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Re: As this is an open forum....
I loved your e-mail, Jim.
?
The part where you say
triggered off some thoughts about doing as in I Need Do Nothing. To me, the dealing in the external level has to do with where my locus of attention is. Is it in the internal or external? If I am dealing with bills or whatever, or some kind of problem, but my locus or frame of reference is not on the external?as I'm dealing with it, I do not think it is real even though I may be acting as if it is, then that is the key. For instance, when I eat, I realize I am not a body, but I am keeping up what needs to be kept up in the illusion knowing that it is an illusion. And that could go for any kind of activity. Another instance, being a soldier and killing in an Army even while realizing that I am acting a part as a soldier in an illusion. I could choose to stay out of the Army or go into it. It would not make a difference as far as the activity itself were concerned. It WOULD make a difference if the Holy Spirit
guided me to do something, but I believe it says in DOU that it is not so much the form as it is the content. We don't have to have the Holy Spirit or Jesus spell out every little thing.
?
Thank you for your very thoughtul e-mail. It was great.
?
Linda
Do you Yahoo!? - Now only $29.95 per month! |
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Re: Forgiveness Lessons
Hi Ann. It's always a pleasure to hear from you, my friend. Tucson
sounds wonderful, and I'm sure I'll be talking with you about it in the future. (My CIA contacts tell me that D. Patrick Miller may be making an appearance there next winter.) Hey, maybe I can do an occasional workshop in southern areas in the winter and northern areas in the summer. What a life! Thanks so much for your comments about forgiveness, and for Hugh's reminder. It comes at a good time. Thanks again Ann. Love and peace, Gary. |
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Forgiveness Lessons
Gary, You mentioned going to Florida in January. Remember Tucson is
wonderful in January too, and we'd love having you here. Can you believe I'm brave enough to come out of hiding finally? I'll probably go right back to lurking cause I'm not really a 'chatty' person. Oh well, I forgive me. I've really enjoyed all the messages here on forgiveness. I seem to need constant reminders, from your book, from ACIM, from others. I admire your act of forgiveness in response to one of the comments here. It is obvious, Gary, that you truly practice what you write. Hugh Prather says simply, "Do not take the bait." I'm still learning to take that advice. You already know how much I like your book, but thanks again. God bless, Ann |
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"I can give up the world I see by giving up attack thoughts." (3)
mstreet
开云体育"I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack
thoughts." (W-23)
This is taken from Ken Wapnicks commentaries on the
Workbook Lessons.
(Volume 1...Tape 3.) continuing from paragraph 5, and
on.
? Ken: Paragraph five, is where I had originally derived
the three steps of forgiveness, that I used to teach a lot.?
(W-23.5.)
?
"The idea for today introduces the thought that you are not trapped in
the world you see, because its cause can be changed. This change requires,
first, that the cause be identified"
?
Ken: In other words - the problem is not what is
outside in the world. The reason I am upset is not because of what my body is
doing, or not doing. Or what someone else's body is doing or not doing to me.
The cause of my upset is a decision I have made in my mind. That is the first
step.
?
And then - there is the second step ..."Let go."
?
What letting go means, I now ask Jesus or the Holy Spirit for help - that I
look at my guilt differently. The cause of the world and my attack thoughts
(another way to say my guilt) and I realize that just as my attack on you, was a
projection (it was made up) so was my attack on myself made up too. That I
remain as God created me.
?
Nothing has changed who I am. So - letting go, means I let go of the guilt
and my attack thoughts, with the love of Jesus next to me. And the third step:
?
"and then let go, so that it can be replaced."
?
Ken: At the moment that I ask Jesus for help and I look at my guilt and my
attack thoughts with his love next to me, then in that instant he shines on the
guilt, and it is gone. My job is to bring the guilt to him. First the guilt I
have projected on to you. I bring that inside in my mind, and then the guilt
that is in my mind,? I bring to him. Which is - what looking means -and the
moment I do that, it is gone. Because I have accepted the love and light that
was always present..
?
"The first two steps in this process require your cooperation. The
final one does not."
