Revelation Requires Preparation | A Course in Miracles Deep Dive | February 18, 2026

One ACIM line changes the whole direction of the journey: “The next step… does involve the direct approach to God Himself.” We take that sentence seriously and follow its implications all the way through. I’m reading from the Complete and Annotated Edition (2021), and Wayne and I unpack why miracles are not about polishing the dream. Miracles correct perception, reduce fear, and stabilise the mind so it stops getting hooked by the same mechanical ego patterns on repeat. When the turbulence drops, receptivity becomes possible. 

Then we sit with ACIM’s rare caution: starting the direct approach without “very careful preparation” is unwise, because awe can be confused with fear. We talk about what preparation actually is (undoing guilt, relinquishing specialness, forgiving, letting the mind get quiet) and what it is not (spiritual performance, rituals, chasing peak states). The key distinction is interpretation: the same expansion beyond the separate self can feel like home or like annihilation, depending on how much fear the mind still defends. 

The second anchor is even simpler: “Healing is of God in the end.” That line cuts through two ego traps at once: trying to earn awakening through effort and trying to opt out of practice because “God will do it.” We explore the middle way ACIM teaches, plus why revelation may occasionally show the end but the means are still needed to reach it. Forgiveness interrupts the chain of miscreation, restores innocence, and keeps the path grounded in real mind training. 

If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s tired of spiritual pressure, and leave a review so more people can find these ACIM deep dives.

Transcript

Welcome And Opening Prayer

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Aloha, and welcome to a Course in Miracles Deep Dive with Hope Johnson. Yay! Today we're gonna be getting into chapter three, part one, paragraph six, starting with sentence five. And that page number is 109. That is in the complete and annotated edition of a course in miracles that came out in 2021. Yay!

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Let's tune in.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Oh, thank you for this well laid out means for being released from the world, the world we made, the separation. Thank you, Jesus, for your patience and timing and loving protection.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Thank you for being such a clear example of how to return to sanity and for encouraging us to study.

The Next Step Toward God

Seeing Patterns To Quiet The Mind

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Thank you. And we proceed with studying right now, joining our minds in grace and openness and peace and surrender. Yay, amen. I love you guys. Thank you. Yay. All right. Let's go. Where do I want to go? Oh, okay. I was sharing with Wayne. I made 29 pages of notes for these five paragraphs. I think it's five. Yeah, five or five sentences. And if we get through these, we're gonna make it to section two next week. Oh, it's so rich, though. I'm so grateful. All right, let's go to sentence five. Here's the text. The next step, however, does involve the direct approach to God Himself. Okay, so just for some context, let's look at the previous sentence. Couple sentences. I have been careful to clarify my own role in the atonement without either over or understating it. I have tried to do exactly the same thing in connection with yours. That's your role in the atonement. We went over that last time. That was about a month ago now. So then he goes on. The next step, however, does involve the direct approach to God Himself. So this sentence is a turning point in the text. Up to right here, Jesus has been teaching about miracles, correcting perception. Okay, he's been establishing how fear distorts, how perception operates, and how serving your proper function, forgiveness, restores order within our mind. But here he is going beyond all of that. Okay, he's talking about direct approach to God. So the context here where he says the next step, this is the next step because perception had to be stabilized first. Miracles operate within the perception, right? They correct our distortions, they undo our fear, they restore right-mindedness, they stabilize all of our relationships. But miracles aren't transcending perception, they're in perception, healing perception. So the direct approach to God doesn't have to do with improved perception. It's totally beyond perception altogether. So what has to happen first is this preparation, perception first becomes quiet enough to allow that. Okay, so whatever we're doing in the perception, you know, recognizing what patterns we're being drawn into, recognizing worldly patterns, all that kind of stuff, that's all in the perception. You know, it makes you less reactive to the perception because you see the inner workings, a repeated ego structure, specialness, attachment cycles, attraction, withdrawal, guilt, repair. One way I saw it, a girl was doing a song today on uh Facebook. She was saying, We fight and then we fuck. Attraction and withdrawal, guilt and repair. It's all right in there. Projection and defensiveness, right? We fight and we fuck. So when patterns aren't seen, the mind experiences this turbulence, right? There's this emotional charge and identification and instability. So this isn't a bad thing when you're noticing an emotional charge. You're noticing, whoa, I'm identified. That's instability. When they're seen, when that's seen clearly, then something else happens. There's a reduction of that emotional charge. There's non-identification that leads to your mind being stabilized. So that's not the miracle itself, it's removing the confusion that allows the miracle. Remember, the miracle establishes that you're dreaming a dream and none of this shit is true. Right? So that drains your fascination with it. You're not fascinated with that pattern anymore. See what's going on with these uh patterns in the world is they're drawing your attention and fascination, and oh, that's so awesome, whatever it seems to be. But if you notice that it's all just patterns playing, it's like code, code, code, code, code, it's all the same. And you can see that playing into these patterns is boring. Right? Not only that, it feels like it drains your uh life, right? Getting fascinated in the world, it just drains the life. So the ego thrives on novelty, right? The novel virus, for instance, that's more like a worldwide one. Uh, this is unique, this is so special, this is, but no, now something really special is happening, that kind of stuff. That's how the ego thrives. See, when the repetition of things is just revealed, and you recognize this is just mechanical, they lose all their enchantment. It's a mechanical play, playing out, and that's where detachment comes in. The attachment to this thing fades away, and the mind can be quieter. So that's why he's saying the next step, right? So what I see too, and I'm, you know, this is the question that comes up in my mind that people might be asking is well, what happens if I get, you know, a sense that I'm getting identified? Don't judge about it. It's okay. Look at that's what all of these uh like miracles, forgiveness, uh pattern recognitions, you can say in the field is just like letting us to see that it's mechanical again. It's getting back to seeing that it's mechanical, quieting it down. Okay, it's not so your mind isn't busy um in correcting. See, it's it's a it's refining the interpretation. You know, all throughout a Course in Miracles, it talks about having a different interpretation. You want to interpret the world in a non-personal way, non-threatening way. See, you don't have to solve any relational dynamics or anything like that, just noticing what they are. That quiets the mind because you see, there's nothing to everything that that the ego brings up to think about the situation. It's like, oh, it's just mechanical, though. It doesn't really matter. So reducing agitation, this comes before this direct connection to God, direct approach to God Himself, is what it says. A stable mind is what makes receptivity to God even possible. It allows that direct approach. So it might look like this: you got unseen patterns, upset feeling feelings, unseen patterns. That's what's going on. There's turbulence in your system. When you see the patterns, it reduces the turbulence. When the turbulence is reduced, then there's quiet. Quiet mind is receptive mind. Receptive mind has that direct approach to God. So none of these other things are the goal. The miracle's not the goal, forgiveness is not the goal. These are the means. It's clearing out interference, and you know, and early on, uh, this feels effortful, you know, doing your function as far as you know, forgiving, recognizing that this stuff isn't personal, uh, inducing miracles. Early on, that feels effortful, but down the line, it's more instantaneous instantaneous. Uh, you don't analyze any sim, any, any uh systems. You don't analyze how these systems are playing out. You're just not hypnotized. So they're right there, play as day. You don't have to do any wild analyzing of it. You know, that's always the ego when it's trying to bend on stuff. Um, but it's just, you know, it's right there when the mind is quiet and not engaged in ego kind of thoughts. They did this to me, feeling regret, anything like that. It's just, you know, that is what is is what's actually for this forgiveness, recognizing, oh, this is the pattern I get pulled into repeatedly. Okay, I see that. I'm not going this time. I'm staying, I'm staying present, basically. So eventually, pattern recognition requires no energy, it's just not any energy. Yeah, it's just it's natural to just see that. So, and you know, they cease to be interesting. That's really what it is. It's not interesting to uh go into that game. Like when it was interesting to go into the game, it was because you're going into it blind. These games don't disappear from the perception, they just stop hooking you less and less. There's less interest versus like, oh, oh, I see that pattern. Oh, wow, I haven't seen that pattern before. That's kind of an aha moment. But then once it comes back again after that, it's like, oh yeah, that's cute. It's just not really, it's not, it's not uh an any hook, and it keeps on getting milder and milder as it rolls around. Um less entertaining, less entertaining, yeah. So your disinterest that's in it at this point, it's not indifference, it's just freedom from being fascinated by illusions. That's how we get released from this world, from everything that's underpinning the world. And that is what allows this next step, the direct, the direct approach that Jesus is talking about. It's not like you're you get better at making boundaries, you don't get uh necessarily deeper uh psychological insight, right? It's not perfect neutrality, it's laying down of perception completely. Miracles prepare our mind for that by stabilizing it. Your receptivity that comes from miracles is the doorway. So the direct approach is revelation, communion beyond all symbols, no relationships, no person, no identity. It doesn't solve the dream, it just completely bypasses the dream. Revelation. Yeah, the next step, what are you saying, is direct approach to God Himself. Okay, that's revelation, that's what we call revelation. Yeah, but we're not trying to access it, all we're doing is preparing our mind, right? So we're we're achieving, you could say we're achieving that calm state by choosing to be miracle-minded. That's just what occurs. So it's like none of this other stuff is the ultimate, right? Miracles, forgiveness, recognizing patterns. These just remove that turbulence that would make the direct approach impossible. So it's not like dismissing perception here, it's putting it in order. Correction happens in the perception, mind gets stabled, and then it's receptive to God. See, it's like perception instantaneously stops captivating the mind. You know, of course in miracles talks about just letting the world go. Let it, you know, see it as what it is, seeing it seeing it at what it actually is, you stop getting fascinated by it. So, how's everyone doing? You guys got any questions yet? That was one sentence. All right, let's look at it again. You don't have to have questions. I got plenty to say, apparently. The next step, however, does involve the does involve the direct the direct approach to God Himself. Yay. Got that out. So let's go on to the next sentence. I'm checking on you guys on Zoom and also on Substack. I love you. Let me know if you have any questions. All right, chapter three, part one, paragraph six, sentence six. Here's the text. It would be most unwise to start on this step. This step is the direct, what's the word they used? Direct approach to God Himself. This step. It would be most unwise to start on this step at all without very careful preparation. Or awe will surely be confused with fear, and the experience will be more traumatic than beautific. Okay. This is after he's talking about the next step involves direct approach to God. So he's explaining now why this preparation is necessary. He says it would be most unwise. So this in as in a Course in Miracles, it's pretty strong language. It rarely has cautionary phrasing like that. It would be most unwise unless the issue is structural. So it's like this is a structural thing. It's not a warning about sinning, it's a warning about instability. Like if your mind is unstable, the direct approach, remember, is revelation beyond perception. This happened to my nephew. Yeah, he had a revelation and it scared him so much. He was not ready for that. He didn't do any psychedelics or anything like that. He wasn't prepared like this for it. And all of a sudden, the perception, his perception just started falling apart. Like the whole thing just started crumbling, right? And I've heard from other people who have said that, like the whole thing, it just like it's beyond perception. There's no sense of identity, there's no sense of I. There's nothing to hold it up. And it was a uh very fearful thing uh for my nephew to get a sense of himself like that without not even a sense of yourself, it's a sense of nothing is here. There's no uh well, well, it's perfect love. You could say perfect love is here because it's also when your uh mind is not fearful, it's a beautiful experience, it's an experience outside of space and time, an experience outside of an individual, outside of being an individual where the world doesn't have uh meaning to you. See, that's the greatest fear, and that's one thing that I witnessed uh is this energy of grasping very quickly to concepts that make this look real for this intense fear that we're just in a void and there's nothing, we're nothing, it's nothing. There's this intense grasping to even make it look like I'm in a room sitting on a floor doing a thing. See, so if the mind isn't stabilized through miracles, the experience of transcendence gets misinterpreted into terror. So he said it would be most unwise without very careful, very careful, not just careful, very careful preparation. So, what is this preparation? It's not rituals, that's part of the game, too. This love and light thing where you do a bunch of of mystery of mystical rituals and techniques and all this stuff. I'm not saying you can't have crystals. Some, of course, in miracles, people go that far. I mean, it's not like that. You can do anything, actually. It's just knowing what the purpose is. Right. Uh part of the ego's game is to just get us sidetracked on stuff. Those are not preparation. That's not the kind of preparation Jesus is talking about. He's talking talking about correction of fear. Okay. Reducing guilt, undoing specialness, and stabilizing the perception, relinquishing our attachment to form of all kinds of form, all form miracle work, basically.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

