Category Archives: ACIM

ACIM & Knowledge

What could God give but Knowledge of Himself?
ACIM 18.VI

As you read A Course In Miracles, you may begin to become aware that the word “knowledge” is used quite frequently. If you begin to read it with a capital “K” and use the phrase “Knowledge of God”, then ACIM will make even more sense.

From the end of Chapter 18…

This course will lead to Knowledge, but Knowledge itself is still beyond the scope of our curriculum… The readiness for Knowledge still must be attained.

Love is not learned. Its meaning lies within itself. And learning ends when you have recognised all it is not. That is the interference; that is what needs to be undone. Love is not learned, because there never was a time in which you knew it not. Learning is useless in the Presence of your Creator, Whose acknowledgement of you and yours of Him so far transcend all learning that everything you learned is meaningless, replaced forever by the Knowledge of Love and its one meaning.

To inspire us all (including myself) toward the speedy realization of that Love, I have made a book that compares the course’s use of the word Knowledge with quotes from world scriptures throughout the ages.

Knowledge will provide you with tantalizing new insights into the course, world scriptures and religions. This book makes it very clear that Knowledge of God is your birthright.

To heal is to make happy

From the book A Course In Miracles

To heal is to make happy. I told you once to think how many opportunities you have to gladden yourselves, and how many you have refused. This is exactly the same as telling you that you have refused to heal yourselves.

The light that belongs in you is the light of joy. Radiance is not associated with sorrow. Depression is often contagious, but although it may affect those who come in contact with it, they do not yield to its influence wholeheartedly. But joy calls for an integrated willingness to share in it, and thus promotes the mind’s natural impulse to respond as one.

Those who attempt to heal without being wholly joyous themselves call forth different kinds of responses at the same time, and thus deprive others of the joy of responding wholeheartedly. To be wholehearted, you must be happy. If fear and love cannot coexist, and if it is impossible to be wholly fearful and remain alive, then the only possible whole state is that of love. There is no difference between love and joy. Therefore, the only possible whole state is the wholly joyous.

To heal, or to make joyous, is therefore the same as to integrate and make one. That is why it makes no difference to what part or by what part of the Sonship the healing is done. Every part benefits, and benefits equally. You are being blessed by every beneficent thought of any of your brothers anywhere. You should want to bless them in return, out of gratitude.

You do not have to know them individually, or they you. The light of joy is so strong that it radiates throughout the Sonship and returns thanks to the Father for radiating His joy upon it. Only God’s own holy children are worthy to be channels of his beautiful joy, because only they are beautiful enough to hold it by sharing it. It is impossible for a Child of God to love his neighbor except as himself. That is why the healer’s prayer is, “Let me know this brother as I know myself.”

A Course In Miracles, Urtext, p.123
(in the edited version: Introduction to Chapter 5)

You are in a state of grace forever

Spirit is in a state of grace forever.
Your reality is only spirit.
Therefore you are in a state of grace forever.

You might enjoy learning more about your divine nature by following the workbook lessons from A Course In Miracles (ACIM) at ACIM Essentials. Sign up for daily lessons. They help you undo faulty programming from the past and install a gentler, kinder way of thinking. Each lesson comes with a video starring our own dear Auntie Patricia.

The door that leads out of the desert forever…

Gate to heaven with sunny sky

 

This prayer is the door that leads out of the desert forever:
“If you will tell me what to do, I will to do it.” 

This wonderful prayer is not in the published edition, but it can be found in the A Course In Miracles “Urtext”, (first typed copy of the ACIM material) on page 33. You can read or download the ACIM “Urtext” here. The “Urtext” has a more “conversational” tone than the formal, edited version. With the “Urtext” on your computer, you can search it for topics that interest you.

If you are interested in the evolution of the Course materials, this is an excellent article by Robert Perry of Circle of Atonement: The Earlier Versions and the Editing of A Course In Miracles.

What is a Miracle?

From the book A Course In Miracles (ACIM):

A miracle is a correction. It
does not create, nor really change at all.
It merely looks on devastation, and
reminds the mind that what it sees is false.
It undoes error, but does not attempt
to go beyond perception, nor exceed
the function of forgiveness. Thus it stays
within time’s limits. Yet it paves the way
for the return of timelessness and love’s
awakening, for fear must slip away
under the gentle remedy it gives.

