Chapter 1
Introduction
A Course in Miracles was brought to Israel by Phyllis Schlemmer, a world renowned trance medium, in 1977. She formed a group of twelve people (including my mother) who practiced the course. Twelve years later the course was translated into Hebrew by Avi Yasur and Ruthi Sheck Yasur who where also a part of the first group.
In 1986 I had my first encounter with A Course in Miracles. I saw my mother doing one of the lessons and asked her what she was doing. She explained to me what the course was about and how it was done. One of the things she told me was that it was a one-year course with a lesson for each day. Thinking about what she said I replied that this is something I wanted to do but that I was not ready at that point in time to commit to doing the lessons each day; however, I was positive that I wanted to do it. This talk had an impact on me that I still remember clearly today.
About one year later I was ready to do the course (In Israel there are support groups for people who want to do the course). So I went to register with the person who was explaining the course to people and helping to convince them to do it. When I came in I said that I wanted to register. That woman started to explain to me all that I already knew. I sat there nodding my head and when she finished I told her I needed no convincing; I wanted to do the course. A few months later it was time for my military service (which is mandatory in Israel for men and women). At that time the course was not fully translated into Hebrew and so I received from that woman the English version of the book. I took the book with me and continued to practice the daily lessons. It was a wonderful support for me because the army was a shock. I didn’t understand what was going on there. Practicing the course gave me hope and strength to go on and not to drift away. There was a strong spiritual connection with God inside giving me inner direction and inspiration. When I got stationed at a permanent base I started assisting in the support groups of the course. The assistance gave me experience and satisfaction in the process and growth of other people and myself. There I had a revelation. A man whom I'd met several years earlier came as a guest. He was introduced as a practitioner of the Alexander technique. Seeing him made me jealous. This jealousy brought me to the understanding that I envisioned myself assisting people in their growth processes. I started with rebirthing and went to learn with Leonard Orr. From there I continued with massage therapy specializing in several types of bodywork, Yoga, work with learning disabilities, one brain and more to the present day with my studies with the University of Metaphysical Science.
The course was, is and continues to be a powerful ally in the opening and broadening of my view and understanding of myself and life.
Twelve years ago my mother started to teach in support groups. My wife attended a few of her groups before our first child was born. So the course is accompanying us on a family level, all the time assisting us in understanding each other and resolving issues.
For the past three years I have attended one of my mother's groups as an assistant and an apprentice teacher. That has led to two workshops that we do together: the “inner child workshop” (a healing journey to one's childhood and the child within) and the “prosperity workshop” (how to improve one's wealth consciousness). So in this journey my mother will also be my guide so that I will be able to bring to this work the best understanding possible.
Chapter 2
Review of literature
The main texts that I am using in this thesis are the three volumes of “A Course in Miracles”.
• The Text: is the book that explains the theory of the course.
• The Workbook: is the book with the exercises that are practiced each day during the course (365 Lessons). In the lessons there are also explanations of some of the theory that the course brings forth and how to do each lesson.
• The Manual for Teachers: is the book that has questions and answers about the course. It also explains what qualities the teacher of God has or perhaps needs to develop. It is important to remember that any people committing themselves could be teachers of God.
In this thesis I want to explain the basic principles of the course and a practical way to work with them. Having worked with the course for the past 15 years I feel it is a metaphysical tool that if understood correctly can help the inner healing process most of us want and need in our lives.
In preparing this thesis for the second time, I was given the opportunity to reflect on the materials used and understand what a course in miracles is saying. I was using a lot of information which I have gathered over the years, information which I have taken for granted and wasn’t even aware of how much I do in deed know. The idea that the course brings forth is simple and deep: “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.” (A Course In Miracles, Introduction) in his book: “love is letting go of fear” Dr. Jerald Jampolsky is bringing this idea into a clarity and explains how the old thinking patterns and habits are preventing us from fully being in the here and now. Another important point is the difference between reaction and choice. When we react we really do not have a choice. Regarding this point from a different aspect is the vipassana approach as it is portrayed in William Hart’s Book; “The Art of Living”. In vipassana great emphasis is put on the way we are attracted to pleasant things and try to avoid the unpleasant things in our lives. The way to get over that is to train the mind to look at all things without trying to run away from them or be with them. Training the mind is a very important practice in most if not all spiritual ways. It is also the main practice of Yoga. In the theoretical aspect of Yoga there are explanations of the level of devolution from Brahma – the one and total consciousness, unity with every thing down to the physical level. This correlates to what the course calls “separation”. Another important point that is reflected through the reading material is prayer. Again we are talking about a subject that is found in every religion and spiritual way. What I found in yoga (the complete illustrated book of yoga) and Judaism (Kitzur Shulhan Aruch – the summery of Jewish laws) is the importance of the prayer. Second important point is to have a deep intension put in with the prayer. This is illustrated in several books I have referred to earlier and also includes “prayer can change your life” by Dr. William R. Parker and Elaine St. Jones and in Louise L. Hay “the power within”. The way one prays can really make a difference. The third point is the difference between the course and most prayers. Normally people pray for what they don’t have. The course talks about praying for what you already have and recognize that you have it. This is a shift in the way prayer is perceived. It is a metaphysical prayer of connecting to the abundance that God is.
The other aspect of which the course is talking about is how our thought and beliefs are projected into the world. What we usually do is to project the way we feel about ourselves onto others. Debbie Ford in her book “the dark side of the light searchers” describes in details the way we project on to others and how to stop it. The Idea of projecting our thoughts and beliefs is supported in many of the “new age” books. In “rebirthing in the new age” Leonard Orr and Sondra Ray are talking of how our thinking patterns are created and that birth is the biggest trauma in our life. The course of miracles does not agree with this theory. The course tells us that the main problem is the separation from God. Later on in the book “rebirthing in the new age” work with affirmation is presented to change negative thought patterns into positive ones.
Dr. Bernie Siegel in his books “love medicine and miracles” talks of how the attitude of the patient influences the course of the disease. medical miracles happen when the patient is recruiting his will and chooses life, looks into the cause of the disease and releases the emotional barrier within. Another book that talks of how we can change the physical reality is Dr. Deepak Chopra’s “ageless body, timeless mind”. Using idea’s from quantum physics he talks of the way we can each change our own reality and when the change is made by many people it can transform the entire population. Ken Wapnik who is one of the leading teachers of the course and what it says, is talking about “the tiny mad idea” that is the beginning of the separation.
Neal Donald Walsch in his books conversations with God explains many of the ideas presented by the course in simple words. i.e. that God did not create the wars on this planet. As written in lesson 14: “God did not create a meaningless world” and later on, in the same lesson: “God did not create that war, and so it is not real”. Regarding this world as it is not the ultimate reality is also what is being taught in Yoga.
In this thesis I also wanted to describe how the course came to be. A remarkable story is clearly illustrated in the book the “journey without distance”. This book was written by Robert Skutch, one of the people who were closely involved in bringing the course to the public awareness. It is important to notice that the author’s name is not written on the cover, this is because Helen Schucman did not want any personality worship, and that the course is standing on its own as it was channeled.
One more book is “the little soul and the sun”. In this children’s book Neal Donald Walsch is describing how the soul that is not physical gets her self into the physical realm. There is no other place other than the physical world where we can experience separation, pain and death. This book emphasizes the effort needed in order to do that, and more important is how we forget where we came from.
I also searched the bible. On one hand to show how the idea of separation is explained in Genesis, And on the other hand to bring the biblical perception of God, as something outside ourselves, a being that punishes and gives abundance at his own will. This is opposite to the perception of the course.
And last but not least I used the dictionary to check on the definition of miracles and follow that with the explanations of the principles of the course.
Understanding the ideas presented in these books has brought me to a deeper appreciation of the knowledge which I have gotten and the process I went through over the years.
Chapter 3
Methods
The methods of obtaining and processing the information used in this thesis are:
• A guided study with my mother (who is also a teacher of A Course in Miracles).
