ACIM Notebook

by Gene W. Smith

In this article we undertake to compare the Second Edition of A Course in Miracles with the Hugh Lynn Cayce (HLC) version of the Text. We adopt a system of referencing a sentence from this version of the Text by means of four numbers separated by periods. The first number is the chapter, the second the section, the third the paragraph within the section, and the fourth the sentence within the paragraph.

Let us begin by looking at the following passage from the Second Edition:

“I have repeatedly emphasized that one level of the mind is not understandable to another. So it is with the ego and the Holy Spirit; with time and eternity. (more…)

by Hugh Prather
published in The Holy Encounter

A consistently restful and comforting approach to mental change reflects the same throughout our body, relationships, and in all aspect of our life.

The root meaning of the word forgive is to release, to give back, to let go. Forgiveness heals because it permits all forms of attack and abuse to pass from thought. (more…)

by Hugh Prather
published in The Holy Encounter

I once heard someone ask Bill Thetford, “How do you forgive?” He answered with his usual wry humor, “You just call the S.O.B. out and forgive him.”

It took several years before I realized forgiveness actually is this simple. Anyone we want to forgive, we forgive instantly. Anyone we are conflicted about forgiving, we never quite forgive. (more…)

by Hugh Prather
published in The Holy Encounter

“Love.” Even the sound seems almost sibilant, the lisp of a wave across fragile sands, the song of a breeze through a pipework of vines, the peaceful hiss of a lazy lizard. Yet love can be a stone carried in the heart to the end of life’s groaning. Or a quick shattering blow to the spine of hope.

Only those who know full well the jeopardy of opening their hearts can dismiss thunder in pursuit of a ray of sun. Only those who dissolve in love’s waters and rise with love’s rising, a single soundless swell, clear as sight, can know the I that is you and the you that is I. (more…)

by Hugh Prather
published in The Holy Encounter

It seems to me that from a spiritual standpoint, we don’t so much “communicate” as allow communication to be. Peace — not attempts to change, thwart, overcome, break through, or make a point — open the channels of understanding and acceptance.

Real communication is actually a stepping back from the effort to “get something across.” It’s a moment’s rest from needs. This gentle contentment permits an extension of our thoughts to others through a simultaneous welcoming of theirs. (more…)

by Hugh Prather
published in The Holy Encounter

In my opinion, the marriage ceremony symbolizes a preexistent State, because Oneness is recognized, not invented. This State cannot be destroyed, but it can be forgotten. The ceremony itself is one of many ancient symbols. It celebrates the happy, eternal fact of the unity of all life and the exclusion of none. In marrying, those who are one acknowledge their Oneness.

The spiritual reality of marriage does not have to be worked at. Correctly seen, marriage need only continue unresisted. (more…)

by Hugh Prather
published in The Holy Encounter

At the start of our journey, the experience of Love may appear to come and quickly go. And for many of us there will be long periods of comparative bleakness. Yet beneath it all will be a growing sense of innocence and a deepening conviction that a Friend walks beside us and holds our hand in gentleness. It eventually becomes clear that we have not been abandoned by Reality but only chose to look away awhile. (more…)

by Hugh Prather
published in The Holy Encounter

A man recently sent an email to my radio show saying that he had been dumped by his girl friend because he wasn’t spiritual enough. That day he also heard another woman make the same complaint about her boyfriend. His question was what does it take to appear enlightened to women. This got me thinking about how we assess each other’s levels of attainment and what passes for spirituality within the “body-mind-spirit” or “new age” community. (more…)

by Hugh Prather
published in The Holy Encounter

First, a disclaimer: The information I give here about the early days of the Course is sprinkled with a few direct observations but comes primarily from many conversations my wife Gayle and I had with Bill Thetford over the years. If there are any inaccuracies, please chalk these up to my faulty memory of what Bill told us, because nothing here is taken from books and biographies about the Course.

Bill thought it amusing that many “official” details about how the Course came were not what he recalled, even though he was by that time the only one alive who had been there from the beginning. For instance, once he laughed and said, “Now they’re saying the Course came over a period of [_10_] years. I always thought it was [_7_] years.” (more…)