3 Lines From A Course In Miracles That Deliver Amazing Results
The most shocking thing you’ll notice if you ever happen to open A Course In Miracles is the deceivingly pretentious introduction that never fails to spark intrigue.
And by that I mean, ahem!… Check out the first five sentences…
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.
Required?
The only choice is when I take it at any-given-time?
And yet, there is enormous wisdom in it.
It takes browsing a few pages to realize that actually, it is required, because it is the only spiritual message there is.
It is the same message we hear from anyone that has ever grown into spiritual high levels and tried to tell us how to join them. It is the way.
It is one way of removing the veils of perception.
Yes, there is a heavy “Christian” tone to the book. BUT, to my surprise, and unlike the stories I heard in both, catholic-elementary AND catholic-high-school (such was my luck) — this book interprets things correctly.
For example… take a contentious phrase, something like: “revenge is mine”.
Can you imagine how someone can ‘interpret’ that to a captivated audience of easily scared listeners? or, worse, can you imagine the reaction of someone who may be furious and stumbling on such a page?
It could be dangerous.
But the book makes the meaning clear, at least for me….. this is what it says (I paraphrase):
Revenge is mine means you NEVER take revenge. You do the right thing, but you do not take revenge because the results of the actions of s/he, whom you perceive as your perpetrator, are NOT up to you, but up to a higher power.
Phew!
Early this year I took to A Course In Miracles again and found gems within it. I wanted to share some of the most interesting ones with you.
Here they are:
1. INFINITE PATIENCE DELIVERS IMMEDIATE RESULTS
The first time I read this one I laughed. I mean, c’mon! Immediate results, oh yeah, ha ha ha.
I decided I to put it to the test, that very day. I needed to open a new bank account, and I knew these things take forever. Also I kind of needed it to work because I was already late for work. So I wanted it to work.
When the bank representative asked for the usual documents and apologized for the computer being slow, I took it as a sign. I said to myself: infinite patience delivers immediate results. Then…
I said to him: “Take your time. No rush at all”. (I was sweating inside)
But I meant it.
The account was open within 12 minutes (I tracked it). I’ve never seen that happen in a NYC bank before. I was early for work.
You see, the thing with this spell is that it has magic in it: it removes “time” from the equation.
The first part has the word “infinite” in it: We are outside of time, no beginning, no end, NO TIME.
That in turn, is coupled with “patience”, which is a human demonstration of infinity.
The second part has the word “immediate” in it, which means NOW. NO TIME. And it is coupled with the word “result”, meaning: something happens, NOW.
NO TIME = INFINITY = NO TIME = SOMETHING HAPPENS NOW.
And all we had to do was have an open mind and remember the affirmation.
Stepping into the present with an open heart (as you would if you really wanted it to work), gives you an advantage…
You are operating from infinity.
Try it. You tell me.
2. A MIRACLE IS A SHIFT IN PERCEPTION
The power of an alchemist lies not in turning dust into gold. That is just a metaphor to show the strength of the mind that lies behind such a miracle.
A real miracle is one that happens when in spite of desperation, hurt, defeat, bankruptcy, we still shift our perception from lack, to abundance.
We have our feet on the ground, we know where we are, but we also trust the infinite force that is keeping us alive right now, and we know we are abundant, in this moment, because we are here.
How is that for a miracle?
The Course in Miracles re-defines the meaning of a ‘miracle’ as something quite mundane which we can do only if we are strong enough.
Why do we need to be strong enough? Because changing our habits is not easy.
Looking at a situation in a different light requires humility. We need to feel the fire of anger, let it go, and re-open our minds for new possibilities.
The stuff of alchemists…
3. I DON’T PERCEIVE MY OWN BEST INTERESTS
This one blew my mind right of its skull.
I mean, how true is that? Give it a minute, let it sink in.
There is a story of that enlightened monk who, one night, gets a visit from the parents of the teen-age girl that lives next door.
The parents are furious, and they accuse him of getting their daughter pregnant. They tell him he will have to look after the baby. And that they will tell everyone in the village. That he is a fraud.
The monk says: Is that so?
No reaction. He is aware that he does not perceive his own best interests.
The baby is born. He takes care of it. And the monk’s reputation is ruined, of course.
A year later the parents come back and apologize, they tell him their daughter confessed that the child was fathered by the butcher. And, that they want the baby back.
The monk says: Is that so?
The baby goes back to his parents.
The monk’s reputation is restored. Further, perhaps he now becomes a legend.
We are talking about it now.
The story survives because there is truth in it.
How does that introduction I told you about in the beginning continue? Check out the next two lines…
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.”
And removing the veils to our awareness is what we do in our practice every day.
Here is to YOU, Dear Veils: Take your time to clear yourselves from my perception.
Take all the time you need…
I have infinite patience…
P.S.: If you have lines that you love from the Course in Miracles, please let me know in the comments or in Twitter which ones they are, and why!