James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge ~ A Spiritual Perspective

by Reja Janaki Joy Green*

I identify with James Arthur Ray. Perhaps that is why I am very interested in this trial. The Course tells us ~ As you see your Brother you see yourself. The forgiveness you extend to your Brother you extend to yourself.

I’m learning to see that James Ray is a Sinless child of God, whole and complete as we ALL are. He is not his ego. The people who died and were injured are not their egos. There are no exceptions to the ‘vision’ of Who we ARE. Do we identify with our egos? Oh yes. Are we at the effect of our egos? Most definitely. Is that insanity? Yes indeed.

Let’s ask this question of James and of the other participants of the sweat lodge, and of you, and me – Who ARE we? What are we doing here? If we are here to heal the seeming separation then let us heal it in *every single situation*. The Course tells us, “I will forgive and this will disappear.” And for me, ‘forgive’ here means to see with Right Perception. To forgive is to perceive myself and my Brother as we REALLY are. We are not our bodies. We are still as God created us. James is still as God created him.

The Course also tells us that the ego is quite literally a fearful thought [CH 5 VII 61 acim oe] and we are to live here in such a way as to demonstrate that we are not an ego. If we make decisions based on the ego, we will be hurt and we will hurt others, much like the person wielding the knife in the dark. And when we shine a light on ourselves we see that we are Love. That we are having a nightmare. That this whole drama is a nightmare of our making and He asks us: When, oh Holy Child of God. When will you come out of the dark and come Home.

I was just having a discussion with my husband and he asked me if he had heard correctly? At the ACIM 2011 conference Chris thought he had heard the Presenter say that it’s ok to strike back if someone were hurting you. I told him, yes, that was what the Presenter said. And then we both just shook our heads. He tells us in the Course, “In my defenselessness my safety lie” although for most Course students that’s means only if I’m not being attacked. Yet, for us it means ‘especially when we’re being attacked’.

But Chris went a step further. He said that the Course reminds us that we are responsible for everything that happens to us. Knowing that, and being Course students, how likely is it that we will create someone wanting to harm us.

But even if we do, when it happens, then as Course students we would TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. We would know that everything that happens to us comes to us as we have asked.

“I am responsible for what I see.
I chose the feelings I experience, and I decided
on the goal I would achieve.
And everything that seems to happen to me
I asked for and received as I had asked.”

CH 21 III 15 acim-oe 
http://www.jcim.net/acim_us/Acim.php

In April’s Newsletter, we will have an article “MY PATH TO THE COURSE”
http://jcim.net/Pages/MyPathToCourse.html
written by Rob Rideout. His PATH started in 1969 and culminated many years later while he was serving a prison term. He used that time to awaken from his self-imposed hell.

This experience – for James and the participants and the observers and for ALL of us, is a chance to reaffirm why we are here; the chance to take responsibility for what we have asked to come into our lives; a chance to own it and then turn it over to our Right Mind [HS] to be healed.

And then Love is the way we walk in GRATITUDE.

Sent with much Love,

~Reja ૐ

http://on.fb.me/hfCRei

Reja Janaki Joy Green [Reja_CIMS] is one of the founding members of the Course in Miracles Society [CIMS]; She is the CIMS webmaster, has facilitated Course in Miracles study groups since 1983 and currently resides with her husband Chris Green in Omaha, NE.

Course in Miracles Society (CIMS) is an international group of Course students and teachers organized to discover, authenticate and propagate the divine teachings of A Course in Miracles. As students, we seek to increase our knowledge of Jesus’ words and to deepen our experience of his teaching. As teachers, we work to circulate the message of A Course in Miracles throughout the world by our words, by our deeds and by the example of our lives.
http://www.acim-original.com/

Poetry ~ Marc R Boulais

 

Resurrected Flight

By Marc R. Boulais*

 

 

All of Nature’s quiet, expectant groaning Trapped by seed self under Earth’s death door Yearning for existence to reach for Heaven’s heights And be caressed by sun’s and wind’s gentle touch once more.   Something inside must die to crack its small prison Ego’s craftiness controls to thwart Life’s purposeful decision Dying to self  brought seeds of blood to the Master’s brow Let go and trust God in darkness impossible to understand Accept mysterious Love appearing as loss dealt from such a heavy hand.   The Father’s Love is ever faithful to see His children Reach for heights of Love’s upward, transformed fruition. Your crucifixion is the plan to pay the cost of Life’s tuition To be raised anew in a Christ-centered selfless creation.   The worm sees not the flight, but eats the dirt to his delight. God’s plan is much better; A Resurrection born in flight To reach ever upward and soar the skies to mystical height Of Love’s infinite capacity to give of True Self In Resurrected glory to become a beam of Light.   by Marc R. Boulais 3 -19 -2011

