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Study of Manual for Teachers4-12-12

Day 102
3 It is easiest to let error be corrected where it is most apparent, and errors can be recognized by their results. A lesson truly taught can lead to nothing but release for teacher and pupil, who have shared in one intent. Attack can enter only if perception of separate goals has entered. And this must indeed have been the case if the result is anything but joy. The single aim of the teacher turns the divided goal of the pupil into one direction, with the call for help becoming his one appeal. This then is easily responded to with just one answer, and this answer will enter the teacher’s mind unfailingly. From there it shines into his pupil’s mind, making it one with his.

Pam calls me every week and we talk about the difficult relationship she has with her husband. Very gently we explore this relationship and each time she realizes that her husband is not the source of her unhappiness, and she ends the hour with a renewed desire to focus on her own mind, and each week she forgets this. Each week we start the process over again and it appears as if we are not making any true progress.

When I listen to the thinking mind I wonder if we are wasting our time. I wonder if I am doing something wrong and maybe I should suggest someone who would be better able to help. I think maybe I should say something to her, something that would give her a mental shake, get her to try harder or be more serious about moving through this.

If I were to listen to the ego mind and act on those thoughts I would be attacking my student. I would be making the problem real for her by telling her that she needs to work harder or do something to make a change. Right now those thoughts are just passing through my mind and I can just let them pass through. But if I begin to focus on them, I will say something whether I plan to or not. Even if I don’t say something, our one mind will be affected by the belief.

When Pam and I first started talking we shared one goal; we wanted to join in healing the mind. If I listened to the ego impatient mind, we would no longer share a single goal, because now I would have a different goal. I would have a perceived best outcome and I would have a timetable, and I would think the goal would be to get Pam to that outcome and to do so in a timely manner. In my mind Pam’s goal would be to meet my expectations, and my goal would be to succeed in getting her to do that.

Now whatever I say to Pam to encourage this goal of mine will be an attack, and will engender fear in Pam that she cannot do this, that maybe she cannot heal and be happy. And it will engender fear in me that I won’t be successful in helping Pam and so will be a failure. If carried too far, I will start to project my fear onto Pam and believe it is her fault I am failing and that I feel so bad.

If instead I see the thoughts and ignore them, and stay true to our one shared goal, I will trust the Holy Spirit to guide my words and actions. I will wait for His answer to be in my mind before I say anything. Without a perceived outcome and without a need to make something happen, the counseling will move at a pace and in a direction that is not my concern. I will trust that Love will find its own way in its own time. Pam cannot fail and neither can I because our goal is one and Love cannot fail.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 4-11-12

Day 101

2 There is, however, a temptation to respond to magic in a way that reinforces it. Nor is this always obvious. It can, in fact, be easily concealed beneath a wish to help. It is this double wish that makes the help of little value, and must lead to undesired outcomes. Nor should it be forgotten that the outcome that results will always come to teacher and to pupil alike. How many times has it been emphasized that you give but to yourself? And where could this be better shown than in the kinds of help the teacher of God gives to those who need his aid? Here is his gift most clearly given him. For he will give only what he has chosen for himself. And in this gift is his judgment upon the holy Son of God.

Jesus says that we may be tempted to respond to magic in a way that reinforces it. I am aware of that temptation in myself at times. This is usually a temptation when someone else’s magic belief is also my belief. It may not be one I acknowledge, and if it is one I deny in myself, the reinforcement may not be obvious. This makes sense because I am keeping the belief a secret from myself, so I will need to keep the reinforcement a secret, too.

Yesterday I mentioned that while I was at the hospital with family, we got into a conversation about illnesses. I noticed that I still reinforce the belief that sickness is a result of outside forces, and I did this in an effort to be helpful. “Have you tried this? I heard that works” It’s the kind of thing nearly everyone does, and it seems like I’m just trying to be helpful, but the ego’s hidden agenda is to make the illusion of illness more real and to limit the solution to the ego choices.

Jesus emphasizes that as I reinforce these beliefs I am doing so for the person I am speaking to, but also for me as well. It is as if the one to whom I am responding is showing me the prison he inhabits and instead of offering him a key to release the door, I put another bar in place. Since I am in agreement with him, we share this prison and so I have reinforced both his confinement and my own.

