School for A Course In Miracles

"The universe of learning will open up before you."

School for A Course In Miracles

“The universe of learning will open up before you in all its gracious simplicity.” T-14. II. 6:4
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Two New SFACIM Classes Start Fri. 2/27 on The Two “ACIM” Supplements: Psychotherapy and Song of Prayer… and later ‘The Gifts of God Prose Poem’ in May 2026

SFACIM Classes on These Supplements to ACIM:

Fri.  2/27  @ 9:30am Mt     we begin The Song of Prayer on Fridays  (with Marisa)… 

Sat.   2/28  9:30am Mt     we begin Psychotherapy Pamphlet Intro & Ch 1 “Purpose”  on Saturdays  … 

Sat.   5/23   9:30am Mt     we begin Gifts of God Prose Poem (p. 115-118): “The Dream of Fear”  on Saturdays

 

The Two Pamphlets & The Prose Poem:

 

There were three other works from Jesus that Helen Schucman “scribed” after she finished taking down A Course in Miracles itself which was completed in 1972. They were called Psychotherapy Pamphlet, the Song of Prayer Pamphlet, and the Gifts of God Prose Poem.

 

Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice [PAMPHLET]

(1) Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice

The first supplement called the Psychotherapy Pamphlet  was finished in 1975 . Most Course students, whether you are a psychotherapist or not, have found the insights and the continued explanation of the Course’s healing process in this pamphlet incredibly valuable to their understanding of the entire Course.

Taken down by Helen Schucman in the same manner as A Course in Miracles this twenty-three page booklet discusses the Course’s principles of healing and forgiveness in the context of psychotherapy.

Written originally for professional therapists, the booklet nonetheless will be of help to anyone interested in how the Course’s theoretical principle of healing—joining with another through the Holy Spirit—can be applied to everyone, not just those in the field of psychotherapy.

 

(2) The Song of Prayer:

The second pamphlet, The Song of Prayer, was written in 1977 in response to much of the level confusion (mind vs body) that many Course students and teachers, still have issues with both then and even now. It specifically points out not only what prayer and forgiveness and healing are from a Course point of view… it also spells out what they are not.

The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness and Healing

Taken down by Helen Schucman in the same manner as A Course in Miracles, this twenty-two page booklet discusses forgiveness and healing in the context of prayer, contrasting the meaning of true prayer, forgiveness, and healing with their opposites. The process of prayer is described in the booklet as “growth thru forgiveness,” with healing seen as the result of the mind’s undoing of the belief in separation.

Ken Wapnick’s Discussion of Psychotherapy Pamphlet: click here

Ken Wapnick’s Discussion of Song of Prayer: click here

The Gifts of God [BOOK]

(3) The Gifts of God Prose Poem

The Gifts of God Prose Poem contains the last dictated messages to Helen from Jesus. It is included at the end of a collection of poetry by Helen Schucman, also by the same title:

The Gifts of God    (click here).

The year was 1978. The Course had already been taken down by Helen Schucman and was published. The two Course pamphlets (Psychotherapy & Song of Prayer) were also already scribed, between 1975 and 1977.

It was a cold, snowy February weekend  in New York City… and Ken Wapnick was scheduled to head out of the Big Apple on a train for a couple days, to a Catholic center  (about 30 miles north) to do some counseling work. Helen was terrified that Ken would be hurt, or worse, in an impending snowstorm. She had already talked him out of going the previous weekend for the same reason, and Ken dutifully said that this time he had to go. She had herself so worked-up that her conscious fear was totally over-the-top and out of control. Later, by 3am in the morning of that night after he left, she finally decided to talk to Jesus about it.

What then developed over a three month period thru April of ’78… were Jesus messages to help her walk thru, not the distracting conscious fear about Ken’s safety, but the real  underlying fear (hers and ours) of simply letting go of separation and being with Jesus. These messages were collectively put together in what today is known as the Gifts of God Prose Poem. The best description of this process, and a great discussion by Ken Wapnick on the contents of this piece, is Ken’s ten CD set/MP3 download (click here):

The Gift of The Ego: Fear The Gift of God: Love [MP3]

The poem contains five sections (on 14 pages):

  1. The Dream of Fear
  2. The Two Gifts
  3. The Ending of The Dream
  4. Our Gift to God
  5. The Father’s Love

 

This Prose Poem is a beautifully written synopsis of the entire Course,  with all its paragraphs in Shakespearean iambic pentameter. For best understanding, it is recommended and helpful to have some previous study of the Course’s basic metaphysics of healing and forgiveness, prior to reading and applying the poem’s teachings to our lives.

However The Gifts of God Prose Poem is an insightful capstone to the Course itself, and will resonate with all Course students as an incredible addendum that beautifully crowns A Course in Miracles.

 

Beginners: New or Fairly New to A Course in Miracles?

All SFACIM 90 min. classes are free for the first two weeks, and after that the suggested donations for classes are… click here

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If you are new to School for a Course in Miracles, please check out some of our introductory videos before attending our 75 min. sessions or our 90 min. classes on Zoom:

(Click Here)

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If you do not have the weekly Zoom link for our 90 min. classes or 75 min. sessions,  click here.

All of our 75 min.  sessions are always free, and all are welcome to attend, both new and ongoing ACIM students

For New Folks to ACIM:

Suggested Books, Zoom Classes, and Sessions, and YouTube Videos

with which to begin when first approaching ACIM…

 

  • Five-Month Online Immersion:  in-depth intensive study and practice of  “A Course in Miracles:”   click here

  • Friday Morning Discussions of Current Workbook Lessons (75 min.) in the ACIM Workbook for applying the principles of the Course…  click here

  • Which  A Course in Miracles  Book to purchase : click here   …  or on Amazon:   click here

  •  Journey Through The Workbook : eight volume Series by Kenneth Wapnick (the next books to get after you get a Course book: incredibly helpful for new & long-term students of ACIM):  click here

  •  Beginner Series of 22 recorded classes on YouTube, from the ‘ground up’ :  click here   

  • Zoom Link to Online Classes (90 min.) and Sessions (75 min.):  click here

  • Weekly online class/ session schedule:  click here

  • For more new student information: click here

One Hour Video Introduction to

“A Course in Miracles,”

by the SFACIM,

with a little history and a brief explanation of the Course’s metaphysics and its unique version of the forgiveness and healing process… click here

Also:  Twenty Minute Video…

on A Course in Miracles Basic Understanding of Forgiveness using Ken Wapnick’s Chart:

click here

 To register to receive the Zoom Class Link

for Our Weekly Live Online SFACIM Classes and Discussion Sessions…  click here

Current Weekly Online Classes & Discussion Sessions Schedule: click here

 

“Back-to-Basics”

22 Recorded Class Replays for Beginners…

Our 22 recorded class videos in our Back-to-Basic series for beginners are available to those who are currently donating a minimum of $30 a month to the School for ACIM…

The series is a consecutively developed series of twenty-two videos that will introduce the new person to the fundamental themes of forgiveness and healing in ACIM, designed to have each class (about 75-90 minutes each) build and expand on the previous one.