* Marc R. Boulais is a serious student of Life who is committed to learning, living and practicing universal life truths. Having been raised Roman Catholic, it is clear that his short story “Deep Waters” includes imagery and references that reflect his strong Christian background. But Marc is also a student of other disciplines. He studies A Course in Miracles, the works of Joseph Campbell, the teachings of native American Indian Fools Crow, as well as the poetic writings of Rumi and Lao-Tzu, to name a few. According to Marc, all spokes of the wheel lead to the center and that center is God. Painting Artist: Suzette Boulais is a student of Course In Miracles and co-facilitates a Sunday morning Course in Miracles class in Peoria, Illinois. More of Suzette’s artwork can be found on her website at http://www.suzetteboulais.com/

ACIM Lesson 100 ~ Iambic Pentameter ~ Listen

Recitation of Lesson 100 in ‘blank verse’ www.acimradio.net/IP_100/100_IP_ACIMRadio_meter_IP_dyn.wma IP formatting by Lee Flynn, voice&music: maz ~oOo~

Lesson 100“My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.” Just as God’s Son completes his Father, so your part in it completes your Father’s plan. Salvation must reverse the mad belief in separate thoughts and separate bodies which lead separate lives and go their separate ways. One function shared by separate minds unites them in one purpose, for each one of them is equally essential to them all. God’s Will for you is perfect happiness. Why should you choose to go against His Will? The part that He has saved for you to take in working out His plan is given you that you might be restored to what He wills. This part is as essential to His plan as to your happiness. Your joy must be complete to make His plan be understood by those to whom He sends you. They will see their function in your shining face, and hear God calling to them in your happy laugh. You are indeed essential to God’s plan. Without your joy His joy is incomplete. Without your smile the world cannot be saved. While you are sad the light which God Himself appointed as the means to save the world is dim and lusterless. And no-one laughs because all laughter can but echo yours. You are indeed essential to God’s plan. Just as your light increases every light that shines in Heaven, so your joy on earth calls to all minds to let their sorrows go, and take their place beside you in God’s plan. God’s messengers are joyous, and their joy heals sorrow and despair. They are the proof that God wills perfect happiness for all who will accept their Father’s gifts as theirs. We will not let ourselves be sad today. For if we do, we fail to take the part that is essential to God’s plan, as well as to our vision. Sadness is the sign that you would play another part, instead of what has been assigned to you by God. Thus do you fail to show the world how great the happiness He wills for you. And so you do not recognize that it is yours. Today we will attempt to understand joy is our function here. If you are sad your part is unfulfilled, and all the world is thus deprived of joy, along with you. God asks that you be happy, so the world can see how much He loves His Son, and wills no sorrow rises to abate his joy; no fear besets him to disturb his peace. You are God’s messenger today. You bring His happiness to all you look upon; His peace to everyone who looks on you, and sees His message in your happy face. We will prepare ourselves for this today in our five minute practice periods, by feeling happiness arise in us according to our Father’s will and ours. Begin the exercises with the thought today’s idea contains. Then realize your part is to be happy. Only this is asked of you or anyone who wants to take his place among God’s messengers. Think what this means. You have indeed been wrong in your belief that sacrifice is asked. You but receive according to God’s plan, and never lose or sacrifice or die. Now let us try to find that joy which proves to us and all the world God’s Will for us. It is your function that you find it here, and that you find it now. For this you came. Let this one be the day that you succeed! Look deep within you, undismayed by all the little thoughts and foolish goals you pass as you ascend to meet the Christ in you. He will be there. And you will reach Him now. What could you rather look upon in place of Him who waits that you may look on Him? What little thought has power to hold you back? What foolish goal can keep you from success when He Who calls to you is God Himself? He will be there. You are essential to His plan. You are His messenger today. And you must find what He would have you give. Do not forget the idea for today between your longer practice periods. It is your Self who calls to you today. And it is Him you answer every time you tell yourself you are essential to God’s plan for the salvation of the world.  “

ACIM in Iambic Pentameter

 

 

In Lesson 100, the full transition to blank verse in the Transmission from Whole Mind to human mind has been accomplished. From here on, the entire workbook has been dictated in fluent iambic pentameter. The following article is an adaptation from the MIRACLES HEALING CENTER FULL Article “The Rhythm & Reason of Reality ~ Prose and Poetry in A Course in Miracles located here:  http://bitly.com/HealingMiraclesCenter_SiteMap

