INTRODUCTION AND MEANING OF MIRACLES--Part 1 of 2 (He Elaborates on Miracle Principles 1 through 9) Good evening. Well, after having started this book with the last chapter, we will go to the beginning, having a basis for understanding the book from the beginning. And we’ll start here. Ordinarily we read one paragraph at a time, and pass the book on, but since that page is so short, if you’ll just read the whole page starting there. [Text] INTRODUCTION This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite. This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way: Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. Thank you. I am not going to comment on that but will allow it just to sit with each of you. You will find that the meaning of the word “miracles” in the book, A Course in Miracles, does not mean the practice of spiritual control over your experience that results in the correction of the human condition through spiritual power. It is not an act of great wonder, like walking on water or raising the dead or healing the sick, although those are the things you are likely to see. But those are not what constitute the miracle. The miracle has to do with what we’ve been talking about while we were reading Chapter 31. The miracle is the shift in consciousness that occurs when you abandon the agreed-upon definitions, and you assume nothing, and you listen deeply within after having inquired of God or the Holy Spirit or your Guide, to know what is the truth here or the truth in a particular situation and letting the clarity of the true answer in. This causes a shift, an inner shift, a shift of perception. And as the perception shifts, your experience shifts and you notice that there’s been a healing or you notice that a relationship has been inspired with love once again, where it seemed to have been absent, and so on. So as we begin the first section here: [Text] Chapter 1 THE MEANING OF MIRACLES . . . and the . . . [Text] Principles of Miracles I want you to keep this in mind: That a miracle is a shift in consciousness, in your consciousness that occurs as a result of being defenseless against, having no defenses against the experience of God’s point of view. This can happen on purpose as a result of becoming still, as a result of meditating, as a result of consciously setting aside your best ideas, your best opinions, and so on, and consciously listening for clarity. Or it can happen spontaneously in what would be called an unguarded moment, which again is one of those moments when there is no defense present, and then you have a sudden inspiration, a sudden insight, a sudden shift of perception. And it is that shift of perception that changes the way you see things that is the miracle. So, let us begin with Principle Number 1. [Text] [Principle #1] There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not “harder” or “bigger” than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal. Ah-h . . . so a miracle is a shift of perception in which you see something truly, and the seeing of it as it Is constitutes Love expressed. And Love is always maximal. Love is always uninhibited. A miracle is a light bulb going on. It’s an, “Aha!” that occurs within you. An, “Aha!” that is a response to an experience of clarification that reveals the divinity of something in your world so that it transforms your perception of the thing you’re looking at. And it also links it as an inner experience with God, so that you know there’s an absolute relationship there, and that the thing you are looking at about which you have a transformed perception has no capacity to be there except as the expression of God—and that therefore it is holy. Okay. Continue . . . [Text] [Principle #2] Miracles as such do not matter. The only thing that matters is their Source, Which is far beyond evaluation. In other words, the transformation that you experience occurring in your world because of your transformed vision is not what is significant, that Lazarus came forth from the tomb was not what was significant. What was significant was that Love revealed that he never died and simply uncovered that fact, so that no one was having a lingering illusion going on in their mind blinding them to his presence. What was significant was that it did in fact demonstrate that there is a God, and it demonstrated that Lazarus was not separate from Him. And my Love of the Father and of Lazarus was all it took in order for the illusion of death to fade from everyone’s mind and therefore, from their vision so that they saw him. Continue . . . [Text] [Principle #3] Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle. Indeed. You know that I’m constantly encouraging you to not join with each other in your mutually-agreed-upon definitions of everything. And the reason is, because when you are caught up in this mutual agreement, you have blocked yourself from what I’m going to call the ever-present communication of God to you. You’re in an ongoing state of ignoring that communication. And that communication to you is a communication of Love because that is what God is. And when that Love is not resisted or ignored by you, it fills you and blesses you, transforming your vision, which therefore causes your world to look more like the Kingdom of Heaven, because that’s what it’s been all along. I invite Paul to let me respond to everything, which