Your monthly donation also gives you access to hundreds of other SFACIM class replays on many ACIM topics.

It includes the SFACIM Chapter-by-Chapter Series on the Text of ACIM (with 195 classes).

We will email you the link to access all these class video replays on the day that you begin your monthly donation of $30 or more.

Please click here to donate.

 

** Other option: Or you can also make a one time donation of $52 to receive the link for the  Beginner Back-to-Basic Series of 22 Video replays…

Please click here to donate.

 

 

Choosing Which ACIM Book… ?

“A Course in Miracles”

A Course in Miracles - combined volume - Foundation for Inner Peace

There are currently many versions of  A Course in Miracles Books on the market. In all of the School for A Course in Miracles classes and Immersions, we only use, and recommend getting: 

“A Course in Miracles”

This ACIM book is specifically published by the Foundation for Inner Peace... and the printed editions from 1992 or newer have the numbered paragraphs and sentences for easy reference. The recent publications also include the two supplemental pamphlets … The Song of Prayer and The Psychotherapy Pamphlet.

click here

The Chart: A Simplified Diagram of “A Course in Miracles” Metaphysics

Ken Wapnick’s “Chart” on the fundamental metaphysics of the Course has helped thousands of Course students understand in a very short time (instead of what is sometimes a long rocky road), what the basic process of forgiveness in the Course really entails.

From Ken’s Foundation early days in Roscoe, New York, he began using this simple diagram as a way of presenting to students how the Course says we seemingly left Heaven and arrived here in the world. Then more importantly Ken’s chart points out schematically how we return our awareness to our minds, which is the stepping stone back to our true reality in Heaven.

Here then is a simplified representation of the basic ideas expressed on the Chart:

This Chart is best seen…

‘full screen’ on a computer.

(Otherwise it might not line up as intended.)

Heaven

God-Christ, Knowledge,
Oneness, Love,
Non-Duality

the mind 

                           tiny mad idea of separation

                                                   *

  Ego          Decision*Maker     Holy Spirit

(wrong mind)                                                  (right mind)

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Sin…. I  am a sinner!               |       Forgiveness/Healing

(I separated from Heaven)   |

——

Guilt…. I  am guilty!              |                 

(I feel terrible)                           |

——-

Fear…. I  will be punished!   |                

(God is after me)                        |

the world of bodies

Sin…. You sinned (not me)!

Guilt…. You are guilty (not me)!

Fear…. You should be punished (not me)!

What we see in the above Chart is a depiction of three different levels of experience expressed in the Course:

  1. Top level : Heaven… where our true identity as God’s One Son remains intact. (Capital “M” Mind in the Course refers to this top level. Lowercase “m” mind refers to the middle level.)

  2. Middle level: the mind… where we seemed to step outside of heaven and play with the idea of being separate from our Father in Heaven.

  3. Bottom level: the world… the entire physical universe of time and space, including our bodies, brains and personalities… all projected from the idea of separation in the mind.

 

The Course spends only a little time talking about Heaven, and what the experience of Heaven is like, but not too much…  since that experience is beyond words, and time and space, and even the mind.

The Course also spends very little time discussing the bottom level, the world, with all its insane behaviors and judgements, which the Course insists are all illusory projections anyway and not the real problem.

However, what the Course does talk about the most is the place deep inside of us, called the mind, where we chose to believe in a separation from God in the first place. It is helpful to note (and note well!) that when the Course uses the word “mind” it never (ever) is talking about our brains and our bodies. Even more importantly, note the words “we chose to believe in separation.” It didn’t really happen. We simply chose to believe in it.

The mind is always the deeper internal “place” (not our brains and what our brains think), where we choose between one of two teachers. One the Course calls the ego (the wrong mind), the voice of our own chosen belief in separation. The other is the Holy Spirit (the right mind), God’s Voice for sanity that says separation is silly and impossible.

—————————————————————–

 

The overall Course story (myth, if you will) goes something like this:

Heaven:

Once upon a time, we were all sitting around in Heaven as God’s One Son. The Course tells us that in Heaven there is no place where God the Father ends, and God the Son begins… whatever that oneness is, it’s not anything like what we experience in our world of time and space.

The mind:

Then what seemed to happen is the Son of God pretended to step outside of Heaven, and play with the thought of separation. We say “seemed” because the Course’s Atonement Principle is that the separation never (and could never have) happened.

There were then two reactions to this “tiny mad idea of separation”. One, the part of our mind the Course calls the Holy Spirit (right mind), said that idea is impossible and silly and could not take place.

The other part of mind the Course calls ego (wrong mind), said yes: we want to pretend separation is true… take it seriously… believe it… and run with it.

And of those two reactions or voices, the third part of mind that chooses between these two (Ken Wapnick uses the term “Decision Maker”), chose to identify with the ego. This all took place in the internal place inside of us that the Course consistently calls mind.

The Story of Sin, Guilt, and Fear

In choosing to take the TMI (tiny mad idea of separation) seriously and listen to the ego, we then made up an ongoing separation story, and chose to believe each part of its three part narrative: (1) sin, (2) guilt, and (3) fear. But it was all “make-believe.” In other words we made it up, and then distracted ourselves with each ongoing part of the story into believing it.

  1. We insisted that sin (or separation) was real, and that we did actually disconnect from our Father.
  2. We then made up the feeling of guilt, and told ourselves what we did and what we were feeling was really bad.
  3. Finally we told ourselves that God was also really upset at what we did, and we felt fear because we convinced ourselves that He was going to punish us.

These three steps (of sin>guilt>fear) mistakenly “proved” to ourselves that we had really separated from our Father in Heaven.

————————–

To emphasize once again, mind is a part of us beyond time and space, beyond behavior in the world, and beyond our identification as personalities with brains and bodies. The Course talks about and uses the word mind more than two thousand times.

The world:

All this was the motivation for us to leave the realm of the mind and escape “God’s wrath.” This precipitated in what scientists today call the Big Bang, the beginning of the entire physical universe of time and space. The Course calls this universe of form “the world.” We basically took our awareness of ourselves as one gigantic separated Son of God, and then seemed to”explode” our consciousness into a billion billion parts. We fantasized an entire universe of tiny atoms, molecules, cells, and bodies… all the way up to star systems and floating galaxies.

