Category Archives: Transformation

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How to "Do" A Course in Miracles

With Lisa Natoli

Many people think A Course in Miracles is difficult to do. It’s not. It’s one of the easiest things in the world once you make a commitment to it.

But many buy the book and then feel completely overwhelmed by the number of pages. Once they do attempt to begin reading, many people feel confused by the message. They have no clue who wrote A Course in Miracles or what it means. They have no idea how to begin or what to do.

In this video, I will go into detail about how to ‘do’ A Course In Miracles:

Download the Video Transcript (or scroll down to read it at the bottom of this page)

 

How Do I  “Do” It?

  • Buy a copy of A Course in Miracles. There are online versions, including free versions, and you can certainly go that route, but many people find it helpful to have the actual book.
  • Make a one-year commitment to train your mind by doing the workbook lessons. The Workbook Lessons are in the middle of the book, after Chapter 31. Quite a lot of people are unaware there are 365 workbook lessons. You do one lesson a day. It takes one year to complete. To understand how to do the workbook lessons, make sure to read the “Introduction”  which can be found after the Table of Contents for the Workbook Lessons (again, it’s in the middle of the book, so just flip through until you find it). It never ceases to amaze me how many people who have just purchased the book do not understand there are workbook lessons in here, or how to do them. It’s all explained in the Introduction, in simple easy instructions.
  • As for completing the rest of A Course in Miracles, find what works for you. You might decide to start with the Text. You may decide to start with the Manual for Teachers. You may decide to read the Song of Prayer or the Psychotherapy Booklet. You may decide a combination of all of these. That part is up to you. Read it at a pace that feels right to you. You probably will need to rearrange your schedule to make time to read it – for example, you may decide to read one chapter a week, or a section a day, or maybe even a chapter a day (but that’s ambitious!).

Watch the video above for the full message. 

I would love to hear from you!

Question: How do YOU do A Course in Miracles? What has your experience been with it? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

 

Want even more training and encouragement? Here are several ways to begin:

Sign up for the 40-Day Program for Transformation. It’s FREE. Begins on January 15, 2017: https://teachersofgod.leadpages.co/40-day-transformation

Register for a FREE online 2-hour LIVE workshop with Lisa Natoli “One Bold Decision: Change Your Story, Change Your Life” on Saturday, January 14, 2017 from 1pm-3pm. There will be a replay recording available for a few days after for people who are registered: http://teachersofgod.org/webcast

Love the way I teach? Ready to make a one-year commitment to do the workbook lessons and need some additional motivation? Sign up to receive a daily audio for every day of the year for every workbook lesson of A Course in Miracles, with my online course ACIM 365. The price is $149 until January 15, 2017. After that date, the cost is $249: http://programs.teachersofgod.org/p/guide-to-365

And finally, if you have taken the 40-Day Program in the past and love it, please share it with your friends by clicking this link. We have a free gift for everyone who shares this link –  a copy of my Ask and Receive Worksheet: https://www.teachersofgod.org/40-day-promo-video

Like this video? Please share it! Thank you very much!

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

(The following is the full transcript of this video with Lisa Natoli. Please note that this video, like all our videos, features our teachers speaking unscripted and unedited. Enjoy!)

Hi. Welcome!
I’m Lisa Natoli and the co-founder of the Teachers of God Foundation. I am the author of Gorgeous for God and the creator of the 40 Day Program for Transformation. I thank you so much for being here with me today.

I’d like to talk about the number one question that I receive as a teacher of A Course in Miracles:

“How do I do it?”

People often buy a copy of A Course in Miracles and then have no idea where to start. I really want to talk about that today.

My husband Bill Free and I were talking last night about how each of us individually began our journey with A Course in Miracles. I told him that I hadn’t known of a single person who had heard about A Course in Miracles for five years. I had no clue what this book was. Bill had a completely different experience. He watched videos, movies, joined groups, and researched it. He knew exactly what it was when he began. He knew of the workbook in here. I didn’t even know that. I want to talk about this.

This is the standard copy of the book from the Foundation for Inner Peace. It includes all of the different books inside. I want to show you the different versions of the book that I have here with me.

I actually have the original version from 1975. It was originally published as three books. It is a text with 31 chapters in it. It has a Workbook for Students that include 365 workbook lessons in it. It takes one year to complete. It has a Manual for Teachers. This is the original 1975 addition. They since have changed that.

I got the book in 1992. I did not have a clue what this book was. All I knew is that it was A Course in Miracles and I thought that was really cool.
I thought:

“A Course in MIRACLES! Okay, I could use that.”

I remember opening up the book and at first being completely turned off by the religious terminology.

I personally think the preface is very difficult to understand. I’m sure that other people have a very different perception of it. I did not understand that there was a workbook with 365 lessons inside of this book.

When it said, “Manual for Teachers”, I didn’t understand that I was a teacher.

Personally, I was very confused.

For the first five years, I would open the book randomly. That was from 1992-1996, 1997. I finally met a man in New York City who told me about the workbook.

He said, “There are 365 lessons and you make a one-year commitment to do them. It is a mind training. You train your mind in a systematic way into a different perception of everyone and everything.”

I just want to point that out to you. It’s in the middle of the book. I know this might sound very basic to those who are already doing it. My mom just got a copy of the book. She told me over the phone the other day that she really wants to do it now. She’s been listening to me for a long time. She did the 40 Day Program for Transformation and totally loved it. She called me on the phone the other day and she said, “I want to do A Course in Miracles.” I was like, “Really? Oh my God.”