A miracle contains the gift of grace,
for it is given and received as one.
And thus it illustrates the law of truth
the world does not obey, because it fails
entirely to understand its ways.
A miracle inverts perception, which
was upside-down before, and thus it ends
the strange distortions that were manifest.
Now is perception open to the truth.
Now is forgiveness fully justified.

Forgiveness is the home of miracles.
The eyes of Christ delivers them to all
they look upon in mercy and in love.
Perception stands corrected in His sight,
and what was meant to curse has come to bless.
Each lily of forgiveness offers all
the world the silent miracle of love.
And each is laid before the Word of God
upon the universal altar to
Creator and creation, in the Light
of perfect purity and endless peace.

The miracle is taken first on faith,
because to ask for it implies the mind
has been made ready to conceive of what
it cannot see and does not understand.
Yet faith will bring its witnesses, to show
that what it rested on is really there.
And thus the miracle will justify your faith
in it, and show it rested on a world
more real than what you saw before;
a world redeemed from what you thought you saw.

Miracles fall like drops of healing rain
from Heaven on a dry and dusty world,
where starved and thirsty creatures came to die.
Now have they water. Now the world is green.
And everywhere the signs of life spring up,
to show that what is born can never die,
for what has life has immortality.

ACIM Table of Contents – Affirmations

These powerful thoughts are not just wishful thinking – they are beautiful and true. Pick one or two or as many as you like of these lesson titles to keep in your mind and heart. Make signs for your mirror, desk, frig. Put them on your computer. Replace your old way of thinking with thoughts that will take you where you really want to go. It’s time for us all to begin to remember what we temporarily forgot – who and what we truly are.

This table of contents are titles of the lessons from the A Course In Miracles Workbook. If you’d like to see a video and read the text of these lessons, please go to ACIM Essentials. You can also download the entire Workbook – and Text and Manual for Teachers – at ACIM Essentials. Three hundred eighty lesson videos are hosted by YouTube at the ACIMessentials channel. The daily workbook lessons are posted on Twitter (ACIMessentials) and Facebook (ACIM Essentials) every evening for the upcoming day. Stay in touch!

A Course In Miracles
Workbook for Students

PART I

1. Nothing I see… means anything.
2. I have given everything I see… all the meaning that it has for me.
3. I do not understand anything I see…
4. These thoughts do not mean anything…
5. I am never upset for the reason I think.
6. I am upset because I see something that is not there.
7. I see only the past.
8. My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
9. I see nothing as it is now.
10. My thoughts do not mean anything.
11. My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.
12. I am upset because I see a meaningless world.
13. A meaningless world engenders fear.
14. God did not create a meaningless world.
15. My thoughts are images that I have made.
16. I have no neutral thoughts.
17. I see no neutral things.
18. I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
19. I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.
20. I am determined to see.
21. I am determined to see things differently.
22. What I see is a form of vengeance.
23. I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.
24. I do not perceive my own best interests.
25. I do not know what anything is for.
26. My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.
27. Above all else I want to see.
28. Above all else I want to see things differently.
29. God is in everything I see.
30. God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.
31. I am not the victim of the world I see.
32. I have invented the world I see.
33. There is another way of looking at the world.
34. I could see peace instead of this.
35. My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy.
36. My holiness envelops everything I see.
37. My holiness blesses the world.
38. There is nothing my holiness cannot do.
39. My holiness is my salvation.
40. I am blessed as a son of God.
41. God goes with me wherever I go.
42. God is my strength. Vision is His gift
43. God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him.
44. God is the Light In which I see.
45. God is the Mind with which I think.
46. God is the Love in which I forgive.
47. God is the Strength in which I trust.
48. There is nothing to fear.
49. God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.
50. I am sustained by the Love of God.

REVIEW I – Lessons 51-60

61. I am the light of the world.
62. Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
63. The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.
64. Let me not forget my function.
65. My only function is the one God gave me.
66. My happiness and my function are one.
67. Love created me like Itself.
68. Love holds no grievances.
69. My grievances hide the light of the world in me.
70. My salvation comes from me.
71. Only God’s plan for salvation will work.
72. Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.
73. I will there be light.
74. There is no will but God’s.
75. The light has come.
76. I am under no laws but God’s.
77. I am entitled to miracles.
78. Let miracles replace all grievances.
79. Let me recognise the problem so it can be solved.
80. Let me recognise my problems have been solved.

