Here are your final lessons. Review, enjoy and apply in your life.
A Course in Miracles PLUS Mini Course |
Applying ‘A Course in Miracles with Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’ Bette Jean Cundiff |
A Course in Miracles PLUS mini courses by Bette Jean Cundiff
designed specifically to help you apply the complex concepts
presented in ‘A Course in Miracles
Lesson 5
To win, Sun Tzu says:
·
Understand yourself, and not the enemy, and you suffer.
·
Understand neither yourself nor the enemy, and you lose.
·
Understand yourself and your enemy and you need not fear the result of a hundred battle
You
probably noticed a recurring theme in the above sayings – understanding. Let me
tell you a story:
Years ago, when I was
teaching ‘A Course in Miracles’ support groups in the New York City area
wonderful, truly serious students attended. Two of them were a married couple.
Each had his or her own copy of the ‘Course’ to study. Each of them, like so
many students highlighted sentences and sometimes whole paragraphs in their
personal copies that impacted them especially.
One evening at class I had occasion to
notice their books sitting side by side on a table. With their permission I
flipped through each book quickly noting with amusement what was highlighted.
Easily almost half of each book was a bright yellow. Now, here’s what amused
me.
The husband’s ‘Course’ had yellow
highlights on every uplifting poetically eloquent comment, prayer and
explanation. The wife, on the other hand had highlighted every intense,
sometimes dark and scary portrait of ego at work. Hmmm. If you read only the
yellow in each book you would think there were actually two Course in Miracles.
There is a reason why both the radiant
and the murky gloom are explained in sometimes redundantly spiraling passages
throughout the ‘Course’. We need to be able to recognize clearly the Voice for
God as differentiated from the ego’s Ninja Warriors. And it’s not just to be
able to distinguish between them. We also need time and training to learn to
truly desire only the OneVoice that will bring us peace.
As Sun Tzu pointed out hundreds of years
ago, recognizing and understanding the enemy a well as yourself is essential to
success. Understand, recognize and choose correctly and we
‘need not fear the result of a hundred battles.’
some thoughts to contemplate. . .
1.
If you haven’t studied ‘A Course in Miracles’ yet but could use
a helpful overview of the dynamics of ego, try the previous mini course “Fast
Track to Peace’ or ‘Hand in Hand’. You can find both in the left column of my
blog either in paperback or e-book format.
2.
Observe yourself and honestly notice if
you are ignoring or denying emotions and responses that you are afraid to admit
to.
3.
Observe your interactions this week and
notice how a greater understanding of the people around you and how your
intimate interactions can change drastically with understanding and insight.
Lesson 6
To win, Sun Tzu says:
Recognize when to engage
and when not to engage
The battle ground is always within our
minds. But instead we love to take the fight into the streets of our lives –
finding fault with others, taking offense easily, loudly proclaiming our
innocence at home, at work, at ‘play’. So, before we tackle when to engage in
battle and when not to engage let’s remind ourselves where that battleground
resides. In – Our - Mind. O.K. That being said loud and clear, let’s move
forward.
In lessons 4 and 5
we emphasized the importance of recognizing ego’s Ninja Warriors in their
camouflaged uniforms and understanding fully the weaponry they will use for attack.
Now is a good time to spy on ego’s headquarters and do deep recon of the enemy.
We learn that
ego’s plan is to protect us. Ego arrogantly believes it knows who we are and
what we need to survive. Focused tightly on keeping our bodies alive and
conquering all social encounters, ego creates its master strategies. Ego’s
logic: Keep our bodies alive and win in every social encounter, no matter the
cost to our happiness, our comfort, our peace of mind or the effects on others.
Circled around ego
are its three Ninja Warriors.
We notice the
first Ninja Warrior slouching and complaining – its name is Guilt. Feelings of
unworthiness, uselessness and despair flow over this warrior forming its weaponary
that seep into our mind to debilitate us.
Trembling next to
Guilt is the Ninja Warrior whose name is Fear. Cold fingers of panic are poking
and thrusting from the Warrior reaching to back us into emotional corners.
Bold, loud,
aggressive and ready to explode in a nano second at any perceived slight looms
the final warrior whose name is Anger. This Ninja Warrior carries the heavy
weapons of destruction. The first two warrior are inwardly focused to cause us
the most personal pain, but Anger is always poised to attack and take the
battle outside the mind, confusing us so we no longer know from where the true
enemy threatens and where the battleground must be.
When must we
engage these enemies? As soon as we catch a whiff of their presence. The clue?
We will be unhappy, uncomfortable, irritable. And we must act quickly, as soon
as we notice a lack of contentment. We must change our perspective, within our
own mind.