So, she got a copy of the book, called me again, and said,

“Okay, now what?”

I realized that this is the number one question I get asked from people. They come up to me, have the book, and say,

“I have it. What do I do?”

My suggestion is to simply make a commitment to do the workbook lessons. That’s the first thing I suggest because it’s going to take one year. Then you can do whatever else feels comfortable to you. You can start with the text or the Manual for Teachers. There’s additional sections in here. There’s the Clarification of Terms, the Psychotherapy Handbook, and the Song of Prayer.

My suggestion is to begin with the workbook lessons.

I always have to tell people where it is. I have to turn the pages and show them that it’s in the middle of the book, at the end of the 31st chapter. You’re going to turn the pages until you get there. It’s called “Workbook for Students”. It lists all 365 workbook lessons in a table of contents.

As a teacher, I have found that the number one overlooked aspect for people who are struggling with this book is that they did not read the introduction.

I tell people to make a one year commitment to do the workbook lessons and to do one lesson a day. After I tell people to make this commitment, I tell them to read the introduction to the workbook. It tells you exactly how to do it.

It says,

“Don’t try to understand these lessons. They are not understandable.”

Then, you just begin.

Start with Lesson 1 and do exactly what it says. Don’t try to understand it. The next day, wake up in the morning, open up the book, go to the next lesson, and just do what it says. It’s very specific. It tells you exactly how to do it.

 

It’s a mind training. It’s designed to undo the thought system of fear. That’s why I always suggest one year in which you make a 100% commitment.

Don’t just say, “Okay, I’ll do it and I’ll see how it goes.”

I always suggest to make that one year commitment. One year is going to go by and you will have done it.

In my experience, a lot of old baggage such as old fears and doubts starts to come up into your awareness.

You’ll want to say,

“I don’t like this book.”

That was me for years. I had so much resistance to some of the terminology in here, but someone told me something that was so helpful to me. I did not know this for the first five years.

The author is Jesus, the same guy that walked the Earth 2,000 years ago. He is the author of this book. Once I knew that, I was reading it differently.

So many say,

“I don’t understand what this book says. I don’t have a clue.”

If you read it like a letter from Jesus to you, it will be easier for you. I was always trying to understand who the “I” was that’s speaking here and who are they speaking to. I thought that perhaps this was something written for Helen Schucman. She was the one who brought it into time and space. I had difficulty with the concept of this being channeled material.

I thought, “No, this is just a woman who’s trying to get her own message into the world.”

I kept being drawn back to the book. I didn’t know what it was. I kept being curious about it. I kept being interested in it. I kept thinking about who the “I” is and who the “you” is. The “I” who is speaking as the author is Jesus Christ from 2,000 years ago, who walked with those twelve disciples, extended the love of God here on Earth, and created miracles. That’s the same person, and he’s speaking to me.

When he says, “you”, I know he is speaking to me. Jesus is with me.

How you finish the text is up to you. You need to make a commitment to set time aside to read it. You can read a chapter a day, a chapter a week, or a chapter a month. I suggest you start from the beginning and you just go. Maybe you dedicate a half an hour a day to reading. Maybe it’s something you do in the morning when you wake up. What ever way you structure finishing it is up to you.

Then there’s the Manuel for Teachers. To me, that’s an easy read.

Again, I’m just sharing my own perception. It may be different for you. I encourage you to just begin it. Begin it and allow yourself to keep an open mind. Stay curious.

Be like a child. Be like a beginner. Don’t try to understand what it says. Just do it.

At the Teachers of God Foundation, we have so many awesome programs and an amazing community for you. I wish I had that in the five years I did it alone. You don’t have to do it alone anymore. There’s so much online. There are so many amazing organizations and places where you can be inspired.

If you would like additional inspiration, I offer a one year program called ACIM 365. I give a ten minute audio talk for every single workbook lesson, for every single day of the year. It has been very helpful to many people. I don’t do the workbook lessons for you. I really believe that you have to work with your own thought system, vibration, and old ideas. I’m really just guiding and pointing out some of the things I’ve seen in these lessons. These are great reminders everyday of the commitment you have made. If you’re interested in that, it’s available under “courses” on the Teachers of God website. You do it at the pace you want to do it. It’s always there for you.

I’m so excited that you’re starting this. The reason that I’ve dedicated my own life to telling people about this is because of how it transformed my own life. I feel like my purpose now is to get people excited about this book. People feel that it’s complicated and difficult. It is not. It’s one of the easiest things that you can imagine once you open your mind up to a different perception.

Again, read it like a love letter.

Make that your commitment and just go. Have fun.

I look forward to hearing from you and the changes that occur in your life. I love you.

Question: How do YOU do A Course in Miracles? What has your experience been with it? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

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Never Correct Your Brother

By Linda Leland

A Course in Miracles clearly answers the question, “How should I react to my brother’s mistakes?”

Very simply: Don’t.

Only the ego can see ego. Only error sees error. If you are worrying about another’s mistakes, you’re both confused.

No matter how crazy someone is acting, it doesn’t change that FACT that they are the perfect, lovable, indestructible, powerful, eternal, wholly worthy, supremely Loved, Son of God. This is the only Truth and nothing they do in this human experience can change it. Your only job is to stay super-focused on this. Anything else and you’re heading down the wrong path. You are lost. You are not helpful.

In this video, I will go into this topic in more detail.

Download the Video Transcript

If you’d like to experiment further with this new way of thinking, register for the 40 Day Program here (it’s free).