• Personal study from relevant books.
• My personal experience i.e.: workshops I have attended, a study with Leonard Orr and Dyana Yogi at Campbell Hot springs.
Chapter4
Findings
How the course came to be
A Course in Miracles is a huge project that was done by two professors of Medical Psychology at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Their names were Helen Schucman and William Thetford. It all started with the understanding that psychology as it is does not work. On another level the personal relationships in the university were filled with status pursuit and professional differences. To top it off, Helen and Bill were far from any kind of spiritual connections. Things were going downhill to the point where the two colleagues came to realize that “there must be another way." The willingness for something else opened a channel and Helen started to have spiritual dreams which Bill suggested she write down. These dreams were preceded by an inner voice that said to her: “This is A Course in Miracles; please take notes." Helen thought she had gone crazy and called Bill immediately. Bill suggested that she write it down in shorthand and that they would work on it later. Taking down the notes took seven and a half years and over one hundred shorthand notebooks. The outcome is A Course in Miracles in three volumes. The reason for that is that Helen asked that inner voice when it would be over. The answer was, "When you hear the word 'Amen'." Since she heard the word Amen three times she concluded that each time was the end of a book. After the first book was typed it was given to several friends to be evaluated. Among them were Judy and Robert Skutch who created the Foundation for Inner Peace. The foundation is responsible for the printing and translating of the course. At the time of this writing the course has been translated into over ten languages. The foundation is planning to keep translating the course into as many languages as possible. Since the course is a difficult course because of all the painful places it touches it is easier to learn it in one's native language. Bill and Helen have passed away but their work is here to stay. Since the course stands for itself no other names are attached to it. I personally feel that is one of the things that have drawn me to the course and its teachings.
What the course says
The principles of miracles
The word miracle in Noah Light (version 0.65) dictionary means: “a marvelous event manifesting a supernatural act of God or any amazing or wonderful occurrence." As we will see in the explanations about miracles and how they work, the course has a different view than that to which we are accustomed.
1. All miracles are equal. They are all expressions of love. Miracles are not big, small, easy or hard. The expression of love (the miracle) is maximal. If it is not maximal it is not love and therefore it will not be a miracle.
2. The origin of miracles is beyond our current perception. Its source is the only thing that matters. The miracles are a tool, they have no importance in themselves.
3. Everything that comes from love is a miracle. Miracles are natural as love is a natural thing. When love is present the miracle will occur. It will also create other miracles.
4. All life emanates from God. Since the miracle means life it comes from God. Specific guidance and knowledge are given individually so everything you need to know is revealed to you.
5. Miracles should not be selected consciously. If they are, they are not miracles and can create a mistaken outcome. “Let go and let God” is an appropriate saying here and when one does let go the miracles happen voluntarily and on a regular basis.
6. Miracles should happen naturally. When they do not happen something has gone wrong. When we do not see the miracles in our lives, we have forgotten our connection to God.
7. Everyone is entitled to miracles. Cleansing the mind of wrong thinking is mandatory. Without this cleansing our vision is clotted by wrong ideas that bring about the life we see when our life is not working for us.
8. Miracles fill a lack, the feeling that something is missing, usually a lack of love. The people who perform miracles have temporarily more (love, a connection to God) than people who have temporarily less.
9. When a miracle happens both sides of the event (the giver or performer of the miracle and the receiver) gain from it. In that sense miracles are beyond the physical laws, the sum is greater than what is put into it. This is miraculous; it is a true expression of love.
10. Using miracles to try to make someone believe is not understanding what miracles are all about. Most people look for the miraculous as in the biblical sense and want to see something dramatic to be able to believe. They do not understand that the true miracle is a connection to God within and not in the outer world.
11. Miracles are expressions of love. Prayer is the channel through which miracles come. Prayer is the way to connect to and “talk” with God. It is a direct channel that enables love to flow from God to us or to connect our awareness to the love that is flowing all the time.
12. Our thoughts make this world. They are divided into lower or bodily (ego) thoughts or spiritual (heaven) thoughts. The miracle represents the higher thoughts that wake us up from the ego/physical.
13. Miracles are affirmations that work in all the tenses (past, present and future). The miracles heal the past in the now so the future is released and all possibilities are open. It is a rebirth affirmed time and time again.
14. The miracles say what truth is. They are based on total belief, the belief in God. Without belief it is magic, using the mind in a non-productive way that takes us away from unity and the connection with God.
15. Time is a means to learning. When it is not needed for learning anymore it will not exist anymore. Meanwhile it is important to take time each day to practice miracles.
16. Miracles increase the power of the giver and the receiver at the same time, thus demonstrating the blessing that is possible in the miracle.
17. Miracles heal because they take us away from the level of the body into the more flexible realm of the spirit. They take one's consciousness into the union with God.
18. A miracle is a service that connects one's identity to the love one has for himself expressed towards the other person. It is an opportunity to give and receive the biggest service one can do for another.
19. Miracles demonstrate the laws of eternity and not of time. They connect one's consciousness to the God consciousness. This connects us to the place we never left as the creation of God. Each of us is the one Son He always had and always will have.
20. The miracle opens the consciousness to the truth that spirit, not the body, is the true reality. When we know this, great acts of healing can happen in the mind.
21. God has forgiven us for we haven’t done anything wrong. The miracle is the opportunity to know that you are forgiven and to pass it on to someone else, thus increasing the forgiveness in this (physical) world.
22. We believe that darkness can hide things. This is a mistaken perception that leads to fear of miracles as things we do not see or understand. It is the ignorance of spiritual sight that can see all that is our inheritance.
23. The way we perceive the world is mistaken. We see things through beliefs based on the wrong thinking of separation. That is the sickness from which we suffer. The miracle puts perception in the right order. That is healing. It brings back the ability to see the connection between things.
24. Miracles make it possible to heal and raise the dead. That is because sickness and death were created by our mind and thus the solution can come from our mind. Since the human mind has the properties of the Creator (God) it can also create. We are beings of light. Any other perception of ourselves is false and leads to horrible feelings in our lives.
25. Miracles bring us to forgiveness. When we are done forgiving we have reached Atonement. Atonement is working all the time and in all the dimensions of time.
26. "Atoning" means "undoing." It is true healing that brings the mind to its original state of oneness with God. The miracle is a symbol of being without fear. In the process of atonement the miracle is undoing, letting go of fear. Without letting go of fear, we remain separate and cannot reach atonement.
27. The miracle is a blessing to the entire world. It is a blessing of God through Jesus. When one is forgiven he can pass on the blessing of forgiveness and forgive himself and others.
28. The real gain from miracles is the release or end of fear. The miracle leads to revelation. Revelation is a deep understanding not only with the intellect, but also with a feeling of knowing. It is the connection to the God mind. Miracles are the vehicle traveled to the end that is the revelation.
29. Miracles release the mind from identifying with the body (ego) and bring it to identify with the spirit. This gives honor to all the creation of God. It is praising God through the person who practices miracles.
30. Miracles bring the levels of perception into alignment. This is done by connecting with the Spirit, the Spirit of God. The Spirit is put in the middle of the conscious mind and that enables it direct communication with the personal mind.
31. Miracles are based on love. Love leads to gratitude, not to fear. Thanking God for what you are is acknowledging that you (and all the children of God) are holy. This holiness is a God given right. It is not something that can be lost or changed although it is sometimes clouded by anger, fear, hatred or any other negativity.
32. Jesus is the inspiration of miracles. The miracle mediates between holiness and personal perception. This is the place of the celestial or heaven. It is beyond physical laws. It is a connection with the perfection that you are.
33. You are lovable. This knowledge is clouded by illusions about yourself and others. The miracle comes to atone for the errors in our thinking, the errors that create hell in our perception. Once you let the miracle heal and put your mind in the “hands of God” you can bring peace and sanity to your mind and yourself.
34. The miracle brings the mind back to completion. When the mind is not complete there is a feeling of lack all the time. Atonement is a return to that perfection. This perfection is complete protection. The wholeness of the spirit is all-powerful and nothing can penetrate it.