That's the preparation.

SPEAKER_02 22:42

Whenever patterns are agitating the mind, the mind isn't stable enough for revelation. So just having your mind, I mean, uh for me, when I go over something like that, I'm like, yeah, that's why it's uh it's the best to just have your mind in preparation mode all the time. It's always prepared for revelation, right? What is that? What is that preparation again? Correcting fear, reducing guilt, right? It's a it's like wiping away these things that are meaningless, undoing specialness. This all occurs in the perception. It's in the perception. So then he goes on. Let's start at the beginning, though. It would be most unwise without very careful preparation. And then he goes on to say, awe will surely be confused with fear. Earlier in the course, Jesus clarifies probably two or three times that awe is appropriate only in the presence of God. Awe is the response, and this is a word, so don't take it like I can't say awesome anymore about stuff or something like that. Just notice this is a word that's used in a course in miracles, awe. That's the response to direct contact with God, and it's not like awe, it's like oh, yes, it's it's vastness beyond individuality, ineffable, yes, ineffable. You can't eff it. I don't know what that word means. All right. Okay, thank you. It can't be described in any verbal language, ineffable. Thank you. That was fun to learn. All right, so miracles, right? They inspire this gratitude. Revelation inspires awe. Okay. Revelation, because revelation dissolves the sense of a separate self. Miracles are establishing that you're dreaming a dream, they're not changing the sense. You're dreaming a dream, none of it's true. They're not, they're not dissolving the sense of separation. So the dissolution of the sense of separation feels like vast expansion. Okay. You guys may have had revelations. It's just like a glimpse into truth. I mean, I can recall having a revelation when I was 11 years old. That's the first one I can actually recall. At 11, fun. Yeah. All of a sudden it was like boom, boom. And, you know, it was definitely terrifying at that age because I was just like, don't look at that. Don't look at that. Because looking at that, it was, and it wasn't anything specific. I was looking at the stars. I was in the back of a car where they had the windows going caddy corner, and you didn't need to wear seatbelts at that time. So I was just laying there under the glass like that when my mom was driving down the highway, and I was just looking at the stars, and all of a sudden it was like boom. It's totally undescribable, just like you're saying. But I just saw my mind go, no, no, no, no, no. Go away from that. Don't look at that. You're gonna die. Yeah, it is a death, Wayne is saying. Yeah, uh, I just had a really uh strong attachment to the sense of self, did not want to see that right then. There was also a sense in myself, I'm gonna have to see that at some point.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

Why was the opposite?

SPEAKER_02 27:05

Yours was the opposite.

SPEAKER_03 27:07

It was in a church, and I got the I got to go up front, it was Baptist Church, profess that there was something larger than me, and I want to part. And I so I got dunked again.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

You got dunked and you got baptized again. Oh, you went and got baptized again. That's all you saw that there was something large you wanted to be part of.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

I wanted to know more about it.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

Uh-huh. Yeah. Uh yeah. For me, I just recognized that that that this uh this illusion, this is an illusory world. I started to get thoughts like maybe everyone's doing everything for me and stuff like that. So it's snowing, yay, it's snowing on the lake. All right. So if the mind is prepared for this, is if if it's prepared for revelation, that means it's relatively free from a strong sense of guilt or fear, then the expansion is experienced as beatific, is the word Jesus used. And that's what he wants for you. A beautific experience. Okay, so if the ego is still strongly identified as an individual, the same expansion feels like annihilation, right? So, you know, and some of us, probably myself included, uh put up safeguards like, fuck no, don't give me anything like that. I don't want to see that, right? I don't even want to see that, don't even do that. I'll still get little glimpses, but it's like I can recognize that too, especially right now, going over this. So for the ego experiencing this loss of control, it's like a total loss of individuality. Uh, and you know, there never has been any control in this sense, but it the experience of a loss of control, ego takes that as a terrible threat. So when your mind is prepared, you experience that same thing as expansion beyond the self-concept. Yeah, it's like communion with God. Yes, expansion beyond your self-concept to the ego, it's I'm dying. Same experience, but there's two interpretations. So if fear wasn't sufficiently undone before revelation, then the mind's automatically going to react defensively. That's what fear does, causes defensiveness, and then instead of awe, it's terror.