When not to
engage? When we believe the threat to our happiness and safety is attacking us
from a cause outside of ourselves – the people around us, the government, the
weather, the traffic patterns. And the list can go on and on.
Exactly what to do
when we must engage ego within the battleground of our minds? That will be
another lesson.
Some thoughts to
contemplate. . .
1. Notice
how often you find the battleground outside you as people and events that
disturb your contentment.
2. Review
the three ego Ninja Warriors of guilt, fear, anger and make a point of labeling
them by name each time your feel discomfort.
3. Make
a commitment to desire the shifts in your own perspectives that can correct
your feelings of guilt, fear or anger. This is a deceptively simple yet
powerful step.
Lesson
7
To
win, Sun Tzu says:
Be
vigilant and undeterred by old ways
To paraphrase a quote from the movie
‘The Godfather’ and then immortalized in the T.V. show the ‘Sopranos’ – “Just
when I think I’m out, they suck me back in!”
And so, it goes with ego.
Here’s a great quote from ‘A Course in Miracles’ (Text, Chapter 9, subheading ‘The Two
Evaluations’) that speaks directly to this stealthy strategy of ego:
“The ego is deceived by everything you
do, especially when you respond to the Holy Spirit, because at such time its
confusion increases. The ego is, therefore, particularly likely to attack you
when you react lovingly, because it has evaluated you as unloving and you are
going against its judgment. The ego will attack your motives as soon as they
become clearly out of accord with its perceptions of you. This is when it will
shift abruptly from suspicion to viciousness. . .”
Ever notice that exactly when you are
at your highest, happiest, most content “Murphy’s Law” falls like a cleaver
slicing up your peace of mind? Paranoia, annoyance and outright fury rushes in
to fill the vacuum now created in your mind. Ego has struck!
After all, we have spent a lifetime
depending on ego’s myopic perceptions of us and the world to ‘keep us safe’.
Wariness, unworthiness, anger and faultfinding, martyrdom and revenge have been
our go-to strategies. But now, we are climbing way out on the new branch of
trusting in the Holy Spirit, and away from all things ‘ego’. Ego is not going to take this lying
down.
Ego first makes us suspicious and
questioning – we look back and notice how far away from the safety of ego’s
tree trunk we have climbed. Trust wavers, we feel the slippery fingers of ego’s
Ninja Warriors infiltrating our thinking and Bam! We scurry back to the
familiar old ways of dealing with life. We worry, we attack, and we embrace
being miserable once more.
Not to worry. We have come too far. We
quickly notice how unpleasant the negative world of ego is. We once more choose
peace, and as we look up, the hand of forgiveness is right in front of us,
ready to lift us back into the bright new world of peace.
And you know what?
We grab it!
Some thoughts to contemplate. . .
1.
Remember the last time you felt
particularly peaceful and then remember how quickly it took misery to suck away
the pleasure.
2. Remind
yourself throughout the day that you are practicing something that you don’t
fully trust yet and that you will usually slip back and forth between ego and
the Holy Spirit fairly often. Just notice this, don’t feel guilty. Just keep
practicing.
3. Take
time to meditate quietly each day visualizing the hand of peace reaching down
for you, and you reaching and gasping it. Then rest in the comfort that brings.
Lesson 8
To win, Sun Tzu says:
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without
fighting
We must become the
Peaceful Samurai. Our way will be different. Our way will lift us above the
battleground with the wings of love and forgiveness. Our way will embrace not
the ego’s art of war, but instead the Holy Spirit’s Art of Peace.
We begin with a
quote from ‘A Course in Miracles”, the
Workbook, Lesson 153, “In my defenselessness my safety lies”. Sounds counter- productive doesn’t it? Maybe
even paradoxical. So, let’s walk through an everyday opportunity I just
witnessed at the hair designer.
As my hair tech,
the manager of the shop, was just finishing up with me she was asked to come to
the front counter. There, I observed a gentleman clearly annoyed and loudly
making his point. He had made an appointment for that specific time, and
another lady was going to be worked on before him. The counter person as well
as the manager assured him, he would be next in line and this would take only a
few minutes. But, oh no, he repeatedly made his point that this was his
allotted appointment time and it was wrong to wait. (Ego imperative: Always be
in the right and anger is a great weapon!)
The manager kept
insisting that it wouldn’t be but a few minutes and after all (here comes ego’s
defenses - a nicely expressed dollop of guilt) when he goes to a doctor or
dental office he rarely gets in at his appointed time.
