📚 A Course in Miracles

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Hi all, I wanted to bring up a book that has really influenced my personal journey both in waking and dreaming. The book being “A Course in Miracles”. It was one of the original books I read while beginning my spiritual journey. It touches on some fascinating spiritual concepts, including what I believe is a version of illusory form. The book confronts fear head on which I think can be a tough obstacle going down any spiritual path amd it also carries a very heavy focus on love.

While the book uses Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God in its words, I believe that these names could easily be swapped with any other name that resonates with the reader. It is far different then the bible and I think the takeaway from the book’s concepts are very powerful. That being said, I’m curious if any of you have read it and what your thoughts were on it.

More specifically if you have, have you found any parallels between the book’s teachings and Buddhism’s practice of illusory form? Do you think that the idea of using any name in place of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God is appropriate(not sure if I’m out of line on this one ← and maybe where I landed on in the book further down answers this - lol!)? What are some of your favorite take aways from the book?

One of my favorite things to do with the book is just to open it to a random place and text then read a small portion. For example just now doing it, this is where I landed.

"Only the eternal can be loved, for love does not die. What is of God is His forever, and you are of God. Would He allow Himself to suffer? And would He offer His Son anything that is not acceptable to Him? If you will accept yourself as God created you, you will be incapable of suffering. Yet to do this you must acknowledge Him as your Creator. This is not because you will be punished otherwise. It is merely because your acknowledgment of your Father is the acknowledgment of yourself as you are. Your Father created you wholly without sin, wholly without pain and wholly without suffering of any kind. If you deny Him you bring sin, pain and suffering into your own mind because of the power He gave it. Your mind is capable of creating worlds, but it can also deny what it creates because it is free .

You do not realize how much you have denied yourself, and how much God, in His Love, would not have it so. Yet He would not interfere with you, because He would not know His Son if he were not free. To interfere with you would be to attack Himself, and God is not insane. When you deny Him you are insane. Would you have Him share your insanity? God will never cease to love His Son, and His Son will never cease to love Him. That was the condition of His Son’s creation, fixed forever in the Mind of God. To know that is sanity. To deny it is insanity. God gave Himself to you in your creation, and His gifts are eternal. Would you deny yourself to Him?

Out of your gifts to Him the Kingdom will be restored to His Son. His Son removed himself from His gift by refusing to accept what had been created for him, and what he had created in the Name of his Father. Heaven waits for his return, for it was created as the dwelling place of God’s Son. You are not at home anywhere else, or in any other condition. Do not deny yourself the joy that was created for you for the misery you have made for yourself. God has given you the means for undoing what you have made. Listen, and you will learn how to remember what you are."

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Interesting for a few reasons, one of which is an audio I heard a few years ago of a talk, given to a Sangha in California, by a banjo player and his experiences with GOD and “A Course of Miracles.” It’s worth a listen—or two, or more. Give it a few minutes. Your thoughts?

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I’ve dipped my toes into the book here and there, but never read it completely. I know of a lot of people that have made significant spiritual development using the book and the accompanying workbook.

It’s interesting that you mention parallels with illusory form. There’s a practice in the book where you are supposed to look around the room and see the unreality in what you are seeing. Or something like that. I forget the practice exactly, it’s been a while since I read about it. But now that I think about it there are clear parallels with the practice of illusory form.

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I want to delve into these posts a little more and will tonight but something incredible just happen, it is one of those things I will cherish for a long time. It is also a message that no matter how difficult the suffering gets to continue on and hold strong.

After doing the random scanning in the book and picking a short spot in the book last night I landed on:

Last night right before bed I said to myself I will accept that I am your son tomorrow truly and will not deny this. One day is not a long time and I definitevly said to myself tomorrow is the day and I felt it, there was no denying what I was going to do it was a feeling similar to how certain you know you are reading this now, or that black is black and white is white.

When I left for work this was sitting in my mailbox.

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This is what the course has offered me. Real tangible miracles that restore my faith in creation. There is no amount material things that can compare to this type of connection to the divine, God or what ever you want to call it. It is not out there it is always present(as the guy in Barry’s audio clip said :grin:). You just have to be present to be in THE present sometimes to meet it :smiling_face:.