REVIEW II – Lessons 81-90

90. (79-80)
91. Miracles are seen in light
92. Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.
93. Light and joy and peace abide in me.
94. I am as God created me.
95. I am one Self, united with my Creator.
96. Salvation comes from my one self.
97. I am spirit.
98. I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.
99. Salvation is my only function here.
100. My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation.
101. God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.
102. I share God’s Will for happiness for me.
103. God, being 1ove, is also happiness
104. I seek but what belongs to me in truth.
105. God’s peace and joy are mine.
106. Let me be still and listen to the truth.
107. Truth will correct all errors in my mind.
108. To give and to receive are one in truth.
109. I rest in God.
110. I am as God created me.

REVIEW III – Lessons 111-120

121. Forgiveness is the key to happiness.
122. Forgiveness offers everything I want.
123. I thank my Father for His gifts to me.
124. Let me remember I am one with God.
125. In quiet I receive God’s Word today.
126. All that I give is given to myself.
127. There is no love but God’s.
128. The world I see holds nothing that I want
129. Beyond this world there is a world I want.
130. It is impossible to see two worlds.
131. No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.
132. I loose the world from all I thought it was.
133. I will not value what is valueless.
134. Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.
135. If I defend myself I am attacked.
136. Sickness is a defense against the truth.
137. When I am healed I am not healed alone.
138. Heaven is the decision I must make.
139. I will accept Atonement for myself.
140. Only salvation can be said to cure.

REVIEW IV – Lessons 141-150

151. All things are echoes of the Voice for God.
152. The power of decision is my own.
153. In my defenselessness my safety lies.
154. I am among the ministers of God.
155. I will step back and let Him lead the way.
156. I walk with God in perfect holiness.
157. Into his presence would I enter now.
158. Today I learn to give as I receive.
159. I give the miracles I have received.
160. I am at home. Fear is the stranger here.
161. Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.
162. I am as God created me.
163. There is no death. The Son of God is free.
164. Now are we one with Him Who is our Source.
165. Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.
166. I am entrusted with the gifts of God.
167. There is one life, and that I share with God.
168. Your grace is given me. I claim it now.
169. By grace I live. By grace I am released.
170. There is no cruelty in God and none in me.

REVIEW V – Lessons 171-180

181. I trust my brothers, who are one with me.
182. I will be still an instant and go home
183. I call upon God’s Name and on my own.
184. The Name of God is my inheritance.
185. I want the peace of God.
186. Salvation of the world depends upon me.
187. I bless the world because I bless myself.
188. The peace of God is shining in me now
189. I feel the Love of God within me now.
190. I choose the joy of God instead of pain.
191. I am the holy Son of God Himself.
192. I have a function God would have me fill.
193. All things are lessons God would have me learn.
194. I place the future in the Hands of God.
195. Love is the way I walk in gratitude.
196. It can be but myself I crucify.
197. It can be but my gratitude I earn.
198. Only my condemnation injures me.
199. I am not a body. I am free.
200. There is no peace except the peace of God.

REVIEW VI – Lessons 201-220

PART II

1. What is Forgiveness?

221. Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still.
222. God is with me. I live and move in Him.
223. God is my life. I have no life but His.
224. God is my Father, and He loves His Son.
225. God is my Father, and His Son loves Him.
226. My home awaits me. I will hasten there.
227. This is my holy instant of release.
228. God has condemned me not. No more do I.
229. Love, Which created me, is what I am.
230. Now will I seek and find the peace of God.

2. What is Salvation?

231. Father, I will but to remember You.
232. Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.
233. I give my life to God to guide today.
234. Father, today I am Your Son again.
235. God in His mercy wills that I be saved.
236. I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.
237. Now would I be as God created me.
238. On my decision all salvation rests.
239. The glory of my Father is my own.
240. Fear is not justified in any form.

3. What is the World?

241. This holy instant is salvation come.
242. This day is God’s. It is my gift to Him.
243. Today I will judge nothing that occurs.
244. I am in danger nowhere in the world.
245. Your peace is with me, Father. I am safe.
246. To love my Father is to love His Son.
247. Without forgiveness I will still be blind.
248. Whatever suffers is not part of me.
249. Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss.
250. Let me not see myself as limited.

