Applying A Course In Miracles Study Group YYC

ACIM. MfT. CoT. 5. JESUS - CHRIST We do not need help to enter Heaven, because we have never left. However, we can use other people's help to remember our Identity as Spirit/Love. ... Helpers come to us in many forms. Everyone whom we encounter, the animals we may have as pets, animals we may encounter in nature, the flora, the mountains, prairies, oceans, lakes and even the sky during the day or night can remind us that we are not just these bodies, rather a Thought of God. God creates helpers who may choose to animate bodies to help us remember that we are Spirit. The name of "Jesus" is the name of a man who recognized the face of Christ in everyone and remembered that he was God animating a body. The body of the man Jesus was an illusion as our bodies are, and these bodies can interfere with us identifying the Christ/God/Divine/Self within. Even Jesus had his uncertainties as he wondered in the wilderness for 40 days, or the night before his crucifixion when he could have renounced that he was Spirit to protect the body he animated. Yes he was resurrected as Christ Consciousness, the same Consciousness that lives in all of us. Jesus provided an example for us to emulate by providing us an example that the Consciousness cannot be killed. This Consciousness carried on in the mind of every human. This is the same Consciousness as Krishna, Buddha, Great Spirit, Creator, Alah, etc... Consciousness. This Consciousness overlooks sin, evil, malice, fear and death. Our ability to forgive brings this Consciousness to us. Everyone is the Christ including ourselves. When we join our mind with others we are able to see through the eyes of Christ. Jesus and everyone we encounter is the bearer of Christ's single message that we are all the Love of God. We never die as Spirit, as Christ Consciousness, for we are resurrected from dreams, sin and death into Eternal Love. Bernie

ACIM. MfT. CoT. 4. TRUE PERCEPTION - KNOWLEDGE The world we see with our physical body's eyes was not created by the Divine. It is an illusion we made ourselves. ... The real world cannot be seen with our physical eyes or identified with our five bodily senses. This world of form is a temporary illusion and is constantly changing. Even the mountain change. Everything that has been created exists in eternity not time. Everything that is made of form offers sin and guilt and changes. If we pause for a moment and look at the concept of climate change, something that has been going on since the planet's origin, we are being bombarded with fear and guilt that the planet cannot address these things without our guilt imposed reactionary change of behaviour. Agreed polluting is not a good thing, however, if we are to make any type of significant impact on this planet of form, it will come from aligning our behaviour with what is most Loving, not changing behaviour from a place of fear. To make any meaningful change requires that we shift our thoughts from false perception to true perception. The best we can do is shift our perception, because knowledge is only granted from the Divine. The various names of "true perception" are forgiveness, salvation and Atonement, which all lead us to Oneness of Spirit. The world of form is a block to the awareness of Love's presence. However, when we can recognize the face of Christ in others the block become a mere vale that is easily removed to clearly recognize the Divine in others. A forgiven world looks past bodies to holiness and heals minds. Here illusions are brought to truth, where fears are replaced by healing Love. False perception is temporarily replaced by true perception and when this occurs, God's knowledge, Love, replace both perceptions. With Love, sin, walls, bodies, guilt, and death are all snuffed out. As we join with the Mind of God, we are enveloped in peace and return to Love. Bernie

ACIM. MfT. CoT. 3. FORGIVENESS - THE FACE OF CHRIST We forgive ourselves and others so we can get closer to God. God does not forgive, because what he created (us as Spirit) is perfect and beyond illusions. ... Forgiveness is an illusion and the only illusion that leads us to the Divine rather than away from Him. Forgiveness bridges the gap between false perception and true perception. Yet it falls short of knowledge. Forgiveness is a willingness to release our attachments to the physical things and situations around us while considering that we are the Spirit that animates these bodies. Recognizing the face of Christ involves perception because we cannot look directly on knowledge/God. The face of Christ is the symbol of the Spirit realm and the best we can do is come to this awareness so the Divine can welcome us into Heaven. Forgiveness is a symbol that that we are united in God's Will and is the bridge to Heaven. To go from hell to Heaven is not a journey as much as it is a shift from false perception to true perception and eternal peace. The ego cannot be at peace. Yet, the Will of God is for us to be at peace and forgiveness is the shift required to bring us to peace. In just an instant we can go from considering ourselves as sinful to sinless by recognizing the face of Christ in those we encounter, understanding God is in each of us while shifting our perception through forgiveness. Bernie