Also what I thought was funny is the audio clip I was listening to that Barry posted got to a point where a woman asked about suffering in the world and how to deal with that. My alarm went off to goto work and it reset the audio back to the beginning so I did not get to hear the full answer and every time I try to move the audio forward on that it restarts at the beginning.

But back to the question she was asking. This was the front of the pamphlet.

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For some reason that one allowed me to skip forward with the audio. Got to the same spot i was. The guy is great to listen to. Spot on with his stuff.

For me it was a profound of a book. When I started this book it I would walk around waking life with an earbud in listening to it. As the book was reading I saw miracles everywhere and reality broke down all around me, it was so intense I had a mental breakdown. It is also the book that led me to find illusory form and ultimately dream yoga and Andrew’s books.

Having this miracle show up is a reminder of how powerful this book was for me and I think it certainly deserves me reaching out to the guy that wrote me this letter and explain to him how his letter found me and the profundity that surrounded it. If nothing else it will spread happiness.

Glad I was able to finish listening to the Q&A. This was my favorite part lol.

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Glad you were able to finish.

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WOW this is such a crazy synchronicity, probably 48-72 hours ago, I was letting youtube videos play on my comp at random. Random stuff that was kind of spirtual so I went with it, then it switched to a motivational speaker, who quoted this line, which has many times been misattributed to Nelson Mandella:

" "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

― Marianne Williamson, [A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”]"

I replayed it and listended to it a few times over and over. Not the first time I have heard it, I read the quote almost over a decade ago, and was inspired by it. Have also heard and read it in different places over the years and been inspired. Its very well done.

But it was not until this week when I heard it that I decided to do some digging and find out who wrote it and where it was from. Turns out it was Marianne Williamson, in her book A Return to Love. While digging, I also uncovered that she had recently (last weekend) announced her bid to run for president in 2024, kind of an interesting coincidence as well. :upside_down_face:

The fact that the quote was connected to ACIM was really cool to me, because a friend of mine introduced me too it about 4 years ago. I loved it, and saw very meaningful results. I thought the material was difficult to understand at first but eventually really brilliant. It also made this one of my favorite quotes, I had read it a few years before finding ACIM, but did not understand it becuase it is really cryptic, now I do, and I really love and appreciate it:

“Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God”

Short, beautiufl, and profoundly deep. I referenced this quote in the thread: Sacred Teachings, becuase @_Barry provided a link of a country guy who quotes it in his spiritual interview.

Long story short (lol), this week a Course in Miracles poped into my head, I thought about going back and reading the book, but thought it would be better to go and check out A Return to Love by MW (I book I didnt know existed until this week after doing the digging). Actually read the free preview on Google books and thought the intro was pretty good. Has anyone here read it before? After reading this Thread, and being really amazed by the synchronicity, I think its time to go and buy it, Thank you for the reminder @mbready ! I totally forgot that this had happened earlier this week! :slightly_smiling_face:

As for ACIM, it definitely changed my life for the better, and I think it ‘greased the skids’ of my mind to be much more open to Buddhism, and its teachings on emptiness and Nothing. It also made me appreciate even more bible quotes that I already loved.

Very cool how Spiritual Synergy talkes place, where reading or learning about different religions or branch of a religion, and seeing that increase your faith and also your openness to other faiths.

Is really awesome you started this thread, thank you my friend!

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If I had to summarize the book this would probably be the quote :slightly_smiling_face:.

I just saw this right after explaining what happen to my coworker and we were talking about how all religions seem to really mesh together in the end. How all lead us to the same point in time.

Like the story(which I just looked up and it is a Buddhist quote which I thought was funny!) About the finger pointing to the moon. The pointing finger is what guides you to the moon. Without the finger you might not notice the moon. But the pointing finger isn’t what matters most. It only matters because it helps you see the moon for yourself.

I have. Highly recommended. She is a great writer.

That is cool she is giving a run at becoming president. Hopefully she gets some publicity so her works can be seen by people it normally would not reach.

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I tried to skim through the book and find some of the quotes that I think can be linked to illusory form and some quotes I just thought were good.

“The world you see is an illusion of a world. God did not create it, for what He creates must be eternal as Himself. Yet there is nothing in the world you see that will endure forever. Some things will last in time a little while longer than others. But the time will come when all things visible will have an end. The body’s eyes are therefore not the means by which the real world can be seen, for the illusions that they look upon must lead to more illusions of reality. And so they do. For everything they see not only will not last, but lends itself to thoughts of sin and guilt. While everything that God created is forever without sin and therefore is forever without guilt.”