In doing this we achieved two goals  in our separation story;

  1. We totally forgot we even have a mind, where all this choice for believing in separation happened, and is even now still taking place. Every moment that we feel or think any non-peaceful, judgmental thought, we are re-enacting this process.
  2. The made-up pain of believing in separation doesn’t go away. It was and still is only coming from our belief in the sin-guilt-fear story in our minds… but now we consciously blame the source of all our pain on the many seeming  sources of pain in the external world. We now believe that it’s what others have done to us, whether its other bodies called people, or other bodies called germs or diseases, that adversely affect our bodies. The Course calls this external blaming of the world for the unconscious internal choice for sin and guilt : “Projection.”

 

The ‘beauty’ of this, from the ego’s point of view, is that now we are totally convinced we are individual bodies in the world… with no awareness at all that we have a mind, or that we could actually go inside and choose another Voice (the Holy Spirit’s) and be taught that separation is all made up.

Bridge - Autumn Color

“The Way Back”

Forgiveness

This is when the Course comes along and says in Workbook Lesson #5: “We are never upset for the reason we think.”

And Lesson #34, “I could choose peace instead of this”…  by going inside and asking the Holy Spirit for help to see you and me another way.

 

Meaning: It is possible for me to have an actual experience where I realize that all this separation and pain is simply made up. These separate identities and bodies are not who we truly are. And even though I’m still seeing images of separation in the world, I can experience peace right here, right now, by asking the Holy Spirit for help in realizing this. “I’m not a victim of the world I see.” (Lesson # 31)

And that, in a nutshell, is the Course’s process of “Forgiveness.” It is also synonymous with the word “Healing”  on the Chart under the “Holy Spirit.”

I don’t forgive you or myself for what either of us did behaviorally…

But I can forgive (let go):   By asking for Jesus or the Holy Spirit’s help, I become willing to let go of believing we are separated minds living in separated vulnerable bodies that could attack each other and ourselves in the first place… I become aware that our real connection and innocence as One Son of God is still intact, no matter what you or I do behaviorally as bodies. Our holiness and wholeness as God’s One Son is, and always will be, who we truly are. (Click here for discussion of  these “Three Steps of Forgiveness.”)

 

Then I can share that profound awareness of our innocence as One Son of God, with everyone I meet or think about… not necessarily verbally, but with a simple, gentle, and kind inner knowing and understanding.

Free Online Videos available on the Chart:

1) SFACIM on “Our Thoughts & the Chart” :  click here 

2) Ken Wapnick on the “Secret Dream & the Chart”, Part One :  click here

3) Ken on the “Secret Dream & the Chart”, Part Two:  click here

Ken’s Full & Complete Chart:

 

Chart - Metaphysics of Separation and Forgiveness

From School for A Course in Miracles,

A 25 minute video presentation on The Chart:

Course Immersion 2026: Five Month Online Intensive for All Students of “A Course in Miracles” (excellent for beginning students of ACIM, and also very helpful for long-time Course students!)

There will be no Immersion 2026 classes.

Regretfully, we do not have enough folks registered to do it in this year of 2026.

Please see our five week introductory class to ACIM on Tuesdays starting Jan. 13: click here.

graphic School for A Course in Miracles: “The Universe of learning will open up before you in all its gracious simplicity.” - T-14.II.6:4

 Proposed 2026 Immersion Schedule:

Saturday Immersion Classes, Jan. thru May:

5:30pm-7pm Mt. Time

(except no Immersion class on the last Saturday of each month)

 Please adjust for time shift in USA in March, 2026 to Daylight Savings Time, one hr forward (depending on when and if your state or country changes).

Course Immersion 2026

starts January  2026 thru the end of May 2026….

with  live online classes on ACIM fundamentals, and one-on-one personal mentoring… and more:

 

Our Online Immersion 2026 program is different from our regular weekly classes. It is for people new to A Course in Miracles and anyone desiring to increase their understanding, appreciation, and practice of the Course from the ‘ground up,’ over the first five months of 2026. It can be described as an online ACIM intensive of basic training, not in blaming and fighting, but in the gentle arts of forgiveness and healing.

 

Online Course Immersion 2026

Five Month Intensive from January thru May, 2026,

Designed for those new to “A Course in Miracles” …

and anyone desiring to re-immerse themselves

in a profound understanding and practice of the Course. 

———–

 

 

An ultimate in Course education and practice!

Come, study, and experience A Course in Miracles (ACIM) with our School for ACIM facilitators, who have collectively studied, practiced, and taught the Course for over 200 years. This is a five month online program, from January 2026 through May 2026.

We cover and 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.

Be part of a close-knit interactive community of about 10 to 20 Course students, who for four months..

  • are working a lesson a day (on their own) 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.

water drip

 

1) The program includes online one and a half hour classes  Saturday evenings @ 5:30pm-7pm Mt. each month for five months (except last Sat. of each month), on a developing series of meticulously chosen Course topics. . All classes are streamed live using the free app Zoom and are recorded and made available to all participants for replay and review.

2) We provide access to many hours of listening from our Dr. Kenneth Wapnick Memorial Library to specific Ken seminars that explore each of the Immersion topics that we cover. We believe Ken Wapnick is the world-renowned authority on the Course, and he is the beloved Course teacher for all our SFACIM facilitators. Access to these audio seminars from the School’s Ken Wapnick Library are included in the Immersion tuition.   

3) During the Immersion we also provide free access to all our other regular weekly online classes … and access to hundreds of SFACIM video class replays on the many topics and themes in ACIM, including the ego and the Holy Spirit, the purpose of time, and the three steps of forgiveness.

4) Since all our relationships provide the ‘classrooms’ in which we learn forgiveness, we dedicate a special half-day seminar on “Relationships ” on a Saturday as part of the Immersion. It is Zoomed live online. (This seminar is included in the Immersion tuition.)

5) One of the most valued aspects of the Course Immersion is the one-on-one mentoring sessions by our well-practiced facilitators. These take place twice a month during the five months.

 

 

For more details about the …

School for A Course in Miracles

Immersion Program 2026

(Jan. thru May 2026)

Saturdays

(except last Sat. of of each month)

5:30pm to 7pm Mt. Time

——

… and how to register:

click here

Lyn Corona Mentoring Sessions

ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING SESSIONS WITH LYN CORONA

Your inheritance as spirit and a child of God is lasting peace, happiness, and life without end. You are ready to learn the way to this treasure when you become disillusioned with your own ability to bring about your inheritance through your own striving and effort. Everyone will eventually reach this point where he thinks “there must be a better way”.