really means I invite him to be joined with me constantly so that there will not only be miracles at gatherings, and so that he won’t suffer the frustration of feeling separate between gatherings, and mostly because doing so gives him practice at being normal, divinely normal, which will speed up his remembrance of being Awake so that he might own it once again. And the same thing applies to all of you. To be stuck in the mutual agreements turns your existence into a uselessness, and you miss the Joy of what is confronting you. You miss the Joy of the Kingdom of Heaven that you’re right in the middle of. And you miss the experience of your integrity because of what you Are and can never stop being—the Presence of God in expression. When you are joined, all that you can be is Love. And all that can follow that are miracles. Okay. Continue . . . [Text] [Principle #4] All miracles mean life, and God is the Giver of life. His Voice will direct you very specifically. Oh, I’m going to interrupt you. All miracles mean life! . . . not an approximation of life . . . not 50% of life . . . not just a little bit of life . . . not a rugged experience of life . . . but life! All miracles mean life, and God is the Giver of life. Again, it’s what I was just saying, that when the shift in your awareness occurs and you see something as it truly is, you recognize its inseparability from God, which is, as I said, another way of recognizing or knowing, having an experience of its holiness. And when I say “holiness,” I mean it is something that inspires awe. It isn’t just something extra wonderful. Okay. Continue . . . [Text] You will be told all you need to know. His Voice will direct you very specifically, just as I do with Paul. And you will be told all you need to know. Wow, what a support. What a thing to miss out on just for the thrill of being able to make your own decisions without having to check in with Daddy. Continue . . . [Text] [Principle #5] Miracles are habits, and should be involuntary. They should not be under conscious control. Consciously selected miracles can be misguided. Indeed. And so this is one reason for often asking God or your Guide or the Holy Spirit, “What do I need to know here?” . . . without assuming that you know what you need to know or that you know what really needs to be addressed. When you genuinely and undefendedly listen within for God to reveal His perspective, you don’t know what in your consciousness is going to shift, which is part of the wonderfulness of it, except that if you’ve been used to enjoying a sense of control and a pride at having control, then the feeling is that if you let the shift happen wherever it will, that it deprives you of something. It deprives you of being able to say afterwards, “I made that happen.” Miracles are never under your control because the shift in consciousness only occurs when you are yielding to the Father’s will, when you are listening beyond your habitual thought processes. I’m going to read the next one. [Text] [Principle #6] Miracles are natural. When they do not occur something has gone wrong. Well, first of all, that means that miracles aren’t special and miracles won’t make you special. Miracles are, you might say, automatic. The shifts in perception, the shifts in consciousness naturally and spontaneously occur when you have an unguarded moment, an undefended moment. It is really that simple. And when they do not occur and it says, “something has gone wrong,” it means that they’re not occurring because you’re putting your mind to a use that is not natural to it. And you’re attempting to be something that’s not natural to you—an independent authorizer—instead of the willing observer of what God is being, so that you might be able to be the acknowledgement of what God is being and thereby glorify God. And by virtue of that experience of the revelation of God to you, having who you Are truly revealed to you as well. Continue . . . [Text] [Principle #7] Miracles are everyone’s right, but purification is necessary first. Yes, yes, yes. Pur-if-i-ca-tion. Um-m... how many lifetimes have you been pur-i-fy-ing yourselves? [audience laughter] And how many of you know that it’s going to yet be a long time before you’re purified because that’s what your spiritual book says, and because there are—as in this book—365 lessons. “Wow! Well it’s at least going to take 365 days for my purification. So I won’t look for it on the second day. I won’t allow it because I’ve got to have my Pur-if-i-ca-tion.” Purification is necessary. What does purification mean? It just means letting go of that which isn’t a part of you. When you have a glass of pure water, you have a glass of water that has nothing extraneous—to what water is—in it. Well, all you need to do to purify yourself or your mind, is to abandon thinking . . . is to stop thinking and start listening, to stop being an authority and asking for help from some place other than your experience. You see? Purification is what happens when you reach out to God, and therefore your presence isn’t so filled with your definition of yourself. It’s that simple. So, when you see that . . . [Text]. . . but purification is necessary first. . . . don’t think, “Oh, my God! I won’t be able to do it” or, “I know it will take a long time!” Don’t let that word scare you. It just means . . . it means taking off