of-the-best of ACIM teachers.

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So please come be part of a close interactive community of about 10 to 25 Course students during these four months, who …

are working a lesson a day from Ken Wapnick’s “Journey Through The Workbook,”
are spiritually growing together (both facilitators and participants alike) as they study a carefully selected set of Course topics that progressively build to an overall understanding and practice of the Course’s process of forgiveness and healing,
are supported and encouraged with one-on-one mentoring throughout that process.

The primary focus of the Immersion Program is making a shift in identity from the body to the mind where, as internal decision makers, we can learn to choose against the ego’s teachings of separation and specialness and decide instead for the Holy Spirit’s teachings of forgiveness and healing.

The necessity for undoing the belief in our own mostly unrecognized guilt is the central theme that runs through the students daily ACIM practice “… for our unconscious guilt demands punishment, making us fearful of our returning to God.”

**The central message the Course aims to teach is…“God’s Son is guiltless, and his innocence is his salvation.”**

On every Saturday, Jan. thru April 2025, one and a half hours each …. These classes are streamed live online using the free app Zoom.

Half-day workshop in April 12, 2025, on Special Relationships is presented online and recorded for replay and review.

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Twice a month mentoring throughout the program by one of the SFACIM Course teachers… your mentor is selected by the School.

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Weekly listening assignments from selected Seminars from our Ken Wapnick Memorial Library are made available to Immersion participants on Dropbox.

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Video replays of each Immersion class are made available online on YouTube only to all the current Immersion participants.

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Basic personal Zoom account and basic Dropbox account (needed to listen to Ken Wapnick seminars) are free, and easily downloaded, if you do not already have them.

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Also included in your tuition:

Free access during the Immersion to the School’s over 1000 youtube videos and
automatic access to all of our other live weekly online classes... for the duration of the Immers. program.

The benefits of the Course Immersion are many. Here are just a few:

Simplicity. We learn there is one problem, one solution, and one decision to make.
We learn nothing external can affect us unless we choose it.
We recognize the true purpose for all relationships is healing the mind.
We learn to see the world as a classroom for awakening instead of a prison house.
Our sense of isolation begins to fade as we realize we have a constant inner companion and guide with us at all times. We learn that help is always available.

Mentoring:

Each student taking Immersion for the first time (and who has paid full tuition for this Immersion) is given a mentor (chosen by the School) to guide and encourage their spiritual maturation during the program. The mutually beneficial healing relationship between mentor and student serves as a model for all relationships. Our mentors and teachers are dedicated to healing our minds, believing in the students we teach, and learning true forgiveness from the Holy Spirit.

The student is expected to call their assigned mentor and set up a twice-a-month mentoring session (for about 45-50 minutes) .

It is also the student’s responsibility to call their mentor on the agreed-upon scheduled times, or change it in advance if they need to. It is not the mentor’s responsibility to call the student.

Sending a text the day of the the call is encouraged and helpful to remind both parties about the scheduled call.

Mentoring is an essential and necessary part of Immersion, and students should be willing to call their mentors throughout the entire four month program. Reminder… your mentors are selected by the School, and not the student.

* Mentees: please come to the mentoring session with at least 2 or 3 questions written down for their mentors. (It is really ‘ego-easy’ to forget our questions.)

** Mentoring sessions are also a good time to go over your weekly writing assignments with your mentor.

Student Requirements:

The Course Immersion is a rigorous program.

(If you feel you do not have the time necessary to devote to an Immersion program, please consider taking one or two of our other weekly online classes, instead of the Immersion.

Students considering enrolling should be prepared to spend a minimum of 7-10 hours a week doing homework, typically a little more than an hour a day.

Dr. Kenneth Wapnick’s seminars and teachings and books are the basis for the School for ACIM’s primary approach to and understanding of A Course in Miracles. We consider him the ultimate and best guide in our understanding and practice of ACIM … and we rely on his published teachings heavily throughout the Immersion and all the SFACIM’s weekly classes.

The Immersion homework includes reading daily lessons in Journey through the Workbook, reading and writing assignments, and listening to selected Ken Wapnick seminars (recommended while driving or taking a walk). These Ken Wapnick listening assignments are made available to you from the School’s Kenneth Wapnick Library, accessible on Dropbox. You will need to have your own Dropbox app/account on your computer and/or smart phone.

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The basic free Dropbox account is fine. It gives you 2 GB free storage, but you will have to regularly download Ken’s seminars into your computer (if you desire)… and then delete them every month (or so) in your free Dropbox account, in order to have space to download the next seminars.

The yearly Dropbox price for 2 TB storage (a lot of storage space) is about $120 dollars, which is what the School and most students use (and then you would be able to keep your Ken seminars in your own Dropbox account without having to delete them and make room for new ones.)

** Regrettably, you cannot (repeat: cannot) listen to all the tracks of a Ken seminar continuously on Dropbox. To listen to the whole seminar without clicking on one track at a time (which you have to do on Dropbox), you must download the seminar into your computer and then use an appropriate app (like Itunes), to play it continuously.

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Your membership in the Wapnick Library during the four month program is included in your Immersion tuition. We will listen to about twelve insightful Ken seminars on major Course themes over the four month Immersion One period. These Wapnick recorded seminars are carefully selected to build one upon the next, for a gradual but in-depth progression of the student’s development in the Course both intellectually and experientially. This immersion in hearing Ken’s incredible understanding of the Course is a major part of our study in the program. This helps us all stay collectively, students and facilitators, on ‘the same page’ throughout the six months.

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Students are required to attend a minimum of 15 of the 17 live **online Immersion classes, and stay for the entire 1 and 1/2 hr. class @ each class, unless there is an emergency. It is important to watch replays of any Immersion classes they do miss.**

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* After you register (by paying for whole or part of the tuition) for this Immersion, we require that you begin now (even before the actual Immersion program begins) to attend at least one (or more) of the other SFACIM Online weekly classes each week. This is fundamentally helpful for staying in a continuous “Course flow” in our SFACIM community.

** An ongoing requirement for being in the Immersion program is that when you register, and then throughout the Immersion, that you begin to attend at least one other weekly online SFACIM class every week, besides the four Sat. Immersion classes each month. Access to our regular weekly online classes are included in your Immersion tuition. This helps all of us as Immersion participants to stay connected in awareness, both in mind and spirit in our SFACIM community.

For weekly class info & Zoom link: click here

Books needed for the Immersion Program

(These books are not included in Immersion tuition.)

A Course in Miracles book itself (1992 version or newer, specifically published by the Foundation for Inner Peace, with numbered paragraphs and sentences)

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*** “Journey through the Workbook” by Kenneth Wapnick (see below),

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Song of Prayer Pamphlet and Psychotherapy Pamphlet : The newer combined volumes of the Course usually contain both pamphlets, listed under “Supplements”… check your Course book to see if they are in the back.