SPEAKER_03 30:06

You know, when someone physically dies, if they're not conscious, they think this is the only life, they experience the fear first, and when they leave the body, they experience the awe.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

When they leave the body, yeah, they experience awe.

SPEAKER_03 30:26

Because without the body, you got the ego stuff.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

Okay, so he's talking about when someone passes away and they're fearful, they go from fear to awe. You know, it's like when whenever you whenever your body passes away, you go into this really beautiful realm. We were talking about this earlier. It's still an illusion, because the only way to really be released from illusions is to not want them at all. Right? But you do, you go into awe because you start to uh go, oh, it could be this nice, it could be this good, right? But you're still having a sense of being an individual, someone who can go back into a body, apparently, right? So that's not the same as revelation. Um, people definitely experience awe when there's not revelation. Yeah, when there's people definitely experience awe when, you know, in an inappropriate way and in an inappropriate time. That happens all the time, right? Even even when you're not crossing over into the death realm. That happens all the time. All right, so he also says, and the experience will be more traumatic than beautific. So, what is beatific? That's blessed, radiant, overwhelming with love. So you're saying it'll be more traumatic, destabilizing, disorienting, frightening. Um, for me, I could say I just decided to forget about it. So it was definitely trauma that was just like pushed down. So the difference isn't in the revelation itself, it's in the way the mind receives it. When uh when the mind is guilty, it's a guilty, it's not really guilty, uh, its sense of guilt is strong, let's say. Coming into contact with perfect love like that feels unbearable. Because this perfect love exposes all unreality, all unreality, and the ego always resists self-exposure. Okay, it doesn't want to be exposed.

SPEAKER_03 33:07

That's right, people don't like the sound of their own voice.

SPEAKER_02 33:09

People don't like the sound of their own voice. Huh? Interesting, yeah. I'm used to hearing mine recorded, I guess, because I'm just like that's I know. Wayne is like, shit, you'll just start singing any song, a cappella, you don't even care. You hated your voice when I first heard it. Oh, okay. Oh, that's interesting. Maybe that's a gaze, yeah. Self-conscious, right? Yeah, ego conscious, right. So this sentence is following a couple of other sentences. Let me see. Well, no, this is we're only on sentence six. So in the last sentence, sentence five, Jesus announced this direct approach to God, and now he's explaining why it's necessary to prepare for that. So we'll go over that one more time. Miracles stabilize the mind, which makes it receptive and open for revelation without fear, without that stabilization, where there's a revelation, there'll be an ego resistance, fear, trauma. That's what I experienced when I was 11. That was a revelation. When the mind's stable, it's the revelation comes, and then there's awe, right? In the presence of God. There's peace and there's beautitude. Love that word. So this is Jesus being merciful, he doesn't want to take people too quickly to revelation before they're prepared. And that's why he was saying earlier on that we should study everything up to this point. So we're not rushing toward transcendence or following the order of things, which is to get stabilized first. Chapter one and two up to this point have been about stabilizing the mind and preparing it for this. So let's bring this into lived experience, this awe. Let's say awe is directed toward a form, a guru, that's a common thing people do. Uh, someone they're in a relationship with. That's why awe belongs with God. Or awe is appropriate in response to God alone. If it's unconsciously attached to form, that's where the ego gets involved. It's kind of like I could be in awe with God if I have this person or I'm I have this circumstance or something like that. So then, so then that expansion gets flipped. It goes into dependency and intensity, anxiety, fear, fear of losing, adulation, adulation too. So that's the that's the mechanism Jesus is explaining here in this sentence. I'll read it again. It would be most unwise to start on this step at all without very careful preparation, or awe will be, or awe will surely be confused with fear, and the experience will be more traumatic than beautific. Yay.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

All right, let's go to the next sentence then.

Awe Versus Fear In Revelation

SPEAKER_02 37:53

So this last sentence that we're on, let's stay here for just another minute. I got a few other notes that I made here. So the sentence is saying you can't leap into God with uh while you're still clinging to your identity. A lot of people are in a hurry to do this. If you're identified with the ego, revelation feels like death. The ego doesn't survive revelation, that's why. You get like an ego death. If identifications soften enough, then revelation feels more like home. And that's really the difference. And that's why there's this preparation. So the preparation itself, it's not meant to be intensity, it's very gentle. You know, it involves humility, forgiveness, quieting your mind, reduced fascination, willing, willingness to let go of defining yourself. So when your mind's not fighting to preserve your individuality, then awe won't be confused with fear. You know, for me, I like to look at all the times that my mind is saying, I this, I that, I this, I that. And, you know, I'll just notice it, not make a big deal with it, not get fascinated with it or anything. Just notice it. And then it passes. It doesn't become stuck. It's the noticing, it's the watching where these things become stuck and cycle. Also, uh, or it's not watching, yeah. It's the unwatched mind is what makes it stuck in these cycles. So when you see it and you're not judging about it, you're not judgy about it, like you shouldn't have this thought, or you shouldn't have this feeling, or you shouldn't be crying or anything like that. And you're just seeing it and recognizing that it's part of the illusion, then that's when it lightens up. Just let all feelings and everything just pass through, not making anything right or wrong. All right. We got a new paragraph. It's paragraph seven. We're still on chapter three, part one. This is paragraph seven, sentence one. Healing is of God in the end. Right?

SPEAKER_03 40:34

That's a whole sentence.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

It's a whole sentence. Healing is of God in the end, and this sentence, it follows that warning, basically warning about preparing for revelation that we just went over. Now he's clarifying something else. Miracles prepare, revelation completes it. We already went over that, and healing belongs to God. Healing is of God in the end, healing. So, in a course in miracles, healing isn't physical repair. Okay, it's the undoing of separation in the mind, it's restoration of your awareness of the wholeness that you are. That's healing. Okay, at the perceptual per at the perceptual level, healing looks like forgiveness, release from fear, relinquishing specialness, correcting misperception, pattern recognition. These are all preparatory movements. They're not the ultimate healing, they're not healing. It says healing is of God in the end. This is the shift. Miracles are performed through us, revelation received from God. Healing in the final sense is not accomplished by a miracle worker worker. We're not healers, for instance. Isn't that fun? It's not healing, it isn't self-generated, it's not achieved, it's given, it's God given. Miracles clear the blocks, they establish that you're dreaming a dream and nothing's true. God restores awareness of truth. We cooperate, and God does the completion. Then there's the phrase, in the end. So that's placing it in an order here, right? That's the proper order. At the level of perception, we participate in healing through forgiveness. But the final healing, the complete undoing of that separation in our mind, that does not happen within the dream. Why does it happen within the dream? We went over this earlier. It didn't originate in time, it didn't originate in the dream. We went over that in chapter two. Right? The final healing. What's that, Wayne?

SPEAKER_03 43:17

It's not part of the dream.

SPEAKER_02 43:18

It's not part of the dream. That's right. It's not part of the dream. Miracles are something that's going on in the dream, it's part of the dream. Right? It's preparation. The final healing, the complete undoing of separation. And see, that's already done. That's the other thing. It's not within the dream. You're preparing for it, you're preparing your mind for it because you've resisted the healing. Healing is what occurs when the mind fully returns to God. So perceptual healing, which includes miracles, we've been going over that for the past 45 minutes or so. Perceptual healing prepares the mind. Remember, this is not healing bodies. This is not doing some rituals. Burning sage. I burn sage. I just don't consider it healing the mind. I like the smell. I walk into the house when sage has been burning, and apparently I like the smell. God heals that sense of separation completely. I know. Because you can get caught up in that shit. Oh, I'm uh like this. Like, oh, I feel irritated right now. Oh, I know why I didn't burn enough sage today. Fucking getting distracted. Or, you know, this I didn't do my Course in Miracles lesson. That's another one. Another one is I didn't do my meditation, I didn't do my yoga, so I'm not centered. Bullshit. Okay. That's making shit up. These are false gods. You're you're centered when your mind returns to truth. That's how you're centered. It's nothing that you seem to do. All the doing can take place.

SPEAKER_03 45:28

The doings are the way of being.