You have ONE job to do here. You came here to remember God; to remember your Wholeness. You must not let your eyes deceive you from your One function.

Whatever vision you have of this “messed up” person represents who YOU think YOU are. It’s showing you where you are locating yourself and should ONLY be used for correction. You are being clearly shown where you have buried fear and your deepest unconscious beliefs about yourself.

Hold out your hand because this brother has come to Bless you. He is the Son of God, along with You. This realization must be accepted for you to be released. Without this, you stay lost in fear.

Jesus says in ACIM that we must overlook the error. See only their Wholeness. Hold yourself there. This is how you remember your own wholeness. You cannot remember this alone. You need this brother. This is the whole purpose of your relationship. Do not use this situation to reinforce a lie. This is for YOU.

From now on, instead of correcting anyone, here are 5 steps, clearly laid out for us from A Course In Miracles:

  1. Your task is to tell your brother he is right (this does not mean verbally) (1:6)
  2. You heal him only (ONLY) by perceiving the sanity in Him (5:1)
  3. You must give your brother’s errors over to the Holy Spirit (5:3)
  4. You “see Him truly” and “accept Him as He is” (6:3, 6:4)
  5. Accept only the function of healing (YOURSELF) in time (8.3)

When you see another make a mistake, don’t react at all to his mistake. This isn’t an easy practice to follow! And it doesn’t mean that you don’t react at all to your brother, but it does mean that you do not react to his mistake.

Instead, you join with the Holy Spirit and respond as He does. You “overlook” the error (4:2).

“To overlook nothingness is merely to judge it correctly, and because of your ability to evaluate it truly, to let it go.” (T-10.IV.2:4)

You actually overlook it, knowing it is not your job, you don’t understand what’s really going on, and then get back to being yourself; full of joy, love and allowance. TRUST.

Now, you’re helping the Truth to enter into your mind, and theirs, instead of reinforcing separation. It’s quite beautiful. You’re gifting everyone!

I know this is scary.

The world tells you that it’s sensible and loving to try to fix someone you care about. That’s just not True.

This is a whole new way of being. This is the fast-track behavior of a master. We’re taking the Band-Aid off a very old wound. We’re laying down our fearful defenses and getting out of the way. Let the fear come up and hand it to One who can heal it. I am with you.

Question: What are your thoughts or takeaways on this topic? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I will be sure to read every one.

So much Love and Gratitude for this journey we are on together,

Linda

p.s. If you really want to commit yourself to a new way of thinking, to becoming aware of these deep unconscious beliefs that are causing you needless worry and conflict, please join me on January 15th for a FREE 40 Day On-Line Program of Personal Transformation. Thousands of us will be with you. You’ll be guided and supported to stay in Right thinking for 40 Days. You’ll be totally blown away by the transformation that takes place in you. I hope to see you there. Let’s be fearless together! Here is the link to register.

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OMG! I Love Christmas!

Will the Real Christ Please Step Forward?

I love the colors, the beautiful Christmas carols, and the holiday songs. I also love to witness people beginning to pause and think about other people. alot of people, including me, genuinely live in somewhat of an altered state beginning with Thanksgiving (which is my favorite favorite holiday) and ending at New Years Day.

Christmas has accounted for some the happiest (and also a few of saddest) times in my life, but in general I LOVE IT.

I mostly love it, even though it’s largely been made into a meaningless commercialized shopping and selling frenzy, behind it and at it’s inception IS…

The BEST news the world will ever know.

The news is that even though we may have been totally wrong about the message portrayed of Jesus for nearly 2000 years, the Truth is way better than we ever could have imagined.

What If Legend and History Were Wrong?

What if most of the Bible stories were mistaken about the message of Jesus the Christ, and that all of us are just what Jesus is?

This might blow your mind. I hope it does. 🙂

For just 15 minutes press the pause button on the thinking mind, traditional beliefs about Jesus and the stories we’ve all heard from Bible stories, friends or family and allow yourself to be open to a better story, a more sensible understanding of what Jesus was here to share with all the world until the end of time.

Maybe It’s time to embrace Christmas with a whole new understanding, which will also give you a brand new experience of this seasonal joining around the world.

Watch this video and see if you don’t come away feeling more a part of the Christmas message than you ever imagined:

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zu10KMTpbg[/embedyt]

Download the Video Transcript

Like the song Joy to the World: Give yourSelf and others a gift this year. Sing the songs you hear about Jesus and make them about you and your brother, your sister your neighbor the Christ. This child of Bethlehem is the Christ that is born in you and this truly is the born again experience.

Try this as a practice and you will actually embody and share Christ with all the world and yourself.

When you look on anyone for the next 10 days no matter what the situation, in your mind say:

You are Christ, pure and innocent, and all is forgiven and released.

Share Your Experience: Has this video blog been helpful in providing you with a new way of seeing the Blessings and the Joy even in the commercialized version of Christmas? Has it been insightful? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

We have A Course in Miracles group that meets every Friday Live online at 10:30 Eastern. Last week I gave a talk on Grace Wb lesson 168 and 169 from the Course. If you have any questions about the Power you have in Grace,  watch the replay:

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akhJDeD0CDU[/embedyt]

 

Have a Merry Christmas and the best year ever in 2017.

I Love You,

Bill Free

P.S. If you would like to sign up for ACIM 365 before January 15th 2017 and save almost $100 the price is going up to $247 and you can get it now for the 2016 price.

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Quieting the Inner Critic

By Linda Leland

Here are 2 powerful and sure fire ways to quiet your inner critic. It’s not hard.  It only requires your decision.