35. Miracles always work. We cannot always see what they do. They are always a Godly expression of love.
36. Miracles bring the mind to right thinking. They take perception to the truth of God as He created it. This is opposed to wrong thinking that takes us away from creation toward condemnation of ourselves and others.
37. A mistake in thinking, a wrong idea (what Ken Wapnik calls: “a tiny mad idea") is corrected by Jesus. This is part of the process of change from wrong (judgmental) thinking to correct thinking (accepting thing as they are and choosing what to do about them). This is true healing or connection to Atonement. Unless one's thinking/perception is corrected it is impossible to reach true knowledge and reconnect with God or the way things really are.
38. The Holy Spirit is the mediator between God and His Son (us). The Holy Spirit is the way miracles come to be. The miracle helps us to differentiate between wrong thinking and right thinking. It can happen because it has the ability to see both worlds (God and the one we have created) and not only the selective vision we usually have.
39. Because the Holy Spirit can differentiate between illusion and what is real it corrects wrong perception. The miracle brings light into darkness. When the light comes the darkness disappears not because of a fight but because darkness is the illusion that cannot withstand the truth which is light.
40. The miracle is a verification that everyone is your brother. It marks all people as the children of God with His seal. That makes us all holy.
41. The miracle encompasses a full or whole perception of each situation. That makes it possible for the miracle to correct, atone or heal the faulty perception of lack. This lack can come in many shapes and forms (lack of money, sex, material property of all kind) but is basically lack of love which is a result of the wrong perception that we are separated from God.
42. We perceive ourselves as separate from God. This is a false perception. It creates a feeling that I am alone in the world. If I am alone and apart I can be separated from my things, thus be deprived and feel lack. I try to fill this lack with things from the physical world, which never really works.
43. An open mind that is ready for miracles is the open door for miracles to happen. If the mind is not open even if a miracle occurs it will not be noticed.
44. When the miracle occurs, it is we who let Christ consciousness come into our awareness. That also means accepting His atonement and by doing so accepting our atonement as well.
45. A miracle affects many people, many of whom you have not and will not meet. This produces changes in places, of which you haven’t thought or dreamed. And so the miracle is never lost. It brings the redemption of the world closer and sooner.
46. There are two ways of communicating with God. One is the miracle and the second is the Holy Spirit. The miracle comes to serve as a temporary device, to let the awareness of God into the mind. Once the mind is established and realizes God’s awareness we can contact God through the Holy Spirit without delay all the time.
47. Miracles are timeless in the sense that they make time pause allowing the false perception of the mind to be corrected. This is beyond the roles we are used to in daily life.
48. The miracle is a tool to control time. It is easy to use at any time. All that is needed to do is to ask for it and it will happen. Revelation is above it in the sense that it is out of the time line. It is a suspension of fear and doubt and connects the individual to the feeling of creation and God within.
49. Since there are no levels of difficulty in the miracles there are no levels in misperception; they are all the same. The way to treat them is also the same. The miracle is always effective just because it is not biased and does not judge the misperception. This is true indiscrimination.
50. The miracle is a device that compares what one does with what God has made (created). What is true – brings us closer to realize God - is accepted and what is false is rejected. So the mind is constantly directed towards God.
The Logic of the Course
When we come to study A Course in Miracles there are terms and ideas that are used in a different way than usual. Jews, Catholics, Muslims and others will agree with what the course says or the meaning it has for the terms that are used. Here are explanations of the terms the course uses.
But, just before I start, I wish to note that the course is based on a very simple idea. The idea is that once upon a time, even before time was, God and His creation (Son) were the spiritual universe. Since the Son of God has the qualities of His Father (God) He can create. At the beginning of time there was “a tiny mad idea” that something can be outside God. This led to what the course calls: “separation." This separation created an illusion that opposes the nature of creation and it is that something that is apart from God; that something is the Ego. The Ego is also the beginning of fear. Once something is “apart” from God it is trying to be better than God or compete with God. Thinking apart from God puts Him above and us underneath. This perception is a wrong idea, a wrong way of thinking. It creates fear. The result is lack. Lack of love that leads to other sensations of lack such as money, sex, goods, and so on. Once the problem occurred (the separation from God) a solution was created as well.
God: God is everything. Nothing is apart from God. Only our perception can create the illusion, put thick sunglasses in front of our eyes so we do not see that we are still one with God. God is us and we are God in a way much like the body that is made out of individual cells that comprise the whole and the whole that makes the individual cell. Reconnecting to God is opening one's awareness to the presence of all the other cells and the function of the whole in each and every cell. God is everything. In order to see God you have to get outside it. But it is impossible to get out of what is everything. God is all that was, all there is and all that will ever be. Only our perception is in the present. It is like seeing a DVD movie. The entire movie is there all the time. Yet we see just the part that is on the screen at a selected second. Our perception doesn’t ever see the present as it is. We only perceive what our judgment allows us to see. God sees the whole picture in all the times (past, present, future) without any judgment. God is good and bad and all the other qualities you can think of now. Yet God is not a person as taught in some religions. Reconnection with God is connecting with that everything.
The Ego: the Ego is the part that was created in the moment of separation. It is the part that perceives itself as an individual. The part that thinks that someone is different from it. The part that is in an everlasting competition with God on one hand and afraid that God will punish it on the other.
If we look at little children we can see what they do when they don’t want to get punished; they punish themselves. And that is what the Ego does. But since it doesn’t want us to see that, God is blamed for whatever happens. That can be seen in the major religions. For example, in Leviticus, there are several chapters about what will happen if one does what God says and what will happen if one doesn’t: “If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield her produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread until ye have enough, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; … And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.”(Leviticus 26, 3-13), and a few verses later: “But if ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments; and if ye shall reject My statutes, and if your soul abhor Mine ordinances, so that ye will not do all My commandments, but break My covenant; I also will do this unto you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall make the eyes to fail, and the soul to languish; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set My face against you, and ye shall be smitten before your enemies; they that hate you shall rule over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for these things hearken unto Me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield her produce, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit… and they shall be paid the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected Mine ordinances, and their soul abhorred My statutes. And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.” (Leviticus 26 14-45). This point is also important to the understanding of the relationship to God.
The Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit is the mediator between God and us. Once the separation began a solution was created as well. Since God is all He cannot understand the separation or that we are living a life that is less than perfect. On the other hand we do not understand unity, as it really is right now, because of the separation we are experiencing. The Holy Spirit comes to bridge that gap, to be able to communicate with the highest and the lowest. It is like the way we cannot usually communicate with our cells and hear what they tell us. The Holy Spirit is also needed to transform God energy to slower vibrations so we can handle them. It is like the power grid we usually use. The power plant produces hundred of thousands of volts. If we connect an appliance directly to the power plant it will burn away. In between we have transformers which transform the high voltage to something we can use, i.e. 110 volts. The Holy Spirit works in a similar manner. The big difference is that home appliances have specific voltage requirements. People's requirements change as they develop spiritually.
The Moment of Separation
One of the more important points of the course is the false perception that we are separated from God. This Idea was born at the beginning of time. The physical world did not exist yet and God has created his Son. The son of God has the same qualities as his father. That means he has the power to create. Then the Son of God had an Idea, what Ken Wapnik calls “a tiny mad idea”. The idea was that a world could be created outside God. In the bible we can see this idea when Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit they became aware that they were naked. Being naked is actually not being one with everything. And God is everything. “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles” (Genesis 3,7). Another thing which was created with separation was judgment and that meant seeing things as good or bad and at the same time fear and guilt. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2, 17), “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”(Genesis 3,8). The physical world was created to hide from God out of fearing him. Judgment is the opposite of acceptance. Acceptance has a key role in peace of mind. When we don’t accept something, situations, people as they are constantly resisting and in conflict with others and ourselves. Real acceptance is based on seeing who the person is, or what is going on in a specific situation and being able to choose what we want to do rather than reacting from an old behavior or pattern. It is the situation where we are connected to God in our consciousness and know that what ever that person is doing, they are doing out of fear and because they cannot make a choice and only react from their old patterns that come from fear and guilt.
