Hi Kate et al:
I thought this would be a better place to continue this discussion, since the focus was shifting from an A Course in Miracles (ACIM) approach and philosophy for improving the results of energy healing to the themes and principles underpinning the Course.

My hope is that for those of you who are interested in or already working with ACIM, this discussion might inspire both your energy healing work and your work with or curiosity about/interest in the Course.

Blessings,
Alfred

Hi Alfred,

Cool, thanks for starting this thread over here.
I have been thinking alot about your last post, it really helped me! I feel like I understand heaps more about magic and miracles.
It also feels great to know that you enjoy talking about the course and you want to help me, I am so greatful.

I like to put things in my own words cause then I know that I really do understand so once again,

Magic is when something happens in the world that changes someones life for what they think is better than before, but no healing takes place at the level of the mind.
If a healing takes place at the level of the mind then this would be a miracle and if there is a change that happens in the world it is just an after effect.

I would love to here about some of your personal experiences with forgiveness, if you don't want to that is fine.
I am trying hard to forgive things and sometimes i remember to forgive before I react and sometimes I don't, and i don't even know how to forgive somethings. I think that it would be really helpful for me to here some of your experiences working with ACIM.

last night I did only about 10 minutes of QT on a friend of mine, even though she had a physical complaint I held my intent on healing at the level of the mind and asked the holy spirit to help me and be there with me.
As soon as i placed my hands on my friend I could feel a lot of energy, i felt like i was sweating all over for the whole 10 minutes and after my friend said that she had images flashing through her mind of the things that were contributing to her complaint that she hadn't considered before.

I feel that working with the holy spirit really made a difference.

If there is anything that you would like to discuss with me about the course that would be great.

Thanks Kate

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kate villalobos,

Kate, I would like to thank you for your questions, and Alfred as always for your contributions. Sometimes Kate, it seems we can learn as much or more from the questions as from the answers. We grow in the process of their formation, as well as the journey to understanding that part of us that has questioned. I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread...please continue

Blessings,
Sherrie

I agree with Sherrie. We can all learn from these questions and discussions. Thank you Kate and Alfred.

Hi everyone,
Im so glad to know that you guys are enjoying reading this thread. I would love to here your opinions too!! Have either of you read the course?

Alfred, I have been thinking and I have a question, the thing that keeps going through my mind is "knowing the world is meaningless isnt enough". As Im going through my day I remember the world is an illusion as much as I can and try not to react to things that I would normally get upset about.
but because I don't have the experience of being one with god I feel a bit stranded as my experience now is that I don't have either.
The things that I normally get enjoyment from, even though I do get enjoyment from them still its not really the same because I know these things are just false idols.
I want to build my house on the rocks not on the sand, if that makes sense, but i still don't feel like I really know how to do that.
Thanks so much for all the info you have given me so far, and its really cool that other people are reading this too
xox Kate

Dear Kate,
I'm at work, but I couldn't help wanting to write back. Thanks Winder and Sherrie for your totally on-target comments. So often the question is the critically important part!

It was wonderful to read of your experience:

quote:

last night I did only about 10 minutes of QT on a friend of mine, even though she had a physical complaint I held my intent on healing at the level of the mind and asked the holy spirit to help me and be there with me.
As soon as i placed my hands on my friend I could feel a lot of energy, i felt like i was sweating all over for the whole 10 minutes and after my friend said that she had images flashing through her mind of the things that were contributing to her complaint that she hadn't considered before.

I feel that working with the holy spirit really made a difference.

"Just doing it" like this teaches the most!

You summarized it nicely: for ACIM, healing takes place in the mind as a change in perception beyond thoughts of separation. The power of this is reflected in experience (both yours and hers) and sometimes is also evidenced (this is not ACIM's measure of success) in physical changes from physical illness or injury toward physical health.

Just like miracles and magic, ACIM has its own definition of forgiveness. It is simply overlooking (seeing beyond) the illusion(behavior of a separate person as perceived by the ego)and looking to the Holy Spirit to represent the Truth (Child of God asleep, forgot s/he is safe and innocent as Christ in God's Heaven, having a nightmare of being one person victimized by or victimizing another)

Another way the Course talks about this is that the Holy Spirit sees all behavior within the illusion as one of two communications: an expression of love (miracle) or a call for help/healing. When we look the the H/S and turn our situation over, this is inevitably what we are shown. Now we have a choice how to respond: we can respond according to how Jesus would - with love returned in gratitude, or love in compassionate answer to the call for help; this reflects our acceptance of the H/S's translation of our situation to one of "right perception." When we do this, there is no mistaking it's miraculous power in our lives.