THE RHYTHM AND REASON OF REALITY Those of you who have discovered the unearthly masterpiece, A Course in Miracles, will no doubt be aware of, and grateful for, its divine message of the remembrance of God and reality through love and forgiveness, that are only made possible in the realization that this world is a dream of your own making. You may remember reading, amongst the literature concerning the scribing of the Course, references to the use of a poetic form called iambic pentameter. The purpose of this volume is to present the poetry of the Course in a totally accessible manner. You need know nothing about poetic forms and meters to begin enjoying immediately. You may, however, wish to read this introduction, as a search to ascertain the extent of the poetic form within the Course reveals another astounding dimension in its structural integrity. Iambic pentameter is usually described as “lines consisting of five iambs”, which in turn are described as “metric feet of two syllables each, the second syllable being the stronger”. Put simply, a line of iambic pentameter sounds like this: |Da-DUM |Da-DUM |Da-DUM |Da-DUM| Da-DUM | — | This form is also called “blank verse”, a more general term denoting even rhythm without rhyming. Because the Course is presented entirely as prose the extent to which this form is used is a surprising and exciting discovery. The Text of A Course In Miracles can be seen as three distinct parts, two of twelve chapters each, and the last of seven chapters, each differentiated from the other by the use of meter. Within this structure, a gradual transition is made from prose to blank verse. The first twelve chapters of the Course are written in a rhythmic prose, and the portrait of the human condition given is prosaic indeed. The very last sentence of Chapter 12 is the first glimpse of what, metrically speaking, is to come: “Your Father could not cease to love His Son. (a line of iambic pentameter) The second part begins with the first seven sections of Chapter 13 becoming increasingly iambic, until in section seven, “The Attainment of the Real World”, each paragraph contains on average only three of four arhythmic lines, non-iambic lines. This is the metric characteristic of the second twelve chapters. Occasionally, paragraphs begin with emphatic statements of light reality, given in iambic pentameter: “There is a light that this world cannot give;” is the first such occurrence. “You do not really want the world you see;” “We cannot sing redemption’s hymn alone;” “Your faith in nothing is deceiving you.” These glorious statements are each elucidated conceptually in the paragraphs that follow from them, but each also offers an opportunity to enter into real communication…. You are being prepared for a new mode of data transmission. Deeper into the second part, increasingly strong “insertions” of iambic pentameter occur; longer passages that persist further into the paragraphs. For instance, in Chapter 21: Thus they define their life and where they live, adjusting to it as they think they must, afraid to lose the little that they have. And so it is with all who see the body as all they have and all their brothers have. and fail again. Coincident with the approach of total iambic pentameter, (the last seven chapters), Jesus makes this statement (in Chapter 22): “This is a crucial period in this course, for here the separation of you and the ego must be made complete.” And this: This course will be believed entirely or not at all. For it is wholly true or wholly false, and cannot be but partially believed. Chapter 25 is the beginning of the final part. In Chapters 25 and 26 the final transition is made into perfect iambic pentameter, making feasible the presentation as poetry in the two same manner as the works of Shakespeare are presented, with columns of the short blank verse lines to a page. It is at this final part that this volume of transformative rhythm and poetry takes up the Text. Encoded into the ongoing presentation of conceptual ideas is the true communication the Course aims to teach. Each line is a perfectly whole package of information. Some parts of these two chapters are still not regular enough to allow breakdown into lines of iambic pentameter and so are presented (in Russell’s book) as prose. Also, the regular iambic pentameter in these two chapters and early in Chapter 27, often contains idiosyncrasies, such as lines that contain one extra syllable, or short lines of only four or six syllables. These discrepancies are used to emphasize ideas in the same manner that the iambic pentameter was used in the middle chapters of the text, only rather than lifting you into communication, they drop you out momentarily, the aim being to teach you to recognize the difference. In the last five chapters of the text the iambic pentameter is perfect. Jesus never abbreviates words to achieve this, but it does account for what seemed to be occasionally unusual syntax - but which now makes perfect sense, read as poetry. A transition from prose to poetry also occurs in the Workbook, but it is much simpler, and quicker. The first ninety lessons are plain prose, with the exception of Lesson 78, which is totally poetic (iambic pentameter). The transition occurs entirely with ten lessons. Lesson 91 is prose. The following lessons have increasing percentages of verse, but the distinction is kept very clear. Any paragraph will either be entirely prose, or entirely poetry. It is astonishing to discover that everything in the Workbook from lesson 100 on is in iambic pentameter ~ the introductions to Reviews, the “instructions on themes of special relevance,” such as ‘What is Forgiveness’, the prayers and the Epilogue. Attempts to read the poetic form directly from the original prose layout often result in diminished comprehension. Conversely, the presentation as blank verse guarantees placing correct emphasis for understanding, (though not understanding itself), and the elegance and eloquence of Jesus’ poetry and the regular rhythmic lope offer an expanded experience of the Course to the musical mind. The magnitude and beauty of the Course, simply as a work of literature and without regard to its miraculous content, adequately belie any notion of its human authorship. The divinity of the ideas expressed is beyond question. Certainly the poetic and prosaic forms contained in A Course in Miracles are there because that was necessary for the healing of God’s Son, since this is the Holy Spirit’s only purpose. Full Manuscript is here: http://www.throughamirrorbrightly.com/The_Rhythm_&_Reason_of_Reality_from_A_Course_In_Miracles.pdf