As a result of the misperception idea the astral plane was created. In the astral plane there are souls, there is an astral body, but there is also unity and no one can project the idea that I am here and you are there. The guilt that was the result of the Idea of separation could not be projected well. No one can get hurt on the astral plane and no one can die. The next step was to create something beyond the astral level, so the physical world and physical body were created. In the physical world one can get hurt, can die and most important of all there is here and there, there is time and there is someone to project on the guilt. The guilt of creating something apart from God. And experiencing the separation that I am apart from you.
All this time we still feel a yearning to be one again with God. (just to remind us that this is only a separation in our minds, a collective dream, “matrix”). We project this feeling of lack, lack of God and try to become one through sexual intercourse. It does not really work yet most of us keep on trying to find the missing half.
The Teachers of God
The course talks about the concept called the teachers of God. We are used to thinking that the teacher and the student are separate from one another. We are used to thinking that the teacher is giving something that the student doesn’t know. The course talks about this concept in a different way. First of all, the teacher is a student as well. The teacher is teaching by living a certain truth, by being an example. He can only give an example of one of two ways of thinking, separation or union (we are one). The teacher in essence is giving to himself through giving to the student, teaching what he has to learn. The teacher is reinforcing the knowledge he has, making the doubts the teacher has about himself lessen until they disappear.
Who are the Teachers of God?
The teachers of God are any who have chosen to be so. That is all. Once a person has made up his mind that students will come, the tools of teaching are given so teaching can occur. Being a teacher of God is not limited, anyone from any religion, race or place can be a teacher of God. The essence of the course is one. Yet the ways it is presented to the teacher differ and are brought in the specific manner that the teacher needs. The message is that the Son of God (ALL OF US) is innocent. Realizing this innocence is the key to one's salvation.
Each teacher has his specific students. The people who are ready to learn from that teacher will find him. Once the teacher is committed the students are drawn to him as if by a magical force. The principle that likes are drawn to each other is at work here.
There are several levels of relationships between the teacher and the student, although in reality anyone can learn and therefore teach anyone. As the course says in the workbook in lesson 108: “Giving and receiving are one in truth,” so are learning and teaching.
The basic level of teaching can be what may seem a coincidence with a brief yet transforming encounter. Instead of pain there will be joy or happiness, instead of a fight, peace, instead of a frowning face, a smile. These are opportunities to see the Son of God in the other person and free him from the bondages of suffering.
The second level of teaching will be a longer encounter (time-wise). The teacher and the student will work together (not necessary a job) and when the teaching is done they will part (physically). What might seem as the end of the relationship is only on the physical level and they will meet again at some point or another.
The third level of teaching is the teaching relationship that will last a lifetime if not more than that. Once the two people have met they have many opportunities to learn from/teach each other. This is usually rare because most of the time people are not at the same level of development (especially learning/teaching-wise). Sometimes those people will not know about their teaching/learning relationship. In some cases the relationship starts in a hostile manner. Yet if they are open to learning they will and so will come closer to the salvation of themselves and the whole world.
What are their Qualities?
In the path of teaching each person brings his personal properties and experience. There are also properties that are part of the personal evolution of men in the spiritual path. These properties are needed as part of the tools that are required to teach as well as a part of the personal development of the teacher on his journey outside of time, or more, towards his redemption.
1. Trust
Trust is the first quality. It is the basis for all the other qualities. This trust is based on the understanding that there are rules that come from our consciousness and are not forced on us from the outside world or some crazy God that says that you have to do this or that to be O.K. This knowledge brings great strength with it. Knowing it intellectually is the first level of comprehension and trust and knowing it experientially is the next level where the peace of God lies. Once one has connected to this strength he will not be tempted by minor Ego promises. Trust is developed through several levels:
1. The teacher goes through a phase of “undoing;” this is usually a painful time although it does not need to be one. There is a loss of treasured things. In truth there is no real value which is the purpose of this phase. The changes the teacher goes through enable learning so he can see things in a different light. In many cases if an outer change in his circumstances does not occur the learning process does not progress. Once this learning is done we come to the second phase.
2. In this phase the teacher of God is looking into things and events and evaluating whether they are taking him forward or setting him back on his path. Many things that have an appeal from the past will be at stake here and will probably dampen his efforts to live the knowledge he is trying to live in all events in his life. Understanding that all occurrences are opportunities to grow and bring a possibility and are useful for the progression on the path is helpful.
3. In this phase the teacher is “giving up” things. The only thing one can give up is wanting things. Feeling that touches the painful place of scarcity, lack of love, mainly self-love that is the connection to God. There is no sacrifice here for one is only relinquishing one’s desires that bring craving and unhappiness. By giving up and letting go the teacher finds happiness and the gift of freedom. At this point in time the teacher is becoming stable with his learning and sees the ways out of misery. This strengthens the trust. The trust is becoming stable because the learning process is based on experience, which is true knowledge, not only intellectual information. The result is great peace of mind and happiness.
All the other properties of the teachers of God are based on trust. Without a strong basis the foundation of the teacher will not be stable. And when that foundation is there the rest is bound to come and manifest itself in the consciousness and teaching of the teacher.
2. Honesty
Honesty is a result of trust. Only when you have trust you can be honest. Trust means you can be what you are because you know what you are, the Son of God. To be honest means that you are consistent. What you do does not contradict what you say and what you say does not contradict what you think. It is not about saying everything to everyone. It is about not having inner conflict. Inner conflict creates inner war that prevails as an outer war when it is projected onto the physical world. Since we can see that most people are in some kind of conflict, argument or war with other people we can then assume that they are not being honest with themselves. Those who are honest have peace of mind. Those who are not honest will deceive first of all themselves, then project that onto other people (and most of the time complain that the world is not honest). The teachers of God do not have challenges in this world for that would mean that the trust they have is not complete. They do not need to be dishonest because they know that they will achieve their goal. It is not the goal of the Ego. It is the will of God. And they join this will and choose for each and every one the way home to God, to the place where there is no fear, where only love abides. The way is sure, no cheating is necessary. Honesty is the best policy, the policy of complete serenity and consistency without fear or doubt.
3. Tolerance
The quality of tolerance is a result of not judging. (When we judge we are being dishonest; dishonest about the other person and that means dishonest to oneself for we are one.) That also means that one is trusting. As we mentioned before trust is the basic trait of learning and being a teacher of God. And so giving up judgment brings people closer, enables them to love each other unconditionally and truly be tolerant to people of different colors, religions, countries and so on.
4. Gentleness
Another quality that comes up in the process of teaching/learning is gentleness. When you do not judge, you do not hurt other people (that doesn’t mean that they might not decide to be hurt by something that was said or done). If you do not judge yourself nothing can hurt you. This is real invulnerability. The other choice is the continuation of judgment and the condemnation of oneself and the rest of the world. It means living in an aggressive world and therefore defending and attacking according to the verdict of the specific moment. It is creating and justifying war, death and hell, a hell that is man-made. Vulnerability makes one confused, frightened and suspicious. This means that for the person who looks at the world and sees attack gentleness is not possible. On the other hand, for the person that is not hurt, gentleness is a natural and easy thing. Choosing peace and the kingdom of heaven (right here, right now) over hell is the choice the teacher of God wants to make. This is real strength based on Godly thinking instead of Ego thinking. This is the freedom to be what we are: the children of God.
5. Joy
The gentle teacher is safe, safe from fear and hurt. That leaves a “void” that is filled by joy. This is a joy that is not based on temporary excitement or external stimulation. Joy is based on the knowing that God is always with him, and he is unhurt and guided by the Holy Spirit. Joy is a song of praise, participation in the redemption process.