This video breaks it down for you.

Download the Video Transcript

Question: What was your biggest takeaway from this video? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

If you want to continue doing this work, we have a FREE 40 Day Program that supports you, every day, to make the commitment to live only from your True Self.  You get to experiment with your life for 40 straight days and see what happens when you stop letting your inner critic try to solve your problems.  You get unstuck.  This is TRUE healing, no matter where you are today or what you’ve been through. You’ll set your blocks aside for 40 Days and focus on Light and Love (aka God) and watch how your life transforms-in just 40 days.

It starts January 15th.  I’d love to see you there.

Click here to register for the FREE 40 Day Program for Personal Transformation.

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An Early Christmas Gift For You

By Linda Leland

We wanted to give you an early Christmas present because it’s too good to wait!

Everyone is going to wonder where you got it so they can get it too!

This gift comes wrapped with so much Love. No, really.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays, this gift will instantly remind you of the divine perfection that is here and in every one of us.

What is this gift you ask?

It’s a game.

We’re giving you a new game for Christmas. Just like when you were a kid.

It’s a really fun game because every time you play, you get a prize.

It’s a holiday game of JOY and Awakening.

It’s portable so you can play it anywhere. It’s called the…

“HOLIDAY TRUTH GAME.”

Here are the game rules:

The object of the game is to get as many points as possible. Every time you see one of the symbols below and use it as a reminder of the Truth, you get a point. The more points you earn, the bigger your prize!

Here goes. Good luck.

        • Each time you see a wreath, remember that you are infinite and eternal with no beginning and no ending. You were never born and you will never taste death.

          wreath-14591_1280

        • Let every star you see remind you to follow Jesus, just the way the dignitaries did. He is right here and he’s asking you to join Him. Take His hand. He represents who you were created to be and came to help you get there.

          poinsettia-1775361_1280

        • Legend tells of a poor girl who could only offer the Baby Jesus a handful of weeds, but when she gave them to Him they blossomed into lush red plants. Each time you see a Poinsettia, offer up all of your weeds knowing they will be transformed into something beautiful.

          Christmas gift

        • Holiday lights come in all colors and sizes just like us! No matter what color we are or WHERE WE ARE on this journey, we are all reflections of God’s Perfect Love. No matter what.

          holiday lights

        • All the needles on the tree point upward reminding us where to direct every thought. This is the fast-track to healing.

          christmas-tree-1828525_1280

        • When you see ornaments it represents how each of us can adorn this life with our own uniqueness. Be yourself. That’s all you have to be. Never compare. God created you perfectly.

          christmas-ornament-1823940_1280

        • We are all tied together as one. We are not separate from God or separate from each other. Let the bow become a symbol of our Unity. We are all the One Son of God.

          christmas bow

        • A Gingerbread man does not create himself. You do not create yourself. A cute and tasty reminder that you are as God created you.

          gingerbread man

        • Last, but certainly not least… the only real gift you can ever give anyone is to recognize the Christ in them with no judgment. This gift instantly heals both of you. You MUST see their divine perfection before you’ll ever remember your own. Seriously, this is the gift that keeps on giving!

The whole point of this game is to have fun and frolic through this season as if you already have everything.

Because you do. And we should all fall on our knees with praise and thanks at the realization of this.

Not to mention, each time one of us is in alignment with the Truth, we’re all raised up. Every person and every part! And the more who play, the higher it goes! The bigger the prize gets!

You see?

We share One mind. This is a very important game and everyone wins, even those who aren’t playing right now. Your participation means the world. LITERALLY!

Question: Can I count you in? Will you play the Holiday Truth Game with me? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

All my Love.

Linda Leland

linda-leland-2

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A Really Cool Forgiveness Story

By Kelly Russell

The Course in Miracles teaches us that the miracle is a shift in perception, from fear to love. In relationships, it is not the so-called “reality” of the situation that disturbs our peace (aka pisses us off, makes us want to kill / trade-in / divorce our spouses, put our teens up for adoption, run people off the road, tell our bosses to take this job and shove it, call our friends out on their shit, whatever…) but rather, it is our perception of it.

And as the Course also reminds us, projection makes perception, therefore our perceptions are not reliable reporters, being made up of our ego projections onto the world. So, basically, we don’t know jack shit about relationships and what we’re supposed to be doing in them, and we need a miracle to help us figure it out.

So, this is a story of a miracle.

One of my best friends and favorite people in the Universe is a woman who, for the purpose of this story, I shall refer to as Princess – one of the three pet names (the other two being Precious and Punkin) by which we have called one another for most of the 40 years we have been friends. In our long history together we have shared many experiences – beginning as classmates (each giving the other what I am pretty sure was the only vote for Homecoming Queen either of us probably received) and even living together with my family during our senior year. We were in one another’s weddings, I am Godparent to her four children, she journeyed with me through the loss of both of my parents. We adventured in fun places together, and participated in countless girl’s weekends.

We were very similar in many ways – we shared a penchant for irreverent humor and engaged in hilarious banter (I still think there may be no one I have laughed so hard with that wine came out my nose so many times) and had numerous parallel experiences – supporting one another through divorce, returning to higher education, finding new partners, launching new careers, interwoven with a certain amount of crazy which is probably best left filed under “Dodged Bullets”.

As our lives evolved, however, the ego mind began to insinuate itself into our relationship, and caused an insidious sense of separation. Princess met a wonderful man, and as she built a life with him, her socio-economic life upscaled significantly from where it had been and began to look very different from mine.