My goal in mentoring is to help you choose this way sooner rather than later. Once this occurs, true learning can begin. You will not be happy and free until you know yourself as God created you. This does not require any extraordinary effort on your part.

God knows His way to you. All you need to learn is how not to interfere.

As your mentor I can save you time in learning how not to interfere. All that is required on your part is the willingness to change your mind. I would be honored to assist you if you so desire in this extraordinary process of un-learning what you have taught yourself so you can learn the “better way”. I am not the teacher in this endeavor. 

But it is my honor and privilege to introduce you to the true Teacher and help you to recognize the joy in learning that only the truth is true. The importance of a holy relationship with this invisible Friend (called the Holy Spirit in ACIM) cannot be underestimated.  He brings you back to God by reminding you of your true identity through the experience of true forgiveness. Miracles are the result of learning this from Him.

Once the universe of learning becomes real for you, you will not look back. You have entered the realm of spirit where you will begin to experience your True Self. This may sound like a fairy tale, but I assure you, because of spending the better part of my life learning from this Teacher, that it is true.

Several years ago, I made a deep commitment to my own healing and that of others with this prayer from A Course in Miracles:

“I am here only to be truly helpful.

I am here to represent Him Who sent me.

I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do,

because He Who sent me will direct me.

I am content to be wherever He wishes,

knowing He goes there with me.

I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.”

– T. 2. V. A.8: 2-6.

With the inspiration and guidance of this prayer in mind, I am offering mentoring sessions.

 

About Lyn Corona…

Lyn began offering workshops, classes and retreats for those who were interested in the Course’s teachings in 1986. She is the founder and president of the non-profit Ark of Peace and co-founder, director, and faculty member of  School for A Course in Miracles (formerly School of Reason). Lyn began her study of the Course in 1976 and is a devoted student of its message of peace through forgiveness.

In discovering the work of Course scholar, Kenneth Wapnick, she found her teacher, colleague and friend. His teachings have become part of her ever deepening understanding of the message of the Course. 

Questions?  contact:  lyncorona@msn.com

If you would like to schedule mentoring sessions with Lyn, please call and set up a free consultation.  She may be reached at 303-880-7713.  Consultations last 20-30 minutes, and after a brief conversation, we can determine together if mentoring could be useful, as well as the frequency of the mentoring sessions. 

Lyn offers mentoring sessions Tuesdays through Fridays.

Mentoring sessions are available twice per month or four times per month… for a six month period. 

You have the option to pay $120 a month for two sessions per month, $240 a month for four sessions per month,

Or you may opt to pay in full for the six months:

Twice a month- $675 for six months, four times a month for six months-$1350  .

 These six month series of mentoring sessions are available only to people who have worked with ACIM for at least a few months, and are also familiar with Ken Wapnick’s teachings on A Course in Miracles.

Six month mentoring sessions, paid monthly, or in full, use this donate link and call Lyn to let her know what you have chosen (303 880 7713) and also to set up a mentoring schedule… thanks!

Please click here to donate.

Single sessions are only available as “tune-ups” for students that have already done mentoring sessions with Lyn... students that have gone through any of the Immersion programs, or Course students who have been regularly coming to SFACIM classes for a few months or more.

** If you do not see the yellow Buy Now link below, click here

 

Click “down” arrow to select ‘tune-ups’ for  25 min. or 50 min. session:

Single Mentoring Sessions



 

The Three Steps of Forgiveness in “A Course in Miracles”

3 Steps to the Infilling of the Holy Spirit – Capps Ministries

 

The Three Steps of Forgiveness in ACIM:

1) “The world I see… is an outward picture of an inward condition.”

[from Ch.21, p. 445, par.1]

 

I start with my judgements of others:

 What if the real source of my own pain/discomfort/anxiety is not coming from the world? What if it’s coming from somewhere deep inside me… a place the Course calls my mind?

What if it is coming from internally pushing away the Holy Spirit (the Course calls this the Voice for God)  and choosing the ego instead (the voice for separation from God)? And now I somehow forget I even have a mind, much less that I’m choosing this wrong inner teacher, the ego. What if that’s why I’m really in a state of conflict, whether it’s anger, fear, depression, or whatever I’m feeling that’s not peace? What if it has nothing to do with anything external, even though I’m sure it is?

If it were possible to see past others’ sins and my judgements of them as the seeming source of my lack of peace, and realize that the origin of my conflicted feelings might just be coming from inside myself  (and not anyone else)… would I be willing to ask the Holy Spirit’s help to see and realize that?

————

Workbook Lesson #5 says ” I’m never upset for the reason I think.” What if that’s true?

The Course reminds us: the seeming “outward” source of pain is simply my projection of my own inner guilt for pushing God out of my own awareness. The real source of all pain and guilt is always in my mind.

The ego has been described as… edging God out (e-g-o).

2) The Made-up Inner Condition of Separation, Inside in My Mind

I ‘shift’ in my awareness to my inner judgment of myself…

(not my ‘self ‘ in the world, but my seeming identity as a separated Son of God):

What if I could not really push Jesus or the Holy Spirit away and choose to be a make-believe separated self, even if I thought I wanted to?

What if in spite of all the bad I think I have done to others, to myself, to Jesus… all my hateful judgements, all ‘my stuff’… what if Jesus is in my mind right here, right now, smiling at me… telling me in his smile he still loves me and my innocence is still intact?

If it were possible to see past my own “sins” and my judgements of  myself, and experience my true innocence as a son of God, would I be willing to ask the Holy Spirit’s help to do that?

When I’m willing to “go there” in my mind, and feel Jesus presence, I begin to realize that nothing I thought or did … has ever affected my true essence, or kept Jesus away.

See Lesson # 34… “I could see peace (ie, experience peace in my mind), instead of this (choosing the ego and its belief in separation).“

3) The State of Peace

 I (the internal decision maker in my mind) then experience true peace.

 True peace of mind then is experienced after the first 2 steps in which I ask and let the Holy Spirit to help me to recognize and remove my own made-up blocks to my awareness of peace  …

  • the 1st block: my external blame and condemnation of others and…
  • the 2nd block:  my own internal blame, guilt and self loathing.

I now begin to realize that God not only loves the other person’s true reality… but God also still loves my own true innocent self  too!

And then, even tho I’m still seeing the images of seeming separation… I  begin to experience an awareness that our seeming separated selves were not our true selves at all, and that we are actually still the same one Self, God’s innocent Son forever intact.

This recognition is the real miracle.