“The world you see is the illusion that you have chosen to replace reality. And yet it is only a temporary illusion, for its impermanence is a clear reflection of the fact that it is not of God. Reality is eternal, and therefore timeless. The world you see is always changing, always in flux, because it is not real. God did not create it, and so it has no real existence.”

“Miracles help us to undo the errors and illusions of the ego, and recognize the truth of our spiritual nature.”

“The Holy Spirit mediates between illusions and the truth. As He must bridge the gap between reality and dreams, perception leads to knowledge through the grace that God has given Him, to be His gift to everyone who turns to Him for truth. Across the bridge that He provides are dreams all carried to the truth, to be dispelled before the light of knowledge. There are sights and sounds forever laid aside. And where they were perceived before, forgiveness has made possible perception’s tranquil end.”

“The world is not left by death but by truth, and truth can be known by all those for whom the Kingdom was created, and for whom it waits. Ask, therefore, to learn of truth, and do not let your learning come from the world or from teachers who have learned their wisdom in the world. Truth can only be learned from within, where God has placed it forever.”

and lastly, tragic indeed. This one hits hard :frowning: .

“God in His knowledge is not waiting, but His Kingdom is bereft while you wait. All the Sons of God are waiting for your return, just as you are waiting for theirs. Delay does not matter in eternity, but it is tragic in time. You have elected to be in time rather than eternity, and therefore believe you are in time. Yet your election is both free and alterable. You do not belong in time. Your place is only in eternity, where God Himself placed you forever. Guilt feelings are the preservers of time. They induce fears of retaliation or abandonment, and thus ensure that the future will be like the past. This is the ego’s continuity. It gives the ego a false sense of security by believing that you cannot escape from it. But you can and must. God offers you the continuity of eternity in exchange. As long as you refuse to accept it, you will think that the projection of the ego can offer you the same continuity. Yet the Holy Spirit offers you the means to see beyond the ego’s continuity, and thus to perceive the eternity of God.”

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Amen

Have not read the full book, but have sections of it and chapters. Here are a few good quotes I found:

" * Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

  • 1976 edition: Ch. 16 The Forgiveness of Illusions, p. 315."

" Chapter 29. The Awakening

  • There is no time, no place, no state where God is absent. There is nothing to be feared. There is no way in which a gap could be conceived of in the Wholeness that is His.

  • Love is treacherous to those who fear, since fear and hate can never be apart"

" Chapter 28 The Undoing of Fear[edit]

  • The miracle does nothing. All it does is to undo. And thus it cancels out the interference to what has been done. It does not add, but merely takes away. And what it takes away is long since gone, but being kept in memory appears to have immediate effects."

" Chapter 26. The Transition[edit]

  • Around you angels hover lovingly, to keep away all darkened thoughts of sin, and keep the light where it has entered in. Your footprints lighten up the world, for where you walk forgiveness gladly goes with you."

" Chapter 25. The Justice of God[edit]

  • The Christ in you inhabits not a body. Yet He is in you.

  • No one who carries Christ in him can fail to recognize Him everywhere."

There are more great quotes here:

Will list more of them later

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Absolutely. One of my favorite quotes of my firend who taught me about the book was “it doesnt matter” and “Its not real”, when he was talking about peoples personal problems.

Sounds really Nihilistic, but I think there is a big difference between what the course teaches and Nihilism.

I think the power of the Courses teachings and Illusory form, is both teach people how to cut through the bullshit that is often weighing them down, holding them back, or mercilously terrorising them.

You dont have to be incarcerated to spend your life in prison. Love this SW quote:

" There is more than one sort of prison, Captain, I sense that you carry yours wherever you go .”

The day of the full moon this week, I was in the grocery store. I walked past a woman in an aisle, who said “excuse me” to one of the guys that worked there “Can you help me find…”
The guy walked past her.
She called to him and got really angry that he did not stop and help her.
I circled around from another aisle back to her, it had been about 10 seconds since the guy had past, and she was still galaring in his direction, muttering to herself.
I shop at the store frequently. I looked at her and pointed to my ear, and said:
“He is deaf”
Her face changed instantly. The ‘light of awareness’ cutting through the ignorance.