Now as I write this I have another choice to make. I can judge my behavior and feel guilty for my lapse in which case I reinforce the ego identity and fall deeper into the illusion of a false self. Or I can allow myself to be exactly where I am in every moment without judgment. In the hospital setting I was confused about my identity. Now I am not. I am not guilty for my confusion. It is judgment and the resultant guilt that makes me hide what’s happening, and what is hidden cannot be healed. Without judgment and guilt I feel happy and excited to see how easy it is to change my mind.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 4-10-12

Day 100
7. HOW DO GOD’S TEACHERS DEAL WITH MAGIC THOUGHTS?

1 This is a crucial question both for teacher and pupil. If this issue is mishandled, the teacher of God has hurt himself and has also attacked his pupil. This strengthens fear, and makes the magic seem quite real to both of them. How to deal with magic thus becomes a major lesson for the teacher of God to master. His first responsibility in this is not to attack it. If a magic thought arouses anger in any form, God’s teacher can be sure that he is strengthening his own belief in sin and has condemned himself. He can be sure as well that he has asked for depression, pain, fear and disaster to come to him. Let him remember, then, it is not this that he would teach, because it is not this that he would learn. 

Its obviously very important that we learn to deal with magic thoughts, for our own sakes as well as those we teach. We always get what we give, and so if we teach magic we learn magic. It is these magic thoughts that keep the illusion in place and prevent us from awakening from this illusion.

I know I still do this. I still have many magic thoughts, and sometimes its hard to see them. I know that I am listening to ego when I am upset in any way, but I am pretty clever at hiding my beliefs from myself. I was trying to think of an example this morning because examples from my life help me to see more clearly.

I over slept this morning and so was running behind on my time. Also I had an early appointment so I was anxious about how I could do my study, get ready for the day and pack my car for the week out of town. I am unwilling to skip any of those things that needed to be done. My customer had told me that he would call if he needed to cancel, so I thought that might happen, was hoping it would happen.

I don’t like feeling anxious and now that I know it is not necessary and that anxiety is a choice and therefore avoidable, I stopped and thought about today’s reading.

I asked Holy Spirit to help me because my mind was still wrapped in a fog of ego confusion. I was looking at appearances and believing them so it was hard to see the magic in the thinking. When I asked for clarity, I saw that I believed several thoughts that are in that category.

When I saw that I had over slept I thought about how groggy I felt even though I had enough sleep, and immediately the ego mind went to work finding excuses and reasons including my age, and my extra busy weekend. I thought about articles I have read about sleep deprivation and how long it takes to catch up. The ego always directs my attention outwardly. This is magic thinking.

If someone had spoken to me this morning I might have expressed the ego beliefs, much as I sometimes do when people start talking about their illnesses. I might tell them what I know about that illness, share something I read, suggest possible treatments. This response is so hard for me stop.

While at the hospital this weekend I did exactly this, and even as I did it I knew it was not good. When I asked the Holy Spirit what I could say instead, the thought I had was to listen in the moment for His words, and if I could not do that then just listen to the person speaking rather than adding to the error.

Looking for a story to explain my unhappiness is magic thinking because the story is the result, not the cause. I will never find the cause in the story; therefore I will never fix the cause. The cause is in my mind, my thoughts and beliefs

Sharing in someone’s delusion about anything is magic thinking and only adds to the illusion, increasing their fear and their belief in what is not true. In both these cases I am teaching a lie and therefore learning the lie, so I am doing double harm. Holy Spirit, I understand that when I am not extending love, I am attacking. Please help me as I watch my mind for this kind of thinking. First, I would do no harm.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 4-9-12

Day 99
11 Is not this an exchange that you would want? The world would gladly make it, if it knew it could be made. It is God’s teachers who must teach it that it can. And so it is their function to make sure that they have learned it. No risk is possible throughout the day except to put your trust in magic, for it is only this that leads to pain. “There is no will but God’s.” His teachers know that this is so, and have learned that everything but this is magic. All belief in magic is maintained by just one simple-minded illusion;-that it works. All through his training, every day and every hour, and even every minute and second, must God’s teachers learn to recognize the forms of magic and perceive their meaninglessness. Fear is withdrawn from them, and so they go. And thus the gate of Heaven is reopened, and its light can shine again on an untroubled mind.