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“The Gifts of God” by Helen Schucman

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Ken Wapnick’s Glossary for ACIM (best to get the latest eighth edition with the most definitions)

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Especially Needed:

Complete Set of Ken Wapnick’s

Journey Through The Workbook

We read and study a lesson a day during the Immersion (on our own) from this wonderful line by line description by Ken Wapnick… of what each ACIM daily lesson is really about.

We have all found, School facilitators and students alike, incredibly helpful insights and explanations on every Workbook lesson… and we continue to go running back to this resource, whenever we again find ourselves confused or have misunderstandings about what a lesson might mean.

** Please get this set as far ahead as possible before the Immersion begins: click here.

Suggested Weekly Homework:

Normally the student’s work looks like this:

Referring weekly to your Immersion Website page for assignments.
- Doing the reading, listening and writing assignments,… with listening assignments accessed with Dropbox links provided by the SFACIM.
Reading and applying one lesson a day in Ken Wapnick’s “Journey through the Workbook” throughout the six month program, starting with Lesson #1 on Jan.1st.
Connecting with assigned mentor twice a month by phone or preferably on Zoom.
** Attending at least one or more of the other SFACIM Online weekly classes every week… to stay in a continuous “Course flow” in our SFACIM community.

Attending Online on Zoom:

Downloadable free Basic app “Zoom” will be used for online interactive video streaming. Students are encouraged to make comments and ask questions throughout every class.

* It is suggested that you get and use a Logitech webcam (about $50-150 on Amazon or on Ebay), or something comparable, while attending class online, especially if your camera and/or microphone on your computer is not very clear. The Logitech webcams have both camera and microphone on it, and usually plugs into your computer thru a USB port (Small rectangular hole on side or back of your computer).

** The best camera for Zooming, according to all those who rate webcams, is Logitech Brio (Amazon), at about $150 … also on EBAY.

Links for Zoom classes and Drop Box assignments will be sent out in email.

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Any questions about anything, please call Tim at 720-391-9294, leave a voicemail, and he will get back to you ASAP.

And please… have your video cameras ON during the classes!

So we can see each others faces and responses and raised hands, unless you are not feeling well, or temporarily are moving around, or need to eat.

Some of us do not like seeing ourselves on our own computer screen…. there is an easy way to delete you own image from your screen and still see everyone else (there is an option to “Hide Self View”)… and others can still see you…. ask around at social time before the class starts on how to do it.

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To see your face clearly on the screen… you need to have your main room lighting in front of you, and not behind you…. please click here for info, or here.

**Please, no eating if possible during Immersion classes.**

If you have to eat, please turn off your camera while eating… thanks.

How to Apply:

*Before applying: It is recommended that you have…

(1) at least a couple months prior experience working with the Course,

(2) that you have already watched a few of the introductory videos on the School for ACIM and the Chart, and that you are familiar with Dr. Kenneth Wapnick and his teachings on the Course.…

(3) that you are already regularly attending** at least one of our other weekly classes online, for one to two months before the Immersion begins…. and that you plan to continue attendance to at least one of the weekly classes, in addition to being at the Immersion Classes.

(4) If we have not met you already, please submit 2 to 4 paragraphs, describing your purpose for wanting to participate in the program, and your prior experience with A Course in Miracles. Send to: lyncorona@msn.com

(5) Please call us to arrange for a brief interview… by Zoom, to see that we are on the same page in terms of class requirements and goals (Lyn # 303 880 7713, or Tim @ 720 391 9294).

(6) THEN… we will then send you a link to pay by credit card on paypal… or you can send a check made out to SFACIM to Lyn Corona, 1663 Steele St., Unit 1007, Denver, Co. 80206.

TUITION:

Tuition $595 per person

You are officially registered when we receive at least half of your tuition (the other half is due by Dec. 31, 2024).

Payment can be made by check or credit card after the initial interview. We will send you an email link to pay by credit card on Paypal if you prefer credit card or debit card.

Refund policy is described below… at the end of this page.

Immersion Tuition includes:

1) All 17 immersion classes (one and one-half hrs. each).

2) including the April Half-day Seminar on Relationships.

3) For new Immers. students, one-on-one mentoring twice-a-month (45-50 minutes each session).

4) Access to all video and audio recordings of all Immers. 2025 classes and seminar.

5) Free access to all regular weekly online SFACIM live classes during the Immersion four-month duration, Jan. thru June 2024.

6) Free access to all 1000-plus unlisted video recordings of all the classes in our SFACIM YouTube Library (including our extensive line-by-line study of The ACIM Text)… also during the duration of the Immersion 2025 Program.

7) Weekly Dropbox access to a Ken Wapnick’s audio recorded seminars… that accompany our progressive study of each topic and theme that we will cover… in our acquiring a practical and fundamental understanding and practice of A Course in Miracles.

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The tuition funds help us to run the website, provide the Zoom classes and podcasts and, provide access to Ken’s seminars, etc… and primarily to maintain a format where we can meet and grow in a Community of Love in our minds… where we are all doing this together.

Online Dates & Class Times:

Immersion 2025 classes will be on … see tentative schedule below:

Social time normally starts about 15 minutes before class begins.

The first class will be on Jan. 4, 2025.

The first class starts a little earlier to give folks a chance to introduce themselves.

The program also includes a half-day Workshop on” Special Relationships” on April 12, 2025.

Faculty:

includes Lyn Corona, Tim Wise , and Bruce Rawles

Contact:

Lyn Corona at 303-880-7713 or lyncorona@msn.com … or Tim Wise at 720-391-9294.

Tentative 2025 Immersion Schedule:

(Saturday Immersion Classes: 9:30am-11am Mt. Time)

Jan. 4 This first meeting begins with Introductions @ 9:15am Mt., The Chart (Tim)

Jan. 11 The What, Why, and Where of Guilt (Tim)

Jan. 18 Projection and Perception

Jan. 25 Three Steps of Forgiveness

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Feb. 1 Lessons of the Holy Spirit

Feb. 8 Form vs Content

Feb. 15 Other “Jesus-es” (Tim)

Feb. 22 The Jesus of the Course & The Holy Spirit of The Course

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SPECIAL MARCH DATES:

Mar. 1 On Healing: From Manual References

Mar. 8 Seven Rules for Decision

Mar. 15 Sat. Special Relationships Seminar 9am- 12:30pm (Mountain Time)

1) Special Hate Relationships 2) Special Love Relationships 3) Holy Relationships

Mar. 22 Four Obstacles to Peace

Mar. 29 On Dreams from Chap 18

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April 5 On Dreams from Chap. 27

April 12 Five Laws of Chaos

April 19 Gifts of God Prose poem

April 26 Ch. 31 Sec. VIII

Replays:

Video replays of each class are made available online in audio on Dropbox , and in video on YouTube to all the participants.