4. What is Sin?

251. I am in need of nothing but the truth
252. The Son of God is my Identity.
253. My Self is ruler of the universe.
254. Let every voice but God’s be still in me.
255. This day I choose to spend in perfect peace.
256. God is the only goal I have today.
257. Let me remember what my purpose is.
258. Let me remember that my goal is God.
259. Let me remember that there is no sin.
260. Let me remember God created me.

5. What is the Body?

261. God is my refuge and security.
262. Let me perceive no differences today.
263. My holy vision sees all things as pure.
264. I am surrounded by the Love of God.
265. Creation’s gentleness is all I see.
266. My holy Self abides in you, God’s Son.
267. My heart is beating in the peace of God.
268. Let all things be exactly as they are.
269. My sight goes forth to look upon Christ’s face.
270. I will not use the body’s eyes today.

6. What is the Christ?

271. Christ’s is the vision I will use today.
272. How can illusions satisfy God’s Son?
273. The stillness of the peace of God is mine.
274. Today belongs to Love. Let me not fear.
275. God’s healing Voice protects all things today.
276. The Word of God is given me to speak.
277. Let me not bind Your Son with laws I made.
278. If I am bound, my Father is not free.
279. Creation’s freedom promises my own.
280. What limits can I lay upon God’s Son?

7. What is the Holy Spirit?

281. I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts.
282. I will not be afraid of love today.
283. My true Identity abides in You.
284. I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt.
285. My holiness shines bright and clear today.
286. The hush of Heaven holds my heart today.
287. You are my goal, my Father. Only You.
288. Let me forget my brother’s past today.
289. The past is over. It can touch me not.
290. My present happiness is all I see.

8. What is the Real World?

291. This is a day of stillness and of peace.
292. A happy outcome to all things is sure.
293. All fear is past and only love is here.
294. My body is a wholly neutral thing.
295. The Holy Spirit looks through me today.
296. The Holy Spirit speaks through me today.
297. Forgiveness is the only gift I give.
298. I love You, Father, and I love Your Son.
299. Eternal holiness abides in me.
300. Only an instant does this world endure.

9. What is the Second Coming?

301. And God Himself shall wipe away all tears.
302. Where darkness was I look upon the light.
303. The holy Christ is born in me today.
304. Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ
305. There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.
306. The gift of Christ is all I seek today.
307. Conflicting wishes cannot be my will.
308. This instant is the only time there is.
309. I will not fear to look within today.
310. In fearlessness and love I spend today.

10. What is the Last Judgement?

311. I judge all things as I would have them be.
312. I see all things as I would have them be.
313. Now let a new perception come to me
314. I seek a future different from the past.
315. All gifts my brothers give belong to me.
316. All gifts I give my brothers are my own.
317. I follow in the way appointed me.
318. In me salvation’s means and end are one.
319. I came for the salvation of the world.
320. My Father gives all power unto me.

11. What is Creation?

321. Father, my freedom is in You alone.
322. I can give up but what was never real.
323. I gladly make the ‘sacrifice’ of fear.
324. I merely follow, for I would not lead.
325. All things I think I see reflect ideas.
326. I am forever an Effect of God.
327. I need but call and You will answer me.
328. I choose the second place to gain the first.
329. I have already chosen what You will.
330. I will not hurt myself again today.

12. What is the Ego?

331. There is no conflict, for my will is Yours.
332. Fear binds the world. Forgiveness sets it free.
333. Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict here.
334. Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives.
335. I choose to see my brother’s sinlessness.
336. Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined.
337. My sinlessness protects me from all harm.
338. I am affected only by my thoughts.
339. I will receive whatever I request.
340. I can be free of suffering today.

13. What is a Miracle?

341. I can attack but my own sinlessness, and it is only that which keeps me safe.
342. I let forgiveness rest upon all things, for thus forgiveness will be given me.
343. I am not asked to make a sacrifice to find the mercy and the peace of God.
344. Today I learn the law of love; that what I give my brother is my gift to me.
345. I offer only miracles today, for I would have them be returned to me.
346. Today the peace of God envelopes me, and I forget all things except His Love.
347. Anger must come from judgement. Judgement is the weapon I would use against myself, to keep the miracle away from me.
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.
349. Today I let Christ’s vision look upon all things for me and judge them not, but give each one a miracle of love instead.
350. Miracles mirror God’s eternal love. To offer them is to remember Him, and through His memory to save the world.