 

 

 

 

In the first two steps we need to willingly and actively ask Jesus and/or the Holy Spirit for help in the process of letting go of blame (first of others, then ourselves). In the third step we simply experience peace through the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit clears us of all our made-up pain from our belief in sin, guilt, and fear in the first two steps. These were our own make-believe “blocks to the awareness of love’s presence” (mentioned in the Course’s opening Introduction to the Text on page one).

The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence… (Text p. 1)

The Holy Spirit helps us to recognize and let go of our own blocks to knowing peace and love, which were simply our judgements of others and ourselves… then what’s left is our experience of true peace.

A Course in Miracles - combined volume - Foundation for Inner Peace

Course References to The Three Steps of Forgiveness:

 Here are some Course places that mention the three steps…

 1) WB Les. 23 p.34  

I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts (my judgments of others and myself).

 This first reference, par. 5 sentence two, is the shortest but probably the most succinct:

par. 5:

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 (Step One), and then let go (Step Two), so that it can be replaced (Step Three). 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.

———–

2) WB les. 52 p.84 par.2

I see only the past.

As I look about, I condemn the world I look upon. I call this seeing. [I realize] I hold the past against everyone and everything, making them my enemies (Step One).  When I have forgiven myself [by letting  Jesus tell me he still loves me] (Step Two) and remembered Who I am, I will bless everyone and everything I see. There will be no past, and therefore no enemies. And I will look with love on all that I failed to see before. (Step Three)

———–

 3) WB les. 56 p. 92 par.2

Above all else I want to see. 

Recognizing that what I see reflects what I think I am (Step One), I realize that vision is my greatest need. The world I see attests [reflects] the fearful nature of the self-image I have made [a separated self in my mind] . If I would remember who I am, it is essential that I let this image of myself go (Step Two). As it is replaced by truth, vision will surely be given me. And with this vision, I will look upon the world and on myself with charity and love. (Step Three)

———–

 4) Text p.90 par.6

I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace. (Step One)
I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise.
I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace.(Step Two)
I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him.
I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me. (Step Three)

———–

 5) Text p.131 par.5

5 Do not be afraid of the ego. It depends on your mind, and as you made it [the ego] by believing in it, so you can dispel it by withdrawing belief from it. Do not project the responsibility for your belief in it [the ego] onto anyone else, or you will preserve the belief. When you are willing to accept sole responsibility for the ego’s existence you will have laid aside all anger and all attack, because they come from an attempt to project responsibility for your own errors (Step One).  But having accepted the errors as yours, do not keep them. Give them (our beliefs in sin, guilt and fear, and that we are a separated self) over quickly to the Holy Spirit to be undone  completely (Step Two), so that all their effects will vanish from your mind and from the Sonship as a whole (Step Three).

———–

***  6) Manual p.86 par.6 (Lyn Corona’s favorite on 3 steps) 

This is the shift that true perception brings: What was projected out (Step One) is seen within (Step Two), and there forgiveness lets it disappear (Step Three). For there the altar 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 must lie beyond forgiveness, for it seems to be forever sinful. Where is hope while sin is seen as outside (Step One)? What remedy can guilt expect? But seen within your mind, guilt and forgiveness for an instant lie together, side by side, upon one altar (Step Two). There at last are sickness and its single remedy joined in one healing brightness (Step Three). God has come to claim His Own. Forgiveness is complete.

There are other references that we may find that will stand out to each of us… and when in doubt, ask Jesus for help to lead us somewhere in the Course he may want us to look.

 

One, Two, Three…

Another way of briefly describing the three steps of forgiveness is the following…

  1. What if the real source of my not feeling peaceful or happy… is not something external in your behavior or even my own behavior… no matter how bad that behavior may seem.
  2. What if the real problem is internal in my mind… where I simply have chosen to believe I could push Jesus and peace away… and that’s why I’m unhappy.
  3. When I allow myself to hear Jesus tell me your innocence and real identity as God’s Son is still intact, and so is my own, then I truly feel his love and presence and I know what he’s telling me is true. And from this happy and safe place, I will intuitively know what to do next, in any given situation.

 

 

2 Real choice (in the mind) is no illusion. But the world has none to offer. All its roads but lead to disappointment, nothingness and death. There is no choice in its (the world’s) alternatives. Seek not escape from problems here. The world was made that problems could not be escaped. Be not deceived by all the different names its roads are given. They have but one end. And each is but the means to gain that end, for it is here that all its roads will lead, however differently they seem to start; however differently they seem to go. Their end is certain, for there is no choice among them. All of them will lead to death. On some you travel gaily for a while, before the bleakness enters. And on some the thorns are felt at once. The choice is not what will the ending be, but when it comes. (Ch. 31, p. 653, par. 2)

Ken Wapnick used to say that projecting our internal made-up guilt onto the world and our bodies…  was “a maladaptive solution to a non-existent problem.”

The solution that didn’t work (maladaptive) was projecting our guilt onto others to try to get rid of it. All that did was reinforce our inner unrecognized belief that guilt was alive and well inside us…

The real problem was always our own belief in sin and guilt in our own mind (which was actually made-up, ie. ‘non-existent’ in the first place).

I can actually ask Jesus to help me see and experience that he didn’t go anywhere. He is still right here, right now, loving the real me (meaning all of us joined as one)… loving us in spite of all our seeming ‘sins’ and differences. We are forgiven for what we didn’t do, and could never do… that is, separate from him and God.

This is the Course’s uniquely non-traditional, yet practical process of forgiveness.

 For further discussion on the three forgiveness steps,

check out Ken Wapnick’s CD set or MP3 download on

“The Meaning of Forgiveness”

 (click here)

 

SFACIM Video: on “What forgiveness is / what forgiveness isn’t…”

 

My Unrecognized Resistance: to letting Love love me.

“Our Unrecognized Resistance to Love”

(self-crucifixion)

Whether we have been in the Course for ten years or ten minutes, it is always our own un-admitted desire to ‘crucify’ ourselves (Lesson # 196) that keeps us from accepting and experiencing God’s Love. Emphasis on the words ‘our own un-admitted.’ Our default ego mode is to believe others are trying to crucify us, but… “It can be but myself I crucify.”

The question is then… are we willing to own up to that possibility and ask for Holy Spirit’s help to realize our own resistance to God’s Love…  and take that fear to Jesus … where we then can ask him for help, and begin to allow that resistance to evaporate before his very loving presence?

Or do we continue to resist acknowledging our responsibility in crucifying ourselves… by thrusting Love away and blaming it on someone or something else?