?
Ken: Our job is simply (which is what a little
willingness reflects) - our job is to bring to him all our ego thoughts...the
ego thoughts we have projected out and made up about the world. And the ego
thoughts we have made up about ourselves.
?
"Your images have already been replaced."
?
Ken: So the line I quoted earlier from chapter 28,
"The world was over long ago." That everything that we believe is
already gone. We just believe it is here. That is why he refers to it as a
hallucination.
?
"By taking the first two steps, you will see that this is
so."
?
Ken: So what enables us to realize that the Principle of the Atonement is
true, and nothing else is, what enables us to do that - is to change our mind,
at what we were so sure that we were right about. That there is world out there
that hurts me. Victimizes me. And that is a defense against an inner world,
which is even more painful. I was wrong about the world outside, and I am wrong
about the world inside.
?
"Besides using it throughout the day as the need arises, five practice periods are required in applying today's idea. As you look about you, repeat the idea slowly to yourself first, and then close your eyes and devote about a minute to searching your mind for as many attack thoughts as occur to you." ?
Ken: I discussed last time, the importance of searching
your mind. The reason that we have to search our mind, is because these attack
thoughts are hidden. So part of the training that we undergo as students of the
Course is to really allow us to see the attack thoughts that are there, but are
covered over.... (now skip to the next paragraph.) ?
"In the practice periods, be sure to include both
your thoughts of attacking and of being attacked. Their effects are exactly the
same because they are exactly the same.
?
Ken:There is no difference between being a victim and
being a victimizer. Attack is attack, is attack.
?
" You do not recognize this as yet, and you are
asked at this time only to treat them as the same in today's practice
periods."
?
Ken: So this is a theme that we find recurring. Where
Jesus is making it very clear that he is not expecting us to identify or believe
it. But he is asking us to practice it.
?
" We are still at the stage of identifying the
cause of the world you see. When you finally learn that thoughts of attack and
of being attacked are not different, you will be ready to let the cause
go."
?
Ken: This means - you have to give up your investment
in being a victim, because you would realize that being a victim is the most
vicious form of attack there is. Because if your a victim, somebody else is
going to have to pay the price.
?
This is the hardest one of all. Because our very
existence is based on the idea that we are a victim. We did not choose to come
into this world. Our parents brought us into this world. We did not choose to
have these bodies; the personalities, or the problems that we have. It was our
genes that determine this. Or - the environment.
?
It is very difficult to see - that seeing yourself at
the mercy of forces beyond your control is an attack. This is what he is talking
about here.
?
So he is not asking you to accept it at this point, he
is just asking you to hear, and try to understand it, and to include those
thoughts - of victim and victimizer in your practice periods.
?
The end.
?
And may we always remember that Jesus and the Holy
Spirit are always with us, and all we need do, is turn to Them. A reminder for
me. :-)
?
Peace Martha :-)
? ?
???????????????????
A Course in Miracles is a registered service mark of
the ?????????????????????? Foundation for A COURSE IN MIRACLES? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????? Catalogue of teaching materials at: ?????????????????? ??? These teaching materials have been prepared as a guide for students of ??? A Course in Miracles. The materials are not intended as a substitute for ??? working through the Course itself. Rather, these materials are intended ??? as an aid in studying and understanding the Course's thought system so ??? that its principles may be more effectively applied to one's daily life. ? |
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Re: A + P used to mean something
Thanks again, Frank.
?
Yes, I understood what you said and incompletely answered you, which would be the same thing as answering myself.
?
Never mind what Gary says. The Course says there are no victims and attackers. A liar would?be like someone attacking me. The Course says I made up this world. It also says there is no world out there. So what I see is a lie. The whole world is a lie. EVERYTHING but the Atonement. That I made. I made Gary. I made you. I made the used car salesmen. All to avoid God. Gary didn't say that. Nor Arten nor Pursah. It is in the Course. So the only difference in how you are seeing it and how I am attempting to see it and succeeding sometimes is that I chose to make up the whole lie of the world and everything in it including Gary and you. Even my talking to you I see as an illusion - that I'm really talking to myself as I am the Son and so are you every bit as the Son.