14. What am I?

351. My sinless brother is my guide to peace. My sinful brother is my guide to pain. And which I choose to see I will behold.
352. Judgement and love are opposites. From one come all the sorrows of the world. But from the other comes the peace of God himself.
353. My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today have but one purpose; to be given Christ to use to bless the world with miracles.
354. We stand together, Christ and I, in peace and certainty of purpose. And in Him is His Creator, as He is with me.
355. There is no end to all the peace and joy, and all the miracles that I will give, when I accept God’s Word. Why not today?
356. Sickness is but another name for sin. Healing is but another name for God. The miracle is thus a call to Him.
357. Truth answers every call we make to God, responding first with miracles, and then returning unto us to be itself.
358. No call to God can be unheard nor left unanswered. And of this I can be sure; His answer is the one I really want.
359. God’s answer is some form of peace. All pain is healed; all misery replaced with joy. All prison doors are opened and all sin is understood as merely a mistake.
360. Peace be to me, the holy Son of God. Peace to my brother, who is one with me. Let all the world be blessed with peace through us.

Final Lessons
Introduction
361-365. This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.

Epilogue

Please join me at the ACIM Essentials website and at the YouTube channel, where I read the daily workbook lessons: https://www.youtube.com/@ACIMessentials

Support & reinforcement from various places

In my eyes, there are a few very precious things that brings great blessings to human life:

1) Knowledge for the soul
2) A Course in Miracles for clarity of mind
3) Christian Science for a community with heart

ACIM says it prepares its readers for Knowledge — “This course will lead to Knowledge, but Knowledge itself is still beyond the scope of our curriculum” (end of Chapter 18 of the Text) and “These exercises will not reveal Knowledge to you. But they will prepare the way to it” (Workbook Lesson 15).

Although the course does not reveal Knowledge, it is my humble experience that the course continues to inspire so that we can more easily practice Knowledge after we have received it.

If I had to choose only one, I would choose Knowledge, for Knowledge is the goal that ACIM is relentlessly steering us toward. Knowledge is not a religion, not a belief system, but a direct connection to the inner beauty spoken of in all the scriptures. “The kingdom of God is within you”… “You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.”

The study of ACIM itself is not required to receive Knowledge, but the lessons that fill its pages explain steps helpful to clearing away those things that stand between us and the full experience of Knowledge. To know the Truth is your birthright.

Judgment, fear, anger, sorrow, etc and Truth are mutually exclusive. Two things cannot exist in one place at one time. We can only serve one master at any time. ACIM teaches us to discern between what is Real and unreal, what is Love and fear, Spirit and ego, Heaven and hell…

There is no reason why we cannot enjoy A Course In Miracles… and avail ourselves of the opportunity to prepare for Knowledge and continue to be inspired. But as the course itself says, “No one can fail who seeks to reach the Truth.”

We are fortunate to live at this time in history when so much help is available… so much help to help us release fear and embrace the divine that dwells in us all.

And so, I warmly invite you to ACIM 2011… my humble contribution to the human evolutionary process. We will study the course in depth and learn several practical methods to help us release fear – “All healing is essentially the release from fear.”

Appreciation, gratitude

“Only appreciation is an appropriate response to your brother. Gratitude is due him for both his loving thoughts and his appeals for help, for both are capable of bringing love into your awareness if you perceive them truly. And all your sense of strain comes from your attempts not to do just this. How simple, then, is God’s plan for salvation. There is but one response to reality, for reality evokes no conflict at all. There is but one Teacher of reality, Who understands what it is. He does not change His Mind about reality because reality does not change. Although your interpretations of reality are meaningless in your divided state, His remain consistently true. He gives them to you because they are for you. Do not attempt to “help” a brother in your way, for you cannot help yourself. But hear his call for the Help of God, and you will recognise your own need for the Father.” – ACIM

human knowledge or Divine Knowledge?

Paris in the
the spring

Most of us will not realize until it has been pointed out, that the word “the” occurs twice in the above phrase: “Paris in the the spring”. When we look again and realize there are two instances of “the”, we wonder how we could have possibly ever missed seeing both. Now, it is all we can see when we gaze back at the line – “…the the…” What could we have been thinking? It seems so obvious.

