ACIM Study Group January 5 2016
Many students first coming to A Course in Miracles (ACIM) can feel overwhelmed by the book – which is after all over a thousand pages long. It may appear that this is a complicated philosophy that we need to understand first and then practice.
Many students new to ACIM (including me when I first began my journey!) make this mistake.
But consider this.
If we were reading a book about yoga or dance, we would not make any progress as yoga practitioners or dancers by trying to ‘understand’ the Tree Pose or the waltz. Generally, we would do the yoga exercises. We would perform the dance steps. Then usually over time and with practice we would say we understand what it means to hold our balance with the Tree Pose or flow with the waltz.
Similarly, ACIM is a manual to train our mind. The Course states that an untrained mind cannot achieve anything.
If we want steady joy, a feeling of inner peace, a sense of deep trust that we are cared for and protected- then we want to train our minds. Just like we would train our bodies in yoga or dance or any other physical activity. We want to apply the same devotion and dedication to the mind that we would to care for the body.
Listen to this introductory talk that emerged as a few of us gathered to share our experiences with practicing the Course for a few years. As we revisited the early lessons, we realized a few key things were definitely VERY helpful in the practice of ACIM:
- a sincere desire for peace of mind
- a clear intention to read and study the lessons
- having a way to set aside time daily for reading and study
- a consistent practice
We also realized how helpful it was to practice with others and seek support whether it be through online sources or a local study group.
And there were definitely some things that were NOT helpful:
- judgment of ourselves, others or what the process of healing our minds may or may not look like
- any sense of ‘trying’ ‘pushing’ ‘pulling’ or ‘forcing’ ourselves to ‘get’ something. (ACIM refers to all strain as coming from the ego mind)
- forgetting to laugh along the journey and ‘becoming pointlessly preoccupied’ with all the different thought-forms of our mind- good and bad- that we become more and more aware of as we do the lessons
Our talk was filled with laughter and a sense of ease- as if the Wise Spirit inside us was reminding us that all we really needed to do was just show up, do the lessons and allow the healing to flow.
We just needed to get out of our own way!
To hear more, take a listen. And if you do enjoy this, send us an email so we can share details so you can join the call next week. If you cannot join in, send an email anyway so we can keep you informed as new recordings are added to the website.