SPEAKER_02 45:31

Well, and you know, you could look at it like this: the doing is just unfolding naturally. There's no need to fucking bend over it. It's just like uh whatever it is, give all of it. You know, for me, I just give all of it to miracles. This is what it's for. Wherever I seem to be, whatever I seem to be involved in, give it all over for miracles. What is the purpose? Give it to love. So the miracle worker never finishes the journey. God finishes the journey. God finishes your journey. So it's kind of like your job is to stay close to God, aligned with truth, aligned with God's will, which is one with yours. So, yeah. So let's see what what we've what we've gone over so far.

SPEAKER_03 46:27

Can't wait for the next steps.

SPEAKER_02 46:28

I know, isn't this exciting?

unknown 46:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:32

So we've covered so far the next step is the direct approach to God. That's what the next step is. And don't attempt it without preparation. That was the sentence six. Now we got healing is of God in the end. That is sentence seven. No, that's paragraph seven. Sentence one. So miracles stabilizing perception. That preparator that preparation reduces fear, makes the mind receptive. And that's where the direct approach occurs, and God completes the healing. So this removes all spiritual ambition. You don't go to God. God comes to you. You align with the truth that you are, and that makes your mind receptive. That makes you receptive to revelation, where you have a beatific experience. You prepare yourself for healing. So this is definitely pointing to a kind of humility that the ego doesn't like. Because the ego wants to perfect perception. Doesn't it? Doesn't it? Master a course in miracles. It's like as if this is see, this is the ego. Like you can get to a certain certain point. Do you notice that in the mind? Like you can get to a certain point. The ego wants to transcend through effort. It wants to arrive somewhere through discipline. And you know what? One really common thing is just to bash you for not being disciplined enough. And then if you are disciplined enough, it's like, what the fuck? It's not even helping. I've been so disciplined. See that self-authorship, which this sentence is, this sentence is removing for us. Healing is of God in the end. It's not self-accomplished, it's received. And the readiness, this readiness to receive, it's cultivated through forgiveness, which is already being guided. So you could say the entire process is this cooperative grace.

SPEAKER_00 49:26

Yeah, I love you guys. Thank you. Thank you for joining, sweeties.

SPEAKER_02 49:34

So at the level of illusion, you forgive, you release, you correct, you stabilize, right? You have your mind corrected, you stabilize your mind gets stabilized. But in reality, God heals. That's why it talks about willingness all the time. So if you feel irritated or impatient that you still have to deal with illusions, this sentence is dissolving the pressure on you. Healing is of God in the end. You're not responsible for finishing healing. You're only responsible for willingness. The final healing of your mind is of God. So there should be release in that, that you don't have to do it. So miracles are something that you participate in. Revelation is you receiving from God, direct connection with God. And healing is the completion. That belongs to God. It's God's in the end. It's an important little short sentence. Healing is of God in the end.

Healing Belongs To God

SPEAKER_00 51:21

Thank you for joining. I love you. All right.

SPEAKER_02 51:32

Sentence two of paragraph seven from chapter three, part one of a course in miracles, complete and annotated edition from 2021. Sentence two. So healing is of God in the end. And then the means are carefully explained in this course. Course in Miracles talks about means and end. And I like the way this is with these two sentences just put right put right out right here. What is the means? The means are explained in a Course in Miracles. Healing is of God in the end.

SPEAKER_00 52:26

If healings belong to God, what is our role? And the answer to that is a course in miracles.

SPEAKER_02 52:41

If healing is of God in the end, then the Course is not giving you the end. It's giving you the preparation. The means are forgiveness, miracle-mindedness, having our perception corrected. Let's say willingness to have our perception corrected, willingness to have our fear undone, specialness undone, using relationships rightly. These are the means. The means undo the blocks to the awareness that love is present. You know, a Course in Miracles talks about it, doesn't teach about love. Teaches about undoing the blocks to awareness of love's presence. A Course in Miracles isn't going to give you revelation, it's going to teach you how to prepare for it. Carefully explained, he says. The means are carefully explained in this course. This a Course in Miracles isn't some vague mysticism. It explains to us how fear originates, how projection works, how guilt sustains the sense of separation, how the ego defends itself, and how miracles correct our misperception. How relationships function in healing. It's like a system. Preparation for this direct approach. It's not an accidental thing. It's not like you accidentally are going to stumble on this. When you're ready for it, when you're asking for it, it's going to show up in a way that's meaningful to you. It shows up. Of course, a miracle shows up for people sometimes in a way that's not meaningful to them, but when you're ready for it, it'll show up in a way that's meaningful to you. So we've covered the next step is direct approach to God. Do not attempt this without preparation. Healing is of God in the end, and the means are explained here in a course in miracles. So you don't need to accomplish healing. You cooperate with the preparation given here. A Course in Miracles teaches you how. Metaphor?

SPEAKER_03 57:19

Yeah, because you go up the stream to plant eggs.

SPEAKER_02 57:23

The salmon goes up the stream to plant eggs.

SPEAKER_03 57:26

You can go against the stream, thrive.

SPEAKER_02 57:30

You can go against the stream and thrive. That's what salmon do. Unless there's a bear there, they just reach in and get them.

SPEAKER_04 57:38

That would be a revelation.

SPEAKER_02 57:40

That would be a revelation for the salmon. All right. So you get prepared, and a course in miracles teaches you how. You're the learner of the means.

SPEAKER_00 57:58

So let's see, this sentence. The means are carefully explained in this course.

SPEAKER_02 58:09

So the ego wants to distort this. The ego wants to go, I will heal myself through effort. That's the one that I would be prone to. Because I it always seemed like I could do anything. I put my mind to, I'm gonna fucking do it. I'm gonna, if anyone's going to heaven, it's fucking me. Or number two distortion of the ego, God heals, so I don't need to do anything. See that? You see those two extremes. I will heal myself through effort, or God heals, so I don't need to do anything. Both of those are wrongy dong dong, wrong. Okay. We're looking for something in the middle. You practice the means, God completes the healing. That's all. And you know, that sounds that sounds that sounds extreme to an ego, right? What don't I get any accolades for for this, for doing this? I want I once had a dude come up to me in a store. He's like, hey, good job on your healing. And I'm like, I didn't do anything. He's like, but you know, you put forth the effort and this kind of stuff. And I was like, hmm, thank you. You know, I didn't like start something with the dude, but it was just, it's my own mind talking to myself, right? And going, ah, good job. And I'm going, nah, that doesn't really resonate with me.

SPEAKER_03 59:36

I put forth the willingness.

SPEAKER_02 59:38

I put forth the willingness. Thank you. Thank you, Wayne. I don't even know if I knew the word willingness. I think that was even before Course in Miracles, or maybe I was just like starting it out at that time. Yeah. So you practice the memes. So you practice for a while until it becomes just an automatic knack that you automatically do because you love to stay in the spirit. But stay in the spirit, you know, you you you have a sense of being at home. It doesn't matter if there is uh an emotion arising that's less than desirable, let's say you're still at home in the spirit because you're recognizing that these things uh never touch you. Uh they're not personal, they're just passing through. And also you're recognizing they're 100% helpful, they're always helpful, everything's always helpful, whatever it is. Right? They're practicing the means.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:36

That's the best point.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:38

The best you can feel it. Yeah, feel it. You know, Wayne says that's the best point of view, just seeing it as helpful. You can feel it in your body's energy field. You're coming into a sense of deeper coherence. Now, our coherence is constantly fluctuating. So we're always coming to know the truth. We're not sitting stable holding on to the fucking truth. Don't move me, don't move me. Right? We're letting the movement occur and constantly coming back to the truth. That's what I see as the means, the practice. And you know, that's that's just really it's a blessing to yourself, and it's a blessing to everyone.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:26

So this is why a Course in Miracles spends a lot of time on thought, interpretation, projection, relationships, and function. These are all illusions. You know, some of you guys that are into spiritual bypassing, um, I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but you know, you go through that because there's an ego fear. I've been through it too. It's no big deal. Once you're ready to move on, you'll look at this, okay? The Course in Miracles spends a lot of time on thought, interpretation, projection, relationships, function. These are all in the illusion. Why? Why, if it's so non-dual, does it put all that attention? Because your preparation for this is perceptual. It's the perception needs to be stabilized. That's why. So we want to be aware of these fluctuations, thoughts, interpretations, projections, relationships. Okay. We want to be aware of these kinds of things, not to be dramatizing them, but to be doing that uh that work, the means, right? The means is miracles, forgiveness, pattern recognition. We're seeing how this is more mechanical than personal that makes us more stable.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:45