6. Defenselessness.
“If I defend myself I am attacked.” (Lesson 135). The teacher of God is learning that there is nothing to defend, and nothing to be defended against. Defending something is believing that this world is real, that the crazy race over power, money, status and more is real. Defenses are actually keeping that mad illusion real for us. So this world and all its conflicts are being reinforced. Letting go of madness is truly letting go of constant defensiveness.
7. Generosity
Generosity is one of the terms the course uses with a slightly different meaning than the one we are used to. In the dictionary the definition is: “unselfishness, the trait of being willing to give your money or time.” The course says that giving to the other is truly giving to yourself: “To give and to receive are one in truth.” (Lesson 108). If we look at what the dictionary says we see that being generous is giving something that you have and in doing so you do not possess it any more. You give up something that is in your possession. This thinking is Ego based. I am giving so my Ego feels good: Righteousness. The giving that the course talks about is Giving of what is truly yours (the things God gave you). Possessions can come and go but the connection to God, the endless love that is His heritage can be given freely and by doing so received in abundance. The more you give the more there is, something that is the opposite of the rules of the physical world as we usually see it.
8. Patience
Patience is based on the knowledge that the outcome is sure. This knowledge is based on trust. Things might take more time or less time but when we know that we will get to the goal it is possible to wait. All that has happened is a part of the evolution, a part of growing, and a part of salvation. It is bound to happen therefore the teacher can be patient.
9. Faithfulness
Faithfulness is being able to be consistent in the faith that things are the way they ought to be; not some things, but all of them. This idea is presented in several places in the course. One of the places is in the preface to the workbook: “The purpose of the workbook is to train your mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything in the world. The exercises are planned to help you generalize the lessons, so that you will understand that each of them is equally applicable to everyone and everything you see. Transfer of training in true perception does not proceed as does transfer of the training of the world. If true perception has been achieved in connection with any person, situation or event, total transfer to everyone and everything is certain. On the other hand, one exception held apart from true perception makes its accomplishments anywhere impossible.” (Paragraph 4-5). If there are no exceptions and perception is one, the thinking of the world is changed forever. If there are exceptions, if the teacher doesn’t apply the understanding of the courses to everything then he has not reached complete faithfulness. The result is that there is still fear and vulnerability.
10. Open-Mindedness
Open mindedness is the last quality to be learned by the teacher of God. This quality is directly related to forgiveness. To be open-minded is to let go of all judgment. To forgive is also to let go of all judgment; it is to accept the other person as he is. This requires the mind to be open to see what the other person really is – the Son of God, innocent as he was created by God. It means seeing beyond the masks your brother has put on himself. He might have forgotten who he really is. But the teacher of God sees who he is as he always was and always will be.
Chapter 5
Discussion
The structure of the course:
The course in miracles is comprised of three books: 1. Text, 2. Workbook for Students and 3. Manual for Teachers.
1. Text: The text is the part in which the idea and philosophy of the course are laid out. The message of the course is simple and direct: “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.” This is a very deep and profound statement suggesting that we are one with God and that we are beyond the passing and temporary. That is our reality and once we have accepted it we are safe and can live without fear in perfect peace. The course elaborates, giving examples in detail, how we operate in this world and suggests a solution: forgiveness. The healing agent.
2. Workbook for Students: Learning the theory of the course and understanding it is important yet we have to remember that the course is not theory; it is pragmatic and calls for practice and training of the mind. The training of the mind is in any spiritual practice that really is aimed at liberation. Without practice the course and its ideas remain wonderful ideas that do not work. I have seen people who claimed that they knew the course without practicing and their lives seemed the same, without any significant change.
The workbook is comprised of 365 lessons, one for each day of the year it takes to do the course. The workbook is divided into two parts. The first part is the unwinding of one's thinking. Before new thinking is put into the mind it is important to ventilate out the old thinking patterns. It is done by practicing sentences like: “Nothing I see in this room means anything.”(Lesson 1). And progresses to seeing that: “I am never upset for the reason I think.”(Lesson 5). And to “I share God's Will for happiness for me.”(Lesson 102). After each segment of ideas there is a repetition period to deepen the understanding and refresh the ideas that were practiced.
The second part is comprised of the sentences that make up the new direction toward which the mind is directed and trained. Examples of such sentences are: “Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still.”(Lesson 221), and “I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.”(Lesson 236). The second part is divided into 14 segments. At the beginning of each segment there is an explanation about one of the theoretical subjects of the course such as “What is a miracle?”. Practicing the lessons makes a difference and people report that their lives begin to change, that people change around them and that life gets better and better. This practice is what makes this change possible. Without it all the knowledge remains theoretical knowledge and not practical knowledge.
3. Manual for Teachers: since the course regards everyone who wants to do the course as a teacher of God anyone can read and use this part of the course. Most of the book is questions and answers such as: “Who are the teachers of God?,” “What is justice?,” “CAN God be reached directly?” and more. At the end of the book there is clarification of terms such as: “mind-spirit,” “ego-miracle,” “the Holy Spirit” and more. The Manual for teachers offers a direct look at some of the questions the student/teacher might come across in a concise manner.
Why do the course?
There are many reasons why the course should be practiced and I am sure one can only cover the reasons that he can see from his point of view.
1. The course is a spiritual way. Man is, was and will continue looking for spirituality. It is embedded in our collective subconscious. The course offers a spiritual way that is usually not difficult, not in a physical way, although many people experience difficulty dealing with their unresolved issues.
2. The course is not another religion. The course is aimed at giving you back your own power and not giving it to other people that tell you what you should or shouldn’t do in the name of God.
3. One does not need to believe in the course for the course to work. Once someone has committed himself to practicing the course (the workbook), miracles start to happen and the person can start to see them. Although miracles happen all the time, in most cases, only once the work has started the mind is open to seeing what has already been there.
4. The course is a healing agent. Practicing the course heals the mind. Miraculous things start to happen because the mind is directed more efficiently to do the things it needs to do and forgiveness can be reached. That leads to peace of mind and reconnection of the awareness of the presence of God.
In our lives we are constantly involved in multilevel relationships. Since the course talks about two ways of looking at the world (the forgiving-compassionate way and the Ego-fear way) relationships are also divided into two categories: special relationships and healed relationships. In the physical world in most cases we start with special relationships. If we are on a spiritual path we will surely reach the healed relationships too.
Special relationships:
Special relationship is the term for the way we usually work in a relationship, which does not work and creates conflict and anything but love. Special relationships can be divided into special hate and special love relationships. Although they might look different on the outside they are constructed on the same principle. It is the scarcity principle. This principle means that we feel that something is missing or lacking in us. It is reflected in feeling guilty yet that is not the real issue. The Ego does not want us to see the real problem that we do not feel connected to God. The Ego’s other goal is to not find love, which is why relationships are prevented from being loving in many instances. This separation in the mind is illusionary; it is where the Ego rules best. The guilt is a result of the Ego “banning” God from our consciousness and not God banning us from heaven as the biblical story tells. Scarcity leads to need. Since I feel that I am not full or complete, I need to find something that will fill this hole. It can be material goods or relationships. So instead of being filled by God and His love the Ego is telling us that in the outside world we will find our happiness. When we come across the “right” person we form an agreement: “I will love you (and I will fill your hole) and you will love me (and you will fill my hole)." After the agreement is “signed” both sides need to keep it scrupulously. If I am to bring ten flowers every day it shouldn’t be nine flowers. And vice versa. At this point we have two lovebirds that have everything and all is right for them. Until… it is impossible to keep this agreement all the time and so, when an agreement is broken one side feels unloved, hurt and angry and breaks the agreement on the other side. At this point both sides are aggravated. The love that once was has turned into hate or anger. This can happen not only in romantic love. It can occur in work relationships, between parents and children, friends and so on. It is important to emphasize that the course does not condemn or say that that is bad. The course does not judge and doesn’t want you to judge. What the course says is to put the relationships into the hands of the Holy Spirit so She can heal them. Here is the general progress of a special relationship:
1. I feel guilty.
2. I find a partner to hide this guilt.
3. We sign an agreement of what you need to do for me and what I need to do for you. Everything is well because I feel loved and you feel loved or in other words I don’t feel my guilt and you don’t feel yours.