It is normal to hear at Course meetings long-time Course students say and admit how much resistance they have to doing the Course and finding peace. Sometimes it seems we wear it as a badge of honor. Almost like.. “look at me, I’m really aware of my resistance.” But… are we?

In terms of the Course process of forgiveness, it is a groundbreaking necessary first step to begin to realize I may not be upset for the reason I think (Les. 5).  In other words we start to recognize that we are the ones resisting and pushing peace away. It is not being done to us. Admitting this possibility to ourselves is crucial for our waking up.

(Admitting this to others on the other hand isn’t necessary… except it may be helpful sometimes to share and point out that it is possible for all of us to become aware of our hidden resistance to truth.)

However… admitting we have resistance doesn’t do a lot of good, if we are not willing to take the next step to let it go and move beyond it.

As Ken Wapnick and the Course teach, this next important step is to move into an experience of  “I could see peace instead of this.” (Les. 34)   But we hear ourselves say we can’t… or I’m always beating myself up instead… and/or some thing always seems to stop me. Maybe we actually are resistant to Love, but we can’t seem to get past that resistance to an experience of Love… 

Who then is the “you” that’s being stopped? Who is the you that beats itself up? Who is the you that is looking at itself aware of some resistance to love, but still seems stuck from going beyond ‘the stuck’?

(If you are familiar with the teacher Mooji, it is his standard question to his disciples…  Who is the ‘you’ that sees and feels like you are blocked from an experience of non-duality?)

Isn’t it simply the ego, unrecognized and un-admitted, looking at its own ego antics? A synthetic self looking at its own made-up resistance to Love… but when we, as decision makers in our minds, do not take responsibility for choosing that, we wind up pretending our resistance is an inherent part of what we are. We think the resistance we feel is not really our fault. It’s just part of ‘me’… God made me this way.

That idea then gets pushed down in our awareness and projected out onto somebody else… Yeah maybe I’m a little resistant to Jesus and Love, but look at that guy… way worse than me. (As Byron Katie would say… “Is that true?”)

So, we do all this constant projection simply because we are blindly resistant to letting our resistance go… because we secretly believe we are and should be afraid of God and His Love, and our resistance to Love somehow protects this not-self we think is us.

What if our fear of God, our own unrecognized resistance to Love, our pretending to be stuck… is all made up too… by the very not-self  that we have decided to produce out of nothing, and with which we choose to identify ?

The three steps of forgiveness in acknowledging and letting go of resistance (with the help of Jesus) are…

  1. We are willing to stop blaming the other guy for our lack of peace. (Maybe I am really not upset because of what you did or didn’t do…maybe it’s not about you at all)
  2. The second is we are willing to hear Jesus tell us we are not a separated ego self that could push him away and be resistant to him, in the first place.
  3. The third is simply letting him love us as we truly are… One Innocent Self, still intact.

(self-made prisoner of fear)

Ch. 9 Sec. I: The Acceptance of Reality (p. 160)

1 Fear of the Will of God  (resistance) is one of the strangest beliefs the human mind has ever made (we did this). It could not possibly have occurred unless the mind were already profoundly split (our choice to take the tiny mad idea of separation seriously), making it possible for it to be afraid of what it really is. Reality cannot “threaten” anything except illusions (us as egos), since reality can only uphold truth. The very fact that the Will of God, which is what you are, is perceived as fearful, demonstrates that you (an illusion, i.e. the decision maker still identified with a made-up illusory ego self) are afraid of what you are (our true reality). It is not, then, the Will of God of which you are afraid, but yours (our own true will, which is our own True Identity as God’s One Son).

=================

The problem is this : What if it’s NOT the resistance or judgements that we do acknowledge and are aware of that are holding us back from having a holy instant… What if, however, it is mostly, and possibly only, the unacknowledged/unrecognized resistance to admit our choice to believe each of us is a separated identity: weak and vulnerable and unloved… that  un-admitted belief is what is still blocking us.

The issue is always the same… But we rather not call it what it is… resistance to even admitting we are resistant to peace and Love. We instead call it other things… being right, or being normal, or appropriate, or stuck, or whatever excuse we use to justify our irritation and judgements, especially of ourselves…. which keeps Jesus love at bay.

We don’t realize that being right (even ‘right’ about how resistant we are) is still being resistant. We are then trapped in a Catch-22 situation. We are resistant to simply letting Jesus love me as I truly am in this moment, a real Holy Instant. What if all the pain we experience comes simply from our own unrecognized resistance to letting go of this not-self, which actively pushes Love away, and then blames the other guy for it…?

=========

What does the Introduction to The Course say about our own insistence in our resistance to love?

Text p. 1:

The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks (our unrecognized resistance in ourselves… in which we feel mired and obstructed) to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance.

 

** Check out more references in the Course about our secret, hidden, unrecognized beliefs…

about who we are and what we believe we need to do:

Text Ch. 24 Sec. I (p. 499):

2 Beliefs (our judgements that I’m right and you’re wrong) will never openly attack each other (in our awareness)… But an unrecognized belief  (my resistance to peace) is a decision to war in secret, where the results of conflict (our wrong mind at war with our right mind) are kept unknown and never brought to reason, to be considered sensible or not. And many senseless outcomes have been reached, and meaningless decisions have been made and kept hidden, to become beliefs (judgements) now given power to direct all subsequent (worldly) decisions. Mistake you not the power of these hidden warriors to disrupt your peace. For it is at their mercy while you decide to leave it there. The secret (secret to ourselves) enemies of peace, your least decision to choose attack (and resist) instead of love, unrecognized and swift to challenge you to combat and to violence far more inclusive than you think, are there by your election. Do not deny their presence nor their terrible results.

3 All that is ever cherished as a hidden belief (love is dangerous), to be defended though unrecognized, is faith in specialness (I believe I am different  from my brother, and especially different and separated  from God my Father). This takes many forms, but always clashes with the reality of God’s creation and with the grandeur that He gave His Son. What else could justify attack  (judgement)? For who could hate someone whose Self is his, and Whom he knows? Only the special could have enemies, for they are different (we are not one Son of God) and not the same. And difference of any kind imposes orders of reality, and a need to judge that cannot be escaped.

8 The fear of God and of your brother comes from each unrecognized belief in specialness (usually I am especially holier than you). For you demand your brother bow to it (my “holiness/righteousness”) against his will. And God Himself must honor it or suffer vengeance. Every twinge of malice, or stab of hate or wish to separate arises here. For here the purpose (the Holy Spirit’s) that you and your brother share becomes obscured from both of you.

You would oppose this Course because it teaches you… you and your brother are alike.

 

========

We all share two things: 

(1) the same ego’s desperate need to separate and blame (and not admit that’s what we are doing), and

 (2) the same Holy Spirit way out of that insanity: forgiveness.