At the same time, my 20-year career was ending – crashing and burning, really, in the wake of 9/11 – and I found myself starting over, going back to school, and having no money. Despite a life being raised as a student of metaphysics and New Thought, fear got its hooks into me and I was mired in both lack and victim consciousness.

While I struggled financially as a full-time student while working in the mental health field, I witnessed evidence of Princess’s wonderful lifestyle, and I regret to say I became very jealous and envious. She and I were from the same home town, and my inner critic (the voice of the ego) criticized me viciously and relentlessly for not having been able to make the same luxurious life happen for myself. I felt that there was something flawed in me that I hadn’t attracted the same abundance and prosperity, that perhaps I was not deserving of it, or I wasn’t smart enough, or I had made the wrong choices.

But – spoiler alert – the ego mind doesn’t necessarily allow us to sit with our own feelings of responsibility or guilt for what we experience, rather instead it encourages us to deny it and project our feelings toward ourselves outward onto someone else and blame them for our suffering.

At around the same time I had become a student of A Course in Miracles.

Although I had grown up attending a Unity church and my mother was a student of Truth, A Course in Miracles was the first theosophical set of ideas that really answered everything for me. I avidly read the text, practiced the lessons; I found Course teachers and read their books, attended their workshops, and listened to their cd’s. I immersed myself in the philosophy of A Course in Miracles (although you’d never know it with all of the judgments, resentments, grievances, and victim consciousness I was still giving shelter to).

The next thing that happened was that Princess came out as an atheist.

My reaction was one of defensiveness – feeling that she was, in her expression of her belief, insulting my own. Over the next few years, the toxic combination of my hidden negative emotions and my perception of her implied judgment of my belief system resulted in our friendship devolving into in an unstable, volatile state, ripe for an egoic cataclysmic reaction. That opportunity came eventually – the details of the form in which it showed up aren’t relevant here. Suffice it to say that there was no way, given what I had been harboring, that it couldn’t. Something happened – not even between Princess and me directly, but through other people involved – and we became estranged.

Although this is where my resentful thoughts had taken me, I was not prepared for what I felt. It was as if my arm had been amputated – this person who had loved me for more than two-thirds of my life, who had been such an integral part of my life, was suddenly just gone. I experienced grief as if she had died. I cried, I dreamt about her, I wrote unsent letters. I talked to her, in my mind and sometimes out loud. But I was also angry and resentful, and so I alternated between righteously reminding myself of all of my perceived reasons for being justified in my anger, and wanting it all to disappear so that we could go back to being the friends we were years ago before it all got so complicated.

But mostly, I let the anger win out.

One thing I had learned to do as a Course in Miracles student was practice forgiveness.

The Course’s version of forgiveness recognizes that the perceived offense never actually happened, because the world is an illusionary projection that we are making up in our minds. It is like a dream, and so holding another person responsible for harming us is sort of like being mad at them for something they did to us last night in our dream, and in Course philosophy, is therefore viewed as ridiculous.

The forgiveness process is to forgive the person for what they have not done, remembering that one is dreaming an illusion made up by the ego mind, forgiving oneself for dreaming it, and releasing the whole situation to Spirit to be healed.

I use a wonderful prayer given to Course teacher Gary Renard by his own teachers;

“You are Spirit, pure, whole, and innocent. All is forgiven and released. I am Spirit, pure, whole, and innocent. All is forgiven and released.”

As we practice this form of forgiveness, our projections are dissolved, so our perceptions change, which changes our experience of the world for the better.

I must have said that prayer a million times.

Forgive, forgive, forgive. Forgive, forgive, forgive.

The Course tells us that forgiveness is the closest thing to real, unconditional love we are able know on the level of form. Over time, as it did its work of dissolving my egoic thoughts, my heart began softening toward Princess. I eventually came to think of our friendship as being on “inactive” status, feeling that someday, somehow, we would be friends again.

One evening three years later, I was celebrating my birthday with two girlfriends at my home. A large box had arrived with a return label I did not recognize. When I opened it, I found a gorgeous set of twelve colorful, handblown wine glasses (it’s interesting that metaphysically, twelve represents the number of completion) and a note from Princess explaining that her in-laws had made their transition within the past two years, and she wanted me to have the goblets, as they reminded her of me, and because her in-laws had liked me.

And with her extension of that olive branch, our estrangement was over, just like that.

There is also an amazing epilogue:

I thought that the miracle of Princess extending love to me was the end of the story. However, although it certainly embodied a shift in perception, and a return to love, the true healing came a year later on the occasion of my next birthday. Princess, whose atheism I had finally come to accept as her choice, and not a reflection or judgment of my own, sent me the most incredible wall hanging, which read,

Namaste

I honor the place in you that is the same in me.

I honor the place in you where

The whole universe resides.

I honor the place in you

Of love, of light, of peace, and of truth.

I honor the place in you

That is the same in me.

There is but One.

Namaste.

namaste

So, basically, my atheistic friend symbolically wrote on my wall the central teaching of A Course in Miracles. WE ARE ONE.

Forgiveness rocks.

Question: Do you have an area of your life or a relationship that you still need to practice forgiveness? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Photo of Kelly Russell

Kelly Russell
Licensed Practitioner, Ordained ACIM Minister
Teachers of God Foundation
Newbury, MA

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If you have any difficulty with Trump (or any difficulties in general)

Read & Watch This ...

If you have any difficulty with Trump being the new United States President (or any other difficulties in general), I encourage you to read this post and watch the one-hour video (below) of our recent Friday morning Course in Miracles group.