4. One of the partners breaks the agreement.
5. Lack of self-esteem and lack of confidence arise, guilt is at every corner.
6. One person tries to get the other person to keep to the old agreement mainly by guilt or threat. Still, all the other means are also kosher (can be used).
7. The hurt side (usually it comes to both sides yet in some cases one is the aggressor and the other is the aggressed) attacks the other side. There can be hatred, bitterness, frustration, accusation, fear and more.
8. A physical, emotional or practical separation takes place.
9. Having Guilt (expecting punishment).
10. Finding a new partner.
Many people get stuck in one of these stages. The steps illustrated here are the complete cycle many of us go through.
Special hate relationships skip the “love” phase and start with the “negative” projections. The special hate relationship is filled with antagonism and anger/hatred/fighting from the very beginning or very shortly after meeting the other person. We can be in such a relationship or try to run away. It doesn’t help - we cannot run from ourselves. These relationships serve a purpose. As such we either change them or stay in them with the gain we get from them.
Sex in relationships:
The course addresses sex as a physical need, no more and no less. What we have done with sex is to play games and to make something much more than it is. Power games, getting our way and more are Ego’s extension to what really is a simple physical need much like food which is also abused in a similar way. Sex is also used to punish the other party for misconduct or any other act with which one side is not happy. Punishment can take the form of withholding sex, demanding a lot of sex or sexual abuse in its many forms.
The healed relationship:
The healed relationship is the relationship in which we accept the other and ourselves exactly as we are. The people involved in the relationship see themselves as one. Separation in our perception is released to know unity. There is only one mind and that is the mind of God. We all share that mind and once we have forgiven we can see. The Ego no longer has power over us. The barriers have been lifted. The way to this point has to go through rough resistances of the Ego. The new changes are threatening the Ego. It means that it is about to become extinct and it is fighting for its survival. These times of change are the times faith should be strong. Hold and strengthen it. The reward is your happiness. The holy instant of connection with the other person and God. The change is gradual yet the goal is clear. Releasing projections, letting go of gain that is not required anymore. Seeing the other person in the light of love.
The laws of chaos:
The laws of chaos are the laws of the Ego and of the physical world. They are illusive exactly as is the rest of the world that the Ego made up. They are the laws of the unreal world and therefore coincide with the perception of the physical world. Once they are brought into the light of God they vanish. There is no need to give them power, just to see them and let them go, then they control nothing. Here are the laws of chaos:
1. The truth is different for each person. This idea is based on separation. Each individual has his own set of thoughts. Some thoughts are better than others. By making my thoughts better and righter than yours your thoughts will be less and wrong. Since you will think in the same way as the opposite side we will become enemies and we can have a crusade. Whoever wins, his truth will dominate. This idea is opposed to the first principle of miracles that there is no distinction in the level of illusions, they are all the same.
2. The second law is a conclusion from the first law. If I am right then the other person is a sinner. Of course the person on the other side will think the same thing. If you are a sinner then you deserve to be attacked and to die. This idea means that when you make a mistake you should be punished rather then correct your error. Death means the error is not forgivable. It places God as the almighty judge, someone to be frightened of. This thinking makes fear a very real thing. The Ego’s laws are arrogant. They define what God has to be according to this thinking.
3. The third law eternalizes chaos. It puts God as the judge that has to judge His son and accept his (the son’s) belief about himself and therefore hate him for what he has done. And if God is the enemy we cannot turn to Him for help nor can we ever be readapted. This makes atonement an imaginary myth. God wants revenge, not forgiveness. This leads to more and more devastation.
4. This law is about taking what I think is mine. It is based on the belief that what the other loses I gain. Once this is the belief it is not possible to understand that one can only take from himself. The leading thought is that I should get as much as I want; if I don’t take I won’t have. Yet we don’t usually stop to think, "What is it that I don’t have?" The answer is clear; it is what the other has. Still, when you get it you are unsatisfied exactly as you were before.
5. The last law is that there is a substitute for love. It is a magic that will cure all your pains. It doesn’t work yet we try in madness to make it work. We try to open the door with the wrong key and do not stop for a minute to think, "What is not working here? Maybe I need to change the key, maybe I need to turn to love, forgiveness, compassion to reach the peace I want, to find the God that is not condemning."
Projections:
Projections are an important part of the layout the course brings forth. In essence projection is how we see the world and what we see in it. Basically we only see and feel ourselves, then we throw that onto the world. We usually only see what we are willing to comprehend. When we come across something that is unfamiliar we don’t see it; we ignore it or say it doesn’t exist. This is illustrated in the joke about a scientist in the seventies who comes across an alien life form that stands and talks to him and all he can say is that there is no such thing. The concept of Projections also explains the mechanics of hurt. When we stop projecting onto other people we can see them for what they are and react accordingly. Actually it is not reacting but being able to choose what to do without the emotional part. Projections are the way we react to people whether we like it or not. When we let go of our emotional reaction we can be free to make any choices possible. We are not driven by our emotion towards one choice or the other. They are laid in front of us to make the choice we want. At this point in time I can love and accept people as they are. This does not mean letting anyone step on me, hurt me physically or do something that I do not want to happen, i.e., if someone tries to kill me it does not necessarily mean I will let him/her kill me. This idea applies to all forms of damage.
There are four types of projections:
1. What I see in the other person is something that I like about myself: this is the easiest projection to understand or deal with. I am attracted, like, love, feel for another person because I see in him something that I like in myself. I think someone is loveable because I feel that I am loveable. This applies to all the “positive” feelings. Since we do not have a problem with our positive feelings this type of projection is important to remember because it moves us emotionally. We have to remember that the final goal is total bliss which is beyond fluctuating emotions whether they are positive or negative. Therefore “positive” reactions will be released in the process of spiritual evolution or, as the course calls it, the return to God.
2. What I see in the other person is something that I DON’T like about my self: this is the most common negative projection. With this projection we tend not to see what we don’t like about ourselves and when we see it in the other person we get angry, hate or generate other negative feelings towards them. The negative feeling is actually what we think and feel about ourselves. Since we don’t like to say it to, and feel it, ourselves we dump it on other people who in many cases don’t know why they deserve it. Part of this process is justifying ourselves. Justification can be on moral, theological, idealistic or any other grounds. It can also be on an unreasonable basis. If we look closely we will see that the act, speech, quality etc. is something that exists in us, something we would rather forget than deal with. Instead of saying to myself, "You made a mistake," I say to the first person available how wrong he/she is.
3. What I see in the other person is something that I WOULDN’T like to have myself or am afraid to have: we come across this projection when we don’t like someone and when we look inside we don’t see the quality or the behavior that we have. What we can see is a quality or behavior that we are afraid to have, that we are trying not to be like. Realizing this is important along the path of forgiveness, yet it is important to remember that only on the surface level. On a deeper lever one will see that that quality or behavior is a part of him that has manifested itself and that person was not willing to see it. Or that it is inside and one is resisting letting it out because he is not accepting it in himself.
4. What I see in the other person is something that I WOULD like to have in myself: this projection means envy. I want to be something that I am not. Not only am I not what I want to be, it is eating me from the inside and making me miserable. Looking at the envies that I have is the first level of this projection. Looking deeper one will see that it is a quality or behavior that one has not found or let out from the wholeness one is. Since in essence we are everything and everything is within us it is about connecting to that part in us and letting it out.