ACIM. T. Chapter 29 THE AWAKENING VIII. The Anti-Christ ... An idol is an image of another person that is valued more than s/he really is. An idol can be a thing, place, circumstance, or situation that is made in a person's ego mind. This idea of an idol is ever present in special relationships whether the relationship is new or protracted. In a new dating relationship a person will look at something s/he likes (appearance, intelligence, lifestyle, money, etc.), which are all idols, about a date, make up beliefs about what the date will be for him/her. In a protracted relationship a person will see what s/he gets (idols) from the partner and make up ideas about the rest of the partner to satisfy the person's image of the partner. In both of these relationships, the date/partner is both feared and worshipped, while totally missing the Divine that the other person is. Idols are substitutes for our reality as Spirit. Idols are false impressions, false beliefs, some form of anti-Christ, and a wish perceived as real. Idols oppose the Christ Consciousness within us. Idols are like a veil that prevents us from seeing the Christ Consciousness in others. An idol is nothing! A miracle simply lifts the veil and restores the truth to the mind that we are One as Christ Consciousness. Without belief, the idol dies. Idol worshipers believe that the Idol will give him/her something special that separates him/her from others. In God's Mind he only has one Child that is made up of all of our collective Loving Mind. Heaven is in our Mind where idols are absent. God gave us everthing including each other. We will never be content with anything less than the complete unified Divine Love that we are. Bernie

ACIM. MfT. CoT. 2. THE EGO - THE MIRACLE The ego is impermanent and will die. The ego is a dream of who we are, a distorted thought that we are apart from the Divine that Created us, a thing of madness, a symbol of impossibility.... The ego is nothingness, that, in illusion appears to be real in a material world. The ego is defined by what it is not. Anything that is meaningful is not the ego. The ego is and resides in darkness. The ego is in every way opposite to a miracle. A miracle is not of the material world but of the Spirit realm. A miracle is where cause and effect are one. In a miracle we find light and holiness. A miracle is a dream of a kind world where gentleness, happiness and peace abide. A miracle corrects all ego beliefs of separation, cruelty, hate, vengeance, pain, fear, dying, and killing, with the awareness that only Spirit and Love are real. In a miracle, all questions and choices are answered with the truth that we are Spirit. A miracle joins all of us in recognizing the Divine in ourselves and others. A miracle is available to everyone. The ego damns: The miracle forgives. Bernie

ACIM. T. Chapter 29 THE AWAKENING VII. Seek Not Outside Yourself... When we seek to find happiness in things, people, titles, or lifestyles dependant on acknowledgements that are external to us, we will fail and be in anguish every time one of those idols are lost to us. Things in this world of form cannot replace the happiness we experience when we are connected to the Divine within our mind. To believe that something outside of our mind can bring us happiness is to believe that we are lacking something. The illusion that we are incomplete as Spirit causes the body to seek and strive to fill this perceived lack. Seeking to fill a lack for the body is seeking for idols, which are all dead. Thus to seek for external satisfaction for the body is to seek for death. External idols distract us from knowing the peace of God that is within us. When we are willing to stop chasing illusions we are able to stop fearing God, because the fear of God is based in the idea that we fear the loss of our idols, our things, our status, etc. Do we prefer to be right in satisfying our ego desire's externally, or do we prefer to be happy having a mind aligned with God/Love? We can only ever be happy when we stop "seeking" and surrender into "being" the Love that we are! Bernie