It's like an observation from your higher self.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:48

He said it's like an observation from your higher self. Yeah. It's kind of like one way that I was looking at it um when I was seeing patterns come up. Whoa, I'm like, whoa, wow, look at that. Because I was being pulled. You know, I could feel it, the pull to it. Uh, it's like what you would call that a temptation, right? And so when I'm when I'm recognizing that, that this is something for me to see what's going on, so I don't pretend to stabilize my mind, right? I want to have a really stable mind. So noticing the patterns lets me see how being pulled in that direction is really an invitation into pain. It's nothing that serves. So then everything quiet down. You see, it's mechanical, right? So that belongs to that's in the bucket of the means. That's the means. So we're letting our mind be stable in the truth. There's gonna be things that come up, and you know, it's not a matter of, oh, I just need to be stable in the truth. So I'll pretend really hard that I'm stable in the truth. That's not it. You got to recognize when your mind is unstable and coming back from the to the truth. It's not a bad thing. See, the ego puts out there that you got to be perfect or nothing. Perfect, or I'm a sinner who's never going to heaven. You know what? Actually, I heard uh well, who knows what we're what we're seeing. Everything's AI, apparently. Um, but I just use anything for inst inspiration that I seem to see. And I saw one, it was uh Donald Trump talking, and he was saying he's never gonna get into heaven. And I was like, oh, that's the ego right there. I'm never getting into heaven, right?

unknown 1:04:40

That's the devil.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:41

Well, yeah, I mean, he's saying that's the devil. That's the same thing, though. Really, that's the same thing. I mean, it's like, it's like I'm never, I'm never getting into heaven. It's like people just decide that, and and you know, hearing that from him, I'm going, well, you know, that is actually how a lot of people think. They're never getting into heaven, so they're just like, screw it. And that's how the ego is. If I'm not perfect, then what's the use? I might as well just keep fucking keep fucking people over, right? It's like that's how the ego looks at things. That's that's Trump. Yeah, I I've heard about Wayne's interpretation of Trump. It's pretty funny. It's a reflection, it's a fun reflection. Mm-hmm. We're all just mirrors reflecting. It's all really sweet. I mean, uh, there's only there's really truly is only God's son. So when I heard Trump say he's never getting into heaven, I was just like, cancel that one. Of course, you're getting into heaven. You know, you can get into heaven like right now, bro. Right now, really. I mean, there's nothing holding anyone back but their own. Mind, their own idea, this doubt, self-doubt. Um, but you know, it's like whether you interpret Trump as being someone who that fits or anything like that, the reason I brought it up is that that's something that's secretly held in a lot of people's mind. It's very, very common. So uh, you know, it's possible that that thought is active for you. And if you're open and you see it and you recognize it, just say that is not true. That's not true. Everyone's going to heaven. The thing is, if you believe that one person, though, should be condemned, that's self-condemnation. You cannot go to heaven like that. Go to heaven is just one way of saying it. Uh all right. So the means are seeing distortion clearly enough to withdraw your belief. And for some of us, myself included, pattern recognition works really well for that. When I see something repeating over and over again, I notice that it's a hurtful thing. It's uh seeing that clearly, I withdraw belief. And what I saw within myself is a hope, a secret hope that things could be different. See? So then that helps clear these things up. And this is more stabilizing the mind. This is more being released from illusions. Now, this is isn't going to happen endlessly. Okay, that's why we recognize them, we forgive them, we move on. And you know, they may come up again, and then you recognize them, forgive them, and move on. As I'm not saying that you have to like get done with a certain scenario by a certain time, by any means. It's like it comes around, right? It comes around, you see it, you recognize that it's not true, forgiveness quickly, it comes around again, and you do that again and again, and it just keeps on rolling around until you just see it plainly.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:15

That's the experience of vipassana.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:18

Vipassana.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:20

The mind just keeps throwing up the whole 10 days, you're in there.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:24

And you it's there it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:26

The mind keeps throwing stuff out for 10 days. He's talking about 10 days, 10 hours a day being completely silent all the time, but for 10 hours a day, actually sitting in meditation.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:37

The word vipassana means to observe, to observe.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:41

That's what vipassana means. Okay. So it's like it's long, it seems long, it seems repetitive, it seems tiring. That's all good. This is something you don't want to keep. That's why you're tired of it. Awesome. This is boring, awesome. And you won't keep on getting fascinated by it again. What I saw in my own mind, like this story kept on repeating for many months. And then today I'm driving around and there's that story again. And I'm going, doesn't matter. It's boring, right? It's like it's got these hooks, it's got this, and then it's like, oh, it's boring. It's like it's just revisiting mind, revisiting ego dynamics again and again and again. Um but the stability. So that's why it's that's why I'm talking about forgiving it and then moving on. I'm not saying that you never look at it again because it's gonna come back again almost certainly, until it's fully healed, it's coming back again. Until you see how to collapse time with it, it's coming back again. So stability, mental stability requires understanding the machinery of this illusion. It actually requires understanding it. And you know, if you look on the larger scale with all the media and government and entertainment and all that kind of stuff, if you look on a larger scale, if you don't understand the machinery, you're just gonna be pulled into emotional turmoil all the time because that's what's being sold there through all that stuff. It's like always some uh false hope. What's false hope? That's hope that something in the world is gonna make you feel better. All kinds of false hope, all kinds of fear, right? It's basic, those are basically the same thing, but two sides of it. Um, but when you understand the machinery of the illusion, it's like, for one, you're not fucking taking a vaccine that has a bunch of apparent chemicals in it. It's like that's for dumb people, because you see the machinery of the illusion. Now, my friends who have taken the vaccine, I'm not saying you are a dumb person. Don't take it like that, please. The illusion itself, the machinery of illusion, uh is is itself uh using this fear and hope that knowing that this is what drives people to actually fuel this control mechanism, the whole control mechanism. Okay. So healing belongs to God. The preparation, that's what we do. A Course in Miracles teaches preparations, preparation. So the means in here are explained. And by sincerely preparing your ready for the end, which is healing, total healing. Yeah, I was talking about, you know, it just became really clear to me today, especially studying for this. I was like, man, everything that we seem to do around here, every thought, everything can just be given toward being the means to this end. And that's all it is. If you give it, if you give it that way in your mind, that's how it is for you. All of a sudden, it's totally helpful, whatever it seems to be. Let everything be helpful. That's a choice you make. Happy learner, yes. And you can't do anything wrong. That's huge. You cannot do anything wrong, it's not possible. You have never done anything. All doing that you seem to do is coming out of a mind that's orchestrating the means. How can it go wrong? Right? It cannot go wrong. All right, you guys, what's going on? We're moving on. 416. We got 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:12

Wish us luck. No, I was just kidding. We're we're doing awesome.

Glimpses Of The End

SPEAKER_02 1:13:17

All right. Let's see. Sentence three of paragraph seven of part one, chapter three of A Course in Miracles. Revelation may occasionally show you the end, but to reach it, the means are needed to reach the end, not to reach revelation. Well, to reach revelation, too. The revelation may occasionally show you the end, but to reach it, to reach the end, the means are needed. That's like the light at the end of the tunnel. The light at the end of the tunnel. That's a fun way to look at it. Yeah. So this is following healing is of God in the end. This is this paragraph, paragraph seven. The means are carefully explained in this course. Third and last sentence in this paragraph. Revelation may occasionally show you the end, but to reach it, the means are needed. So revelation may occasionally show you the end. Revelation is not on the path, it's a glimpse of completion. It's direct, it's temporarily lifting the veil. It's like, oh, here you go. It doesn't undo your perception permanently, it's showing you what's beyond perception. So the end refers to complete healing, full restoration of your awareness, total remembrance of God, the end of separation. You're not going perceiving again. Revelation gives you a taste of that, but it doesn't stabilize your mind in it. It gives you a taste of it. Why is it occasional? Why is revelation only occasional? It's not under any personal control, it's not produced by practice. You can't try to produce it. I'm gonna produce a revelation today. I'm gonna fucking sit cross-legged style 10 hours a day and see if I can produce a revelation. Revelations they're received, they're not summoned, they can't be sustained by your will. It's given when you're briefly, briefly, it's brief, ready to receive. It's very brief. It seems to be like less than a second. So rev look at listen to these words too. Revelation may occasional occasionally show you the end. That doesn't mean more revelations means you're closer to the end. That's not what it's saying. Revelation may occasionally show you the end. Yeah. That's why it's not like you're looking for for the revelation, it's a glimpse that's given. And then he says, but to reach it, the means are needed. He's saying you gotta earn it. Well, I wouldn't say you gotta earn it. You kinda earn it.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:56