Most of my experiences of this kind of forgiveness have taken place in my most difficult relationships; a failing marriage, a difficult parental relationship. I could almost physically (and certainly emotionally and energetically) feel a sea-change in the whole situation, and felt free and connected to the other person and to God.

Thanks for asking about this: I feel it's such a major thing for all of us, and healing practitioners especially.

BLessings,
Alfred

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Hi,
I was excited to see that you had replied to my post when I opened the page so thanks for taking time out from your work, what do you do?

I love your definition of forgiveness!! It was exactly what I needed to read. I have been so focused on overlooking the illusion that I forgot about seeing things from the holy spirits view.
So if I can see peoples actions as either a call for love or an expression of love then I am beginning to think like the holy spirit.
It would be hard to get angry at someone when they are calling out for love.
I know that it is going to be a real challenge to remember that, I almost want to write it on my hand.

Today I was driving home from the supermarket and i was really late, my husband was looking after the kids and was meant to start work 20 minutes ago so I expected him to be upset when i arrived, normally we would have had a small argument about it, both of us talking more than listening to the other.
So anyway, i tried to forgive it before I arrived, thinking, its not real, if he is angry its because he feels like I am not thinking of him, basically a call for love. I was determined not to react!
So I got home and walked in and everything was fine, he said "ok I have to go now cause Im late" and went to work. It was so great.

I really feel like I have a way to cope with things I dont like now, instead of getting stressed out, thank you so much, maybe with out you I still would have learned these things but I know it would have taken alot longer!

You have been studying the course now for almost 20 years, do you forgive automatically now? I mean, is it a natural thought process or do you still have to actively do it? what is the most challenging thing for you right now?

Thanks again Alfred

Dear Kate,
Your example is wonderful. The good news is you don't have to rely on yourself to remember to forgive and how: you can turn the situation over to the Holy Spirit, Who will remind you "what is what" every time so you can see what your real choices and their consequences are. You only need to be willing to do that in the moment.

Only, huh? Well, in a taped training intensive I heard Ken Wapnick say something like "The whole illusion of separation has been going on for hundreds of trillions of years: 20 years isn't a very long time at all to spend working at reversing the thought processes that created it ." So, no, I wouldn't call it automatic for me. Just easier than before because I know what to do and that it works.

What I most notice is that I see through more situations and have a kinder outlook. Also, I notice when I'm not in a forgiving space more acutely, and choose to turn things over to the H/S more frequently.

So far, the ego is still "the fastest gun in the West" lol! The Course also notes this. The Holy Spirit's purpose is to counter the ego; not to beat it to the punch. So when something other than happiness arises in reaction to our experience or inner thoughts, we always have the choice to turn to the H/S with some form of this questions "Is this real?" and "what should I do about it?" I do that much more often than before, and re-experiencing the difference I feel and see when I remember to do it further reinforces it for me.

The intensity of most of reactions usually isn't as strong, and I catch a lot more of the quiet, under-the-radar thoughts.

In terms of progress, here's how it's worked for me and some others I've studies with:

Once I understood and embraced the ACIM formula for dealing with life, I thought that was mostly it. That was really just the beginning of the beginning!

It was overwhelming at first to gradually realize how much of my inner processes, beliefs and perceptions were founded on and by the ego.
Eventually, I learned to have greater forgiveness of it all, and now in most cases I can just say "there goes the ego again" and look to the H/S. Its amazing how immediately the situation shifts within me and before my eyes sometimes.

So, not perfection, but rather real progress as I've learned to look at life as a journey in forgiveness and healing, with self-forgiveness a vital component.

Great Blessings,
Alfred

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Alfred,

Just taking a moment to encourage this thread.

Interesting indeed

will add more, though i think alfred has said most of it. sherrie with her saying we learn from the question...excellent all

cacth up to this one later

blessings

douglas

Hi Alfred and everyone,

I was talking last night with a friend about drugs and I would love to here your opinion.

I think that this is quite a sensitive thing for alot of people because most people have strong opinions about drugs and the people who use them. I have had both good and bad experiences myself and I have meet people who have also had many good and bad experiences, some of my friends use drugs and some don't.

I have read (not in ACIM or anything to do with it) that using recreational drugs can damage your astral body and depending on the amount of use it can take lifetimes to correct. I have also read that when you are asleep your astral body travels to communicate with your higher self but not if you are under the influence which can have damaging effects on your life if you use for extended periods of time.

People all over the world use drugs, some illegal and some legal depending on where you live I guess, so what does this mean as far as the course is concerned?
I have also thought about people who live in holland where more drugs are legal, what does this mean for them?

