Beginning A Course In Miracles,
The Preface, and The Introduction to the Workbook
by Tom Baker
Lesson: 1-6
Date: February 21, 2010
As we begin the Course for the first time, the second time, the third time, or as in my case the fourth time it is important to keep some things in mind.
First in regard to the Course as a whole from the Preface:
- Dr. Helen Schucman, Ph.D. and Dr. William Thetford, Ph.D. began the
Course with a passionate knowing that "there must be another way" rather than
the judgment and selfishness that characterized the psychology department of
which Bill was the chairman and Helen a teacher and clinician.
They did not begin with a theological question, a personal problem or the
desire to have a spiritual practice. Both were simply fed up with the hatred
they felt around them and asked for another way of seeing and being. It is
with such a passion that I invite you and myself to begin the Course again.
- While Helen is the scribe of the Course, Jesus is evidently the author.
All
through the Course the author makes obvious references to himself as the
historical Jesus, as in chapter 3 of the text when he states, "I was not
'punished' because you were bad." In chapter 6 the author asserts that the
message of his crucifixion should be "Teach only love, for that is what you
are." Although never stated directly, A Course In Miracles is a corrective to
the false assumptions of Christianity by the one who founded it. As a former
Catholic priest and seminary teacher I am fascinated with Jesus’ critique of
his own religion and will often note these correctives and encourage you to
notice how the Course departs from traditional Christian teaching.
- A Course In Miracles has the structure of a course but the intent of a deep spiritual process. The purpose of A Course In Miracles is not to teach the student a body of information or a set of techniques or procedures. The purpose of the Course is to open us to a change in our way of seeing: to see with the Holy Spirit’s eyes of love/blessing rather than with the ego’s eyes of fear/blame. This change will have us know ourselves and others differently; as eternal spirits rather than mortal bodies, as holy rather than as sinful, as beings joined and one with all, rather than lonely creatures separate and alienated from each other. The theoretical dimensions of the spiritual process are contained in the Text, applied in the Workbook, and linked to questions in the Teacher’s Manual. We will concentrate on the Workbook lessons which are experiential and reach into the Text and the Teacher’s Manual to define terms and understand the experience of the Course’s deep spiritual process.
In respect to doing the Workbook, the Introduction to the Workbook emphasizes that the purpose of the lessons is train the student’s mind in a way of thinking/seeing that is different from the way we are used to thinking/seeing. The lessons make the idea of God into the expression of God. In effect the lessons invite us into the experience of seeing as Love sees and to feeling what Love feels. The student of the Course is, with every lesson, becoming a teacher of God. The teacher of God is basically learning trust, to trust the Holy Spirit and to trust his or her own holiness and the holiness in others. This dynamic is outlined in the Manual for Teachers in section 4 entitled WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISITCS OF GOD’S TEACHERS?. I recommend this be read in the very beginning and turned back to often during the first 50 lessons.
The lessons themselves are simple but profound. The Introduction asks the student to practice the lesson even if we do not understand the idea, in fact, to practice the lesson even if we do not agree with the idea. From the beginning the Course stresses that the point is not understanding or even believing a holy idea but putting it into practice. This allows the experience of the holy idea expressed to teach the student. I am taught the song of love by singing it, I am taught the relationship of trust by trying it, I experience my holiness by wanting to see holiness in you.
But slow down. In the first section of the Workbook, consisting of the first 220 lessons, we deal with the undoing of the way we see now. The first part of the Workbook undoes the way the ego taught me to love through conditions and sacrifice and taught me to trust through suspicion and judgment. Finally and perhaps most deeply, the ego taught me that holiness was forever beyond your deserving and mine. Nothing is more challenging than letting go of how we see things, for the ego has taught us that to be wrong is to face the horror of ourselves. That is why it is so hard to let go of being right, of feeling superior, of knowing the answer. The workbook begins in the very place the ego has taught us never to go: into the land of I do not know.
Lesson 1: Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything.
Lesson 2: I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning it has for me.
In the first two lessons we confront our apparent need to give everything the meaning it has for us. We seldom consider that we see being with the eyes of ego and so make everything personal to ourselves. You are my vision of you, I am your vision of me. My ego teaches me to possess everything I see: my world, my wife, my friends, my truth, etc. I bring everything and everyone into the seeming reality of my own memory and so what it means is the meaning I give it rather than the meaning it has as an expression of Oneness/Love.