**The replays are downloadable on your computer. These replays are only available to the current Immersion students.**

** Students are required to attend a minimum of 10 live Immersion classes, and watch replays online of any Immersion classes they miss.

Refund Policy:

Requests for full refunds can be given before Dec. 1st, minus a 10% fee.

Fifty percent refunds can be given for requests made Dec. 1 thru Dec. 31st.

No refund given after Dec. 31st. (Unless the program is cancelled for not reaching the minimum number of eight new participants needed by Jan 1st. Then full refund is given.)

Non-returned tuition funds can be applied to a future Immersion One Class, if requested.

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The School for ACIM reserves the right to ask any Immersion student to leave the program, and will refund the prorated tuition at any point during the four months, if the School sees that the program is not working and/or is inappropriate for the Immersion Student for any reasons the School deems substantive and appropriate.

Applicants:

Please read and be familiar with this entire page about the Immersion, especially…

the School’s homework requirements,
the mentoring process,
the School’s refund policy…

Please be sure you have downloaded the free basic Zoom app on your computer and have practiced with it well before Jan. 2025.

** Your computer needs to have a video camera already built into it, that gives a good and clear image of you on the screen… if not, you can get a better webcam camera (see details above) and attach it to your computer via USB port… Thanks!

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Are all classes recorded?

All Immersion Programs (which include all the online classes & the online April seminar) are available online streamed live using the free app “Zoom”.

Yes, all Immersion Classes & April Seminar are recorded… and then made available only to Immersion 2025 participants on Dropbox (audio) and YouTube (video) for replay and review.

Sunday Mornings: The ACIM Text @ 9:30am Mt. Time

February 5, 2022

Sundays in The Text

@ 9:30am Mtn. Time…

Classes on The Text of ACIM

We cover consecutively the highlights of one or two sections each class in The Text of A Course in Miracles…

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If you do not have the weekly Zoom class link,

click here

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All our classes run about 75 – 90 minutes long:

All SFACIM Class replays

available here:

click here

For weekly online class information…

click here

Overview of Text Chapters:

The Preface: written after the completion of taking down the entire Course, with the “What It Says” third Preface section specifically written by Jesus (the first two preface sections are written by Helen herself).

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Chapters 1-4: Basically a conversation between Helen and Jesus (with material edited out personal to Helen & Bill):

Chap. 1: The Meaning of Miracles…Introduction to the main Course themes that will be developed throughout the Text

Chap. 2: Separation & Atonement… Basic metaphysics of Chart (also addresses Helen’s and our own fear and resistance to Jesus & his Course)

Chap. 3: Innocent Perception… Basic definitions of terms used in Course

Chap. 4: Illusions of the Ego… Exploring what ego is and Jesus role in that exploration.

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First major shift in writing with Ch. 5, Sec. V (first discussion of our made-up guilt), from basically a dialogue with Helen in the first four and a half chapters, to Jesus dictating the rest of Text from this point on:

Chap. 5: Healing & Wholeness… Exploring who/what is the Holy Spirit & how He helps us with our recognizing and letting go of guilt.

Chap. 6: Lessons of Love… First discussion of anger, Four HS lessons (steps) to return to Heaven.

Chap. 7: Gifts of Kingdom… Heaven & Healing

Chap. 8: Our Journey Back… with the “Singing” Jesus

Chap. 9: Acceptance of Atonement… First discussion of forgiveness

Chap.10: Idols of Sickness… on Biblical 1st & 2nd commandments (shortest chap.)

Chap.11: God or Ego… our ‘authority problem’

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Next major shift in writing… with more intense emphasis on process of looking at ego’s made-up insanity:

Ch.12: HS Curriculum… realizing the ego’s central teaching is always: that love is dangerous!

Ch.13: Guiltless World.. full blown exposé on our internal unrecognized guilt (longest chap.)

Ch.14: Teaching for Truth… the proverbial ‘calm before the storm’ chapter, before the following three chapters (15-16-17) on special relationships… Chap. 14 includes sections on two major Course themes: the “What is a Happy Learner” and “Our Own Call for Help/ Our Own Call for Love “

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Ch. 15, 16, 17… all about Special Relationships

Ch. 18… on Our Dream “Life”

Ch.19… Our Own Four Obstacles to Peace of Mind

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Ch.20, 21, 22… Second “calm before the storm” (for three whole chapters on Vision, Reason, and Salvation in The Holy Relationship)… before Laws of Chaos & Specialness (starting in Chap. 23):

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Ch.23… The Laws of Chaos: Ken calls this the “toughest” chapter in the Text, with very little reprieve in it… the five steps (laws of the ego) we took to methodically deceive ourselves into believing in separation form God and each other.

Ch. 24… The Goal of Specialness, extended description of the “Substitute for Love” in the fifth Law of Chaos.

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Ch. 25-26… Third and final ‘calm’ (a breather), on equal justice for all of God’s one Son, how to move from injustice to real justice (is life really not fair?)… before the last part of the Text

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Ch. 27-28… more on Dreams: the dreaming of the world and its underlying horrific “secret dream” of the wrong mind.

Ch. 29-30… In-depth discussion of the ego’s idols… and and the steps or ‘rules’ on how to move past those idols (The Seven Rules for Decision-making).

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Ch. 31… The capstone of the Text : all the themes of the Course are brought together, coalescing in this last great movement of the Course’s grand symphony.

PICS: ACIM Revival… Labor Day Retreat 2024, Colorado Springs, Co.

April 23, 2021

To see each picture more clearly, double-click on each image…

ACIM In-Person Retreat/Revival

* A Revival of Our Awareness as God’s One Son.

** A Revival of Our Everyday Dedication to Forgiveness as A Path to Peace.

*** A Revival of Our Everyday Commitment to Include Everyone and Everything in that Process of Forgiveness.

Labor Day Weekend 2024…

Aug. 30, 2024: Fri. @ 2pm

thru…

Sept. 2, 2024: Mon. @ noon .

@ The Franciscan Center

Colorado Springs, Colorado

(In the foothills of The Rockies)

This retreat is only open to folks who

(1) are already passionate about the Course,

(2) use Ken Wapnick and his teachings on ACIM as their primary ACIM teacher, and

(3) are working the Course’s forgiveness process everyday already.

That could be for any amount of time… from the last two months to the last twenty years or more.

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This retreat is not for people recently introduced to ACIM.

