Monday, December 14, 2009
Dangers of Studying A Course in Miracles
I received the following question from a previous post:
> WHAT?! I don't understand this... The entire Course states
> we aren't separate, yet this statement that God "created
> beings" - separate? "who have everything individually"? We
> have everything "individually"? What am I missing here?
> Help!
This is what A Course was stating:
> "God, who encompasses all being, nevertheless created beings who have
> everything individually but who want to share it to increase their joy.
> Nothing that is real can be increased except by sharing. That's why
> God Himself created you. Divine abstraction takes joy in application,
> and that is what creation means. `How,' `what,' and
> `to whom' are irrelevant because real creation gives everything
> since it can create only like itself." -A Course in Miracles
> (Original Version)
This is the way I responded to the question:
Here is where language gets gets confusion. All that there is is God. In other words "God Is". God did not create anything apart from Itself. There is no such thing. My experience would suggest that I am separate from something but in reality, that is just my unconscious projection that see a world filled with billions and trillions of separate images.
If God would have created beings that are separate, then A Course in Miracles would be contradicting itself. This is the danger of studying A Course in Miracles and trying to ANAL-ize it, because then it allows for the ego to dissect and try to figure out what every word means, etc. That's how the ego manages to keep our attention on illusions, such as A Course in Miracles' text. See the trap? ! ;-)
Remember, the point is, God cannot give something outside of Himself, he can only extend. This is difficult to grasp, or I should say, to intellectually understand. How can I extend myself and give to myself when I see "others" separate from me?
All I can tell you is, I don't have to know the answers to any questions, as a matter of fact, I am not even interested in the answers to every question, all I know is that I don't know, and that I constantly surrender my thoughts to the Holy Spirit for reinterpretation.
Also a lot of times, people try to apply the concept of giving and receiving to form. As if though the more they give to others the more they get back, which comes from manipulative and scarcity consciousness. I know intellectually that when I give I am giving to myself because there is only one of us in the room. However, my experience suggest that what I give away I no longer have. So what I do is, I just give if I feel like and don't if I don't. I just don't make an issue out of it.
My daily practice is to continue offering my thoughts and decisions to the Holy Spirit as I continue on my journey trusting that everything is unfolding perfectly as it will, and that's it. So I would not get too bug down with what anything means on A Course in Miracles because if you do, you'll end up like most people do, teaching it.
"It emphasizes application rather than theory, and experience rather than theology. It specifically states that "a universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary." ACIM (C-in.2:5)
"Without the practical application the Workbook provides, the Text would remain largely a series of abstractions which would hardly suffice to bring about the thought reversal at which the Course aims." ACIM
So the questions is, do you want to experience your oneness with God or do you want to figure out intellectually what everything means? Because that will keep you from having the experience the Course aims at.
"...forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God." W-pI.189.7:7
As for me, I am not interested in the words, I am interested in the experience. And in order for me to open up to that experience all I need to remember is that I do not know. And be happy and okay with that. Who is the giver? Who is the receiver? Who am I giving to? Who am I receiving from? All of these questions have something in common, they are all meaningless!
Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com
> WHAT?! I don't understand this... The entire Course states
> we aren't separate, yet this statement that God "created
> beings" - separate? "who have everything individually"? We
> have everything "individually"? What am I missing here?
> Help!
This is what A Course was stating:
> "God, who encompasses all being, nevertheless created beings who have
> everything individually but who want to share it to increase their joy.
> Nothing that is real can be increased except by sharing. That's why
> God Himself created you. Divine abstraction takes joy in application,
> and that is what creation means. `How,' `what,' and
> `to whom' are irrelevant because real creation gives everything
> since it can create only like itself." -A Course in Miracles
> (Original Version)
This is the way I responded to the question:
Here is where language gets gets confusion. All that there is is God. In other words "God Is". God did not create anything apart from Itself. There is no such thing. My experience would suggest that I am separate from something but in reality, that is just my unconscious projection that see a world filled with billions and trillions of separate images.
If God would have created beings that are separate, then A Course in Miracles would be contradicting itself. This is the danger of studying A Course in Miracles and trying to ANAL-ize it, because then it allows for the ego to dissect and try to figure out what every word means, etc. That's how the ego manages to keep our attention on illusions, such as A Course in Miracles' text. See the trap? ! ;-)
Remember, the point is, God cannot give something outside of Himself, he can only extend. This is difficult to grasp, or I should say, to intellectually understand. How can I extend myself and give to myself when I see "others" separate from me?
All I can tell you is, I don't have to know the answers to any questions, as a matter of fact, I am not even interested in the answers to every question, all I know is that I don't know, and that I constantly surrender my thoughts to the Holy Spirit for reinterpretation.
Also a lot of times, people try to apply the concept of giving and receiving to form. As if though the more they give to others the more they get back, which comes from manipulative and scarcity consciousness. I know intellectually that when I give I am giving to myself because there is only one of us in the room. However, my experience suggest that what I give away I no longer have. So what I do is, I just give if I feel like and don't if I don't. I just don't make an issue out of it.
My daily practice is to continue offering my thoughts and decisions to the Holy Spirit as I continue on my journey trusting that everything is unfolding perfectly as it will, and that's it. So I would not get too bug down with what anything means on A Course in Miracles because if you do, you'll end up like most people do, teaching it.
"It emphasizes application rather than theory, and experience rather than theology. It specifically states that "a universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary." ACIM (C-in.2:5)
"Without the practical application the Workbook provides, the Text would remain largely a series of abstractions which would hardly suffice to bring about the thought reversal at which the Course aims." ACIM
So the questions is, do you want to experience your oneness with God or do you want to figure out intellectually what everything means? Because that will keep you from having the experience the Course aims at.
"...forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God." W-pI.189.7:7
As for me, I am not interested in the words, I am interested in the experience. And in order for me to open up to that experience all I need to remember is that I do not know. And be happy and okay with that. Who is the giver? Who is the receiver? Who am I giving to? Who am I receiving from? All of these questions have something in common, they are all meaningless!
Remember to order a copy of Nick's book What Happens When You Let God at: www.TruthAndMiracles.com or www.WhatHappensWhenYouLetGod.com
And to hire Nick to speak at your church, college or corporate event, simply visit: www.NickArandesPomo.com