My mom watched this video a few days ago and then called me on the phone and said: “I now feel okay with everything that’s occurring with Trump. I don’t feel any of the conflict I was feeling. I realize that nothing can disturb my peace unless I allow it”.

I LOVE MY MOM! She’s willing and open to see things differently. She is willing to LOVE, no matter what. 

This one hour talk – with Linda Leland, Bonnie Kimball and Kelly Russell – was inspired by this message I posted on Facebook on Wednesday morning when I found out Trump was the new President:

I didn’t vote for Trump – I voted for Hillary – but I’m happy Trump won the Presidency. I think it’s awesome and I feel excited. How can this be? Because I love WHAT IS. I recognize I know nothing and I’m always in joyful expectancy of whatever is unfolding in front of me, staying in the wonder of it all. I’ve trained myself to be in joy, no matter what occurs. This is power. This is love. Let’s all get on board with WHAT IS. I knew when I voted last night that I would be happy no matter who won or which direction it went – because my happiness is not dependent on anything outside of me. My happiness is dependent on my connection with God, my Self. So congratulations President Trump! You have my support.

Also in this video: Why sending love and light – and even prayer – is actually an attack. It’s a good first step for many people (and well-intentioned – because it is an act of giving) but if you think about it – it’s really an idea that someone/something needs to be different than how they are right now – which means you aren’t seeing them at all – and that’s an attack. Everything is whole and perfect right now.

ENJOY!

After you have watched the video, we would love to hear from you!

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9oMElez7xM[/embedyt]

 

Question: What was your biggest takeaway from this? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Joyful Expectancy

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I Awake at the Appointed Hour

By Max Just

Enjoy this article from our guest blogger this week – Max Just!

I awake at the Appointed Hour.

This morning I awoke at the appointed hour.

Before that I was in a deep sleep and dreaming. I dreamt that I was parked on the Esplanade near my home. I walked out of a nearby cafe to go to my car. A young family had double-parked in front of me so I could not move out. I said “Hey! You can’t stop here. I can’t get out.” They had already taken a seat in the cafe and said they wouldn’t be long. In my righteous indignation I threatened to call the police. I made the call and as I was telling the operator what was happening and where I was, I awoke from my dream at the appointed hour.

The dream like all dreams had no resolution.

“You are at home in God dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality. Is it your decision to do so? You recognize from your own experience that what you see in dreams you think is real while you are asleep. Yet the instant you waken you realize that everything that seemed to happen in the dream did not happen at all. You do not think this strange, even though all the laws of what you awaken to were violated while you slept. Is it not possible that you merely shifted from one dream to another, without really waking?” -A Course in Miracles, Chapter 10

It doesn’t get resolved in the dream because it never was to begin with. Now, can I carry that idea of non-resolution into my “waking” dream?

The idea that there is no resolution needed. No need to try to figure out the meaning of a dream. It means nothing until I decide to give it meaning. So I will give it a meaning. What meaning or purpose will I give my waking dream is up to me. I can see it as a dream of stress, or striving, or ambition. A world where I am constantly suffering from my thoughts about what I want or don’t want. A dream where I attach myself to thought of being the victim one day or the victor the next. Or given to me in each moment to see this dream of awakening and everything in it as myself. No exceptions. In this new meaning I am healed in the moment I recognize myself as I am.

Just now. Nothing to add or take away. In this context of new meaning my safety and completion of total forgiveness is possible.

“What difference does the content of a dream make in reality? One either sleeps or wakens. There is nothing in between” -ACIM Workbook Lesson 140

There is no how to or how not to.

There is only ………I laugh as I type these words because the explanation is not the experience.

The experience is in me typing, and you reading. As you read these words you look to your own dream of awakening. As you read, your mind ticks over with all kinds of opinions and judgments about what you are reading.

Here is the idea that you need do nothing to awaken. You need not change your thoughts . Just observe .Or maybe you can see that everything in this waking dream , like the dream you had while sleeping, is you. “the dream cannot escape it’s origin”. ACIM chapter 18.

All the characters in the dream must be you because you are the one dreaming. Can you let it be? Can you stop trying to solve the problems as you see them and “will” the light of your mind to enter into your dream?
Dreams merely cease to seem to be. Nothing resolved. Nothing completed. No one hurt or vindicated. Just awakening to the unreality of the dream.

Resolution is not a necessary function of my world.

Max Just

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Rules to Live By That Guarantee a Day of Joy and Miracles, Every Day

By Lisa Natoli

It’s Thursday morning here in Maine, a beautiful day and it’s going to be a happy day.

How do I know?

Because every day is a happy day because I follow precise rules every morning as a daily practice that guarantee a happy day … which I am going to enclose in this email message for you.

You probably already know about these rules if you have read A Course in Miracles.

But do you practice them every day?

I “knew” about these rules – but only on an intellectual level. I was an EXPERT on these rules. I could quote them and talk about them, but I was not doing them.

I was not practicing. And so they were meaningless to me – just words on paper.

For years and years, my days were at random, a lot of confusion and frustration. I would have moments of happiness, but never a day that was happy from start to finish.

But here in Chapter 30 in the Text of A Course in Miracles called “Rules for Decision” – it says there are rules that GUARANTEE a happy day every day. These are “rules by which you live – rules that PROMISE you a happy day.”

That’s pretty amazing, right? How come we’re not all having a happy day, every day.

Because it says we need to practice these rules until they become habits .. “until they are rules by which you live.”

If this sounds interesting to you, then read on.

How can you have a happy day every day?