**See sfacim.org for online introductory classes on ACIM.**

** Our approach to A Course in Miracles can be quite different than other Course groups and teachers. All of our classes and events are based on Dr. Kenneth Wapnick’s books, teachings, and seminars on ACIM. So please visit our online classes first before registering… Thanks!

7740 Deer Hill Grove, Colorado Springs, CO 80919

The ACIM Retreat is four days long, with three overnights and eight meals included (Fri. at 2pm thru Mon. @ noon).

Retreat fees will include room for three nights, eight meals, and program) … depending on single or double room occupancy.

The program will include large group sessions on the daily lessons and smaller breakout sessions on chosen ACIM topics.

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$669 single, $569 each in double

(Limited scholarship funds have been donated...please request if needed.)

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** Our approach to A Course in Miracles can be quite different than other Course groups and teachers. All of our classes and events are based on Dr. Kenneth Wapnick’s books, teachings, and seminars on ACIM. So please visit our online classes first before registering… Thanks!

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We only have rooms for about 20 people, so please register early in order to reserve a place.

Double Room ($569) with two twin beds per room: includes three overnights, eight meals and four day program:

Single Room ($669): includes three overnights, eight meals, and four day program…

Most bedrooms have their own bathroom. A few rooms share one bathroom with only the one bedroom next to it.

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There are vegetarian meals (dairy and fish included) and gluten- free meals available upon request … when you register text Tim to let him know 720-391-9294.

Salad bar is normally available at lunches and dinners.

But please bring some supplemental food for yourself if you are on a special diet.

There are two refrigerators available for our use during the retreat… one is in a small kitchen on the basement floor of Marian Hall (the building where our bedrooms are located), and another refrigerator is in our large Woodmen meeting room in Francis Place bldg.

(Francis Place)

(Marian Hall)

Please specify if you need a bedroom on the first floor if you have difficulty doing steps (text Tim @ 720 391 9294).

*The Franciscan Center does not have elevators. The Woodmen meeting room and Franciscan Center cafeteria are both on the ground floor.

The Marian Hall bedrooms provide fans but do not have air conditioning. Our large meeting room and the cafeteria do have AC if needed.

New Franciscan Center Rules for Refunds:

Refunds for the full amount are available for cancellations up to 60 days before the retreat starts, and refunds for half the amount are available up to three weeks before the retreat starts.

No refund can be given for anything less than three weeks notice before the retreat starts.

Movies: Six Powerful Forgiveness Movies

April 21, 2020

Six Powerful Movies

that we think transcend ‘forgiveness in form’…

For discussion of true forgiveness: click here

{** denotes Christmas Movies}

1) “To End All Wars” : Based on a true story, WWII concentration camp where prisoners use non-dualistic writers like Plato & Shakespeare to transcend their painful existence in the prison camp (free on Amazon Prime)

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2) “The Railway Man”: Also based on a true story about ‘real’ forgiveness ($4 on Amazon Prime)

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** 3) “Joyeux Noel” : based on true stories, WWI battlefield where two opposing sides come together at Christmas time ($4 on Google Play)

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** 4) “Collateral Beauty” : beautifully done story about learning to forgive oneself ($5 on Prime)

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** 5) “It’s A Wonderful Life” : Frank Capra’s timeless story with Jimmy Stewart ($3 on Google Play)

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6) “Gandhi” : nuff said ($4 on Amazon Prime)

Also highly recommended:

“Letters” : dramatic portrayal of Mother Teresa’s early life on Google Play

Field of Dreams on Prime

Enemy Mine on Prime

** A Midnight Clear (YouTube)

Two Movies about Beethoven:

Immortal Beloved on Google Play

Copying Beethoven on Google Play

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Stepping back and playing/joining as one ‘whole’..

A Late Quartet on Prime

Father/Son ‘Stuff:’

The Judge on Hulu (free), $4 on Prime

Kodachrome on Netflix

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Mother/Daughter ‘Stuff:’

Ladybird on Netflix

Steel Magnolias on Prime

**Stuck in… Time-Loop Movies:**

Palm Springs (2020) – 7.4 (new & funny)

Palm Springs - Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti

● Available on Hulu

Palm Springs takes the time loop concept into the romantic-comedy category when a bridesmaid, Sarah (Cristin Milioti), finds herself stuck in a time loop on the day of her sister’s wedding, where another guest, Nyles (Andy Samberg) has already been reliving the day for a very long time. While stuck in the loop, they fall in love. However, while Sarah wants to find a way out of the loop, Nyles wants to stay.

Critics praised the film for its performances and for using the time loop concept as a metaphor for relationships and marriage.

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Looper (2012) – 7.4 (caution: pretty violent)

● Available on Starz

In a dystopian future, victims are sent back through time from an even worse future to be disposed of in their past. At the heart of this elaborate system of mob execution lies the titular “Loopers”, hitmen who are bound to their fate by the knowledge that they too will one day be sent back in time to be killed and forgotten forever.

Writer and director Rian Johnson wove an excitingly original sci-fi story with this thriller about a Looper who loses his older self in the past and must track them down. It’s a movie that clearly cares more about the emotional impact of the story than it does scientific accuracy, even on a theoretical level. But that’s never something that holds it back and sci-fi fans instantly took to it.

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Source Code (2011) – 7.5

● Available on Showtime

Directed by Duncan Jones, Source Code tells the story of an army pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is sent into the body of a deceased train passenger through whom he must relive the eight minutes leading up to the detonation of a bomb that destroys the train.

The movie is a taut thriller that’s full of twists and turns as it relies on the protagonist not fully understanding how he was dropped into his predicament in the first place. It’s a grippingly stylish take on the time loop idea, with the 8-minute window keeping the story moving along–quite fittingly–like a locomotive.

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Edge Of Tomorrow (2014) – 7.9 (a Tim favorite)

● Available for purchase on Prime Video

Based on the Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow revolves around an alien invasion wherein a cowardly public relations officer (Tom Cruise) is killed in battle, only to relive the same day and battle repeatedly. The movie received positive reviews from critics, but the box office was considered lukewarm.

When released on home media, the movie’s tagline “Live. Die. Repeat.” was rebranded as the movie’s title, leading to some confusion. However, the title in the movie itself remains the same. Despite its mediocre box office, home media sales were very good and talk of a sequel has persisted for years.

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** Groundhog Day (1993) – 8.0

● Available on Starz

The benchmark by which all time-loop movies are judged, Groundhog Day stars Bill Murray stars as Phil Connors, a weatherman who finds himself reliving Groundhog Day again and again. In living the day over and over, he ultimately becomes a better person.