It’s Saturday night about 6pm and I get a call from my sister-in-law. She heard from Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. The Transplant Center there has put her on standby for a heart and two lungs. Standby! This means she may well get the long awaited organs she needs to remain in this body for awhile longer.

She has been waiting for so long, and her life been such a long, difficult and often frightening series of emergencies, it seems my mind is having trouble making this adjustment. We share our gratitude for this opportunity and then she has to hang up so that she can pack and get ready for the call to head for the hospital. It’s a 3 hour drive and time will be of the essence. When she says she’s packing my mind finally makes the leap. This might be happening!

I am stirring the roux for an Easter gumbo. Gumbo is always better the next day and so my plan was to cook it tonight and put it in the refrigerator to let the flavors blend and strengthen. Sunday night my kids and grandkids would come over for supper and it will be just right for them. I have a seriously intense headache and it seems to be a migraine. Catching it quickly will probably stop it before it gets really bad, but the medicine makes me drowsy so I am getting as much done as I can before I am too sleepy to finish. Now with this phone call, plans are changing.

The ego mind goes to work on the problem right away trying to figure out how to get everything done so that I can get to Houston before Brinda goes into surgery. I’m laying out all sorts of possible scenarios and possible plans but I’m not doing well with it, what with the headache, the medicine and drowsiness, and the unreal quality of the situation. Could this be really happening for my sweet sister-in-law?

The more I think, the more anxious I become. I will probably miss Easter supper but maybe my kids come over and eat the gumbo since I have to finish it. Way too far into the process to just stop right now. I’ll need to pack because its impossible to know if I will be there overnight or for days.

Have to shower and dress. Is there gas in the car? Calls to make to see if I can get someone to drive me there because of the medicine I just took. I know I can’t stay awake for that drive and I wonder how I will stay awake for the whole night, something I can’t imagine doing even under the best of circimstances.

I get another call from Brinda. She is in the car and John is driving her to the hospital! Okay, this really is happening, and I have to complete the task at hand and get everything ready. It feels surreal as I try to operate out of the fog of medication and drowsiness and very confusing as I try to multi-task from this state. I notice I am feeling resentful and while I know that’s just an ego response to the anxiety, I now feel guilty.

What is my sister-in-law supposed to do, ask the hospital to call her back when they have another three organs that fit her small body, but when it happens at a more convenient time? Ok, no matter how pushed for time I feel, I need to stop and ask for guidance. I need to put the ego mind aside and give God my full attention.

The immediate thought that appears in my mind is that I am to have thoughts of joy and peace. It seems almost ludicrous in the face of all my ego thoughts of confusion and the ego is really pushing for making lists and moving fast. But I remember what we read just the other day, and that I’ve been practicing. Start the day with thoughts of God. I did that. End the day with thoughts of God and I know I will do that. In between, have thoughts of joy and peace. Now??!!

And then I felt the rightness of this guidance and knew it didn’t come from the ego. I opened my heart to it, and just like that, I felt peaceful. I asked what I should do next and I did that. I was absolutely amazed and gratified to see how effortless this is and how perfectly it worked. I had fun! I got everything done and arrangements made. My grandson helped me pack my stuff into the car and I picked up our friend, Mary Daw who would be doing the driving. Together we got my other sister-in-law, Jenny, and off we went.

I sat in the back with headphones on and ACIM playing on my I-Pod, and with off and on light naps, I let the medicine work its way through my system. The sounds of my companions in the front, seat laughing and talking, were the background for this ride, and we made it to Houston in good time. I felt peaceful and happy, and the feelings continued all through the night as Brinda was receiving her new organs. We all kept John company and chatted and took little cat naps as we could. 

I could only marvel as I watched the rules I have about careful planning, and the body laws I have about needing sleep, just fall away like the nonsense they are. My gratitude overflowed as I sat with my friends and my brother. I felt gratitude for the opportunity to trust the promises Jesus made in the Course. It was amazing to see these promises work in my life as I opened to them. I felt so much joy as I allowed myself to surrender my efforting and to just be carried.

Twelve hours later, at about 7:00am, the doctor called us back. Brinda was doing well, the organs were working and we got the chance to see her. Five hours later we got to talk to her and see that everything was going well. She couldn’t talk yet, but we could see that she knew we were there and loving her. This morning she is sitting in a chair by her bed!