In the realm of envy we have two types of envy: 1. Sitting and boiling in envy about what I am not. Staying a victim of the world and blaming others for what I am not. 2. Using this envy to go and grow. Taking responsibility for my life and learning how to let the quality or behavior come out and progress me further. An example of that is an incident from my past: when I was released from the army I started working with my father in the family business. At the same time I also assisted in one of the support groups of A Course in Miracles. A guy I knew several years earlier came to one of those meetings. He was an Alexander technique teacher. As I realized that I became aware that I was envious, incredibly envious. I asked myself what the projection was that I was making there. The answer was that I wanted to work (professionally) with people on their spiritual growth. This incident was a turning point that led to the beginning of my studies.
Gain:
Gain is an important point in the process of forgiveness. Without letting go of the Gain it is virtually impossible to reach a forgiving state of mind.
Gain is what we get from still holding on to our negative feelings, emotions and thoughts about others or ourselves. One can hold onto being righteous about something. It can happen that someone is receiving attention for being miserable. The possibilities are numerous. The common denominator for all the possibilities of gain is that the person who is keeping the gain is losing something much greater – his happiness. We sacrifice our happiness and freedom for a gain that is always much less than the positive choice. Nevertheless most of us repeatedly choose the gain, the Ego’s choice and not God’s choice. It is important to ask a simple yet powerful question: “Do I want to be right or do I want to be happy?” - happiness and righteousness do not go together. To top that many people will choose, when asked, to be right. Fewer people will choose happiness. To choose happiness means giving up what I thought was so right that I could not let it go in order to look at another option of a reaction. In some cases it will mean having to give up something that I am getting. For example: one of my professional skills is improving learning disabilities. In my work I came across a child who was dyslectic (or at least that was the common diagnosis) and he was given special privileges in exams (such as extra time). After he started reading and writing normally he started to regress in his progress. When confronted he said that he did not want to lose his special privileges. Finally we agreed to hide his progress from his teacher and only he and I would know the truth. This is only one of many incidents in which I came across gain. Finding out what the gain is is a brave and usually difficult task. That is because gain is not something we like to find out or give up. The automatic resistances from within might hinder the discovery of the gain. Yet practice makes perfect. Contemplating on finding the gain, asking myself: “What do I gain from holding onto this anger, grudge, situation? What is in it for me?” are questions that with a strong commitment will lead to the real answers. At the beginning superficial gains might come up. They are also part of the gain. Yet one can know that he has reached his goal when a big smile or even laughter is expressed. This is usually what happens when the bottom line gain is discovered and it is followed by guilt. And at that point one can make a conscious choice: to keep on holding onto the gain or to let it go. If the choice was to keep the gain at least the responsibility is clear. It is not the world's or anyone else’s responsibility; it is that person's choice. And if the choice was to let it go the person will surely be lighter for he has chosen happiness in his life.
The forgiveness process:
The forgiveness process is the headline of the course. Everything the course talks about and aims at is forgiveness. Without forgiveness it is impossible to reach atonement. The forgiveness process is the means. But before we talk about the process it is important to understand what forgiveness is. The dictionary states: “forgiveness, pardon, the act of excusing a mistake or offence. Compassionate feeling that supports a willingness to forgive." Forgive: “stop blaming or grant forgiveness." To add to that the teaching of the course talks about acceptance, the letting go of anger, hate, fear or any other negative feelings one can have for anyone or oneself. To forgive is to heal. The healing that is done is in the perception of the person practicing forgiveness. To be able to forgive one has to understand “Why should I forgive?”. The answer is simple: the person who is suffering from the hate, anger and so on is the person who is holding onto those feelings. If someone wants to be happy, that is, really happy, he has to let go of the past and live in the present. It does not mean forgetting the past. It does mean no longer feeling negative feelings toward the people who “did something to us” or, in the spirit of the course, we choose to be hurt by what they said or did. If I cling to the gain I have from not forgiving there is no chance that I will forgive. So the first step is to realize that I wish to gain happiness. The next step is to look at the people I need to forgive. In essence we can only forgive ourselves because we are truly only angry with ourselves. On the other hand since we project our anger at the world the forgiveness process is done with the people on whom we have projected. In general it is anyone for whom I cannot feel love. To start the process it is recommended to look at the people towards whom I have the most negative feelings. Usually the most significant people such as parents, brothers, sisters and teachers are people with whom we should do the process. Once a list is established it is advised to work with one person at a time. Working with a few people spreads the mind’s focus and no work is achieved. The next phase is releasing the negative feelings. HERE THERE IS A VERY SRONG RECOMMENDATION: DO NOT DUMP, EXPRESS NEGATIVITY (ANGER, HATRED, ETC.) ON OTHER PEOPLE IN GENERAL OR ON THE PERSON YOU ARE ANGRY WITH SPECIFICALLY. Expressing negative feelings to other people only brings more misery and suffering into the world. In most cases if there is something that needs to be resolved on the physical plane it can be resolved peacefully. There are some instances in which specific strong expression is needed. There are some people who, unless you shout at them, will not do something or understand that you mean what you say. That is because of their conditioning. For instance: If they grew up in an environment where they were never addressed in a nice manner, they then grew up with an armor and only aggressive behavior moves them. Here are some suggestions of Positive ways to release anger and other negative emotions without hurting anyone:
1. Simply be angry. Allow yourself to feel the anger, knowing it will dissipate when you are done experiencing it.
2. Go to the beach and shout, alone or with a friend. You can also do it in you car with the windows up. (Do not try it while actively driving.)
3. Buy a punching bag or learn kickboxing. Let your aggression out on a pillow or a physical object.
4. Write a letter expressing all of your feelings. DO NOT send the letter. Burn it or tear it to shreds and let the negative emotions be gone with the letter.
5. Find a person who can handle your feelings and support you. You can tell them your feelings or imagine that they are the person you want to tell all your feelings.
The next step is looking at the projection that you have made onto that person. This can be done by meditating or sitting with a notebook and contemplating the projection. Is it something that you have in yourself, something that you are afraid to have in yourself or something that you would like to have in yourself? By looking at the projections that you are making you can continue to release negative emotions. It is important to remember that the discovery of projections is gradual. Not all projections will be visible right away.
After you have found projections you come up to look at the gain. Gain is usually difficult to find. It takes patience for some of the gain to be declared by the mind. Some of the gain will be obvious but usually it won’t be the bottom line gain. When they see the bottom line gain most people break out and laugh. For they have seen the reason for their misery. It is advised to let the gain go although in some cases it will not be so easy to let go of something you were holding onto for so much time. Remember the question: “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?” They don’t go together.
We now come to the practice of forgiving. What we have been talking about is an important preference yet is not forgiveness. There are several ways to practice:
1. Meditation: go into a meditation and when you bring the person in front of you look at him/her and love him/her as much as you can. And at the same time allow yourself to feel all the resistances that come up, all the negative emotions and let yourself experience whatever comes up. Repeat the process of looking at the person through eyes of love until it becomes true for you.
2. Meditation with affirmation: go into a meditation and when you bring the person in front of you say to him/her: “I forgive you, ___, for all that has happened between us. I love you and accept you exactly as you are”. And at the same time allow yourself to feel all the resistances that come up, all the negative emotions, and let yourself experience whatever comes up. Repeat the sentence and say it with as much love as you can until it becomes true for you.
3. Writing: take a notepad and divide the page into two. On one side you will write the sentence and on the other the response. Use the forgiveness sentence. It is recommended to use it in the three forms.
• “I forgive you, ___, for all that has happened between us. I love you and accept you exactly as you are”.
• “You (your name) forgive (the other person's name) for all that has happened between us. You (your name) love you and accept (the other person's name) exactly as he is”.
• “He (your name) forgives (the other person's name) for all that has happened between us. He (your name) loves you and accepts (the other person's name) exactly as he is”.
This way helps the mind accept and assimilate the affirmation. Again, let all resistances come up and write them down. Later you can burn all the pages and imagine that all is disappearing in the smoke.
4. Use of audiotape: tape yourself with quiet music on an audiotape. Listen to the tape morning and evening. The benefit will be double: one from preparing the tape and the other from listening to it. Before you go to sleep and just as you wake up are excellent times for inducing positive thoughts in the mind.