THERE IS NO GARY!!! THERE IS NO BOOK!!!
?
FRANK MANNIS wrote:
Do you Yahoo!? - Now only $29.95 per month! |
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Re: The Prodigal Son's Lament
Thanks for sharing youself like this, Ossie! Really meaningful and beautiful!
?
Linda
BBFBBN@... wrote:
Do you Yahoo!? - Now only $29.95 per month! |
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Re: A + P used to mean something
开云体育?
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Re: A + P used to mean something
Good morning, Frank. Thanks for the opportunity to help me self-reflect. Hmm... the whole idea of a book and how it affects me. It is a symbol to me, actually, of everything. Did Gary make me buy this book. No, Gary did not let me know in any way about his book. It was recommended to me by a friend. Based on the knowledge that my friend and I have very similar ideas about things, I bought the book. But it was my decision alone by asking myself if I wanted it? Who made me believe the book? No one out there in the world. It was myself who chose to. I can change my mind at any time about believing it. I absolve any guilt or responsibility from Gary or anyone else from whatever I do or don't do. Even the Course. One of my favorite lines from the Course is this:
?
?
The Course, Gary's book, everything I see or hear are tools for me. It is entirely up to me what I do with them, and there is no good nor bad. So as for myself, it makes no difference whether it is true or not as to what you speak. I take full responsibility for myself blaming no one for taking advantage of little ole me, because, you see, nobody really can in the whole world. So, if you feel so moved, you may take me off your list of victims.
goostaphalous wrote: Renard wrote: Hi Goose. Actually, you represent the part of my mind Do you Yahoo!? - Now only $29.95 per month! |
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Re: A + P used to mean something
Renard wrote: Hi Goose. Actually, you represent the part of my mind
that mistakenly believes it has separated itself from God, and now in its erroneous guilt is hiding in a world of judgment and condemnation. Happily, the separation from God never really occurred, and I forgive you, my brother, for what you have not really done. That is the way home for me, and when you choose it, also for you. Love and peace, Gary. That's OK, Gary. You aren't the first person to try to sell your soul to make a buck or to achieve your fifteen minutes of fame, even if you are one of the more obvious about it. You lie for self- serving reasons, like yesterday when you posted on TRCM as "Zak" and pretended to be from Endeavor -- for no purpose other than to promote your book. You will deny that, I'm sure, but you have sucked your publisher into your petty deception, even though the fact of your deception is patent. It is rather like when your wife fist posted on TRCM to promote your book and overtly pretended to not even know you. You don't need my forgiveness for your childishness, but you do need to face it yourself and deal with the fear that motivates you. Plus, you might really reconsider the wisdom and usefulness to you personally, not to mention how it might affect others, of your habit of lies, for this is what you are actually teaching whether you comprehend it or not. HONK! |
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Re: Wow, what a book!!!
ideaofgod
--- In Disappearance_of_the_Universe@..., "larrygee2acim"
<larrygee2@h...> wrote: I often wonder that if those whoyou receive may be a backhanded way of striking out at him, and if so,Please don't leap to conclusions. I like Ken. I also think claiming we are meat robots from Mars controlled by sunspots is neither the teaching of Ken or the Course. |
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Re: Non-dualism
ideaofgod
--- In Disappearance_of_the_Universe@..., "youngnel97"
<youngnel97@y...> wrote: Quantum physics does explain to the intellect that non-dualism is aThis might be taken as evidence that minds are joined. Is that the same as non-dualism? What is "non-dualism"? |
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Re: Wow, What A Book!!!