There is no circumstance that stands outside God’s plan. This morning as I wrote this, I felt a thrill when I read, “All through his training, every day and every hour, and even every minute and second, must God’s teachers learn to recognize the forms of magic and perceive their meaninglessness.” And for sure my mind is untroubled as I allow the light of Heaven to shine on it.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 4-7-12

Day 98
10 There is no substitute for the Will of God. In simple statement, it is to this fact that the teacher of God devotes his day. Each substitute he may accept as real can but deceive him. But he is safe from all deception if he so decides. Perhaps he needs to remember, “God is with me. I cannot be deceived.” Perhaps he prefers other words, or only one, or none at all. Yet each temptation to accept magic as true must be abandoned through his recognition, not that it is fearful, not that it is sinful, not that it is dangerous, but merely that it is meaningless. Rooted in sacrifice and separation, two aspects of one error and no more, he merely chooses to give up all that he never had. And for this “sacrifice” is Heaven restored to his awareness.

What really stands out to me in this paragraph is the sentence that says: Yet each temptation to accept magic as true must be abandoned through his recognition, not that it is fearful, not that it is sinful, not that it is dangerous, but merely that it is meaningless.

When I look back on my life I see that I have always felt guilty for one thing or another, even beginning when I was a very young child. When I began to study the Course, I learned that guilt is never helpful and I started watching my mind for guilty thoughts and asking the Holy Spirit to help me see differently. But guilt has a deep root in my mind and I noticed that I felt guilty for having those thoughts, and guilty that the same thoughts would appear over and over again.

I seemed never to get to the end of it. It felt very circular as I tried to relinquish guilt and then felt guilty for my apparent failures. When I did the lessons with the Holy Spirit’s help, many of His messages to me were directed at this guilt. He helped me to relax into the study and the processes. He reminded me often that I was innocent.

I read a very helpful passage in The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament. It says: The choice you make will seem to be made many times in complete sincerity and truth of heart. And then you will seem to slip and forget the choice you have made. Do not let this distress you. Simply make the choice again. That really helped me to let go of the concerns I had about my seeming failures.

Jesus has been trying to tell me all along that my substitute for truth is without effects and that it is simply meaningless. The ego will insist I have reason to be afraid and that I have reason to be guilty but this is wrong. There is only one thing I need to do, and that is to accept that I have been mistaken and that my mistake has not changed anything.

I spent a long time learning to recognize my mistaken beliefs, and learning that they have no value so I can let them go. Now I am learning that their effects are not real effects. Jesus talks about possibly having a phrase to say when needed that will help anchor me to the truth. The one I often use is, “I will disregard these appearances.”

I will not be afraid of them, or feel guilty for them, or try to change them. They are not important enough to warrant that kind of attention. I will simply disregard them because they are meaningless. The only value they have for me is that they point to a belief that is not true and that I will release.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 4-6-12

Day 97
9 The avoidance of magic is the avoidance of temptation. For all temptation is nothing more than the attempt to substitute another will for God’s. These attempts may indeed seem frightening, but they are merely pathetic. They can have no effects; neither good nor bad, neither rewarding nor demanding sacrifice, healing nor destructive, quieting nor fearful. When all magic is recognized as merely nothing, the teacher of God has reached the most advanced state. All intermediate lessons will but lead to this, and bring this goal nearer to recognition. For magic of any kind, in all its forms, simply does nothing. Its powerlessness is the reason it can be so easily escaped. What has no effects can hardly terrify. 

I was reading about Voodoo recently. The book says that sometimes a Voodoo priest puts a curse on someone with the intention of causing the person to die. I thought how silly this was, but when I read further it became clear that when the intended victim believes in the magic that person will die. On further consideration I realize that this is not all that different than the magic thinking we all do when we try to substitute our will for God’s Will. Its just as foolish and ineffective, but because we believe in it, the effects are real to us, even unto death.

Magic thinking is anything that is a separate will from God. I do this when I try to fix what I perceive as wrong or out balance by changing the form of things. Wishing for a lottery win to fix dissatisfaction with life for example. Believing unhappiness is caused by loneliness and trying to fix it by finding a mate who will give me whatever it is I think is missing in my life. Oh here’s a good one. Making someone else seem to be responsible for my guilty feelings and believing that this makes me innocent.