"What Happens When You Let
God is a wonderfully down to earth
sharing of the lived wisdom of A Course in
Miracles. Nick Arandes is a teacher and
student of the Course who
really walks his talk and it shows! Full
of love and encouragement, humor and insight,
we highly recommend this to
anyone who wants to experience what
happens when you let God." -Nouk Sanchez and
Tomas Vieira, Authors of Take Me To
Truth, Undoing the Ego www.takemetotruth.com
"Through What Happens When
You Let God, author Nick Arandes gives
us all the gift of marrying A Course in Miracles
with practical application. Intimately sharing from
his own stories of challenge, Nick leads
the reader through the dark tunnels of struggle to
remember the hope which thrives within
and beyond each obstacle to peace. What Happens
When You Let God is a comprehensive and
prolific tool for applying A Course in
Miracles to every stone the road of life
may hurl. Thank you Nick for your willingness to
share and lead the way." Pamela Silberman:
Author of Simply Being: One Year with Spirit
www.simplybeing.net

"NICK, Your Book, "What
Happens When You Let God" is SUPER!
Never have I seen so much Given in such a Loving,
Caring Way. It is so comprehensive in providing
core themes of A Course IN Miracles...it
deserves to be a MUST Reading for anyone
who wants to go beyond the symbols, concepts and
words to the Light and Love of your own Experiences
so Generously shared for all. THANK YOU FRIEND!"
-David Fishman -Host www.ACIMGatherRadio.org
"I'd like to buy 5 books for my
students. I read 3 or 4 pages of your book at
the Course In Miracles Group last night. Everyone
enjoyed your book. Love," -Rev. Sandy Levy
www.sandylevey.com

"Nick Arandes is a sincere and
dedicated student of A Course in Miracles. I
gleaned some great insights in his book What
Happens When you Let God. Enjoy!" -Sheryl
Valentine, author of Oh My God, It's ME!
www.sherylvalentine.com
" Nick, just to let you know that I
have 6 more pages to read of your book.
It has been excellent and a real
down-to-earth approach to ACIM. Talk
about "when the student is ready". First, it was
Nouk and Thomas' book, then Gary Renard's 2 books
and then yours. Many thanks," Pat Hendy
www.pathendy.com