Larry, thanks so much for your encouraging remarks about the book. I
agree with you entirely in your observations about Ken and some of the criticisms of "Disappearance." And as you say, forgiveness is the only valid response. I'd love to receive a copy of your book. I can't see your entire e-mail address on the posting and I don't have a list of the group addresses because I'm not the founder or moderator or anything. Try sending me an e-mail so I can send you my home mailing address for the book. The first part of my e-mail address is GaryRRenard and the second half of it is @Yahoo.com See if that shows O.K. in the posting. (Hee-Hee) (Also, you can click on my Yahoo profile and it has my e-mail address.) If I'm ever going to do a workshop or speak in your neck of the woods I'll try to let you know. Also, my schedule will be posted both here and at the Fearless Books Website from time to time. I'm not doing that many appearances right now, but the Holy Spirit will let me know if I should. Will I ever appear in Texas? Well, as Swami Baba Gee-Whiz once said to me, "If you have to ask, then you don't know." Love and peace, Gary. |
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Re: Gary, A & P, Carnation, and so much more
Hey Gene. Sure, I'd love to appear in South Florida. How about all
winter? (LOL) You should have been in Maine in January. Yikes! (Another forgiveness lesson.) Really appreciated your posting, although I haven't gotten that e-mail with your address yet. My e- mail is garyrrenard@... I'm hearing that most people who have the book read it twice. I think that's good. It's like when I enjoy a movie and watch it for a second time I always notice something I didn't notice the first time. Plus you absorb the whole thing more. As far as beer goes, thanks to the Course, I no longer believe that I can escape from the world I see by drinking Coors light. I have to admit however, that I still, albeit rarely, have a few. For you women in the group; it's a guy thing. I still play my guitar in private, but haven't in public for about 13 years. (Time flies when you're going crazy.) I still like to play but as far as performing goes, it's like "been there, done that." I played for a living for twenty years and I had enough by the end. One thing I don't miss is everybody else's smoke rising up to the stage! But I regress. It *was* fun. I've been from Key West up to Palm Beach and it's great in the winter. Hope to see you there sometime, whether I do a workshop or not, but hopefully I will. Enough rambling for now. I now realize I should have done this as an e-mail but hey, did I know that when I started it? Love and peace, Gary. |
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Re: No problem, nothing to forgive
mstreet
开云体育Ossie wrote:
>>I was also in touch with the part of me that was not ready to completely let go ... the need to be a victim and the need to be right? :::sighing:::: oh my goodness, how much power I have invested in those feelings << ?
Dear
Ossie:
I have been feeling very
much the same way. Just this week it really really hit me... "I" am
doing this. And then when you wrote it down, it made me realize how often Ken
stresses we cannot do this alone. How important it is to have a relationship
with Jesus or the Holy Spirit. To look with Them at what we have sought to
conceal from ourselves. You helped me my friend. Now lets not forget where our
true Help comes from.
?
And thanks for the reminder
that this is a process. :::: sigh::::
?
Peace Martha
|
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"I can escape the world I see by giving up attack thoughts." (2)
mstreet
开云体育"I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack
thoughts." (W-23)
This is taken from Ken Wapnicks commentaries on the
Workbook Lessons.
(Volume 1...Tape 3.)? continuing from paragraph
4.
?
?"The world you see is a vengeful world, and everything in it is
a symbol of vengeance."
?
Ken: These are very strong statements. And they are as uncompromising as
anything that you will find in the Text. Everything in this world is a symbol of
vengeance. Why? Because if you believe there is a world, and there is something
in the world, then your saying that God no longer exists. And if God no longer
exists, its because I killed him and? now I believe He is justified in
taking vengeance on me. And I block out that whole horrendous thought, project
it out. And I believe in the world that will seek its vengeance on me.
?
"Each of your perceptions of "external
reality" (and obviously "external reality" is put in quotes,
because there is no reality outside.) "is a pictorial
representation..."
?
Ken: Which is a fancy way of saying "projection."
?
"of your own attack thoughts."
?
Ken: This is the same idea that he says early in the Text: "that all
thinking produces form on some level." It's the same idea as we saw that
"every thought you have, makes up some segment of the world you see."
And this thinking - and he is only talking about in the ego thought system...
this thinking would always be, some aspect of attack.
?
"One can well ask if this can be called seeing. Is
not fantasy a better word for such a process, and hallucination a more
appropriate term for the result?"
?