You never know what it's gonna show up.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:58

Yeah, it's just that it's not for an individual. So what's happening is the mind is becoming more stabilized and more receptive. And so you can, yes, to unity, yes, in unity consciousness. So a glimpse is an attainment of anything. Seeing the end is not the same as arriving at the end. Okay, so to reach the end, meaning you're permanently restored to truth, requires preparations. What are the preparations again? Forgiveness, miracle-mindedness, correction of perception, relinquishment of specialness, undoing guilt. Revelation shows you what you are. The means are needed to undo what you are not. Okay, and only when what you are not is undone sufficiently, then it's the end. That's all that's going on. We're just undoing these things, you know. We're not even undoing it, we're willing to have them undone. So some people chase revelation, you know. Even people who do uh drugs to try to get there, some people use it with uh sports, they try to pursue these peak states. People have had revelations doing sports. Tony has done that before. Uh, one of the highlights of his uh spiritual experiences was during a sport in high school where he had a revelation, basically lost the sense of I in there while running.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:52

A lot of the religions in the world were established from someone having a revelation.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:57

Religion religions were established from revelation.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:01

So they made a new branch.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:02

They make a religion. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:07

Like Ernest Trolls or any of those paths. They made a path out of their revelation.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:16

Out of their revelation, right? They made a path, exactly. When Jesus is giving us a path, wow, that's pretty good. See if we got this uh path through a course in miracle, that's great. So revelation without means is not going to be transforming perception. The means still are what we use to transform perception, like do our part in it. The revelation will just fade without the means. There may be revelations that you've had that you've forgotten because you didn't use the means, forgiveness, etc. These revelations can also be covered up like that. The ego likes to reassert itself after revelation. So forgiveness is the curriculum here. Forgiveness is still the curriculum. What is forgiveness? Nothing happened. Nobody did what I thought they did.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:18

Especially me.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:19

Especially me. I know. I know that it's like the most hardcore for a lot of us on the self. Miracles correct perception. Correction stabilizes our mind. Stabilization prepares our receptivity for revelation. Revelation gives glimpses of the end. The means, forgiveness, undo remaining blocks, and God completes the healing. How lovely. Revelation revelation inspires the mind, but the means transform the mind. Very sweet. Let me check on my sweet peeps. Everyone seems to be looking good. All right. Thank you for joining. I love you.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:38

There's a footnote at the end of this one, and the footnote refers us to Cameo 14, the chain of miscreation. So how does this footnote here apply? Remember the chain of miscreation? We went over it. It was about how uh it started out with saying something mean about someone, laughing about it, and and then feeling bad, and then not noticing that, not noticing uh Bill not noticing that he took charge of the records and uh he was feeling anxious about it or something like that. Chain of creation or chain of miscreation. So basically, there's a mistaken thought, believing in separation, it goes unnoticed. In this one, it went unnoticed. It was generating guilt or fear, uh, both, a combination of both. Um, and it still wasn't seen. You know, if when we're getting an uncomfortable feeling, that means there's something that needs to be seen. So there may have been a mistake in thought. So see how Jesus is pointing to this chain of miscreation. That leads to projection. Then that produces defensive behavior. By the end of the day, everyone's having a bad day, right? Because all this stuff keeps on going back and forth, which reinforces the original error, which is separation. So one distorted thought, it's not like it's isolated. It links to another one and another one and another one. That's a chain of miscreation. It's not true creation, it's the ego's attempt to create apart from God. That's what miscreation is. So each uncorrected thought, it automatically spawns more distortion. So that's why things got worse as their day progressed, because they didn't catch early on that a thought needed correction. And I think in this case, Bill had unforgiveness for himself, which Helen then forgave for him, but only partially because she was holding something in her heart. Right. So the chain itself gets strengthened through this repetition, circling, circling, circling, unless it's interrupted. So let's see how it connects to this sentence. Revelation may occasionally show you the end, but to reach it, the means are needed. So go back to that. Yeah, and then comes footnote 13, chain of miscreation. So revelation may give give you a glimpse, but that's not complete restoration. The chain of miscreation still operates in the perception. And if the chain isn't undone, that's why he's naming this. Because the if the chain isn't undone through forgiveness, it's still gonna generate distortion, revelation or not. It's still gonna continue. You see that? You see what he's saying there? You still need the means, whether you have revelation or not. You know, it's shown to you the end. It doesn't mean it is the end. You still need to use the means. So a single revelation is not gonna automatically dissolve a whole tri a whole chain of miscreation.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:19

Still gotta go through the tunnel.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:20

You go through the tunnel, you go through the tunnel. It's like a birth canal, it's like a birth canal, okay. Yeah, I see that. Yeah, yeah, it doesn't have to be pain, but that's a choice that's being made, right? I mean, people even have painless births. I had one like that too. Yeah, how much resistance you have to it's the resistance to the tunnel, exactly. So the means are needed to interrupt that chain of miscreation, to correct individual links, right? Miscreative thoughts to dissolve guilt, to withdraw projections, to stabilize the perception. Forgiveness is what breaks links in the chain.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:12

In that regard, how does one embody the feeling of innocence in that process?

SPEAKER_02 1:26:20

Embody the feeling of innocence in that process. It's going to return to your mind by recognizing the illusion as such.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:29

And that's gonna bring a feeling of innocence or just a mental clarity.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:35

Well, a mental clarity is always it's always like projecting something, right? So you can feel it in the body's energy field. So I know I know for me when I see patterns at play, it's like innocence is automatic. You know, it's down the line.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:53

You're way down the tunnel.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:54

I'm way down the tunnel. Yeah, I got my head coming out. Like give me the air. No, I I don't know. I I don't know. I don't try to gauge where I am. Yeah. Yeah, I don't try to gauge where I am in reason in regard to any of it or anything. Um, you know, he's his question is like, how do you embody innocence? Well, the the feeling, the feeling of innocence, yeah. Um, for me, that returns when I see the game. You know, anyone who seems to be uh not innocent, I could see their strategies really easily and the innocence returns. I mean, it's just when you see those strategies, you know they're working out of fear. It's kind of like someone who forgot who they are, and you just want to be helpful. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:51

Finding that innocence seems to be huge.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:55

Yeah, and you know, we don't we don't really find it for another person. We find it ourselves. We find it in ourselves and we find it in them, you know, just through our interactions, when we're willing to see what's really there, that's what's really there. We don't have to make it up. We just have to see past the blocks. That's what all this stuff is about.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:16

Do you have to believe that it's really there to experience it?

SPEAKER_02 1:28:19

In order to experience it, do you have to believe that it's really there? Well, let's look at it like this. Uh, in order to experience it, we have to have minimal blocks to it.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:34

How does belief play into that?

SPEAKER_02 1:28:38

Well, you have to have minimal, if you have minimal blocks to it, whether you even considered if you believe in innocence or not. Let's say you never even considered it, doesn't really matter, is what I'm saying. It's like when you don't have the blocks to it, you're not making condemnation true. You're not holding these veils up, making it true that, you know, uh certain people should be wiped off the earth, for instance, or uh, or I really shouldn't have done it like that. And you don't see the thought that you you you thought you really shouldn't have done it like that, and then you want it didn't want to see that thought, so it kept on uh perpetuating, then it veils innocence, it totally veils innocence. You can't believe a thought that says you have done something wrong, could have done it better, should have been more of this, or anything like that. You cannot believe thoughts like that and be in miracle-mindedness. Yeah, and and and that's a hard. I know it's a difficult one. I know it is, but you know, you you just you become really like single focused. That's the ego. There's the ego. I'm not even gonna contest that thought because it doesn't make any sense. The ego's never making any sense. And he's just talking some shit, making no no logical sense at all.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:01

When you're raised in a way that you feel guilty a lot as a child.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:09

When you're raised in a way where you feel guilty a lot in as a child, actually doesn't matter. Actually doesn't matter, yeah. Because it because the sense of separation, the thought of separation did not originate in time, that what you experience as a child getting conditioned like that was already in effect. So having that as a belief, believing, yes, believing that you separation never occurred. Right, separation never occurred.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:40

Cultivate that belief.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:42

Let's say willingness to see it, because that's different than belief. Because belief is fine, uh, willingness to see it, you know, because believing it, okay. I believe all is love, let's say, uh, but I still need the means, which is undoing the blocks to seeing that truly.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:02

Yeah, yeah. That's what I was asking. Yeah. Because a lot of therapies are all about belief having the strongest motivator in your behavior.