Now comes the challenge of seeing Divine Knowledge as something quite apart from worldly, human knowledge. Just as the lowercase “g” “god” is often applied to many mysterious or supernatural beings that impress and confound the human mind, and capital “G” “God” indicates a Oneness that has no beginning or end; the lowercase “k” knowledge is a synonym for facts or information, whereas the capital “K” Knowledge is a synonym for “Knowledge of God”. From A Course In Miracles, chapter 18:

What could God give but Knowledge of Himself?

Knowledge is a simple two-syllable word used quite frequently in A Course In Miracles (ACIM), yet its true significance can be elusive until and unless it is pointed out. We ask, what does the Course mean when it refers to the word “knowledge”? Does “knowledge” in the Course mean “facts and information” or does it mean “a means to directly experience the Eternal Oneness”?

The word “knowledge” is often underestimated by the reader or “the ego”, because the mortal human mind has a tendency to assume that most information or “knowledge” can fit within the human mind. The mind that has been trained to think of itself as the ultimate authority cannot imagine there is anything beyond mental comprehension. Mortal mind does not question its own authority and doubts there even exists a higher Authority. If mortal mind believes something, then it defines its belief as fact. Yet the realm of the mortal human mind is lowercase “k” knowledge, not uppercase “K” Knowledge. Divine Knowledge is the realm of Divine Mind and the finite mind comprehends it not. It is impossible to fit the ocean in a teacup.

Could the knowledge ACIM speaks of be the same Knowledge referred to in other scriptures? It appears to be. For instance, from the bible…

They will neither harm nor destroy
in all my holy mountain,
for the earth shall be full
of the Knowledge of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea. – Isaiah 11

Then shalt thou understand the fear [awe] of the Lord,
and find the Knowledge of God. – Proverbs 2

Be still and Know that I am God. – Psalm 46

The Kingdom of God is within you. – Luke 17

What could God give but Knowledge of Himself? – ACIM 18

In most instances, when the course refers to knowledge, it means Knowledge of God, Knowledge of the highest degree, the capital “K” Knowledge. The capital “K” Knowledge refers to “know-how” – how to access a direct experience of the power we call God, God as Light, God as Love, God as Life Everlasting, something far beyond the human mind, an experience the human mind cannot reach, imagine, remember, recreate nor speak of. Awe tends to leave one speechless.

How to tell the difference between knowledge and Knowledge, when reading the course? I suggest substituting “Knowledge of God” for the word “knowledge”. In most cases, “Knowledge of God” will fit perfectly. If you simply search ACIM for the word “knowledge”, you will find that statement after statement tie together to give you an increasingly clear picture of what Knowledge means and has meant throughout the millennia – and why it is vitally important for the word to be read with a capital “K”. On page 92 of the document known as the “Urtext” is a tiny line that says it all…

The purpose of this course is
to prepare you for Knowledge.

Knowledge is important enough to Jesus for him to dictate over a thousand pages which comprise the course. It is important to us because it fulfills the promise of Lesson 101…

God’s will for me is perfect happiness.

Does “perfect happiness” merely mean an upgrade to our mundane human lives? A better job, a better house, a better spouse? Or could “perfect happiness” mean that God’s will for us is to have ready access – through Knowledge – to heaven, so that at any moment, here and now, no matter who is with us or not with us, no matter what is going on or not going on, no matter where we are or where we are not, we can choose to feel the Divine Love within us – at will, here and now? Imagine having that ability at your fingertips, available to you on a daily basis. There is something huge within you that can lift you out of all mundanity:

Beyond the body, beyond the sun and stars, past everything you see and yet somehow familiar, is an arc of golden light that stretches, as you look, into a great and shining circle. And all the circle fills with light before your eyes. The edges of the circle disappear, and what is in it no longer is contained at all. The light expands and covers everything, extending to infinity, forever shining, and with no break or limit anywhere. Within it, everything is joined in perfect continuity. Nor is it possible to imagine that anything could be outside. For there is nowhere that this light is not. – ACIM Ch 21.I

This is the very Light John referred to when he wrote, “God is Light.”

The either/or nature of the course is due to the distinction between knowledge and Knowledge. We are either in the world, a fleeting dream comprised of the perishable – of people, places and things that come and go – or we are in this beautiful, exquisite, immaculate, perfection; endless living, loving, flowing, glowing Light that is God. God is light. The infinite and finite, light and dark, love and fear, peace and chaos, Spirit and ego, are mutually exclusive pairs. One is absolute – cannot be threatened. The other is temporary, a “reality show”. When you learn to turn off your mental chatter for a moment and be still, the Forever arises. Knowledge provides the know-how for taking a giant step outside the mortal mind on a daily basis.