Ken: Fantasy is of course a psychological term for thoughts that are not
real. And they are thoughts that give you what you want. So if you really want
to defend against your guilt then you have fantasies of pleasure. Of getting
what you want.
?
Well everything in this world comes from a fantasy thought. The world is
giving me what I want. Basically its giving me a haven so that I could hide from
God.
"You see the world that you have made, but you do not see yourself as the image maker." ?
Ken: That is what denial is. That is exactly what he
discussed in lesson 136 - on sickness. That we make up the sickness and then
forget that we made it up. And its another way of saying that we are the dreamer
of the dream, but we have forgotten that we are the dreamer, and believe the
dream is dreaming us.
?
"You cannot be saved from the world, but you can
escape from its cause."
?
Ken: Ultimately you can't be saved from the world, because there is no
world. What you are saved from, is your belief system that tells you there is a
world. And the belief system is always predicated on the belief that
"I" have killed off God, so that I could exist in His place.
?
"This is what salvation means, for where is the
world you see when its cause is gone?"
?
Ken: So - when your in the real world, your literally
outside the dream. You are no longer identified with being separate from God.
You are identified completely with the Holy Spirit's love. At that time, the
world doesn't exist for you any more. You may appear to be in the world the way
Jesus did, but your reality is outside of the world. You are outside of the
dream. Therefore, for you - the world has disappeared.
?
"Vision already holds a replacement for everything
you think you see now."
?
Ken: Vision, of course would be the Course's term for right-minded
perception, or for identifying with the Holy Spirit's Thought system of
Atonement.
?
"Loveliness can light
your images, and so transform them that you will love them, even though they
were made of hate."
?
Ken: This is a reference back to lesson 15. "My
thoughts are images I have made." Which talked about the little sparks of
light that creep up around objects. And I explained, that was not to be taken
literally. It was originally meant for a friend of Helen and Bill's. But you
should understand it, in terms of its content. Which means, you learn to see
things differently. And that "seeing" is what light represents. And
this is even clearer. "Loveliness can light your images."
?
So everything in the world now becomes lovely in your perception because
its purpose has been changed.
?
Later on, we will discuss purpose. So even though these were images we made
out of hate (which is stronger than attack) but its the same idea. Its purpose
now has changed. The purpose of making up a world was made to protect
individuality. Our sinful thoughts by projecting them out. Now the purpose is
changed whereby the world now becomes a classroom, in which we learn literally
that there is no world. That is a lovely thought. That is a thought that frees
us. And it is that loveliness that then lights up our vision. It lights up
everything we see.
?
So again, we will look at all of our images and love
them, even though they were made out of hate.
?
"For you will not be making them
alone."
?
Ken: This is the same idea as we have already discussed - how minds are
already joined. Jesus is not talking about joining on this level. And he is not
talking about the brain. He is talking about the mind.
?
So, we will not be making them alone because when I
choose to identify with Jesus or the Holy Spirit, I am? making a distinct
choice against separation and full unity, because that is what being with Jesus
means.
?
If Jesus is the Christ, because he is God's one Son, and I join him, then I
am Christ too. And in that holy instant everyone is one with me.
?
When I choose the unholy instant, since everyone is still one with me,
within the ego thought system as well, then I am giving everyone a message that
says, we are all right and God is wrong. We are all right that we separated . We
are all right in feeling unfairly treated. And I am right in being unfairly
treated or in feeling angry at you.
?
That we are not alone in experiencing the effects of our thoughts - the
effects of what we see or the effects of vision. But this has nothing to do with
the world - nothing to do with our experiences in this world. It has to do with
the thoughts that are in my mind. And there are only two thoughts in our mind.
And both thoughts that are perfectly unified. The thought of separation and the
whole thought system of the ego, which we all shared as one Son. And on the
other side is the correction for that thought that we also share as one Son.
?