ACIM MANUAL FOR TEACHERS CLARIFICATION OF TERMS... Introduction The intent of this Course is not focused on precise terminology, nor a philosophy. Rather, it is on correcting perception to achieve Atonement (At-One-Ment), whereby the mind is joined as One in Spirit. We achieve Atonement through forgiveness of the judgements we hold. The study of "individual consciousness" is irrelevant, an error and corrects nothing. Terms are potentially controversial based on definitions of theological beliefs. Yet, universal experience is possibly and necessary for uncertainty to end. This Course move us in the direction of getting beyond ego error, with a focus on offering a simple and consistent message that we are Love/Spirit, not bodies. The meaning of this message is best experienced rather than explained. I. MIND - SPIRIT The word "mind" is the activating agent to spirit or creative energy. When the word is capitalized "Mind" there is a connection with the Divine. SPIRIT is the thought of God, Divine, Christ, that comes to and through us. The mind is like a continuum; on one end is SPIRIT and on the other is illusion, ego, leading to the concept of a split mind. The mind is always connected to Spirit light and truth, however it can turn away and look only at illusion, darkness. The untrained mind will focus on illusuions or at best vacillate between dark and light. Spirit unifies, illusions separate. "Right-mindedness" listens to the Holy Spirit, our Divine Intuition, forgives illusions, and uses Christ Consciousness' vision, our third eye, whereby illusions and time end. "Wrong-mindedness" listens to the ego and the illusions our five bodily senses send to it, perceiving sin, anger, guilt, and death as real. "Right-mindedness" overlooks and forgives what never happened and becomes "One-mindedness" with the Divine. "Consciousness" receives messages from Spirit and ego and at best can be trained, yet can never achieve knowledge. Bernie

ACIM. T. Chapter 29. THE AWAKENING VI. Forgiveness and the End of Time... Forgiveness brings us peace. To forgive we must be willing to forgive ourselves for the judgements we hold about absolutely everyone and everything. To forgive means that we are willing to "sacrifice" all strife, misery, pain, belief that we are separate from others, dreams of danger, madness, murder, grief and loss. In time there is a belief that duality, tides rising and falling, day and night, or seasons changing, is eternal. However, all of these things are illusions of this human experience. When we truly forgive ourselves for believing that we are bodies that die, we awaken into the reality that we are eternal Spirit; the same Spirit that created us. In this world of form change is a constant whereby we easily change our human purpose numerous times. The Power that gives us the ability to change our minds is constant and holds the a purpose for us to use the body to remind others that we are all One Spirit. We may take different paths to get to that purpose, Yet, this is the same purpose we all are given. The paths are set in time, our ultimate purpose is set in eternity. When we truly forgive, the purpose of time is gone and time ends. Life is eternal and it's purpose is to extend Life/Love forever. In this wotld of form, the things we see and experiences all come to us so we can forgive our attachments to everything and recognize the beauty joy and happily we have within, while temporarily residing here until eternity finally ends time. We then come to certainty that we are all Love. Bernie

ACIM. T. Chapter 29. THE AWAKENING V. The Changeless Dwelling Place... There is a place in our mind that is absent of ego and fear. The place is where our Divine Intuition, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that animates us resides. This is the part of the mind that is connected to both God and everyone else. This place is where peace resides and is known as Heaven. Heaven exists within our mind and envelops us in eternal peace, while protecting us from all fear. This place where our Divine Intuition resides continually reminds us to accept our Identity as Spirit, Love, and recognize the Divine in everyone we encounter. In this place we offer Love to all and Love is reflected back to us. Holding fearful thoughts cost us our peace of mind. To return to having peace of mind, we simply practice forgiving ourselves for holding any attachment to fear, or anything outside of ourselves. Fear costs us our peace of mind. When we encounter anyone who is fearful, offer them a blessing as a reminder that they are Divine. By forgiving ourselves for being attached to the dream of things outside ourselves, we are able to find the changeless dwelling place of eternal peace. Bernie

ACIM. T. Chapter 29. THE AWAKENING IV. Dream Roles... Dream are only illusions and are not true. In order for a miracle to occur, we must understand this idea and be willing to wake up from the dream. We cannot hold onto some dreams and awaken from others. We cannot awaken to the knowledge that we are Spirit and still believe that we bodies in this material world. In miracles we release all dreams when we awaken. If we choose to hold on to any dream of this material world we remain asleep. Whether we like a dream or dislike a dream, they are all based in fear and are therefore illusions. Depression or assault is the theme of every dream even though there may seem to be some veil of pleasure in the dream. We get angry because someone else didn't do what we wanted them to do and therefore we feel justified in attacking them in some way. Pleasurable dreams occur when other do what we want them to do. Yet, the dreams are based in fear. All dreams desirable or undesirable prevent us from waking up to the Divine Spirit that we are when we hold attachments to dreams. Other people come to us for help to awaken into the knowing that we are Spirit. Divine Guidance brings them to us because It Loves us (the dreamer) not the dream, by allowing the final dream be an offering of Love. Awaken from this dream of fear into the knowing that we are all Spirit; Love. Bernie