By making no decisions by yourself.

You are not alone. You have a Guide.

To have a happy day, you acknowledge that you have a Guide (God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, whatever you want to call this Infinite Wisdom that is within you).

Then … all day long, you make NO decisions by yourself.

You make all decisions with your Guide.You acknowledge that God is with you, all day long.

You will have the best day ever!

So before you do anything, before you say anything, before you make a move, before you eat anything, before you make a phone call, before you go on the internet, before you do anything, you take a moment to be still, to check in, to remember that you’re not alone. You acknowledge your Guide – your Advisor – and you ask:

What would you have me do?
What would you have me say, and to whom?
Where would you have me go?

 

This GUARANTEES a happy day.

Register for our FREE 40-Day Program and come do this work with a group of people who love you and support you and applaud you every step of the way.

There is only one way to know this is absolutely true and it is to experiment with these ideas in your life.

You and your Advisor must agree on what will happen today before it will happen. So it’s necessary to make time to sit with your Advisor and come to an agreement.

It’s explained perfectly right here:

This is “Rules for Decision” from Chapter 30. This is from the original unedited manuscript of A Course in Miracles, written on May 22, 1968:

Rules for Decision

The “new beginning” now becomes the focus of the curriculum. The goal is clear, but now you need specific methods for attaining it. The speed by which it can be reached depends on only this; your willingness to practice every step. Each one will help a little, every time it is attempted. And, together, they will lead you both from dreams of judgment to forgiving dreams, and out of pain and fear. They are not new to you, but they are more ideas than rules of thought to you as yet. So now we need to practice them awhile, until they are the rules by which you live. We seek to make them habits now, so you will have them ready, and for ANY need.

Decisions are continuous. You do not always know when you are making them. But, with a little practice in the ones you recognize, a set begins to form which sees you through the rest. It is not wise to let yourself become preoccupied with every step you take. The proper set, adopted consciously each time you wake, will put you well ahead. And if you find resistance strong and dedication weak, you are not ready. DO NOT FIGHT YOURSELF. But think about the kind of day you want, and tell yourself there is a way by which this very day can happen just like that. Then try again to HAVE the day you want.

1. The outlook starts with this:

“Today I will make NO decisions by myself.”

This means that you are choosing NOT to be the judge of what to do. But it must ALSO mean you will not judge the situations where you will be called upon to make response. For if you judge them, you HAVE set the rules for how you should react to them. And then ANOTHER answer cannot BUT produce confusion and uncertainty AND FEAR. This is your major problem now. You still make up your minds, and THEN decide to ask what you should do. And what you hear may not resolve the problem AS YOU SAW IT FIRST. This leads to fear, because it contradicts what you perceive, and so you feel attacked. AND THEREFORE ANGRY. There are rules by which this will not happen. But it does occur, at first, to everyone who listens well.

2. Throughout the day, at any time you think of it, and have a quiet moment for reflection, tell yourself again the kind of day you want; the feelings you would have, the things you WANT to happen, and the things you WOULD experience. And say,

“If I make no decisions by myself, this is the day that will be GIVEN me.”


These two procedures, practiced well, will serve to let you be directed WITHOUT fear, for opposition will not FIRST arise, and THEN become a problem in itself. But there will still be times when you have judged already. Now the answer will provoke attack, unless you quickly straighten out your mind to WANT an answer that will work. Be certain this has happened, if you feel yourself to be unwilling to sit by, and ask to have the answer GIVEN you. This means you HAVE decided by yourself, AND CANNOT SEE THE QUESTION. Now you need a quick restorative BEFORE you ask.

3. Remember once again the day you want, and recognize that something has occurred which is not part of it. Then realize that you have asked a question by yourself, and MUST have set an answer in your terms. Then say,

“I have no question. I forgot what to decide.”


This cancels out the terms which you have set, and lets the ANSWER show you what the question MUST have really been. Try to observe this rule without delay DESPITE your opposition. For you have ALREADY gotten angry, and your fear of being answered in a different way from what YOUR version of the question asks will gain momentum until you believe the day you want is one in which you get YOUR answer to your question. And you will not get it, for it would destroy the day by robbing you of what you REALLY want. This can be very hard to realize, when once you have decided by yourself the rules which PROMISE you a happy day. But these decisions still can be undone, by simple methods which you CAN accept.

4. If you are so unwilling to receive you cannot even let your QUESTION go, you can begin to change your mind with this:

“At least I can decide I do not LIKE what I feel now.”



This much is obvious, and paves the way for the next easy step, which follows like this.

5. Having decided that you do not like the way you feel, what could be easier than to continue with –

“And so I HOPE I have been wrong.”



This works AGAINST the sense of opposition, and reminds you that help is not being thrust upon you, but is something that you want and that you need BECAUSE you do not like the way you feel. This tiny opening will be enough to let you go ahead with just a few more steps you need to LET yourself be helped.

6. Now you have reached the turning point, because it has occurred to you that YOU will gain, if what you have decided is NOT so. Until this point is reached, you will believe your happiness DEPENDS on being right. But this much reason have you now attained; YOU would be better off if you were WRONG. This tiny grain of wisdom will suffice to take you further. You are NOT coerced, but merely hope to have a thing you WANT. And you can say in perfect honesty,

“I WANT another way to look at this.”


Now you have changed your mind about the day, and have REMEMBERED what you really want. Its purpose has no longer been obscured by the insane belief you want it for the goal of being right when you are wrong. This is the readiness for asking brought to your awareness, for you cannot be in conflict when you ask for what you want, and see that it is this for which you ask.