We are fortunate indeed to have in ACIM a handbook that prepares us for Knowledge of God, of Reality. We all have learned that the happiness of this world can turn on a dime, while the perfect happiness that is God’s Will for us, is always there, constant, true, exceeding any and all human imagination and expectation.

Why is it important to discern between knowledge and Knowledge in our reading of ACIM and other scriptures? We have been taught that heaven is where you go after you die, so we need to learn that heaven is not “then and there”, or as Jesus said, ” but is indeed “here and now”, available to us – during this lifetime – that we don’t need to wait until we “die”. From ACIM Workbook Lesson 188:

The peace of God is shining in me now.

Why wait for Heaven? Those who seek the light are merely covering their eyes. The light is in them now. Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all. Light is not of the world, yet you who bear the light in you are alien here as well. The light came with you from your native home, and stayed with you because it is your own. It is the only thing you bring with you from Him Who is your Source. It shines in you because it lights your home, and leads you back to where it came from and you are at home.

This light can not be lost. Why wait to find it in the future, or believe it has been lost already, or was never there? It can so easily be looked upon that arguments which prove it is not there become ridiculous. Who can deny the presence of what he beholds in him? It is not difficult to look within, for there all vision starts…

As spiritual beings having a temporary human experience, we need to have the means to visit our heavenly home. Otherwise our time here seems long and lonely indeed. We forget who and what we are and we forget that we are never alone. But fact is, we are not apart from our Source, nor can we be apart from it. Our Source, God, the Life Force, is the Reality that all things are made from – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. It breathes us. The Kingdom of Heaven is indeed within us – is us – and we just forgot where we misplaced the key that opens the door. When we are shown how, we are able to open the door within us, during the day, whenever we wish, for heaven is within you, not outside, somewhere else:

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. – Luke 17:20-21

 

Some still teach that you might go to heaven after you die if you do things just right while you are here – and if you don’t do things just right, then God, which is Love, will send you to hell. Many toe the line, hoping to please God and go to heaven; others have despaired and given up, thinking they could never do things perfectly. But is it true? Are “good works” the ticket to heaven? Or is a sincere desire to know the Truth – beyond the truth – the key to the Kingdom? Can someone help us unlearn what we have learned that stands in our way and to learn how to return to the Beauty within? From the ACIM “Urtext”, page 365:

The Kingdom of Heaven is the dwelling place of the Son of God, who left not his Father, and dwells not apart from Him. Heaven is not a place nor a condition. It is merely an awareness of perfect Oneness, and the knowledge that there is nothing else. Nothing outside this Oneness, and nothing else within.

Perhaps you remember that once upon a time there was a fox who was unable to reach the grapes that grew high on the vine, so he had never tasted them, yet he stated authoritatively that the grapes were sour. A camel came along and ate some of the sweet, sweet grapes, for he was tall enough to easily reach them and he kindly allowed the fox to climb on his back up to the grapes, so he could enjoy them for himself. Once the fox tasted the grapes, he gave up his sad song. “Belief is as good as it gets,” say some. “Believe and you will be saved.” Others say, “You can know and I can show you.” Do not settle for less than Knowledge of God.

About five percent of the people in the world have had a near-death experience (NDE) in which they tasted Heaven. Some say they wanted to stay there forever and were sorely disappointed when they were told they still had unfinished business here on Earth. When they begged to stay, they were told to come back and to “receive Knowledge”. Most heard the word knowledge with a lowercase “k”, so they came back and enrolled in college. But nothing you can learn in college could possibly compare to what they experienced in their NDE. They didn’t realize there is such a thing as an uppercase “K” Knowledge that allows them to see the pure white Light they saw, to feel the unconditional Love and Peace they felt, on a daily basis – to experience here and now, in the body, what they experienced in their NDE. And so, without Divine Knowledge, this capital “K” Knowledge, they still long for what they felt when they visited Heaven. They, of all people. are acutely aware of the difference between this world and Heaven. The good news is, they too can taste the grapes. They can have it all. They can have worldly knowledge and access to Divine Knowledge and live in this world with the Love they love and that loves them.