Scribing by Sun~Rose

 

Guidance from Elder Brother

as Received and Transcribed by Sun~Rose*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[as it appeared in the April 2011 Newsletter] 
 

GUIDANCE ON EASTER and the RESURRECTION LESSON 69 [Words from A Course in Miracles-original edition are Bold and Gold ] It has been said that every Sunday is a little Easter.  And I am going to bring Easter much more present than that statement.  The Truth is that every instant is a potential Holy Instant – or full-blown Easter.  Your Resurrection or Awakening is present with You – as You – at this very moment, quietly, expectantly, waiting for Your willingness.  That’s very simple, isn’t it?  Sounds too simple.  I must be Someone special since You don’t know of another example of Resurrection, although You may have heard there are Others, living off in the Himalayan mountains, but They’re special too. Well what have I said to You when discussing the Miracle Principles?  Every One of You is special, priceless and precious to God.  And I will again quote Saint Augustine: God loves Each One of Us as if there were only One of Us.  That makes You – All of You – the “only begotten Son”, just as I am. And so, how is it that Your Resurrection/Awakening is right now present, not just with You, but as You? … … It’s the Holy Spirit!  It’s Your True Mind.  Today We are working with Lesson 69, although I could excerpt from any of the Lessons, We will use where We are today. You have, for the most part, heretofore, thought of Resurrection as something happening to the body.  Well it is not.  It is a transformation of the mind, from little m mind to capital M Mind; from the ego state of thought to the Holy Spirit’s Knowing. Think of your mind – and the mind We are looking to reach is the Mind You know – or have heard of and which is now being described – as a vast round area, – as the Holy Spirit, hidden from view, – surrounded by – where You are abiding now, which is almost always the limited ego sense of mind, that here in this lesson, is being visually described as – a layer of heavy dark clouds. You can see only the clouds because you seem to be standing outside the whole area, and quite apart from it.  So seems the Holy Spirit to You, as not a part of You but something separate, mystical and magical, and far more than You could ever be. And so – From where you stand, you can see no reason to believe there is a brilliant light hidden by the clouds. The clouds seem to be the only reality. Just as ego thinking seems to be Your only mind.  They seem to be all there is to see. And so You do not realize how much there is to You and how very marvelous You are.  Therefore you do not attempt to go through them and past them, which is the only way in which you would be really convinced of their lack of substance.  – for cloudy doubtful thoughts are so often what and how You think You are. So You need encouragement, and this is what I give You now. We will make this attempt today.  This effort will not be half-hearted but joyous and enthusiastic! This is how I approached My Resurrection: with great joy and enthusiasm.  The certainty of God as all Reality – and therefore, My Consciousness – shone as blazing Light, keeping Me from slipping into the human dream of anger, fear, and crucifixion, all clamoring for My attention.  I lived – and still do – the glorious words to God from Isaiah 26:3: “Thou wilt keep Him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on Thee.” And He is keeping You in perfect peace too, as You stay Your mind on Him. This is Your Resurrection and Your Awakening.  Your Easter Joy. Where, You may be thinking of Yourself, is My crucifixion?  There is no crucifixion for You.  Only the ego sense feels crucified because it has been crucifying You for eons.  Is it not time to accept Your freedom? As the moon retires in the light of the sun, let Us together retire crucifixion in Light of Resurrection.  The true retirement of crucifixion is the Awakening which brings the disappearance of the ego.  And the ego sense is all that will disappear in the Resurrection of Awakening.  Where You thought a painful and a troubled world abided so clearly will it be seen that the Kingdom of Heaven has been here all along. Feel My Love for All of You, as I rejoice in Your Resurrection.  For what is Resurrection but Your dwelling once again as Your rightful place: the Holy Spirit and You as a joyous One, the Belovèd Son of God You are, and have always been, despite the endless, troubled dreams that hid Yourself from You.  Our Father waits with joyous expectation for Your glad return. All that’s asked is that little willingness for miracles abound, and Your glad Homecoming encourages all the sleeping Sons of God to waken and make the journey with You, the journey without distance, as Heaven waits for You right here and now. You have long confused Heaven with the dream of dying.  This could not be farther from the Truth.  Heaven is the true experience of Life Awake instead of life asleep.  For the two experiences are both at hand, right where You are.  You have chosen dreaming for so long, there hadn’t seemed to be another choice.  And so I’m here to offer You a far, far better sense of Life than dreaming endless, fitful dreams that You perceive as lifetimes. How real is Your sleeping dream?  The waking one is no more true.  Your Resurrection, just like Mine, is from the unreal to the Real.  Nowhere to actually go, it’s just a simple change of Mind from Me to We.  From separation and loneliness to inclusion and a Love and safety long forgotten.  And yet this Love has not forgotten You.  You will not lose Your loved Ones for They will come along with You, inspired by Your Joy. How does this journey begin?  The same way that it ends: You Joining with the Holy Spirit, and He is What You really are.  All fear is gone forever, melted by the Love of God, exemplified as He and now as You.  You had forgotten Who You are: joyous Son and Daughter of the King.  Welcome Home.   *~*~*~*~* *Sun~Rose is the scribe of the recently published book, “YOU ARE LOVED AND SAFE: Prep Notes for Experiencing God’s Love.” She is also author of, “A Radiant Life: Raw Food and the Presence of Love“.   BOTH now available on amazon.com