Why Study Is Required

SPEAKER_02 1:31:13

Belief being the strongest motivator. Well, believe belief, like whatever you seem to be believing, notice that is changeful all the time, right? Yeah. So whatever you seem to be believing, it's based on a whole bunch of thought patterns. Those are always fluctuating. So beliefs are always fluctuating. I mean, sometimes it seems like people have the same belief for a long time, but still it's a fluid, it's all a fluid thing, even if it seems like it's hardwired. Yes, reality is reality. We were talking about that last uh last chapter. Level conf confusion is what's messing a lot of people up because it's like, okay, one thing's reality, one thing's an illusion. When you when you're aware of what the reality is and you know that it resolves illusions, you're not afraid of illusions, right? You can uh you can look right on illusions and look right past them, no problem. Revelation shows you what's beyond that chain of miscreation entirely, but to reach the end, the chain still has to be undone. See, what is this footnote reminding us of? Don't confuse a glimpse of truth with undoing of the entire ego system. You still have to participate. The ego is mechanical, the distortions are linked, mechanical links. Revelation doesn't go in and repair each link. Forgiveness. Forgiveness is the way. So you're not holding anything in your heart. And you know, it's like we can say this over and over again, but it has to become the regular way of seeing, just the regular way of seeing, seeing everything with a blanket of forgiveness over it. So where there's a chain of miscreation, there's this ongoing distortion. Forgiveness being the means breaks these links in the chain that stabilizes the mind. Then you have receptivity. That's where revelation may come in. Doesn't mean it should, it doesn't mean it's got to, otherwise, you didn't do it right. And you might glimpse the end. God completes healing in the end. So the footnote is bringing us back to the curriculum. It's saying, yes, the end is real, but undo the chain. Do not bypass the work. So I'm just gonna do a little summary uh on chapter three, part one, before we get to move to part two coming up, and I'll just give you a little bit of a preview. Part two is called Speci Special Principles. We've already been through principles of miracles. Now we're doing special principles for miracle workers. What fun! Yeah, and it says here, and this is gonna be really fun. Uh, it all is, uh, but this footnote 14 says the title of this section and the numbering of its principles were dictated by Jesus. So that's fun. Yay. So let's go over part one. And what, you know, we'll just have a little review. It's been a few weeks, it's been a month since the last time I did a deep dive. So it's been a little bit that we've been going over, chapter three, part one, which is called uh The Sane Perception Subtitle The Need to Study. Let me just double check that, make sure I don't have that backward. Not that it's a big deal. I got it right after weeks of being on it. So here's what we established chapter three, part one. A Course in Miracles is not inspirational reading. You know how you can get this sense, like, ah, I've done my work today. No, that's not what it is. This is disciplined mind training. Of course, study is required. That's number one in this section. Study is required. Jesus began very practically. He said, All learning requires attention and study. This course is a mind training course. It's not going to be absorbed passively. Some people just uh look at a few lines and go, Oh, yeah, I totally get that. I'll just absorb it. It's not gonna be absorbed passively, it's got to be actively engaged. He points out, he points out something almost humorous, but also serious. You may understand that the course is important, but you also may fail to actually consult it when confronted with problems. A course in miracles is meant to solve all problems. You may vaguely think the answer is in a course in miracles somewhere without looking for it.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:53

It does say that.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:54

It does say that. All of your problems, yeah, totally. Yes, they've been solved, all have been solved. So for you to know that, you got to use a course in miracles to solve your problems that have already been solved. You may know that you need to prepare, but are you preparing? Okay, good intentions without studying, don't retrain your mind. This is mental, right? It's true for anything. Yep, that's right. We also went over the defense of one of my favorites, mental retardation. Tony said, anytime I say that, I laugh. I'm like, that's awesome. So this section, it's often misunderstood. Mental retardation. Okay. It's not an insult, it's not a diagnosis, it's a metter, it's a metaphor here. It's for uh choosing to dole your own mind. Okay. It means you're not looking, you're not engaging, you're pretending not to understand. One of them is pretending to be immature. I've seen that too. That's cute. Uh, immature forever. I think uh it seems like a lot of men seem to have this in particular. Um, and you know, I'm not doing any battle of the sexes or anything weird like that. I'm just noticing the conditioning. The conditioning, uh, the conditioning is like, yeah, Trump is perfect.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:30

You love Trump. He's so cute.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:32

You're you're doing awesome with him. Yeah. So I noticed this, and and you know, I'm sure there's conditioning women have too, and it'll come out of me in another time, maybe. Um, but with men especially, it seems like this uh this excuse, I'm immature. Right? It seems like that's been well programmed, well programmed to just be eternally adolescent, right? So uh so just notice that. It's not like saying you're bad if you do that, you're bad if you say that, but just notice that. That's actually a defense against the truth. It is mental retardation as Jesus is describing it right here. It's avoiding responsibility for awareness, it's weakening your own clarity. How long are you gonna be like that? How long are you gonna be immature? You're deciding, you can decide that that's bullshit right now. And then just take accountability. Fuck yeah. And that's not the same thing as being guilty. It's like, uh, it's like, fuck yeah, I believed that and it made me do that. Oh, I'm so glad I see that. Happy learner. See what I mean? That's true accountability. It's not like you're beating yourself up, it's not you're looking, not looking for punishment. You may be looking to make reparations, though. You may maybe, you know, just to give a really simple example, you broke someone's vase. It was whatever X amount of money you give it back to them, you know, you give them the money or whatever. Um, but you know, there's no punishment or anything like that. And I think that's what people are afraid of. That's why they don't look at, oh, that's me making up a story that I'm immature so that I can get away with doing stupid shit. Ongoing. It's what makes war, right? It is good ongoing. Okay, someone's gonna have to restrain your ass at some point. That's just, you know, it's like natural consequences arise in the dream as as well. It's not punishment or anything, it's just a natural, okay. That that went, and then uh that went forward, and then you needed this teaching and this teaching. It's not cause and effect, it's more like the next teaching, okay, and then the manifestation keeps on going like that. There's no uh there's no true effect to any action. That's not how it is. What's uh what's occurring is more orchestration to help you. The only true cause and effect is mental. So yay. So when people claim mental retardation, basically, I'm not looking at this, I'm not engaging with this, I'm pretending not to understand what's going on, I'm avoiding my responsibility. I wanna, I don't want to be clear about this. So there's two ways you can use the mental retardation defense. There's a constructive way, and he says that's rare to use it constructively. Um in rare cases, a temporary slowing down or doling may prevent a powerful or misdirected will from doing greater harm. Remember, we went over that. Some people uh are taking on mental retardation. It's it's rare, but you know, we see it. People who seem to be retarded, basically. Like, I don't know if they call them retarded anymore, but clinically retarded, whatever the new name is for that, use that. Um what he was saying was that they were preventing a powerful but misdirected will, and that's the reason they're taking on the mental retardation. It slows everything down because they're particularly destructive to themselves, so it can function kind of like as a break. Um, but this is not our normal situation, it would be rare um for a course student to be also mentally retarded because it's slowing down, it's slowing down uh their ability to misdirect their will so they don't have all those capabilities, maybe even to study a course in miracles. It's just a slowing down lifetime. Let's slow, I just want to slow myself down. Can you imagine? I just want to slow myself down before I add up billions of lifetimes. But this is the more common one. The more common, it's what Jesus calls pseudo-retardation syndrome. It's refusing to think clearly. So this is a joint attack, Jesus said, where you weaken your own mind and you imply that Jesus' teaching is unclear or ineffective. You do you do both of those when you when you do the pseudo-retardation syndrome stuff. That's refusing to think clearly. Okay. This is a joint. You know, he's talking to us as students of a course in miracles, using mental retardation. Boy, have I seen people using this form of mental retardation toward a course in miracles. I can't get it. I'm too sinful, I'm too judgmental, I don't have enough time. It's just refusing to think clearly.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:27

Spiritual bypass.