So in the Text,? Jesus says - "vision or judgment are your
choices, but not both of them." So on one side is the vision that sees us
all as one. In this world is reflected in that we share the same purpose or
goal. On the other side, we all share the same judgment. Now we are all guilty
of the same sin of murdering God so we could exist. And because we all are
guilty of it, we are all trying to do the same thing to each other. And we all
have the power to reinforce that ego decision that we have made, or to reinforce
or remind us that there is another choice that we can make also.
?
?
?
???????????????
A Course in Miracles is a registered service mark of
the ?????????????????????? Foundation for A COURSE IN MIRACLES? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????? Catalogue of teaching materials at: ?????????????????? ??? These teaching materials have been prepared as a guide for students of ??? A Course in Miracles. The materials are not intended as a substitute for ??? working through the Course itself. Rather, these materials are intended ??? as an aid in studying and understanding the Course's thought system so ??? that its principles may be more effectively applied to one's daily life. |
|
Re: No problem, nothing to forgive
Hello BillFrock@...,
In reference to your comment: è my inner conflict becomes less and less, and the è conflict I feel about the world becomes less and less. Yes, there goes that word "process" LOL To think we could be home in an instant ... but we choose to go through the "process"? because if we do it any other way ... it could induce more fear. Insane Insane Insane But on the flip side, considering who we think we are, it is the kindest and only way to go. As frustrated as I am with the process at times, because it seems so silly to put ourselves through all this ... especially when we are able to intellectualize and articulate the concept and ideas of the Course so well ... but the bottom line is that we are afraid ... we are very afraid ... so I am thankful that Jesus/HS have the patience of a saint.?? :-) BTW? What is a saint anyway? |
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Re: Wow, What A Book!!!
Hello garyrrenard@...,
In reference to your comment: è Will I ever? appear in Texas? Well, as Swami Baba è Gee-Whiz once said to me, "If? you have to ask, then è you don't know." Love and peace, Gary. TEXAS???? Please let us know .. that is much closer to Colorado than the East Coast? LOL |
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Re: No problem, nothing to forgive
Ossie:
I was also in touch with the part of me that was not ready to completely let go ... the need to be a victim and the need to be right :::sighing:::: oh my goodness, how much power I have invested in those feelings :::sighing::::: Me: Interesting that you should use the word "part" to describe the "part of me that was not ready to completely let go."? Indeed, it seems that I am made up of "parts" that I have made.? One "part" to do this and another "part" to do that.? You said that you had made a "part" whose job it was to hold onto the idea of revenge or, perhaps, the idea of protection.? I have made those same parts for myself.? I didn't make them to hurt anyone, I just made them to protect me, because I thought that I needed protection. Of course the Holy Spirit knows that I don't need protection.? So, when I bring those other parts to Him, He simply sees that I was mistaken about what I was when I made them.? Then I can let them go. It may be the conflict among my "parts" that I project onto the world.? As my "parts" are integrated under the Guidance of the Holy (wholly) Spirit, my inner conflict becomes less and less, and the conflict I feel about the world becomes less and less. In a sense, all the parts of myself that I have made are like multiple personalities.? And the Atonement or At-one-ment is the fusion, under the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, of those multiples into One.? Bill |
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Re: No problem, nothing to forgive
Hello mastreet@...,
In reference to your comment: è To look with Them at what we have sought to conceal è from ourselves. You helped me my friend. Now lets not è forget where our true Help comes from. Oh Martha that is the insane part.? Coming from 12-step programs and dysfunctional family issues, I have put so much time and practice in learning not to be co-dependent, learning to accept the consequences of my actions and not always looking for an easy way out, figuring out how and why I do things in trying to end destructive patterns of behavior and to discover effective and alternative ways to do things, only to realize after working with the Course that I it was okay to ask for help ... but that I was asking the wrong person?? ::::sighing:::::: Depending on a god or jesus was something that we were trained to do as christians, but we were coming from a guilty/fear mindset ... so that needs to be undone .. and that takes time. One thing for sure, after doing a workshop with Ken ... you do walk away feeling rather insane.?? :-) |
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"I can escape the world I see by giving up attack thoughts." (1)
mstreet
开云体育"I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack
thoughts." (W-23)
This is taken from Ken Wapnicks commentaries on the
Workbook Lessons.