Q and A with Carmen

 

Good Questions 
Questions & Answers
By Carmen Cameron*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 [as it appeared in the April 2011 Newsletter] 

 

There is nothing I like more than a good question about the Course.  And by “good question”, I mean a thought provoking one – a question that makes me reassess what I currently believe and perhaps come to see it in a new light. As a result, we have a very interactive study group of Course students here in Louisville where everyone is encouraged to share their insights and questions. It is also a very diverse group with people from widely varying religious backgrounds so we get a lot of very insightful questions and I’ve been making a note of them for the last 15 years.

 

Question: It’s springtime – my favorite time of year – and yet, as we approach what should be happiest of seasons, Easter, so many events going on in the world are still anxiety-inducing.  Natural disasters, man-made tragedies and the horrors of war seem to be getting worse instead of better.  Do you have a way to see what’s going on with peace of mind?I know that, as a spiritual person, I’m not supposed to be into things but the Course says that the Holy Spirit knows that I need things while I am here just to survive until I learn to go beyond this level of existence.  Things are really tight for me right now and it’s becoming a big distraction to my spiritual progress. 
Any ideas?

 
Answer: I can share with you what works for me to trade a sense of crucifixion into the hope of resurrection. 

“May you live in interesting times” is a Chinese greeting that is considered to be a curse by the human ego but a blessing by the soul for we learn best, the Course explains to us, through extreme examples. (T-6.in.2.1 acim-oe)  And the present isn’t anything if not extreme.

The earth will end, not in its destruction, the Course says, but in ITS TRANLATION INTO HEAVEN. 
(T-11.VIII.1.8)  Hard for us to imagine, isn’t it, that all the carnage around the world is actually an integral part of that translation?   But in that I trust.

The Course  originally spoke of “the celestial speed-up” as being totally about temporal events.  It said that time, itself, was running out and so it was urgent in the eyes of Spirit that we learn more quickly.  It said, in fact, that that was the very reason why we were given the Course.  The timing wasn’t accidental.  There ARE no accidents in salvation!  (M-3.1.6)

For if there ever was a perfect time for bringing up every unforgiving thought we hold in our minds, that time is NOW.

We are not “here” by accident.  We chose to be here.  Not only did we choose to be here, we were CHOSEN.  Chosen by our willingness.  Our willingness to learn.

Right now – with all the misery that surround us in the world – the earth has become, in essence, “the Harvard University” for producing masters. And it is offering us the opportunity for incredible – and rapid – learning “the peace of God which surpasseth [human] understanding” that comes from learning the truth that nothing not of God can hurt us.  (T-2.II.1.5)  And the entire universe is not only watching, it is supporting us with all its power – a power and support that’s ours but for the asking!  (Be willing to ask.)

There has never been a more potent time in human history for learning that we are safe.  That there is nothing in this world with the power to harm us UNLESS we give it the power to do so!  That the Son of God – of Whom each of us is an equally loved and protected aspect – sees the world through forgiving eyes  And what He sees is not only beautiful, it is PERFECT.