Over time, audiences have found many philosophical and spiritual aspects to the movie. Notably, its exploration of the five stages of grief, Buddhist teachings, and many Catholics view Phil’s time loop as purgatory and that he can only be freed by embracing selflessness. Whatever the intention, audiences will be viewing Groundhog Day over and over again for years to come.

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Sisyphus (Modern Korean sci-fi series on Netflix): click here

12:01 (hard to find… click here)

Musings: The Five Laws of Chaos of The Ego

March 26, 2020

“The Five Laws of Chaos”

Discussed in Chap. 23 Sec. II of A Course in Miracles, these five chaotic “laws” are basically the laws or rules of the ego’s unhappy game of separation, The War Against Yourself (your true Self).

They, the “laws,” are put in quotes because as Jesus says they are not real laws but are simply made up descending rungs in an illusionary ladder, where we attempt to become a ‘something else,’ other than God’s One Son.

The problem is, Jesus continues, that we really do believe in them… and don’t realize we do.

He also says that once the first law is set in motion the other four automatically follow, and that you can’t have or believe in any one of them without the rest. It’s like a super slippery sliding board, where once you start you can’t stop till you crash at the bottom, ie. into the world we think we’re in.

Another way to look at these laws (or stages in our process of establishing an alternate ego identity)… is to review the Chart and see how these are the ego’s five steps that we seem to take away from our awareness and experience of our true Identity in Heaven. That separation and descent into hell is actually impossible to do (even tho part of us wants to believe we did), and the Course calls that fact the Atonement Principle.

of The Ego

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Here they are in a nutshell:

The Laws of Chaos

The first three laws take place internally in us in what the Course calls the wrong mind:

1) “The truth is different for everyone.”

Our belief in sin: Differences are real, and those differences are important! There is a hierarchy of illusions. (in defiance of the first miracle principle: there is no hierarchy of miracles.)

2) “Each one must sin, and therefore deserves attack and death.”

Our belief in guilt: we did really sin, it was really terrible, and we will be punished.

3) “For if God cannot be mistaken, He must accept His Son’s belief in what he is, and hate him for it.”

Our belief in fear: we make up a God that is as crazy as we are, and we should be afraid! For He also believes we have sinned and we will be punished. But: we simply made up a God in our separated “image and likeness,” and then we told Him how He should think and feel, especially about us.

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The 4th and 5th laws take place in the world (reflecting the first three laws of sin, guilt and fear in all our worldly relationships):

4) “This seeming law is the belief you have what you have taken.”

Special hates: In a savage world the kind cannot be kind. They must take or else be taken from, by others who are worse than themselves. The Course calls these our special hate relationships.

5) “The final principle…holds there is a substitute for love (as crazy as it sounds, the Course calls this substitute: Fear!).”

Special loves: That substitute is hidden in my brother’s body and personhood, and he must be destroyed, in sometimes seemingly subtle ways… to get it back. We do this in disguise with the “face of innocence,” a pretend niceness and disingenuous kindness, and without a real appreciation for our brothers or ourselves. I ‘need’ you to show me fear… that you ‘need’ me and are afraid that you will one day lose me, thru abandonment or death. (described in Ch. 31, Self-Concept vs. Self, p.656)

Ken Wapnick calls this substitute for love, not our true innocence as one Son of God, but the special innocence, special love or attention, that we as egos desperately need to sustain our individual made-up selves. To get this recognition of special innocence from others, we must cannibalize others to demand and ‘devour’ their time, energy, and regard. This process takes the forms of manipulation, control, threat, and compromise.

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Even in the world of time and space, so called “life” must eat other “life” in order to survive and maintain itself. This is simply a projection of the first law of chaos. My truth, or identity, is different from God’s truth.

And in order to be different and separate from our Father in Heaven, we believe we had to sever (kill) our connection with Him and steal (eat) a piece of His Life and run away with it. Thus the ego’s laws come full circle in the fourth, and especially fifth law of chaos… the special love relationship, the ego’s most boasted weapon. (Text p.341, par. 3).

I take, bargain, compromise with you… whatever it takes to get from you what I think i need… attention, esteem , ‘love,’ etc. in order to maintain and feel better about my chosen belief in this ego self.

Jesus tells us in Chapter 23:

¹⁸ “You would maintain, and think it true, that you do not believe these senseless laws, nor act upon them. And when you look at what they say, they cannot be believed.

Brother, you do believe them.

For how else could you perceive the form they take, with content such as this? Can any form of this be tenable? Yet you believe them for the form they take, and do not recognize the content. It never changes. Can you paint rosy lips upon a skeleton, dress it in loveliness, pet it and pamper it, and make it live? And can you be content with an illusion that you are living?

¹⁹ There is no life outside of Heaven. Where God created life, there life must be. In any state apart from Heaven life is illusion. At best it seems like life; at worst, like death. Yet both are judgments on what is not life, equal in their inaccuracy and lack of meaning. Life not in Heaven is impossible, and what is not in Heaven is not anywhere. Outside of Heaven, only the conflict of illusion stands; senseless, impossible and beyond all reason, and yet perceived as an eternal barrier to Heaven. Illusions are but forms. Their content is never true.”

(par. 18-19 p. 493)

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Think about these laws and notice your reaction to them. Do they even seem credible?

Does any one of them particularly stand out?

How would you describe each of them in your own words?

For further discussion of the “Laws of Chaos”… what they mean, how they play out in our special relationships, and most importantly how they can be acknowledged and released… listen to Ken Wapnick’s CD set or MP3 download @ facim.org,

**or read Ken’s comments in his insightful discourse “Journey through the Text,” Volume Three, p. 213-220…**

or see the SFACIM video on the Laws of Chaos: click here

Musings: The Four Obstacles to My Peace of Mind

March 6, 2020

The Obstacles to Peace

(Chapter 19, Section IV, p. 406-424)

The Course tells us that there are basically four obstacles to finding our true peace of mind…

(with four correlating subheadings, delineated by an “i”):

A. The Desire to Get Rid of It (Peace)

i. The Attraction of Guilt

B. The Belief the Body Is Valuable for What It Offers (A place for our projected guilt, seen as the body’s pain or pleasure)

i. The Attraction of Pain

C. The Attraction of Death (not just death of the body, but belief in the idea of death)

i. The Incorruptible Body

D. The Fear of God (The fear of Love, the fear of sinlessness)

i. The Lifting of the Veil

The Titles Themselves

The first striking thing hits us as we begin to look at these titles above!

Jesus is telling us that the very qualities or feelings that we are attracted to… are not peace, not joy, and not love.

In our make-believe separated state, he literally says we are attracted to their opposites: we are really attracted to guilt, to pain, and to death. These unrecognized attractions to terrible stuff are three of our main obstacles to peace.