SPEAKER_02 1:44:29

Spiritual bypass it. So this creates a really fearful position. If you don't understand your own mind and you don't trust Jesus' guidance, too, then you can't just discern your true will. So your confusion is going to increase and your fear is going to increase. I've literally seen people going through that. Right? For me, I just never had an idea that I couldn't learn it. It was the opposite for me. I'm more of the ego-doer side. It's like, someone learned that fucker. I can do it. Someone sat for 10 hours, 10 days a week in uh lotus style. Someone had a painless childbirth. Right? But if you're dealing with the kind of mental retardation, which I see is actually really common, it's too hard to understand. There's too many concepts, it's too big, it requires too much of me. You're going, Jesus is a shitty teacher. That's what you might as well say. Jesus is just, man, he doesn't know what he's doing. He dictated that whole work, whole book full of gobbledygook. I can't even understand it. So he goes, he talks about we're still on a summary of uh of chapter three, part one. So he was talking about how the earlier sections need to be studied. Okay, so he's saying this next part where we've gotten into it a little bit, builds heavily on what was already given. Without studying the foundations, which is chapters one and two, you'll misinterpret what Jesus is teaching next. You'll become fearful. Okay, when unexpected things occur. That's what happens too. Wow. People try to go, okay. I've seen people go for a course in miracles, like, okay, I'm just gonna eat it all up like that, right? And then when they don't really diligently study, more like they want to talk to other people about it and get reflections like that, and you know, uh maybe seem smart, maybe just play and banter like that, whatever it is. But then something very fearful will occur in their perception, and they'll get confused as can be, and many times stop studying a Course in Miracles, or that didn't work.

SPEAKER_03 1:47:05

They haven't digested it.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:07

They had not right, they had not digested it yet. A lot of people think they know what it says in there and they know what it means. They do not know what it means most of the time. They're making their interpretation of it. They're using the lens of the of the ego to view it, using the ego's lens, which Jesus walks us through that so gently. If we take it and go, okay, what he recommends is read the text and then start with day one. Do one lesson a day, maximum one lesson a day. You can do one lesson for three days or more if you want. So he's saying without studying the foundation, you'll misinterpret what comes next. You'll become fearful when unexpected things occur. You'll be confusing levels. Well, that was something we were going on, going over a lot in chapter two, the levels. So these earlier sections that he's saying to study, they dismantle ego structure. Without that, without the dismantling of the ego structure, deeper material is going to destabilize and preparation becomes more like panicking. See, we so it's like we don't when we don't know, okay, there's these levels and there's this way that we get fearful and reading those um those cameos and seeing how chain of miscreation occurs, then it doesn't become this, I gotta hurry up. And you know, it's not like that. Just uh take it at the at the pace that's recommended. I mean, don't do more than one lesson in a day. You can if you want. I'm just saying, if you take it like that, it's more like a mental rewiring, which is what we're looking for. We're not looking for a rush to get somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 1:48:56

I suggest do one lesson for three days.

SPEAKER_02 1:49:00

Wayne suggests doing one lesson, one lesson for three days. See what resonates with you.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:07

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:49:08

It's about getting it, it's about actually getting it. Yeah, what Jesus recommends is uh one lesson per day maximum.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:17

If you follow the one hour regime, if you follow all that, yeah. But if you can't, like I didn't choose that. I decided to wait until the one lesson dropped in. I do it for two days, maybe three days, you know, and then when it dropped in, I would go full.

SPEAKER_02 1:49:35

Okay. Wayne waits for the lesson to drop in. I recommend that too. Wait till you really feel the depth of what's being um presented by that lesson, and then move on to the next day.

SPEAKER_03 1:49:49

It's not like you need a 365. You know, I mean that's not what he's saying, right? That you need also.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:01

Right. Revelation could happen at any time. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. And you know, many of us have been have done A Course in Miracles many times. I've done it three times on my own, then read it for my podcast. By the way, you can get all the lessons read by me and with my commentary on those by just going to hopejohnson.org. Look under the free resources.

SPEAKER_03 1:50:27

That helped me more than anything. I highly recommend it.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:31

Wayne says it helped him more than anything, and he highly recommends it. Look how jazzed up he is. Okay. We went through the confusion of fear and awe. That was more recently. So now there's a solid foundation why it's necessary to study. And also so that you can be uh be uh awed with beatific qualities instead of fearful qualities. Uh awe is inappropriate toward equals. We went over that. That includes Jesus. Ah is inappropriate toward Jesus, is what Jesus is sharing with us. You should not experience that toward any other sons of God, any teachers, any spiritual figures, because you are equal. That's why you're equal. The only place where there's inequality is you and God. And only because God is the creator and you are an extension of the creator. It's not even inequality in the way that you might look at it. I mean, really, it's a direct extension of the one, the only one.

SPEAKER_03 1:51:48

Being the sun or a ray of the sun?

SPEAKER_02 1:51:50

Being the sun or a ray of the sun. That's a good way to put it. So without preparation, awe is confused with fear, and that confusion destabilizes your mind, so you cannot use the means that are given to awaken your mind. We went over an indirect versus a direct approach to God. Okay. We've emphasized equality between teacher and student, Jesus and us, me and you, whatever. It's clarified our roles in the atonement. It's focused on miracles within the perception.

unknown 1:52:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:52:36

It's focused on miracles and miracles actually being in the perception. So now we're going over, we were just going over today. The next step involves the direct approach to God. And that step requires careful preparation. Because without it, all becomes fear. Expansion would feel like annihilation, and transcendence would be more traumatic.

SPEAKER_03 1:53:10

Joy to the max.

Resources, Sessions And Donations

SPEAKER_02 1:53:12

Joy to the max. That's what we like. Yeah. So we went over the order of healing. Healing is is of God in the end. The Course is teaching us the means. Revelations, revelation may occasionally show the end, but to actually reach the end, the means are needed. The means are also needed for revelation because then it'll be beatific, right? If the means aren't used and the mind isn't clear enough, it becomes traumatic. So miracles prepare, forgiveness stabilizes, study disciplines the mind, revelation gives glimpses, and God completes the healing. You prepare for revelation. So here's the core themes of part one. Study isn't optional, it's part of the training. Avoid dulling your own clarity, mental retardation. A good foundation prevents spiritual destabilization. Distinguish awe, like where it goes. Does it go for Jesus? No, only God. Do not rush your transcendence. Healing is completed by God, and forgiveness is the means. So what I see is a big movement in this section, in this section, it's so much about humility. Do not skip the groundwork, chase revelation, confuse intensity with progress. It's getting really intense. Weaken your mind through avoidance. And don't idolize spiritual figures. Instead, what we're being asked to do is study, forgive, stabilize, prepare, and let God. So hallelujah, everyone. Wasn't that so fun? I so appreciate you for hanging in there with me. I love you so much. So uh, so yes, we finished section one, including my little summary there at the end. And we go on to section two next week. I have all my ACIM deep dives posted now. I have a couple more wisdom talks to post. This one will be posted probably in about a week or so. Uh, so if you wanted to revisit it, to go find all of my recordings, also ways to donate. Oh, yeah, you guys, I was asking for some donations because I would like to hire someone. He doesn't cost that much. I think he's like 10 bucks an hour or something like that. But he's saying, you know, one way to get more exposure to this work is to get little clips of my videos and put them onto TikTok. So uh I might be able to hire this cute little dude, a cute little Colombian guy or something like that. Um, so if you can donate and you feel inspired to donate, please go to hopejohnson.org and use the donate button. You can also do uh monthly donations if you want. So you could just set it and forget it right there on my website and just ask me, reach out to me if you need another way. I'm getting Venmo right now for one of my friends who says that's her favorite way. So I'll get it and then um have that available on the side. Also, I do offer one-to-ones via my website. So feel free to check that out as well. You can just find all kinds of good stuff there. Hopejohnson.org. Best gobbledygook ever. Thank you, Jesus. Yay, yay, yeah. Thank you, everyone. Thanks for joining. I'll be back on Monday for a wisdom dialogue. Please join me then. Same time, 3 p.m. Pacific time. Until next time, mahalo, aloha, and a hoo-e-ho. I love you, Sandra. I love you, Glenn. I love you, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 1:57:53

Aloha.