It is impossible for us to be where we are NOT supposed to be.  You and I are supposed to be here.  Now.  We chose it.  And we were chosen FOR it.  Like Helen was chosen to scribe the Course BECAUSE she would do it, you and I were chosen to be here at this pivotal point in human evolution BECAUSE YOU AND I CAN DO IT.

Do what?!?

We are here to re-member our true identity.  We are here to manifest the Christ.  We are here to claim our individual Resurrection.  By changing our minds about WHO WE ARE.  And in so doing, recognize our dominion over all things.  (Lesson 38, paragraph 5, sentence 5)

And our resurrection from crucifying OURSELVES!

May this be the most blessed spring-time of your life, dear soul.  And mine.  As we begin – together – to just ALLOW the Vision of Christ to translate the world to Heaven FOR us!

Suggested readings from the Workook that are very helpful:

LESSON 48.  There is nothing to fear.      LESSON 76.  I am under no laws but God’s.

LESSON 77.  I am entitled to miracles.     LESSON 194.  I place the future in the Hands of God.

LESSON 338.  I am affected only by my thoughts.

            It needs but this to let salvation come to all the world. For in this single thought is everyone released at last from fear. Now has he learned that no one frightens him, and nothing can endanger him. He has no enemies, and he is safe from all external things.  His thoughts can frighten him, but since these thoughts belong to him alone, he has the power to change them and exchange each fear thought for a happy thought of love. He crucified himself. Yet God has planned that His beloved Son will be redeemed.

Lesson 348.     I have no cause for anger or for fear,

                        For You surround me. And in every need

                        That I perceive, Your grace suffices me.

~*~

* Carmen Cameron, who is a founding member of Course in Miracles Society, has been teaching classes in A Course in Miracles since 1994.  She was a presenter at the 2009 Miracles Conference in San Francisco and is scheduled to present again at the 2011 Conference. Carmen’s website is:  
http://peaceful-path.blogspot.com/

James Yax

Resurrection By James Yax*   [as it appeared in the April 2011 Newsletter]

I rest under the full moon of Easter. I called you, nervous with the energy Of something wanting birth. Often the past and future draw me to the memory of Beauty and the expectation of Joy. Yet Now is the only time we make sense. Listen! The owls call under the moon Shining the night to silver mist Which veils the dark trees. Do Their spirits dance under the full moon of Easter? There is no wind tonight. It is Good Friday and its spell Wraps the waiting, timeless yearning For the dawn of Easter, The Resurrection of Christ and our Joy. Nature is silent, hushed now. Wrapped close in moonlight and mist. Not with grief like men remembering The passion play with needless guilt, But in innocence and light. Knowing itself it calls to the Light in us, and gratefully our heart answers. Let it be, let it be, and you and I will feel The difference between the seeming And the Being that is Real. And know that there is only One, The Being dancing in the form. We recognize God’s only Son, The Christ is everything and everyone.

* James Yax has been a student of A Course In Miracles since 1981. . Introduced to the Edgar Cayce Readings in 1969, he and his family moved to Virginia Beach in 1973, becoming members of Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment( ARE). For the next ten years, James worked with the ARE’s spiritual healing group, The Glad Helpers, and gave workshops in Creativity, Meditation and Spiritual Healing at the ARE and in other cities in the US and in Canada. In a dream in 1981 he was told to begin studying A Course In Miracles. James facilitated four ACIM study groups in Holland from 1988 to 1990.  From 1998 to 2009 he worked as a hospice volunteer and a licensed home health care provider.  His day job was/is art, and since 1965 he has been a freelance painter, a sometime poet, an art conservator, and a teacher of painting, drawing and art history. He is a blessed father of seven shining Beings of Light.



Letters of Gratitude ~ German [original] Edition

 

TRANSLATION“Good Morning, this is to say Thank You for the great site. I also find the recitations of the Lessons superb, very plausible and pleasant. Often times much easier as reading for oneself alone. Very loving regards, Melanie April 7, 2011 _________________________________________ GERMAN ORIGINAL Guten Morgen, wollte nur mal DANKE sagen für die tolle Seite. Die gesprochenen Lektionen finde ich auch super, sehr eingängig und angenehm. Oft viel einfacher als wenn man es selber liest. Ganz liebe Grüße!!! Melanie April 7, 2011

Daniel Tipton ~

Dare to Be Happy

By Daniel Tipton* 

 

 ~*PRACTICE*~

 

 [as it appeared in the April 2011 Newsletter] 