Lesson 3: I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place]. The understanding here refers to how God or Oneness/Love understands what you are seeing. The Holy Spirit or the Voice for God mediates between God’s knowing and our twisted perception. The point of this lesson is to help you clear your mind for just a moment of all past associations and see things as they are NOW.
Lesson 4: These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I
see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].
This exercise in some form is a common one used for teaching meditation.
The Observer (the Holy Spirit in Course language) watches the thoughts as they
pass through the mind of the meditator. The Holy Spirit is the part of our
minds that still is one with Oneness/Love. This is lesson 1 applied to our
thoughts. We are urged in this lesson to include all our thoughts whether we
consider them ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ "The ‘good’ ones are but shadows of what lies
beyond, and shadows make sight difficult. The ‘bad’ ones are blocks to sight,
and make seeing impossible. You do not want either." (W. p. 6). Our real
thoughts, the thoughts we think with Oneness/Love, which the Holy Spirit opens
us to, are our real thoughts. They are hidden by the good/bad thoughts, many
of which we have become obsessed by. At the end of the lesson is the caution
not to repeat these exercises more than three or four times during the day.
The suspension of judgment for even a short time can make our ego conditioned
minds panicky and over stimulate our defenses.
Take it slow, take it easy.
Lesson 5: I am never upset for the reason I think. This lesson brings feeling into our new way of seeing. Not only do I not understand my thinking, I do not understand my feelings either. Most of us live in our feelings and spend lots of time figuring out why we feel the way we do, what or who is making me feel the way I do and what can be done about it: Why am I depressed? What can help me to stop worrying? Who is making me angry? Is it normal to be so jealous? The lesson takes us in the direction of not knowing. Instead of explaining why we feel the way we do, the lesson has us practice letting go of our own present explanations. I find the lesson both calming and disconcerting. Notice how you feel as you do it. Even that feeling is not for the reason you think.
Lesson 6: I am upset because I see something that is not there. For me this is a confusing lesson. It seems to be saying two things. At first it seems to say that I am upset because I’m seeing something that does not exist. As I think about it however, it seems to be saying that I am upset because I am seeing something that is replacing or covering up what is really there. I’m upset because I’m seeing an illusion which is formed from my past associations. The "something that is not there" is my memory which I am projecting onto the present experience.
Lesson 7: I see only the past. This lesson is the answer to the last six lessons. When we look at anything we are not seeing it fresh, in the NOW, as it is in reality. We tend to see everything in terms of our past experience with everything else. This is the first opening in the Course. Later on this will be called the holy instant, but for now it is simply a pointing to what is.
We will use this handout for the first class on the 21st and the second class on the 28th. The reading assignment for the 28th is the Preface to the entire Course and the Introduction to the Workbook. If you are new to the Course or have lagged in your practice of the lessons, I encourage you to start with Lesson 1 and go from there. While the author of the Course assumes that each lesson will take only one day, he concedes that some students may need more than one day, maybe two or three. If after three you are still stymied, I suggest you go on to the next lesson and have faith that your questions will be answered or your issues will be resolved as you practice the holy ideas in the Workbook. Two books that go with the early lessons are The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and Emmanuel’s Book by Pat Rodegast. I am working on a syllabus for the entire Course and will have that ready in part by next time.
The class itself will now have a three part structure. We will begin with sharing experiences of the Course followed by a teaching and that followed by an experiential process with a Course idea. I am also inviting Course participants both who come to class and those who follow on line to be Mentors and/or Course Buddies. A Mentor would be someone who has been through the Course at least once and has a good sense of its principles and dynamics and can act as a spiritual tutor for one or more less advanced students. I would not consider a mentor, nor myself, to be an expert in the Course, simply an experienced student. The Course Buddy is anyone doing A Course In Miracles who would be willing to pair up with another for frequent contact around practicing the Course.
Finally, I ask everyone in the Course to daily pray for everyone else, including me. The 11th miracle principle states the following: "Prayer is the medium of miracles. It is a means of communication of the created with the Creator. Through prayer love is received, and through miracles love is expressed." Less us begin again.
© Copyright Tom Baker 2010