Any thinking that promotes the belief that pain, suffering, and death are myr deserved fates and unavoidable. And equally, any belief that this can be changed through the use of medicine, counseling, begging and bargaining with God, living a “good” life in the hopes of deserving something better.

Making plans and making decisions on my own. Trying to get people to like me by pleasing them. Acting humble and playing small so as not to tempt the fates. Giving meaning to everything according to whatever I believe will protect me in the moment. Defending and attacking to keep myself safe.  All these things are magical thinking.

When I was reading about the people who were fearful of the voodoo priest and what she could do to them and how much they were controlled by these beliefs, I wanted to say, “Wake up! This is not real and if you would just stop believing in her power, she couldn’t have any affect on you.” Well, I can say the same thing about myself.

If I stop believing in the crazy rules that I made up to take the place of complete freedom, I would be unaffected by them. I would no longer imagine I am trapped in a body, suffering sickness and death over which I have no control. All it takes to escape from this sorry state of affairs is to accept that I did it to myself in an effort to substitute my will for God’s Will, and that nothing actually happened. It seems to have happened because I am determined to believe in it, but really nothing happened, and I am safe.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 4-5-12

Day 96
8 Yet there will be temptations along the way the teacher of God has yet to travel, and he has need of reminding himself throughout the day of his protection. How can he do this, particularly during the time when his mind is occupied with external things? He can but try, and his success depends on his conviction that he will succeed. He must be sure success is not of him, but will be given him at any time, in any place and circumstance he calls for it. There are times his certainty will waver, and the instant this occurs he will return to earlier attempts to place reliance on himself alone. Forget not this is magic, and magic is a sorry substitute for true assistance. It is not good enough for God’s teacher, because it is not enough for God’s Son.

Yesterday was another good day, another day of relying on my sure protection. When I was tempted to fall into ego doubts and fears I chose instead to remember the truth. I did this quickly before it became difficult. It is so easy that its hard to describe the process.

I was at a workshop getting continuing education hours for my certifications. I knew many of the other people there and in fact many of them were customers. There was a man who I had hoped to make a customer and I noticed that I felt some resentment that he was so resistant to my efforts. I also noticed that it was a fleeting thought with little emotion attached to it. It was almost like a memory of something I used to feel. But I called on my protection anyway.

This was not like a formal prayer, but if it were it would have been like this. God, remind me of who I am and who he is. Here are all the thoughts that block the love that would flow between us. I gladly release them.

There was a man who used to be my customer. In the past there have been lots of feelings that roiled around in me when I thought of him. This time I had a memory of some of that, but I didn’t stay with it. I immediately called on my protection. I am not at all confused about what matters. I will be glad to have his business back and I will be glad if I don’t get it back. What matters to me is that I don’t feel resentment toward anyone involved. I don’t wish for anything. I had a brief chat with him and there was no discomfort in it for me. I was at peace.

There were two people there who have not in the past been very friendly to me. I noticed a familiar defensiveness in me and called on my protection. I just let it flow over me and through me. There really is nothing to do except to desire peace and desire the extension of love. I experienced this flow of love returning to me all during the day. It really felt like I was being enfolded in kindness.

When I was tempted to revisit old resentments or anxieties, simply desiring to return to peace was all that was needed. I didn’t have to think of ways to repair relationships. I didn’t have to defend myself even in my own mind, to make excuses or make the other person wrong. I didn’t use those flimsy excuses for protection, and when tempted by them, made a different choice.

Holy Spirit, I want today to be another day of peace. I know that I have a lot more experience with projection, defensiveness, blame, fear and guilt than I do with choosing peace, so I will need help. When I am tempted to self-defense, please help me to remember where my protection lies.

It will be a quiet day with few distractions because I have the day off. This means I will be alone with my thoughts. Honestly, that’s a little scary. I am willing to be vigilant for all magical attempts to protect myself from my own thoughts. I want to remember what it is like to be the Son of God, to be perfectly protected and perfectly joyful. I feel You inviting me to practice silence and I am willing. I am pretty excited to think of the opportunities today. Thank you.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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