The gentleman stood
taller, pushed out his chest. (After all, accepting her logic would make him
wrong and her right and humiliation just wasn’t in his game plan.) He repeated
his point, again and again, jabbing his finger on the counter, defending his
position. The manager, feet spread leaning toward the man responded through
gritted teeth her position. The battle lines were drawn. (Ego’s Ninja Warriors
were head to head, each battling to be more ‘right’ than the other.)
Thankfully a hair
tech appeared and brought him back to her chair. I could hear his voice above
the hum of hairdryers continuing to defend his position. The manager, finishing
my hair, kept mumbling and defending her position. I was glad there was a hair
dryer and no scissors in her hand.
Ego normalcy
reigned. The ongoing everyday wars raged on. But, how can we be defenseless
when someone is clearly making us wrong when we know we are right? Let’s
review.
·
First stop as soon as the conflict starts.
·
Now want something other than emotional
tussles running your day.
·
Then, here’s a tricky one - Be willing to
be wrong of your assessment of yourself and your opponent. This is hard because
ego will want you to keep fighting to be ‘right’. The fear of humiliation will
be strong and your desire for peace will need to be stronger.
·
Last, take a deep breath and risk asking
humbly for help. Then wait for a miraculous and releasing new perspective of
your encounter, trusting that this will release your guilt, your fears and your
need to remain angry and combative.
Words and actions
will naturally and gently fill your mind with a new forgiving view of your
world. And as you share them not only you will be released, but your enemy will
be released with you.
Peace can now be
allowed to reign.
some thoughts to contemplate. . .
1. Observe
your day and notice each time you feel the need to defend your position.
2. As
often as necessary practice the four steps listed above in this lesson.
3. Review
the full Lesson 153 from the Workbook, ‘A
Course in Miracles.’
Lesson 9:
To win, Sun Tzu says:
He will win who takes the time to prepare
So, you want to be a Peaceful Samurai. Cool. Go Peace! Go
Samurais! Go. . .uh oh. . . “you mean I can’t just put on my ‘peace’ cape and
strut around being peaceful right off the bat? I actually have to train for a
really long time to be one?” you ask. Yup.
Superheroes for peace take years,
decades, even several lifetimes to create. And a good sense of what basic
training is like is covered under the section “What are the characteristics of a teacher of God,” and Trust is
listed as the first characteristic. (‘A
Course in Miracles’ Manual for Teachers). The main point is that your
training program will be the most challenging and rewarding rollercoaster ride
you have ever taken. You will be placed into constant ego induced battles with
ego’s Ninja Warriors within your mind. Some you will overcome and many more you
will flounder through and lose.
Again, and again you will feel the
exultation and release of accepting peace. And again, and again you will be
tested and what you desire most will seemingly be taken from you. Becoming
disappointed, depressed, disenchanted and down right bedeveiled will occur more
often than not. But, take heart. Standing with you every step of the way are
Mighty Companions, the Peaceful Samurais that have gone before.
Trust is explained as the first and
perhaps most pivotal characteristic of the advanced teacher of God, or what we
are calling the Peaceful Samurai. You will find a very special and important
word in that sentence – advanced – the officers. You become a teacher of God or
a bottom of the heap private in the army of Peaceful Samurais as soon as you
choose to set aside ego, if only for a moment, and choose the forgiving answer
instead. But, to become an advanced teacher of God, an officer, a true super
hero Peaceful Samurai you will need to choose forgiveness again, and again, and
again and . . . (you get the idea).
This is why you are here, and this
is your calling. The world is in need of healing and you have been chosen to
enlist. You are reading this mini course, so you already have your helmet and
shield and willingness.
Now, get on with your training.
Ego’s Ninja Warriors are gathering and preparing for battle.
Some thoughts to contemplate. . .
1. How
many years does it take to become a doctor? To become a specialist in a field?
To become world renowned as the best? Now, compare that to your spiritual
studies and the time you have given them.
2. Over
your lifetime thus far, as well as the time you may have been studying spirituality,
how often have you already had to face disaster and loss? How well did you
handle it?
3. Take
time each day to quietly sit with the Mighty Companions that surround you and
rest in their strength.
Lesson 10
To win, Sun Tzu says:
Build your opponent a golden bridge
to retreat across
What
a lovely vision. As flutes and harps play a radiant bridge leads our enemies
over and away to safety. . . WAIT! Stop the music! Hold the horses! You mean we
are supposed to let these nasty Ninja Warriors get away? Aren’t we supposed to
smash them to dust? Smite them with righteousness? Give these suckers a good
thrashing, and then some?!
That does sound a little satisfying,
but look again, this is ego’s tactic – crush the enemy, the more pain the
better. However, there IS a better way.