For many of us, is that even in our awareness? Do we really believe that?

But, what if it’s possibly true though?… How often have we tried at peace, love, or joy, and seemed to miss the mark? Or even if we felt them temporarily, the other shoe eventually dropped. What if just below our seeming conscious desires for peace and love… something else is going on in our minds. What if we are really trying to push real peace and love away? What if we are not upset, or attracted, or whatever, for the reasons that we consciously think? (WB Lesson #5)

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Then there’s the title of the fourth obstacle, “The Fear of God!” So it gets worse… even more insulting to our egos. Not only does Jesus tell us we are attracted to some real nasty things like pain and death, but then he says that what we are really fearful of isn’t the bad stuff, to which we are attracted, but God Himself. He says that we are not really seeking for God’s Love, but we have actually convinced ourselves we are afraid of It.

So once again is that possible? Is the Course correct, as the country western song laments… we are “lookin for love in all the wrong places”… because we are truly afraid to find it?

The Four Grand Self-Deceptions (Obstacles)

One way of looking at the four obstacles and their order is to review our Wapnick Chart and the Course’s story of how we got here in the world (or at least believing that we’re here)… and then we retrace the steps of our descent into the hell of the world (and the self-imposed obstacles to our return to Heaven), starting with where we think we are now:

We believe are bodies in a world, very vulnerable to the both physical and emotional attacks of others… obviously a not very peaceful state of existence to say the least. But it doesn’t look or feel like something we inwardly chose to be in. But what if it’s true, that my ego internal choice is constantly choosing to perceive a a state of conflict, so I can blame my lack of peace on someone else, and not realizeI chose it. And thus my desire to get rid of peace for that very purpose. And so what if it’s true, that I’m never feeling un-peaceful or upset for the conscious reason I think, that it’s somebody else’s fault? (See Les. # 5)
The convincing, convicting, and conniving guilt we made-up in our minds is projected (misplaced) onto the body, especially others bodies guilty of what they did to mine. The ‘proof’ lies in all the seeming pains and pleasures of our bodies: the belief that the body is valuable for what it offers (guilt galore!). We made up a universe of time and space with many individual bodies for this purpose. Yes I feel pain or pleasure, but it’s seems to be coming from something external to my personality and my body.We believe our pain comes from what other bodies are doing to us (or even what our own body is doing), but we never admit the pain might be coming from the source of guilt in our mind… thus “the attraction of pain.” The body’s seeming pain in the body keeps us distracted from pain’s real source, the guilt within which was made up to prove our separation from Peace. The body’s seeming pleasure (special love) is simply a set up to place the internal guilt on someone else when the special love eventually fails and seems to now be our source of pain.
And then the most insulting attraction of all… what Jesus calls our “dedication to death.” The internal belief in a spiritual death (the end of ourselves as spirit at one with our Heavenly Father) is now projected onto the death of our bodies with which we identify. It is the ultimate ‘proof’ that we left Heaven’s peace. There is and can be no death in heaven, only eternal Life at one with Itself. However once again, from a body’s point of view, our belief in death does not seem to be our choice nor our fault. We tell ourselves that we were born into bodies that simply die…we didn’t choose to do that… it just happens, or worse we blame it all on God. We believe death is real, but of course we don’t want to believe we are actually attracted to it, much less responsible for making the idea of it up in the first place. Death once again proves we pulled off the impossible, and left Heaven.
Finally, back to the ego’s beginning, the tiny mad idea of separation… We, identifying as a separated self (the ego), convince ourselves that we are now afraid of God. On one level we tell ourselves that He is going to punish us (ultimately with death, then hell) for what we did, i.e. leave Heaven. However on a deeper level, the Course tells us that we are not actually afraid of God’s wrath, but that we’re really afraid He’s not upset at all… because nothing really happened. That means no individual us, no bodies, no nothing… everything we think we are, believe in, and seem to react to, all nothing. Jesus constantly reminds us that we couldn’t and didn’t leave our true Identity in Heaven, even if some part of us seemed to want to. Chapter 13 (p.242, par.1-2) clearly tells us:

“You are not really afraid of crucifixion (we think crucifixion is the payment God demanded of His Son). Your real terror is of redemption.” The Atonement principle says separation didn’t and couldn’t happen. God’s experience of love and oneness in Heaven with His Son, which is our only true Identity, does not include or know any experience of a separated state.

It does all sound like Star Wars: In a time long long ago and in a galaxy far far away, we seemed to step outside of our true reality in Heaven and play around with the ‘tiny mad idea’ of being separate from Heaven’s Peace…in other words we toyed with “our desire to get rid of peace.” This started the ego’s make-believe ballgame of separation rolling… To insure believing we actually did separate and did leave our true state of peace, we then made up the feelings of sin, guilt, and fear…thus feelings which ‘prove’ to ourselves we did a really bad thing and did separate from our Father in Heaven. And then all that awareness was repressed, ‘forgotten,’ and the responsibility for our own lack of peace projected onto something or someone in the world.

It seems like we did this in some distant past, but we would be having a true experience of peace right now, if we were not still putting up theses unacknowledged blocks to our awareness right this moment. We need to work on this because it is happening right now.

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Moving through and undoing (with the HS help) the four obstacles to peace are basically the letting go of believing ego’s story of the unholy trinity in our wrong mind: sin, guilt, and fear, that we told ourselves and accepted as reality:

1. sin (we threw Our True Identity as God’s One Son away),

2. guilt (the made-up pain we feel for doing just that, then projected onto the body and its ultimate death), and

3. fear (consciously of God’s punishment, but really of God’s Love)

So, through the process of forgiveness, we look at and uncover each of these stages (obstacles) and become willing to let each one go, not by ourselves, but with of ‘course’ the help of Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, by our side.

The Way Back:

The ACIM Forgiveness Process

The question that Jesus recommends that we learn to ask of the Holy Spirit, about anything is…”what is it for?”

From the ego’s point of view the purpose of our obstacles to peace are just that… self-chosen obstacles that are kept out of our conscious awareness, so it looks like we are running after and chasing peace, when we really are not… the Course says our self-accepted ego mantra becomes “Seek but do not find.”

The Holy Spirit’s reverse purpose, for the obstacles we made up, is to…

1. look at and acknowledge them

2. see their insanity, and the pain (the cost) for believing in them to maintain a separated identity in something that we’re not, and

3. be willing to ask for His help in seeing beyond those obstacles to the “real world” (an experience that our innocence and our brothers’ innocence is still intact, despite what we think we see and hear…)

The Starting Place

Two of the major themes that Jesus develops throughout this entire section (and especially in the section’s intro and the ‘Lifting of the Veil’ at the end) are that the way we move through and beyond each and every obstacle is…

With the Holy Spirit’s help, to have a Holy Relationship with the Holy Spirit in our minds. This then is reflected in our relationships with all our brothers.