7. This final step is but acknowledgment of lack of opposition to be helped. It is a statement of an open mind, not certain yet, but willing to be shown:

“Perhaps there IS another way to look at this. What can I LOSE by asking?”


Thus are you made ready for a question that makes sense, and so the answer will make sense as well. Nor will you fight against it, for you see that it is YOU who will be helped by it.

It must be clear that it is easier to have a happy day if you prevent unhappiness from entering at all. But this takes practice in the rules which will protect you from the ravages of fear. When this has been achieved, the sorry dream of judgment has forever been undone. But, meanwhile, you have need for practicing the rules for its undoing. Let us, then, consider once again the very first of the decisions which are offered here.

We said you can begin a happy day with the determination not to make decisions by yourself. This seems to be a free decision in itself. And yet, you CANNOT make decisions by yourself. The only question really is with WHAT you choose to make them. That is really all.

no decisions by myself

The first rule, then, is not coercion, but a simple statement of a simple fact. You will not make decisions by yourself WHATEVER you decide. For they are made with idols or with God. And you ask help of Christ or anti-Christ, and which you choose will join with you, and tell you what to do.

Your day is not at random. It is set by what you choose to live it with, and how the friend whose counsel you have sought perceives your happiness. You always ask advice before you can decide anything. Let THIS be understood, and you can see there cannot be coercion here, nor grounds for opposition that you may be free. There IS no freedom from what must occur. And if you think there is, you must be wrong.

The second rule as well is but a fact. For you and your advisor must agree on what you want before it can occur. It is but this AGREEMENT which permits all things to happen. Nothing can be caused without some form of union, be it with a dream of judgment or the Voice of God. Decisions cause results BECAUSE they are not made in isolation. They are made by you and your advisor, for yourself, and for the world as well. The day you want you offer to the world, for it will be what you have asked for, and will reinforce the rule of your advisor through the world. Whose kingdom is the world for you today? What kind of day will you decide to have?

It needs but two who would have happiness this day to promise it to all the world. It needs but two to understand that they cannot decide alone, to guarantee the joy they asked for will be wholly shared. For they have understood the basic law which makes decision powerful, and gives it all effects that it will ever have. It needs but two. These two are joined before there CAN be a decision. Let this be the one reminder that you keep in mind, and you will have the day you want, and give it to the world by having it yourselves. Your judgment has been lifted from the world by your decision for a happy day. And as you have received so must you give.

I would love to hear your thoughts about these rules.

Question: Do you think if you lived every day by these rules it would make a difference for you? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Love,

Lisa

Register for our FREE 40-Day Program and come do this work with a group of people who love you and support you and applaud you every step of the way.
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If You're Not Having Fun, Here's Why…

By Lisa Natoli

If you are not having fun, you’re not in harmony with yourself and with God.

It’s that simple.

You are a child of God and your life should feel like play every day.

If you are not happy every day, then you just got a little bit lost. That’s all.

If your life feels serious and difficult, then you wandered away from your center.

You’re like the prodigal son in the bible who had everything but who wanted more.

So what did he do?

He wandered away from his center – his father’s house – and well, he got a little lost.

If you know the story, you’ll notice that he left ALONE – which is what we all did when were born. We left God with a simple insane idea that we wanted more than everything.

AND PRESTO: Next thing you know, you’re a newborn baby in a world of bodies with your memory of God completely erased.

You quickly found out that it’s HARD WORK in the world when you are alone away from your inheritance, away from God. It’s lonely, it’s scary, it’s unpredictable, and let’s be honest here: it kinda sucks.

That’s the condition of every human being in this world before they wake up.

The prodigal son woke up one day. He thought:

“What am I doing??? Am I crazy? I had everything and now I have nothing. All I do is struggle every day. The little that I do have, I have to work really hard for. Then I have to it all over again the next day, day in, day out!”

He suddenly came to his senses and stopped what he was doing and made a decision to go back home.

Jesus describes it as:

“Drop your nets and follow me.”

At a certain point if you are not experiencing perfect peace and joy, you need to realize that your way is not working. You need to make a decision to stop living the way you are living in the recognition that it is simply not serving you anymore.

It all starts with a decision to be done with your life as you know it.

child of god

If you are struggling, here is some great advice:

Stop what you are doing. Just stop. I am not saying quit your job, I am just saying “Stop” and Pause and be still for a minute and ask yourself honestly if your life is working.

Stop trying to make it in the world. It will never work. The only thing that will work is to find your center again, in harmony with yourself and God.

Don’t vibrate what the world is vibrating – be visionary and vibrate joy and abundance.

If you have no clue how to do this, here is an Invitation for you: Come take The 40-Day Program and experiment and practice with some new ideas.

A lot of people actually DO know how to do this – vibrate joy and gratitude and live in love – but they don’t know how to hold that vibration consistently.

Most people (myself included for the longest time) could only hold the frequency of gratitude for about 5 minutes, maybe 20 minutes at most.

At around the 5 minute mark, some thought would drag me back down into doubt and depression and I could never stay consistently happy.

That’s why it can be a gift to yourself to make a commitment to practice the ideas from A Course in Miracles and to be really vigilant about it.

When you hold a vibration long enough and consistently enough, the world you think you see will change completely.

And then every day will be fun – a time of great joy and peace – because you will be in harmony in yourself, centered in God.

Come on home.

Love,

Lisa

Register for our FREE 40-Day Program and come do this work with a group of people who love you and support you and applaud you every step of the way.