 

================

Text Ch.19 Sec. IV C  (p. 417, par. 4)

The arrogance of sin, the pride of guilt, the sepulcher of separation, all are part of your unrecognized dedication to death. (Every judgement we make against our brother… and every time we feel stuck in resistance… is a secret wish to kill our own true self.)

 

 

Chapter 29: The Awakening Sec. VIIIThe Anti-Christ (p. 619, par. 1)

1 What is an idol ? Do you think you know? For idols are unrecognized as such, and never seen for what they really are (replacements for our essence and reality as God’s One Son). That is the only power that they have (the power from remaining unrecognized). Their purpose (to keep Jesus out of our awareness) is obscure, and they are feared and worshipped, both, because you do not know what they are for, and why they have been made.

An idol is an image of your brother (judged as different from me) that you would value more than what he is (we are both one Son of God, still guiltless). Idols are made that he may be replaced (they replace my brother’s and my own true identity), no matter what their form. And it is this (purpose) that never is perceived and recognized. Be it a body or a thing, a place, a situation or a circumstance, an object owned or wanted, or a right demanded or achieved, it is the same (purpose).

 

 

Chapter 23: The War Against Yourself  Sec. III. Salvation Without Compromise (p. 495)

1 Is it not true you do not recognize some of the forms attack (and resistance) can take? If it is true attack in any form will hurt you, and will do so just as much as in another form that you do recognize, then it must follow that you do not always recognize the source of pain. Attack (resistance) in any form is equally destructive. Its purpose does not change. Its sole intent is murder, and what form of murder serves to cover the massive guilt and frantic fear of punishment the murderer must feel?

He may deny he is a murderer and justify his savagery with smiles as he attacks. Yet he will suffer, and will look on his intent in nightmares where the smiles are gone, and where the purpose rises to meet his horrified awareness and pursue him still. For no one thinks of murder and escapes the guilt the thought entails. If the intent is death, what matter the form it takes?

Would you not want to recognize assault upon your peace in any form (any unrecognized resistance), if only thus does it become impossible that you lose sight of it (peace)? 

Peace can be kept shining before your vision, forever clear and never out of sight, if you defend peace not.

(Peace doesn’t need defending, or attacking, to save it…)

5 Those who believe that peace can be defended, and that attack is justified on its behalf, cannot perceive it lies within them. How could they know? Could they accept forgiveness (letting go of our resistance to peace)…  side by side with the belief that murder takes some forms by which their peace is saved? Would they be willing to accept the fact their savage purpose is directed against themselves?

You are not asked to fight against your wish to murder. But you are asked to realize the form it takes (including believing we are trapped in our resistance) conceals the same intent (murder). And it is this you fear, and not the form. What is not love is murder. What is not loving (our unrecognized resistance) must be an attack. 

 

 

 Each form of murder and attack that still attracts you and that you do not recognize for what it is, limits the healing and the miracles you have the power to extend to all.  This is your part; to realize that murder in any form is not your will. 

6 When the temptation to attack rises to make your mind darkened (our resistance becomes hidden) and murderous, remember you can see the battle from above. Even in forms (of resistance) you do not recognize, the signs you know. There is a stab of pain, a twinge of guilt, and above all, a loss of peace. This you know well. When they occur leave not your place on high (in your mind), but quickly choose a miracle instead of murder. And God Himself and all the lights of Heaven will gently lean to you, and hold you up. For you have chosen to remain where He would have you (in your right mind), and no illusion (of resistance,  finally recognized and surrendered) can attack the peace of God together with His Son.

Lesson 190  (p. 362, par.9)

Lay down your arms (your resistance), and come without defense into the quiet place where Heaven’s peace holds all things still at last.

Lay down all thoughts of danger and of fear. Let no attack enter with you.

Lay down the cruel sword of judgment that you hold against your (own) throat,

and put aside the withering assaults with which you seek to hide your holiness.

 

On a lighter note…

More on “Resistance” from Ken Wapnick:

(click on titles below for more info)

 

Ending Our Resistance to Love [AUDIOBOOK]

 

From The Lighthouse: To Look Upon Darkness Through Light Must Dispel It [BOOK]

See the Lighthouse Newsletter “Resistance: How one studies ACIM without really learning it?” on p.32  in the above “Anthology”.

 

Tuesdays Online: “Together on The Resurrection Road” 10-11:30am Mt.

Lyn Corona & Friends:

“Our Resurrection Together with Jesus!”

10-11:30am Mt. Time

Every Tuesday we discuss a particular ACIM passage on how we resurrect from our belief in death to the awareness of our resurrection together, thru practicing the forgiveness process in  A Course in Miracles  (ACIM).

** These Tuesday classes are only recommended for students who have regularly studied Ken Wapnick’s teachings on ACIM and death and resurrection, and who have been practicing forgiveness as described in ACIM…  for at least a year.

To Attend Online: click here

for Class registration and Zoom link

From:                To:

Weekly Class Schedule: Click here

The world has everything backwards…  It operates on the premise that one’s own interests are separate from everyone else’s. Everything is evaluated on the basis of whether we get what we think we want, and keep away what we don’t. If we do we are “happy”; if we don’t we are miserable.

A Course in Miracles attempts to undo this selfish point of view by teaching us shared interests. The sole qualification of a teacher of God is that he has made a deliberate choice not to see his interests apart from someone else’s at the level of mind. We share the ego’s selfish interest of individual autonomy and existence in our wrong minds. We also share the Holy Spirit’s way out of this made up self condemnation through forgiveness in our right minds.

Lyn’s insightful exploration of the Course helps us become aware of the Course’s understanding of our only two shared interests that we all have. We will focus on how we let go of one (the ego and its thought system of death), and then progress toward the other (the Holy Spirit and its awareness of our true Identity and eternal Life as God’s One Son).

Lyn Corona began her study of A Course in Miracles in 1976 and has been teaching its message of peace through forgiveness for about 50 years.

She is a founder and president of the School for A Course in Miracles.

If you feel so moved, please ‘Donate,’ with credit card on the link below (or with check payable to SFACIM, mailed to Lyn Corona, 1663 Steele St., Unit 1007, Denver Co. 80206)…  It helps us to keep these Course video presentations coming. 

 




(If you don’t see the yellow “Donate” link above, click here…)

 

Course References on From Death & Dying… To Resurrection in Our Minds:

click here

 

Happy Thanksgiving: Be grateful! Our sinlessness is an… “Already-Done-Deal !”

 

Our own redemption is already at hand, and unless you give all that you have received you will not know that you have awakened with him, your brother… already.        