What I get from the course is that nothing that happens here matters cause its just a dream so the issue would be one of a false idol?

I am very interested to here what you think, or what anyone else thinks about this.

Thanks
xox Kate

I read this verse from the course 2 nights ago and I keep going back to it so I thought I would write it here to share with you all.

...Learn this, and learn it well, for it is here delay of happiness is shortened by a span of time you cannot realize. You never hate your brother for his sins, but only for your own. Whatever form his sins appear to take, it but obscures the fact that you believe them to be yours, and therefore meriting a "just" attack. (text page 651)

If I ever feel like I am being judged (especially when I feel like it is a wrong judgment) I always react strongly, I really don't like it. Yet I will be the first to admit that by reacting I am judging the other people too, and then according to this verse I am judging them for what I have done.

xx kate

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kate villalobos,

Hi Alfred,

Well it is obvious that you don't want to answer my question, and I have thought about deleting it and carrying on with more important discussions but it is a genuine question that I have and so I am going to leave it here in the hope that someone will write something, or maybe I will just have to wait until I have a better relationship with the holy spirit and know for myself instead of communicating through you.

I have really enjoyed talking with you and I am defiantly going to keep studying the course. Thank you for sharing all your wonderful knowledge with me and I wish you well in whatever you do

Love Kate

Hi Kate,
I actually attempted to answer it a couple days ago, but my time's been taken with car trouble, and my computer acted up when I did try to reply, and I couldn't get it to post. It was a long-ish answer, and I didn't look forward to having to rewrite, but I'll summarize:

The crux of what I wrote is that, just like nothing outside us has the power to take our inner peace away, nothing outside of us can give it to us either. Recreational drugs are no different from any other outward-seeking distraction. The biopsychological and energetic consequences are certainly an issue on a practical level, but IMO, there is no particular judgment involved from an ACIM perspective other than the ego-based motivation for taking them.

From an non-ACIM energy and consciousness perspective, regular drug use can definitely damage the psyche and weaken/distort the energy system: it weakens the psychic and energetic boundaries that protect us. It's one thing to learn to loosen these boundaries to identify with more than ourselves as individuals, but drugs as a "shortcut" to this end without strengthening the psyche and energy system can create real problems.

I posted to someone who was a daily marijuana user about this a couple months ago: maybe you could do a search (wish I remembered her name, but it was in the general discussion forum).

Your next post is a really important one for ACIM thinking! What we are really doing when we feel victimized is putting the other person in the position of "victimizer", which is a form of attack, just as you wrote. But we are only judging them for what we believe we're guilty of (what we believe we've done).

Blessings,
Alfred

Kate

One book that really helped me get into ACIM is a book by Gary Renard. The book is titled
The Disappearance of the Universe. It seemed to expand and also deepen my reading of the course.

From what i know of recreational drugs is that they open you temporary at first. They clog the flow of energy down the road. This is what i have learned from Shiatsu training. What i have found using other energy techniques like qt/reiki is that the chakras seem to get clouded with not the right spin or feel to them. Most seem to have issues not wanting to be looked at in the lower chakras. An avoidance of not wanting to deal with own stuff. Challenging to explain.

Alfred

Enjoying your sharing of the course. I read every day. It has helped me see a lot. great posting

hugs to you and Kate

best to you

douglas

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Hi,

In the quote above, i have been thinking about it and I really don't understand part of it, why do I believe that my brothers sins are mine? Is it because we are all actually part of the same mind, therefore there is only one? and if I believed that their sins were my sins why would I then attack them? because I feel guilty and want to project my guilt out so I feel better?

Anyway, thanks Doug, I have read Disappearance of the Universe, I really love it, I have also listened to all Garys podcasts which are great!!
Have you read his second book Your Immortal Reality?

Alfred, thanks for answering my post. when i wrote it i heard a voice in my head say that you weren't going to answer for a few days and not to worry about it but my inpatients got the better of me as usual.
Thanks for telling me about that other thread, i haven't read all of it yet but my heart goes out to that lady, feeling like you have spirits or something attached to you must be so weird and scary.
I already guessed at what you said but I didn't feel like I had an objective view because of my past experiences.

I have been having lots of trouble seeing people from the holy spirits point of view. For example, a friend did something recently that really disappointed me and i still cant see it as a call for love and if i think about the situation i feel an uncomfortable feeling, without going into it too much, we had arranged something that involved a few other people and then she pulled out which effected everyone else and I had put alot of time into getting everything organized so i feel like she let me and the other people down.

I hope that you are well and happy.
love kate