In my time this month thinking about what I wanted to write, I learned that I have a lot of philosophy that I love to discuss but as I typed through it, it wasn’t long before it started to feel uninspired. I don’t think there is much I can say about the Course’s philosophies that hasn’t already been written. I’m currently taking a ministerial course through the Course in Miracles Center, facilitated by Rev. Tony Ponticello. I learned a couple classes in that Rev. Tony looks for our philosophy to be joined with a personal experience. I am now in full appreciation of this. We don’t really know something unless we experience it in some way. I think experience is associating an emotion with our learning. When we experience lessons in our lives, they come with emotions. The course tells us over and over that our practical application of its lessons is critical to our progression. I’ve spent that last couple of years immersing myself in metaphysical books but there came a point not long ago when I started feeling stagnant. I soon realized that I wasn’t practicing very much. Our inner journey has much to do with our practical applications in the outer. So as I dove into what I could be doing, I realized I wasn’t doing a whole lot at all. I also found out that I have been judgmental of people all my life. This was humbling because I was walking around feeling pretty good about my knowledge. This inner searching taught me that I really have only begun my journey. The books I read and have read are the lessons for the practicum (much like the Text and the Workbook in A Course in Miracles). So now I have begun again and after asking around a little bit, I confirmed that I come off pretty judgmentally to a lot of people. I could only laugh after hearing this because I know how far along I thought I was and how I really am in the infancy of my awakening. Luckily, I have this splendid course with a 365 day lesson set for practical application of inner work. I think the lesson here is be quiet and do my work. I LOVE to share philosophy and sometimes it resonates with people, but I am learning that most of the time, the energy is better spent making the lesson part of me through actual experience rather than trying to solidify it through sharing. If anyone has been friends with me on Facebook, they would see my sharing regularly. The truth is I am not in a place yet where a lot of the messages I have shared so far have come from true, emotional experience. I think my brothers can tell the difference between when I am speaking philosophy or speaking from experience. I also think they relate to personal experience much better than the most profound of statements. I spoke to my sister recently about the prospect of speaking at a half-way house and she told me not to bother going in there to preach to anyone. Furthermore, she said that they want to know my story and how I got to where I am at now. I don’t think any of us will ever be masters of A Course in Miracles on this plane of existence but we are masters of our own experiences. There isn’t a person on this planet that can tell my story better than me, and that’s what most people really want to hear anyway I think. I heard Dr. Joe Dispenza at a conference last November and the following quote was my favorite of the entire weekend. “Knowledge without experience is philosophy. Experience without knowledge is ignorance. Knowledge with experience is wisdom.” What I am working on now is to help when asked but to get out and practice, practice, practice. Daniel *Daniel Tipton resides in Omaha, NE and is a member of the Course in Miracles Society [CIMS]. He has recently entered the ACIM Ministerial Program offered by the Community Miracles Center and in February 2011 attended the Annual ACIM Conference sponsored by CMC and CIMS among many other ACIM organizations.

   [as it appeared in the April 2011 Newsletter] 

 

 

Rob Rideout ~ My Path to the Course

My Path to the Course 
by Rob Rideout*
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 [as it appeared in the April 2011 Newsletter] 

 