(Text p.209, par. 9)

One of the striking differences between ACIM and traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and most New Age spiritualities is that…  A Course in Miracles takes an ‘already-done-deal’ approach.

Most western religious and spiritual paths assume something is really wrong to begin with, and then go about trying to fix it or evolve beyond it. To them, sin and separation are devastatingly real. The Course specifically sets up its version of the Atonement (that nothing happened), right in its Introduction to the Text on page 1.

This Intro immediately spells out that this is not a course about love, loving, or evolving somehow towards love, or even making the world a better place in which to live… but on letting go of our own judgements of others and ourselves which block our awareness that we are still beings of Love:

 

“The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim however at removing the blocks to the (our) awareness of love’s presence, which is our natural inheritance.” (Text, p.1)

So then, this is simply a course about undoing those blocks, in our minds, to realizing that love is already a done deal, and our true Identity is still part of that Love… period. We are God’s children, always have been, always will be. The Course shows us how to stop pretending that we’re not eternally part of God’s Love… insisting in our criticizing, fixing, and sometimes even ‘helping,’ that we are not ‘still’ as God created us.

“But when I willingly and gladly go the way my Father’s plan appointed me to go, then will I recognize salvation is already here, already given all my brothers and already mine as well.” (Les.#317)

So what’s my Father’s plan? In the Course’s 1300 plus pages, Jesus is always encouraging us to look at each other differently by asking the Holy Spirit for help ‘to see beyond the veil,’ see beyond the differences we think we see and even cherish. Early on in the Course he also states that this course is not about behavior (Text p.29, par.2-3). It is not about what we do or don’t do, but about how we “see” each other.

And more to the point: with whom are we seeing or perceiving… our ego or the Holy Spirit? Jesus tells us we have this internal place called the mind, where we are constantly choosing between one of these two teachers or inner guides. (NB: This internal place is not what the world calls our brain, but a deep place within us the Course describes as the ‘mind.’) When we choose the ego as our teacher, we see separation and blame. When we choose the Holy Spirit, we experience the Atonement, that nothing happened and our true Identity is still intact.

Problem is, when we are choosing the ego, we’re not really conscious of that choice… but we do feel its effects. We are irritable, judgmental, and certainly not peaceful. We are quick to point out that our discontent is not our responsibility, but we easily finger-point the culprit as something or somebody else. It’s amazing when we go thru the course of our day, and begin to realize… how many times each and every day we are blaming, and how much we are on high alert to find a new drama where we can find and accuse others of robbing us of our peace.

However, choosing to ask the Holy Spirit to perceive and experience people and things differently is a very conscious and vigilant effort. We first honestly look at how hateful our thinking and seeing is, and even tho we believe we are right, we admit how painful it is to hold onto that righteousness. (Would I rather be right or happy?) This becomes the motivation to hope that ‘there must be a better way,’ and I begin to be a little more willing to find and try that ‘better way’. The better way for Course students is the Course’s process of forgiveness, ie. learning to ‘see’ differently. We forgive, or let go, of our way of viewing the world full of victims and victimizers. Then we allow, or let, the Holy Spirit’s vision, of what we truly are, take its place.

(Lesson Titles #31-35)

Forgiveness in the Course is a return to the awareness of the “Done Deal.” Whatever our eyes might be telling us, we ask for the Holy Spirit’s gift of vision to see/experience that our brother’s innocence (and ultimately our own) is still intact… already there and present, no matter what they are doing or not. This doesn’t mean, in terms of behavior, that we don’t do the next appropriate and helpful thing. But it does mean that while we are doing whatever our chosen behavior is, in our heart of hearts, we come to know we are each already ok, already saved, and already God’s one Son.

This is not some pie-in-the-sky made up fantasy. For those of us who have practiced the Course’s forgiveness, we experience that this is the reality behind all the seeming facades that ’cause’ us to blame and condemn. We actually begin to feel and know, about ourselves and others, what Jesus consistently tells us in Lessons #201 thru 220:

“I am not a body. I am free. I am still (already) as God created me.”

Thank you Jesus!

and Happy Thanksgiving!

Replay of video from SFACIM on a discussion of “gratitude”:

click here

Also a five minute youtube clip on Ken Wapnick speaking about our gratitude to Jesus for giving us his Course in Miracles:

Click here

 

 

Coming soon…

Five Month Online

The Immersion 2026

click here for info

 

Musings: The Seven “Rules” of Decision Making

From ACIM Chapter 30, Sec. I

Text p.625-628:

RULES FOR DECISION

1. Upon waking think about the kind of day you want. The outlook starts with this: “Today I will make no decision by myself.”

 

2. Throughout the day reflect upon the kind of day you want and say, “If I make no decisions by myself, this is the day that will be given me. ”

These two procedures, practiced well, will serve to let you be directed without fear, for opposition will not first arise and then become a problem in itself.

 

3. When you have judged already (be certain this has happened if you feel yourself unwilling to sit by and ask to have the answer given to you), you need a quick restorative before you ask again. Therefore say, “I have no question, I forgot what to decide.” Try to observe this rule without delay, despite your opposition.

 

4. If you are so unwilling to receive you cannot even let your question go, you can begin to change your mind with this: “At least I can decide I do not like what I feel now.”

 

5. Continue with: “And so I hope I have been wrong.” This works against the sense of opposition.

 

6. You are not coerced, but merely hope to get a thing you want. And so you say in perfect honesty, “I want another way to look at this.”

 

7. The final step is but acknowledgement of lack of opposition to be helped. It is a statement of an open mind, not certain yet, but willing to be shown: “Perhaps there is another way to look at this. What can I lose by asking?”

 

“It must be clear that it is easier to have a happy day if you prevent unhappiness from entering at all. But this takes practice in the rules that will protect you from the ravages of fear.”

(Text p. 628, par. 13)

RULES FOR DECISION

( how to stop investing in my judgments)

… paraphrased:

1. Today I will make no decision (judgments) by myself…

I will ask now the Holy Spirit to help me see you and me and others… the way He does.

—

2. When I make no decisions or judgments by myself,

this is the peaceful day that will be given me.

—

3. When I get ‘crazy’ again, I have no question…

I forgot to decide  (to ask the HS to be my Guide in my perception).

—

4. At least I can realize and admit I do not like the way I feel now.

—

5. And so I hope I have been wrong.…  because leaving the HS out did not help.

—

6. I still really do want another way to look

at this situation or person that is bothering me.

—

7. So… perhaps, there is another way to look at this,

What can I lose by asking HS to help me see you and me the way He does?

(… and then ask.)