And Knowledge is not just for those who have had a near-death experience. All our hearts constantly work to turn us back toward the Light. I remember feeling so much pain in my heart when I was a tiny child, feeling so lonely for the quality of Love that I had come from but which was not accessible to me here on Earth. I could not understand where it had gone. I felt I had been rudely dumped and deserted. Loneliness was my primary emotion throughout my childhood, teens and early adult years until I received Knowledge. I was not a student of the course for another fifteen years, but I am endlessly grateful that the course prepares me on a daily basis to practice Knowledge. At times I wonder how people can peacefully grasp the core message of the course before receiving Knowledge. One woman I met said she has torn up, burned and thrown in the river, several copies of the course – yet she keeps returning to it again and again. I too might have felt her frustration if I had begun studying ACIM before I received Knowledge.

The Course does indeed prepare its students for Knowledge. Several students in my study groups have received Knowledge, thanks to the course. It prepares us to admit to ourselves, through our entrenched denial, that we want to live with Knowledge of God, not to wait until we “die”. We want to feel His embrace and see His Light now. ACIM inspires us to pursue Knowledge and then, once we have sought, found, asked and received Knowledge, to practice it, for the course makes it clear that we cannot take our baggage – fear, anger, sorrow, etc – with us into that Beauty. Oil and water do not mix. And the course helps us to release fear in all its forms, to remove the blocks to our awareness of Love’s Presence.

As long as anyone has a sincere desire to know the Truth, the Holy Spirit will guide them kindly to the grapes, the keys to the Kingdom, the Knowledge. When we begin to practice Knowledge, we find that everything in life has led us to where we are now and we are grateful for all that has occurred. In ancient times, they say aspirants had to climb mountains and swim oceans to receive Knowledge. In these very challenging times, in a world full of distractions, our job, (should we choose to accept it), is to clear away the barriers in our minds – pride, fear, judgment, etc. This is no small task. The course helps.

The value of practicing Knowledge on a regular basis is that we begin to release our false identities – as bodies, feelings, thoughts, personalities and stories – and instead begin to identify more with our true Identity as Light, Love, Spirit, Wisdom and Joy. Unconditional love, non-judgment, compassion and appreciation become our way in the world and the world reflects our new way of thinking and being, back to us.

This article is to make clear that Knowledge is beyond knowledge, Truth is beyond truth, the Word is beyond words, that the Name is beyond names, Love is beyond love, Light is beyond light, and so on. From ACIM Ch 18.IX:

This course will lead to Knowledge, but Knowledge itself is still beyond the scope of our curriculum… Nor is there any need for us to try to speak of what must forever lie beyond words. We need remember only that whoever attains the real world, beyond which learning cannot go, will go beyond it, but in a different way. Where learning ends, there God begins, for learning ends before Him Who is complete where He begins, and where there is no end…

The readiness for Knowledge still must be attained… Love is not learned. Its meaning lies in Itself. And learning ends when you have recognized all it is not. That is the interference; that is what needs to be undone. Love is not learned, because there never was a time in which you knew it not. Learning is useless in the Presence of your Creator, Whose acknowledgment of you, and yours of Him, so far transcends all learning, that everything you learned is meaningless, replaced forever by the Knowledge of Love and its one meaning.

~~~~~

Patricia Robinett is a student of A Course in Miracles and of Knowledge. She has facilitated ACIM study groups for over 25 years. Her website is www.ACIMessentials.com and contains videos of the workbook lessons – and more. Patricia is the author of Knowledge, The Essence of World Scriptures, which is a compilation of quotes extolling the beauty of Knowledge, a book designed to help trigger our memory of what was, is and always will be within us, as well as inspire us to aspire to receive the Knowledge that is our birthright.

Demonstration by Mary Baker Eddy

MBE with white hairSomething that I find goes quite well with A Course in Miracles, is Mary Baker Eddy’s work. The Christian Science Church is based on her text, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The two books fit together and each helps make sense of the other.

In Christian Science Reading Rooms all over the world, you can find thousands of testimonials validating the type of healing work in Christian Science – and the potential of ACIM.

I highly recommend a visit to a reading room for every serious ACIM student.

This is a sweet little essay Mrs. Eddy wrote explaining the secret of healing…

Search online for Demonstration by Mary Baker Eddy. We can learn much about healing from people who have studied the subject all their lives.