He tells us that the first step in connecting with the Holy Spirit’s help is always to ask ourselves… are we willing to look past our judgements of each other, with His Help, to see the true innocence within? This begins the “Lifting of the Veil” of our belief in sin, guilt, and fear, and is specifically spelled out in the Text on p.421, par.8, line 7:

“But first, lift up your eyes and look on your brother in innocence born of complete forgiveness of his illusions, and through the eyes of faith (the HS) that sees them not.”

With each obstacle to peace, we used our brother’s body, personality, and actions as a scapegoat for our own inner choice to get rid of peace, and then blame our guilt and pain on him. To recognize that, by asking for the Holy Spirit’s help, is the only way back in in letting go of each of these obstacles to peace, these “blocks to the awareness of Love’s presence,” that we ourselves put there and then denied. (see the Course’s Introduction on p.1 in the Text)

Another way Jesus describes as the way to start this process is in the Text, p.441, par.9. He tells us don’t even ask how to see my my brother or myself without a body… but am I willing to see past my judgements and have an experience of his and my guiltlessness, the process of true forgiveness. (Click here for explanation of forgiveness in ACIM.)

Your question should not be, “How can I see my brother without the body?” Ask only, “Do I really wish to see him sinless?”… forget not that his sinlessness is (also) your escape from fear.

The second step in the process is… am I willing to see beyond my own seeming guilt for having thrown Heaven away? The same way I was willing to forgive my brother for what he did not do (cause me pain), am I willing to ask Jesus for help… to let go of believing I left him and my Father in Heaven for something else (a separate identity)? He did not go anywhere. And I simply pretended I did.

What if all that seeming separation is just not true?

Not recognizing that that has been my problem all along… not that I actually did separate from what I/ we truly are, but I only convinced myself I did. And then to ask for help to let that silly belief go “back into the nothingness from which it came.”

And then I begin to realize: that each of the obstacles to my peace of mind that seemed like real obstacles were never there, and were all made up.

For further discussion of the “Obstacles to Peace,” see Ken Wapnick’s CD set or MP3 Download on “Lifting of the Veil”

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**or Ken’s “Journey through the Text,” Volume Three, p.78-92.**

The Text of ACIM Class Replay Series: 195 video class replays on Chap. 1 thru 31

January 29, 2020

The ***School for* *ACIM***

195 Class Replays on

The Entire Text,

section-by-section.

(each class is approx. 75 minutes) :

Classes on The ACIM Text:

Hello Course Students around The World!

Our series on the Text of ACIM has been a daunting task, for us and the Course students who participated during the pandemic … not so much because of the amount of material contained in the Text’s 600 plus pages. It is indeed a handful, but working thru the Text of ACIM also brings up and challenges our reluctance and resistance to actually hearing what Jesus is telling us.

As ‘healthy’ egos believing we are bodies (vulnerable to other bodies like people and viruses), we don’t want to be told nothing we see means anything (WB. Les. 1)… and the world, and all the blame we are laying on it is not what we are really upset about. (“There is no world!” from WB Les. 132).

But from Jesus point of view that is good news for all of us, because that means that all the blame and judgments with which we are so indulged and preoccupied… is indeed all made up and unnecessary as the One Innocent Son of God that we still truly are.

So Jesus walks us gently but thoroughly through the process of letting go of the pain and blame that supports our belief in a separated identity, separate from him and our Father in Heaven. He helps us let those insistent silly beliefs go.

Jesus respects our fear of him and his message, yet he lays down a spiritual roadmap and offers us a way out, a journey out of our chosen misery and seeming isolation… if and when we are ready to take that gentle journey back with him (see Chapter 8: “The Journey Back”).

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**The link for the list of 195 Video Class Replays on The Text (about 75 minutes each) will be sent to those who are… currently donating monthly any amount of $30 or more.**

Also the SFACIM will include the links for hundreds of other class replays including:

Classes on Many ACIM Topics like Peace of Mind, Forgiveness, Atonement, and Healing
Classes on all The Workbook Lessons
The Series on “Dealing with Anger, Resentments & Grievances”
“The Back-to-Basics” Series for Beginners
and more added every week…

Please click here to donate.

Example of Text Discussions, Chap. 1 Sec. I

“The 50 Miracle Principles” :

Overview of Text Chapters:

Preface: written after completion of Course, with the “What It Says” third section specifically written by Jesus (the first two preface sections are by Helen Schucman herself).

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Chapters 1-4: Basically a conversation between Helen and Jesus (with material edited out personal to Helen & Bill):

Chap. 1: The Meaning of Miracles…Introduction to the main Course themes that will be developed throughout the Text

Chap. 2: Separation & Atonement… Basic metaphysics of Chart (also addresses Helen’s and our own fear and resistance to Jesus & his Course)

Chap. 3: Innocent Perception… Basic definitions of terms used in Course

Chap. 4: Illusions of the Ego… Exploring what ego is and Jesus role in that exploration.

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First major shift in writing with Ch. 5, Sec. V (on guilt), from basically a dialogue with Helen in the first four and a half chapters, to Jesus dictating the rest of Text from this point on:

Chap. 5: Healing & Wholeness… Exploring who/what is the Holy Spirit & how He helps us with our recognizing and letting go of guilt.

Chap. 6: Lessons of Love… First discussion of anger, Four HS lessons (steps) to return to Heaven.

Chap. 7: Gifts of Kingdom… Heaven & Healing

Chap. 8: Journey Back… “Singing” Jesus

Chap. 9: Acceptance of Atonement… First discussion of forgiveness

Chap.10: Idols of Sickness… on Biblical 1^st & 2^nd commandments (shortest chap.)

Chap.11: God or Ego… our ‘authority problem’

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Next major shift in writing… with more intense emphasis on process of looking at ego’s made-up insanity:

Ch.12: HS Curriculum… realizing the ego’s central teaching: that love is dangerous

Ch.13: Guiltless World.. full blown exposé on our internal unrecognized guilt (longest chap.)

Ch.14: Teaching for Truth… the proverbial ‘calm before the storm’ chapter, before the following three chapters (15-16-17) on special relationships… Chap. 14 includes sections on two major Course themes: the “What is a Happy Learner” and “Our Call for Help/ Our Call for Love “

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Ch. 15, 16, 17… on Special Relationships

Ch. 18… on Our Dream “Life”

Ch.19… Our Own Four Obstacles to Peace

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Ch.20, 21, 22… Second “calm before the storm” (with three chapters on Vision, Reason, and Salvation in The Holy Relationship)… before The Laws of Chaos & Specialness (starting in Chap. 23):

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Ch.23… (Laws of Chaos) Ken Wapnick calls this the “toughest” chapter in the Text, with very little reprieve in it… how way we methodically deceive ourselves into believing in separation.