(Volume 1...Tape 3.)
?
Ossie had mentioned that in Ken's workshop in Atlanta
last week, Ken? went over this lesson, and she found it so meaningful, so I
thought that I would go over it also, and I would like to share it. So from the
next paragraph and on, it is Ken, and the lesson. I will break it down into
sections to make it easier to read. I hope you get as much out of it as I did.
?
Peace Martha :-)
?
"I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack
thoughts." ?
Ken: Okay - now lets do lesson 23 which I mentioned before is an extremely
important lesson.
?
It is one of the clearest statements in all the material, about what the
world is like and what salvation is, and therefore what salvation is not. What
is valuable about this lesson again, is that it's written in very simple
language. So - it is even more difficult to mistake what it is saying. It is not
saying people won't mistake what it is saying, but it is very clear.
(W-23.1.) "The idea for today contains the only way out of
fear that will ever succeed."
?
Ken: The title itself is a blockbuster. The world that
we see is a world of death - a world of vengeance. It might also be a world of
pleasure and happiness. But no pleasure or happiness in this world lasts. Which
means, that when it begins to fade, then our anxiety grows - our anger grows.
Our specialness feels unfulfilled, etc. And the way to escape from all the pain
we experience in the world, is not by changing? the world but by changing
how we look on the world.
?
"Nothing else will work; everything else is
meaningless. But this way cannot fail."
?
Ken: You don't deal with fear by overcoming it in a direct way or by
changing anything of the world or the body. You could only escape from fear, by
changing the cause of fear. Which is your decision to be separate.
?
"Every thought you have makes up some segment of
the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work, if your
perception of the world is to be changed."
?
Ken: So this is a very clear statement of cause and effect. The cause of
everything in the world is our thoughts. And the effect would be everything we
experience in the world. So this in another of those statements that he means
literally. Every thought you have, makes up some segment of the world you
see.
?
It is a point of view of that you must understand from
the point of view of the mind. Otherwise you will believe that an individual
thought that you (as an individual person have) can have a harmful effect on
something external. So you could have an angry thought about somebody, and then
something happens to that person and you take this lesson (misunderstand it to
mean, I am responsible for what happens.)?
?
Thoughts occur in the mind, not the brain. What we
identify as our thoughts, are thoughts in the brain. What he is talking about
here, and I will get back to this later on in this lesson, is on the level of
the mind.?
?
Remember the mind is outside of time and space. The
entire world of time and space is coming from one thought. Once we believe that
we are here, then everything seems to be very real and governed by laws that we
have established.
?
And these laws will always be some expression of cause
and effect. I do something - somebody else does something back, and this is the
effect. I drink poison and then my body has an effect. And maybe gets very very
sick and dies - but that is not the cause. But the seeming cause of taking the
poison and the seeming effect of my body getting sick and dying are both effects
of a larger cause which is a thought that says: "I am going to prove that
separation is real and that the body is real, and that sin does have an
effect."?
?
Now - none of this is explained here - it is explained more in the Text. It
is reflected here. At this point Jesus is not expecting his students to have a
thorough understanding of the Text. What he is really asking here, that you
begin practicing the exercises which will eventually lead you to the deeper
metaphysics of the Course. But this does not mean that you should feel guilty if
you have an angry thought at someone, and then that person falls off a ladder,
and you say my thoughts made up that image.?
?
He is talking about the level of the mind. When a
person falls off a ladder that is a choice that that person makes, along with
you, but it's not the "you" that you think you are. Again we are
talking about a thought that is in the mind. Remember that the whole world was
made as a defense against our getting in touch with those thoughts in our mind.
We will come back to this later. And this sentence is also extremely important:
"It is with your thoughts then, that we must work."?
?
This is a course in mind training. It is a course in changing your mind and
changing? how you perceive. But what this really means in practice is,...
to change how you think, is, to change which teacher you
will learn from. That is always the bottom line of the Course. Do I choose my
ego to be my teacher - how I perceive the world. Or do I let Jesus or the Holy
Spirit be my teacher, in terms of how I see the world.