Up to now most of our lessons have
covered some (certainly not all) of the important issues covered in ‘A Course in Miracles’ Textbook. The Text
helps us learn to recognize the ego in all its sneaky ‘glory’ and understand
its strategies with their painful and unhappy effects on us. All thirty-one
chapters take us on a spiraling and deepening journey into the discovery of
ego, as well as the Holy Spirit and the peaceful Answer offered. We learn why
choosing peace is a really, really good idea.
How to choose peace is then the task
of the Workbook, your basic training as a Peaceful Samurai. When completed
after 365 lessons, and at least a full year, we will have created the habits
that, when practiced consistently, last a lifetime. We learn to build a golden
bridge. Let’s see what that means.
Ego battles, the Holy Spirit suggests
we fly above the battle ground, observe our thoughts that give rise to ego and
pain and just Let Them Go.
Like clouds drifting across our minds,
we can watch them and release them. Here they cross the golden bridge of
forgiveness transformed into simple mist that simply floats away.
Each time we allow the Holy Spirit to
change our view of the guilts, the fears, the angers that fill our minds, to
opportunities of renewal and love, we add another gold bar to the bridge that ego
and its Ninja Warriors can gently disappear across.
We do need to be
willing to allow this to happen.
We do need to be
willing to see our highly cherished judgments differently.
We do need to want
contentment rather than the addictive emotions of unworthiness, worry and
aggression.
This mini-course
can only introduce you to these concepts or give your on-going studies and
practices an extra turbo-charge. For real change I recommend doing and then
consistently practicing the lessons from the Workbook.
Some thoughts to contemplate. . .
1. An important review of the characteristics of
the Peaceful Samurai will be a last contemplation for this mini course:
‘A Course in Miracles’
Manual for Teachers states, “. . .in time it can be said that
the advanced teachers of God have
the following characteristics: ..”
Study all of
these characteristics and practice them every day. Use them as your helmet,
your shield, your strategies for victory.
Then be assured - you will rise above ego’s
battleground triumphant as the Peaceful Samurai.
Trust
1.
Contemplate why all the following
characteristics of the Peaceful Samurai will rest on Trust.
Honesty
2. Honesty
rests on consistency and therefore removes deceit. Observe how consistent you
are in all that you do and say.
Tolerance
3. Tolerance
occurs when there is no judgment. Test yourself and see how you judge in the
smallest ways and vow to do better.
Gentleness
4.
Do no harm. These leads directly to
gentleness. And emotional harm occurs when we make anyone, ourselves included,
feel guilty. Make great effort in extending a sense of innocence and
forgiveness to all.
Joy
5. The
opposite of suffering is joyfulness. ‘A Course in Miracles’ states ‘to heal is
to make joyful.’ Make lightheartedness your goal.
Defenselessness
6.
When you realize ego’s limited view of the
world leads directly to feeling alone and unworthy, then you can choose to
focus on the reality of oneness and peace. Notice how this removes fear and the
need to set up defenses.
Generosity
7. To
give away love and joy cannot result in loss. You can’t give love unless you
are feeling loving. You can’t give joy unless you are laughing also. These are
the only important treasures and they can never be lost. Enjoy giving these
gifts as much as possible!
Patience
8. Each
day can now be released into holy instants where time becomes less and less
important. Meditate and find this timeless space and take it into your days.
Faithfulness
9. Accept
that Something within you, and within everyone else, is in charge in ALL
MATTERS. Not in only some problems, not some challenges, not some worries, but
the Answer is there for every big and every itty bitty issue. This will take
great discipline, as will all the other characteristics that come before. It’s
time to just ‘do it!’
Open-mindedness
10.
Acceptance means lack of judgement. The
natural expression is forgiveness. You recognize that what has been done is a
mistake and seeing innocence in others, as well as yourself brings total
release. Become the Peaceful Samurai by turning all thoughts, all judgments,
and unhappy feelings over to the Inner Voice for correction.
Now, walk through this world with only the weapon of
Loving Forgiveness and become a hero for the world.
A Last Personal Note
Thank
you for studying this material. Why am I thanking you? Because with each
peaceful thought a wave of gentleness and healing enters the whole Universe to
cleanse and bless everyone and everything.
So, again thank you. You have helped
heal others, including me, as you have learned to heal yourself.
Bette
Jean Cundiff
Look
for the other mini courses, books, instant printables and blog by Bette Jean
Cundiff that help explain the complex concepts of “A Course in Miracles” in clear, fun and easy
to understand format, plus so much more.
For
book, instant pintables and blog go to:
bettejeancundiff.blogspot.com
Lesson 3
Prayers of love I give to my sisters
and brothers.”