Ch. 24… The Goal of Specialness, extended description of the “Substitute for Love” in the fifth Law of Chaos.

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Ch. 25-26… Third and final ‘calm’ (a breather), on equal justice for all of God’s one Son, how to move from injustice to real justice (is life really not fair?)… before the last part of the Text.

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Ch. 27-28… more on Dreams: the dreaming of the world and its underlying horrific “secret dream” of the wrong mind.

Ch. 29-30… In-depth discussion of the ego’s idols… and and the steps or ‘rules’ on how to move past those idols (the seven rules for decision-making in Ch. 30).

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Ch. 31… The capstone of the Text : all the themes of the Course are brought together, coalescing in this last great movement of the Course’s grand symphony.

Search Results for: three steps

What is forgiveness?

(by Lyn Corona)

Seek not to change the world

Forgiveness: a new morality

You are the Decision Maker

Bringing our projections back to the mind

Forgiveness requires humility

Here is an excellent account of the three steps of forgiveness

The Three Steps of Forgiveness

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Recap/summary

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

The most important things to remember about forgiveness:

Important forgiveness lessons:

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The dates include the last weekend in September (Sept. 22nd – 25th, 2016.)

It will start on Thursday evening @ 7pm and run through noon on Sunday.

Tentative Retreat Schedule: scroll down to bottom of this page…

Check out the Siena Retreat Center at: http://www.racinedominicans.org/retreats.cfm

The Topic: Healing & Forgiveness

What is the Course’s approach to healing? How is it different than our traditional ideas about healing? How is healing related to forgiveness? What is the process for healing our minds and returning home?

The program will include lectures, discussion, small group breakouts, meditations, videos, and more…

Facilitators:

Cost includes entire program, room for 4 days/3 nights, and all 7 meals (Fri. breakfast, lunch & dinner; Sat. breakfast, lunch & dinner; Sun. breakfast):

Commuters:

No more commuter space available… ($198 included entire program and 4 meals: lunch and supper on Friday and Saturday)… call Tim @ 720-391-9294 for details.

Some Suggested Course Readings Prior to Retreat:

Text, Chap.9, p.168, sec.IV… “Holy Spirit’s Plan of Forgiveness,” paragraphs: 2 to 8

Text, Chap. 27, p. 584, sec.VII… “The Dreamer of the Dream,” par. 11 to 13

Workbook Lesson # 136… p.257 “Sickness is a defense against the truth.” par. 1 to 7

WB Lesson #91… p. 156 “Miracles are seen in light.” par. 3 to 7

Workbook p.401… #1 “What is Forgiveness?” par. 1 to 5

Manual p.17-18… #5 “How is Healing Accomplished?” sections I and II

Psychotherapy Pamphlet… p.9, sec. IV “Process of Healing,” par.1-3;

Psychotherapy Pamphlet… p.13, sec.VI “Definition of Healing,” par. 1-5

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Suggested Ken Wapnick YouTube videos (ten minutes each) on the Course:

Tentative Retreat Schedule:

All Presentations, Morning Meditations, and Videos take place in the Birch Meeting Room…. All meals are in the Siena Center Cafeteria.

Thursday

5-6:30pm… (Optional, but highly recommended, if you can make it) Ken Wapnick video on “The Happy Dream of Forgiveness” in Birch Meeting Room during check-ins… This video helps set the tone and foundation for the major retreat themes of Forgiveness & Healing.

2-3pm… Free Time

Week one (7/31)

Week four (8/21)

Guilt: What is it? Where is it? And why look at it? — Tim Wise

Week five (8/28)

Jesus of the Course— Whitney

Week six (9/4)

Seek Not to Change the Course— Lillian Paes

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Every presentation will offer Course teachings beneficial for beginners and on-going students alike. Attending the whole series is recommended for a comprehensive look at the Course’s essential teachings. However, each individual gathering will be insightful, practical, and helpful to all.

“TUITION” section below… under the “How to Apply” section

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Online 2025 Immersion Schedule

Saturdays:

9:30am – 11am Mountain Time (in USA)

on all Saturdays of each month,

Jan. thru April 2025.

Please adjust for time shift in USA on March 9th, 2025 to Daylight Savings Time, one hr forward (depending on when and if your state or country changes).

(1) Before considering registering for the Immersion in 2025:

and then please also attend a couple of our weekly live online classes … to see how we conduct our classes and cover A Course in Miracles material.

(2) After you have attended some of our live classes, carefully look over this entire post on the Immersion Program.

** We ask then for your willingness to make it your primary spiritual practice, for at least this four month period.

Online Course Immersion 2025

An ultimate in “A Course in Miracles” education and practice!

Come, study, and experience A Course in Miracles (ACIM) with our School for A Course in Miracles (SFACIM) facilitators, who have collectively learned, practiced, and taught the Course for over 250 years. This is a four month online program from January 2025 through April 2025.

Our program is based on the brilliant and insightful teachings on A Course in Miracles by Dr. Kenneth Wapnick, whom our School considers to be the preeminent and the best-of-the-best of ACIM teachers.

The primary focus of the Immersion Program is making a shift in identity from the body to the mind where, as internal decision makers, we can learn to choose against the ego’s teachings of separation and specialness and decide instead for the Holy Spirit’s teachings of forgiveness and healing.

The necessity for undoing the belief in our own mostly unrecognized guilt is the central theme that runs through the students daily ACIM practice “… for our unconscious guilt demands punishment, making us fearful of our returning to God.”

The central message the Course aims to teach is…“God’s Son is guiltless, and his innocence is his salvation.”

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The benefits of the Course Immersion are many. Here are just a few:

Simplicity. We learn there is one problem, one solution, and one decision to make.

We learn nothing external can affect us unless we choose it.

We recognize the true purpose for all relationships is healing the mind.

We learn to see the world as a classroom for awakening instead of a prison house.

Our sense of isolation begins to fade as we realize we have a constant inner companion and guide with us at all times. We learn that help is always available.

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Mentoring:

**Seek Not to Change the Course— Lillian Paes**

**The central message the Course aims to teach is…“God’s Son is guiltless, and his innocence is his salvation.”**

Students are required to attend a minimum of 15 of the 17 live **online Immersion classes, and stay for the entire 1 and 1/2 hr. class @ each class, unless there is an emergency. It is important to watch replays of any Immersion classes they do miss.**