?
Because whatever thoughts I would have. Thoughts of guilt, anger, suffering
and peace and forgiveness would automatically follow from the teacher I have
chosen. That is why we emphasize over and over here, and is a key part of the
curriculum is to develop a relationship with Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Because
from that relationship all your other thoughts and therefore your perceptions
and behavior will follow.
?
"If the cause of the world you see is attack thoughts, you must learn that it is these thoughts which you do not want." ?
Now obviously, first of all you have to accept this as a premise, that the
cause of the world is attack thoughts. This is both true on a larger level (the
cause of the entire physical universe is an attack thought,) as well as on our
personal level. That our individual world is caused by our attack thoughts,
which again, is my belief that I am separate.
?
"There is no point in lamenting the world. There
is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it
is merely an effect."
?
Ken: It is like, if you don't like a shadow on a wall,
and you go to the wall and try to change the shadow, without going to the object
which is casting the shadow on the wall - change the object. But to try to peal
off the shadow, or modify it in some way, is silly.
?
So this entire world is a shadow. That is why he says in that famous line
from chapter 18, "trust not your good intentions, they are not
enough." It is the well intentioned people in the world who want to change
the world. Fix it, and make it better. They may succeed up to a point, but they
will ultimately fail because they don't get to the underlining cause of it.
?
"There is no point in lamenting the world. There
is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it
is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in
changing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The
effect will change automatically."
?
Now - obviously statements like this have been taken way out of context, in
the Course to mean that you don't do anything. You know - you let rapists go
free. You let Hitler's invade countries. You let the environment go to hell,
etc. It doesn't matter what you eat, or put into your stomach because it is all
an illusion and all I want to do, is change my mind.
?
Now - ultimately that is all true. But as long as you believe your here,
then your body is a symbol. And before you let go of your body, you first have
to change what it symbolizes. So that we get back into that central point - what
you change, is your teacher. And if you have Jesus as your teacher, he will have
you act in a loving way in terms and in forms that the world can understand.
?
Much later on, we will look at lesson 184, where he makes that point very
clear. So this should not be used as an excuse for doing nothing. Either about
your own body, or about other people's bodies or about the world. But whatever
it is you do, about the world or yourself should be done with Jesus as your
guide, instead of the ego. That is such a central theme. And it is highly
unlikely that he would teach you - don't do anything because I will bring
everything to you - and the world is an illusion. He won't teach you that,
because your still too terrified of understanding that and accepting that.
?
If you identify with your body which includes everyone who studies this
Course, then the bodies meaning has to be changed. You don't give up the body.
You don't go from the nightmare of the ego, to the truth of eternity. You go
from nightmare dreams of the ego, to happy dreams of the Holy Spirit. Which
means that the body now serves another purpose.
?
It could be another way for you to undo all of your
guilt and self hatred of others, as you use the body in a loving way. You treat
yourself better. You treat other peoples bodies better. And the world better.
?
The form doesn't matter, the teacher that you choose does. But everybody
wants to skip over steps because no one wants to pay attention to what they find
so painful. Which is living in the world. So the Course is used as a way of
escaping.
?
So again - always understand that Jesus is talking about changing the
teacher of your thoughts. That is what he is talking about. Because if you
change teachers, and he is your teacher, then all of your thoughts, all of your
perceptions, and all of your behaviors will be loving. And be wary of the fact,
that the ego will have you believe that you are choosing him, but what you are
really doing is choosing the ego itself.
?
And you can always tell when its the ego, when your caught up in a way of
thinking that causes you to look different from other people, and separates you
from other people. Anything that causes you to deny your body. And to live in a
way that calls attention to you, you can bet 99.99% of the time, is your ego,
and not Jesus.
?
So the real cause you want to change, is that you are right and Jesus is
wrong. Establishing your identity. Your identity is one of specialness. Again,
that is always one of the red flags. You could tell when your behavior makes you
different from other people, that is what makes you special.
?
to be
continued........................ |
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