It is important to practice this at least over a few weeks, and in some cases for months (usually for parents). And remember: painful and long-lasting hurt takes time to heal. And sometime the process will be in layers. Forgiving on one level, then some peace and quiet, and then getting to the next level.
One more thing is to realize that this process needs to be done with yourself as well as the other person involved.
One of the more important steps along the way is to ask for the help of the Holy Spirit. The idea behind this is to involve a higher power in the process and not to rely on the sole power that you have. It is part of letting go of the ego’s control, on one hand, and it is using the endless strength the Holy Spirit has, on the other.
The last, but not least, step to be taken is saying “thank you." You should thank the person involved in the process, not necessarily in person. It can be done in your heart. Thanking is a part of realizing that that person has brought an opportunity of growth to you and that you took it (you can thank yourself for this too). Thanking is appreciating. Being able to thank and to really be thankful is a milestone, that you have reached true forgiveness. This is our goal all through the course, and thus the goal in this process.
To sum up the forgiveness process:
1. Recognition of with whom I want to do the forgiveness process. (Parents, spouse, siblings, boss, colleagues etc.)
2. What is bothering me in my relationship with them (the surface problem)?
3. Experience the emotions (no matter what they are, let them go).
4. What projections am I making?
5. What do I gain from the aforementioned situation?
6. Forgiveness process with the person with whom I have the problem.
7. Forgiveness process with myself.
8. Asking for help from the Holy Spirit (or God or higher force, or higher self, whatever I connect best with).
9. Giving thanks to the person with whom I have been doing the process.
Remember that the steps are a general guideline and the order of the steps can vary according to your needs in the process. For instance, you can forgive yourself before you forgive the other person or start with asking for help from the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Practicing the course:
The course is easy to use. Taking the course requires reading and practicing one lesson each day. That is all. Not more and not less. If you go about it this way you will surely succeed and see miracles happen more and more in your life. The problem starts when the Ego kicks in and starts giving resistances. It is important that resistances are welcome. They are the material of progress. They show us where we did not forgive, where we do not accept things. The course uses the lessons for several purposes:
1. To revoke the mind, i.e., “Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything.”(Lesson 1) Such a sentence helps us stir up our old thought patterns and reevaluate what we know and think.
2. To introduce new thought patterns, i.e., “I am the light of the world.” (Lesson 61), or “When I am healed I am not healed alone.” (Lesson 137).
3. To explain the course's view of how things work in this world, right thinking versus wrong thinking, love versus fear, i.e., “God did not create a meaningless world.” (Lesson 14) and “God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.”
The course also progresses in the way it is practiced, from “light” practice to “heavy” practice. At the beginning of the course one is instructed to practice twice a day. Then the number of practice times is increased to three or four times. After awhile one is instructed to practice (if only for a minute) every hour and later on every half hour. The next phase is adding meditation periods in the morning and evening starting from ten to fifteen minutes up to one hour in the morning and in the evening. So a major part of the course is meditating and building a strong mind that lets go of fear and connects to the love within, the love of God.
Why the course is so hard:
A Course in Miracles is a self-study course. At least that is what one understands from reading the workbook. Many people study it themselves yet they encounter several obstacles along the way.
1. For many people discipline is very hard, the discipline of doing something every day, preferably in the morning and evening, sometimes every hour.
2. The Ego does not want to practice according to the suggested way so many resistances come up, such as forgetting to do the lesson completely, forgetting to practice the lesson at the required time, trying to be very thorough and doing a lesson for more than one day, not agreeing with what the course says and many more excuses that the Ego makes up.
3. The course works on training the mind; the undisciplined mind is wild and scattered. It takes your consciousness to many places, mainly the ones you don’t want to go to. That creates a loud noise that prevents the student from connecting to the God within and to higher consciousness.
All these resistances “help” the student to stop his practice or delay it. This usually gives a feeling of difficulty, a wish to stop practicing, discouragement, a feeling that the course does not work and more.
That is why many people stop their practice in the middle.
Those who are practicing the course by themselves and do not use a support group as an aid in most cases make it even more difficult. The support group has a lot of power in supporting the students' process and learning. And yet still there are students that discontinue practicing the course. To overcome these resistances it is recommended to find or form a support group. It will also help in studying the theory as well as overcoming difficulties. So practice, practice, practice, and may you always be aware of God’s help.
Chapter 6
Summary and Conclusion
This thesis is an opportunity for me to revise and deepen my understanding of A Course in Miracles. Since I see myself teaching and guiding people with the course in the future, on one hand, and since the course has been my spiritual way for some years now, on the other, I feel that getting to the bottom of the theory and practice of the course is nourishing and strengthening. It is also the continuation of the training of the mind. The training of the mind is the basic training through which the mind has to go. The message of the course is simple and clear. This world is not the real world. It is made by the Ego, the Ego that is trying to be more than God. The Ego also knows it cannot win the competition it has created yet its existence is based upon that competition. The way to dissolve the Ego is through forgiveness. Forgiveness brings happiness and peace to the troubled mind. In peace we can meet God again and connect to our true nature. Our true nature is love. Many people don’t know that and are afraid to let go of negativity for they don’t know what they will remain with. Nothingness is more troubling then fear, problems and other negative feelings. Again, this negativity is something most people try to outrun but don’t succeed. They don’t and will not because they are trying to find the solution in the outside world rather than the inside world. The outside world does not offer any real stability or safety. It is impossible to rely on it. The only refuge can be found in the connection with God in the inner world. This is where real strength is, was and will be. This is our true heritage. This where I see other people as my brothers and sisters and I accept them as they allow themselves to accept me as I am. When we succeed in healing our mind (for there is only one mind) peace will prevail. And it will. It is only a matter of time. Since time is temporary it will disappear too when our learning is over. Until then we are left to change the world. That can only be done by changing myself. Not by trying to change everyone around me. This work is also an invitation, for people who want the world to change, to change themselves. For me it certainly was and continues to be.
Chapter 7
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Senior Teacher of the Neuro-Developmental Functional Approach (NDFA) practitioners course. Responsible for the practical aspects of the course (physical exercise, body mechanics, massage, practitioners development) for The Center For Improving Learning Skills Even-Yehuda, Israel.
Head of the Massage program (Swedish massage, Therapeutic massage, Bodymind and emotional Release bodywork training) at Medica College, Cfar-Saba and Tsabar Collage Jerusalem, Israel.
Senior Teacher and practitioner at the Elbaum Center for learning Disabilities, Cfar-Saba, Israel.
Yoga Teacher at community centers.
Founder & President for 7 years of the Association for Massage and Bodywork in Israel (AMBI).
Developing and teaching the “Massage for the home” non professional massage training including training teacher to teach it.
Developer and trainer of “Journey to the Inner Child” workshop with Vera Schafman.
Training and supporting the training and assimilation of knowledge of new massage teachers and teachers in the NDFA course.
Supervision of massage therapy practitioners and NDFA Practitioners.
Clinical Practice
Bodymind bodywork sessions combining different modalities like Structural Integration (Rolfing), Rebirthing, Reichian Massage, Hakomi, A course In Miracles, bioenergetics and more.
Massage therapy for physical pain and injury. Integrating pfrrimer, Deep tissue massage, Passive Joint Movement, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF), fascial (Connective tissue) understanding and more
Improving learning Skills and learning Disabilities using NDFA, the Elbaum Method and yoga.
Accompanying chronically and terminally ill adults using massage and spiritual counseling in their home.
Improving posture with Structural Integration (Rolfing) and yoga Exercise.
Swedish Massage for well being and daily maintenance.
Training and Development
Designing, planning, implementing and teaching: the practical aspect of the NDFA course, Swedish massage course, therapeutic, Bodymind for practioners, massage course, infant massage course, “Massage for the home” non professional massage training, “Journey to the Inner Child” workshop (with Vera Schafman).
Designing and conducting training courses, workshops, institutes and conferences in Israel.
Presenting at various organizations, schools, civic groups and conferences.
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