Thought it was a story worth noting, becuase these moments of ignornace happen millions of times a day all over the world. And political agendas and parties thrive off of milking our ignorances for all they are worth.

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Nihilism was a tough one for me and I really wish I understood it before reading the course. A lot of the mental problems I had came back to that. It was a struggle because everywhere I looked and in everything I was doing in the back of my mind I’d be thinking if this is not real, why am I here and whats the point of anything, and this question took a life of its own because of how unreal my waking reality became. I teeter tottered on that edge and it was a real struggle for me while working with the book.

Since this has become its own little synchronicity round table(which I absolutely love!) I wanted to share the note I finished up and just put in the mailbox for Kenneth and Claudette.

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It has truly been a wonderful day, a lot of other things happen too, smaller synchronicities and fulfilling moments. I might give the whole being a Son of God thing a try for a couple more days or maybe even weeks :blush::upside_down_face:.

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Great to hear that! And what do you really have to lose? Its kind of like the 3 stages of illusory form practice. Stare with the impure, if you see good results, it will start to work its way naturally to the pure, and then perfectly pure.

For the record I did the same thing a few years ago, I figured what do I have to lose? I found that the more open I became to God, the more miricales began to arise in my life.

BTW really glad you wrote them and shared that letter. Hearing stories of synchronicities like this are very very inspiring!

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Just wanted to clarify this statment can come off really caustic.

The reasons I mentioned it was becuase:

  1. My initial reaction to him saying those things was unpleasant but
  2. When I started testing them out and using them as a mantra, when I experienced negative things, they often had a unique ability to take the edge off the negativity in a way. It was like fighting fire with water, or using the antithesis to fight the thesis. This unhappiness is solid, and will last forever verses This unhappiness is not real, it doesnt matter, and it will not last.

Very similar to in Chapter 12, how TWR rights about talking about experiencing negative emotions, or situations, and saying to yourself “this is a dream”, or “this is dream sadness” or “this anger is a dream”

It doesnt get rid of the negative feeling right away, but it helps you not get swept away and overwhelmed by the negativity. It allows for some awareness to fill that space that the negativity is occupying, and that small detachment can feel pretty powerful. Kind of like taking a shot of vodka to take the edge of, this is like taking a shot of awareness to take the edge off.

Just like stepping out of a bone fire, so you are not completely engulfed by it, you can still feel the heat and the burn, but I think the act of giving the space some awareness is in a way the beginning of the end for the negativity, with practice, you can detachedly watch it burn itself out over time (as long as you dot re engage it, and add more fuel to the fire!)

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" Chapter 1. The Meaning of Miracles: Principles of MiraclesEdit

  • There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not “harder” or “bigger” than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal.
  • Miracles as such do not matter. The only thing that matters is their Source, Which is far beyond evaluation.
  • Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.
  • All miracles mean life, and God is the Giver of life. His Voice will direct you very specifically. You will be told all you need to know.
  • Miracles are habits, and should be involuntary. They should not be under conscious control. Consciously selected miracles can be misguided.
  • Miracles are natural. When they do not occur something has gone wrong.
  • Miracles are everyone’s right, but purification is necessary first.
  • Miracles are healing because they supply a lack; they are performed by those who temporarily have more for those who temporarily have less."
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I started listening to ACIM again last night. Miracle mindset is something I plan on focusing on going forward. With my mom, my wife and I it has been the most powerful and direct form of communication that expresses truth and love.

Wanted to add some links to the post for anyone wanting to listen to the book and the accompanying lessons:

Book on Audible:

David Hoffmeister(probably my favorite ACIM instructor) lessons and some text:

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"### Chapter 2. The Separation and the Atonement[edit]

  • The Origins of Separation. To extend is a fundamental aspect of God which he gave to his son. In the creation, God extended himself to his creations and imbued them with the same loving will to create. You have not only been fully created, but have also been created perfect. There is no emptiness in you. Because of your likeness to your Creator you are creative. No child of God can lose this ability because it is inherent in what he is, but he can use it inappropriately by projecting. The inappropriate use of extension, or projection, occurs when you believe that some emptiness or lack exists in you, and that you can fill it with your own ideas instead of truth."
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Great video and wise words.

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“Salvation is nothing more than the escape from concepts”

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This is one of his good videos. So many to choose from on YouTube. He’s been teaching ACIM for over 35 years. He still puts out weekly videos.

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