the thing you need the least. That’s all. Letting go of the thing that isn’t useful. Letting go of what gets in the way of your experience of what you could never have stopped being—which is the Presence of God—though, you might say that you are the capacity to recognize, and therefore acknowledge God and what God is Being, in other words, Creation and thereby glorify God, which is an act of gratitude. Because when you see the truth, you are filled with gratitude for it being true. Not true as opposed to false, but sheer truth, simple truth, elicits gratitude. And in that gratitude, you are infilled with what God is Being and you Wake up, meaning you see things as they Are. You see the Kingdom of Heaven where you had been looking and saying, “It’s just the world.” Okay . . . [Text][Principle #8] Miracles are healing because they supply a lack; they are performed by those who temporarily have more for those who temporarily have less. Isn’t that interesting? They’re supplied by those who temporarily have more, except that the one who temporarily has more from his standpoint has less, because there’s purification. And so there’s less of his definition of himself in the way. There’s less of an authority present. There’s less of an independent, causative agent present. And the supply of the lack to the one who temporarily has less is actually going to one who thinks he has more, because he still thinks he’s in charge. You see what I’m saying? He still has himself on his mind as an authority, as someone to be in control, as someone to practice defense against a polarized world that will get him if he’s not prepared. He’s encumbered with definitions and concepts about himself and about the world, which means he apparently has more there where he is than what God is Being. You see? So it’s a paradox. [Text] Miracles are healing because they supply a lack; they are performed by those who temporarily have more . . . . . . but actually have less, personally speaking . . [Text]. . .for those who temporarily have less. . . . but have more encumbrances, personally speaking. You see? Waking up is really a discovery that you’re a lot less than you thought you were. In fact, that everything that you thought you were isn’t part of you at all. But, even though losing that may seem to be a significant loss, it’s just a matter of discarding the thing you need the least. And what’s left uncovered, what’s left revealed by the absence of the encumbrances, the extras, is the Christ—You in your actuality, You in your reality, You in your innocence, You in your purity that was never soiled, no matter what you thought, You in your inviolability that’s incapable of being threatened and You inseparable from the Whole, outside of which there is nothing that could oppose you because there is no outside to Wholeness. Continue . . . [student comment] I thought I understood it until I saw you before you were baptized . . . that you were teaching, and so you were having less than the people that you were teaching? Anyone who is truly teaching because they have the Vision of God have less personality, have less ego, you might say, and they are giving to those who seem to still have a lot of ego. You see? So, by your standards from your present frame of view, you can understand that one who is standing with God has more than you have—more that matters—but really has less than you have because he or she is not encumbered by the ego beliefs and structures and concepts and mutual agreements and laws that the commitment to those agreements are held to. You see? ~excerpt from ACIM Study Group with Raj/Jesus 8/7/2002 Conducted by the Northwest Foundation for ACIM nwffacim.wordpress FaceBook: https://facebook/groups/183859725130360/ Now I am present with and available to every single one of you, everyone at every moment. And so it is my intent in being with groups of people like this to make this fact known and by Pauls presence and demeanor also convey the fact that my being available doesnt require of anyone any special talent, because Paul is about as regular as anyone else on this planet and has no special talent in order to hear me. Does that clarify that for you? For those of you who are students of A Course In Miracles, I will take this opportunity to point out that my time spent with Helen Schucman was also not a special instance. And although there have been some expressions of the fact, or the idea-not the fact-the idea that everyone else cant expect the same sort of relationship with me or with Guidance that she experienced, is untrue. It is an attempt to elevate her, and to elevate the Course into a false position of religious respect, whether it is stated that way or not. All of the activities of the Northwest Foundation for A Course In Miracles are provided without charge or obligation. This is possible because of thoughtfulness, love extended without conditions. Such is the nature of Gift. As a result these materials are available to you, because someone like you has already gifted you with them. And, at Rajs instruction, these materials will never be sold. If you would like to add your thoughtfulness and love, to gift others with the availability of these materials, please contact nwffacim.org -----oOo-----
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 15:23:16 +0000
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