Looking back now, my path to A Course in Miracles probably all started in 1969 when I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, under the influence of the Campus Crusade for Christ. However, after joining a Christian brotherhood of aspiring monks, where I was daily quizzed on how many Bible verses I had memorized and could recite verbatim, I was totally confused by it all. Their version of reality just didn’t sit well with me. I felt like a parrot of Bible verses, that I didn’t even begin to understand, or the town crier that nobody wanted to hear. Jesus would show me more, much more.  As divine synchronicity would have it, I ingested a hallucinogen that resulted in a near death experience the day after Christmas, 1970. When I was in the black void, with only the consciousness that “I Am”, George Harrison’s song My Sweet Lord began playing.  That was my voice singing to God, not George’s! Soon a brilliant white light began appearing out of the darkness, as my soul sang “I really want to see you Lord”. Then somebody started to emerge out of the light. This Holy One oscillated between masculine and feminine. As I’d been praying to Jesus, I thought it might be him, but without a beard. I began crying from the depths of my soul, as the Holy One communicated telepathically into my heart. I knew this Being to be nothing but pure love. Then it was over. I was shot back into my body, hearing the words to a new song telling me “it’s been a long time coming, it’s going to be a long time gone.” How true that has been. A year later, I saw the cover of Autobiography of a Yogi. It was Paramahansa Yogananda who had come to me! Next came meeting Baba Ram Dass, who confirmed that I wasn’t crazy and stated that Yogananda had appeared to many young spiritual seekers on drugs. He also autographed my copy of Be Here Now. My next decade was spent being an aspiring yogi and practicing Yogananda’s Self-Realization Fellowship lessons and exercises, chanting, meditating and receiving initiation into Kriya yoga. Yogananda’s path and linage of gurus brought the much needed clarity for me to understand Jesus and Christianity better. Yogananda also showed me the essential truth behind the oneness of all religions. And he brought me to Babaji, the Mahavatar who sent him to America back in the 1920s. Ever since I heard the name Babaji, I knew I knew Him. He and Jesus work together, behind the scenes, in the cosmic scheme of things. And Babaji was to be the next step in my ongoing spiritual evolution. However, I did not know at this point that He had supposedly manifested a body again and was residing in the small village of Haidakhan, in northern India. That would come later, along with the mystery and myth of this current manifestation. After hearing Bhagavan Das sing, I bought a dotara and began chanting mantras to God daily. This simple, ancient two- stringed instrument is easy to play and lets one follow the drone sound into silence. At this point, I purchased my own place in the woods and met a man who’d lived with Babaji. He conducted a Vedic fire ceremony that Babaji had taught him to initiate my new abode. I questioned and grilled him repeatedly, asking if this new Babaji was the same entity Yogananda had written about. Yes, one and the same but peoples egos still question His true identity. Babaji’s new Kriya yoga was the path of truth, simplicity and love while performing karma yoga- work – and keeping one’s mind on God, through repetition of the ancient mantra Om Namaha Shivaya. Babaji stated that this mantra alone was more powerful than a thousand atomic bombs and His 1-800 number. I began at this point seriously doing japa, or the repetition of the mantra on 108 rudraksha beads, to get this vibration into my sub consciousness. I also learned many ways to chant it on my dotara. With all of this going on, I bought A Course in Miracles and began the daily lessons immediately. I tried to make sense of the Text but got nowhere; each sentence bogged me down and had to be re-read over too many times to assimilate. I was just too young, I told myself. I was thirty-three. I’d deal with this Text later, someday, maybe. Then after a year of being married, our house burns down- a real karmic fire ceremony. In the ashes, untouched by the fire, was a picture of Babaji and His cymbals from Haidakhan. Talk about miracles! Next, was the unexpected news that we have a baby coming, after losing everything? My marriage started to dissolve quickly after I fell twenty feet off a roof, breaking my body in twelve places. Surviving death, I was put back into college for two years to be retrained, while my ex-wife and son left for the Southwest. This is when all of my abandonment issues led to extreme drinking alone. After graduation, I left for India to see Babaji’s ashram, as He had already left His physical body again, and to pray for help with my life in the most spiritual country on earth. I attended the 1995 Kumbha Mela festival with ten million others and lo and behold, who should appear? It was Babaji, asking me if I was having fun.  Yes, but I couldn’t speak to answer Him! Then He disappeared back into the crowd, leaving me blown away. Returning state side, I ended up following my ex- wife and son to the Southwest, where my next step was peyote meetings with the Native Americans for many years to come. Everything I’d read and studied in the Course was evident on the medicine inside that tipi. God Is. I learned more in one night than I had in years of studying metaphysical books. But I didn’t practice all I’d learned and I let my depressed ego, alcohol and abandonment issues take me closer to death’s very door. However, as fate, karma and prayers would have it, I ended up in prison for 2.5 years, instead of dead, where I stumbled upon the Courses’ Manual for Teachers in our library. Soon, I had the entire book sent in free to prisoners and was reintroduced to Jesus again, with all the time I needed to study every word of that lengthy text. After twenty years, I must be old enough to get it now! In time and with the help of the Course, I was finally able to forgive myself for the bizarre life my ego had constructed. I did the daily lessons again, trying to see the face of Christ within each inmate. That was not an easy one. But I left prison a changed, free sober man, much better for the experience and with a first draft book about it all under my belt. Today, I have eight years of sobriety under my belt and my book Still Singing, Somehow won the fall Pinnacle Book Achievement Award. This is a very condensed version of my story- an odyssey of one soul’s karma. Singer/songwriter Rob Rideout is still singing, somehow on a farm overlooking Colville, WA with his three cats Baba, Maya and Olive. He recently published a second book of poetry, based on his song lyrics. The release of his CD of original songs is scheduled for spring 2011. To contact, purchase books, view pictures, hear interviews, see videos and read reviews, go to www.stillsingingsomehow.com ARTICLE also appears in Selfgrowth ~*~ *Singer/songwriter Rob Rideout is still singing, somehow on a farm overlooking Colville, WA with his three cats Baba, Maya and Olive. He recently published a second book of poetry, based on his song lyrics. The release of his CD of original songs is scheduled for spring 2011. To contact, purchase books, view pictures, hear interviews, see videos and read reviews, go to www.stillsingingsomehow.com