Professional Documents
Culture Documents
WHAT IS THE COURSE FOR? Finding and committing to your path of light
Is the Course your path? The Course expects you to take your time and come to a mature acceptance of its radical way Remember that ultimately the choice of your path is not yours, but has been made by the Holy Spirit Trust that in the end, you will just know if the Course is your path
Until you decide the Course is your path, then anything goes. Explore, sample, do whatever appeals to you. If the Course is your path, should you walk its path alone? Once you know that the Course is your path, it is best to focus just on it. As an old adage says, it is better to dig one well of sixty feet than six wells of ten feet each. The Course is designed as a complete path, in which nothing is lacking that is needed (W-pI.42.7:2). Its committed students are meant to use its methods, rather than those of other paths. You are not making use of the course if you insist on using means which have served others well, neglecting what was made for you (T-18.VII.5). Once, when Helen was judging someone whose spirituality she felt was flaky, Jesus told her, Don't take another's path as your own; but neither should you judge it (Absence from Felicity, p. 450). This can seem like a very narrow attitude. In todays ultra-eclectic spiritual environment, most of us are drawing from all over to meet our needs. Part of this is a pervasive attitude that above all seeks fleeting moments of experiencing the sacred, rather than aiming for long-term progress in getting free of the ego. However, if this long-term progress is what we want to make, it is important to have a framework in which to work. The benefits You need a framework in which to work, a curriculum that is not designed by you. The Course says that, when it comes to learning salvation, you are literally learning-handicapped (i.e., retarded). If the Course is your assigned path, then it is designed perfectly for you. If the Course is your assigned path, then focusing on it is simple acceptance of the inevitable. All of its elements work together; they all pull in the same direction. Combining the Course with other things will invariably mix contradictory elements into it. Its practical focus will leave you no room for escape. Other teachings usually contain elements that allow for absorption in side-issues that require no actual change from you.
You can still read and benefit from other teachings. But the route you travel up the mountain is the Courses. You can read about a route without actually taking it. And it is not possible to take two routes at once.
Walking the Path of Light, July 1-3, 2005, Sedona, Arizona The Circle of Atonement, P.O. Box 4238, West Sedona, AZ 86340 (928) 282-0790 e-mail: info@circleofa.org, website: www.circleofa.org
I find myself thinking about the Course a lotfor instance, lines from it pop into my head especially when Im faced with problems.
When I have done things the Course asks me to do, it has worked for meit has given me real benefits, such as greater peace and joy.
Walking the Path of Light, July 1-3, 2005, Sedona, Arizona The Circle of Atonement, P.O. Box 4238, West Sedona, AZ 86340 (928) 282-0790 e-mail: info@circleofa.org, website: www.circleofa.org
I have come to a mature acceptance of radical Course ideas that I initially had difficulty with.
When I ask the Holy Spirit if He has chosen the Course as my path, I get a yes.
Other forms of guidancefor instance, serendipitous events like the proverbial book falling off the bookshelfhave suggested to me that the Course might be my path.
When I look within, I just know that the Course is my path. It feels as if it has chosen me.
I am willing and able to walk this path for the foreseeable future, perhaps even for life.
Walking the Path of Light, July 1-3, 2005, Sedona, Arizona The Circle of Atonement, P.O. Box 4238, West Sedona, AZ 86340 (928) 282-0790 e-mail: info@circleofa.org, website: www.circleofa.org
I follow the Courses program as it has been described during this program (even if I dont follow it perfectly).
I make a serious effort to do frequent and regular Course practice every day.
Walking the Path of Light, July 1-3, 2005, Sedona, Arizona The Circle of Atonement, P.O. Box 4238, West Sedona, AZ 86340 (928) 282-0790 e-mail: info@circleofa.org, website: www.circleofa.org
When Im faced with a problem, the first thing I do is turn to the Course for a solution.
The means I use for my spiritual growth (meditation techniques, methods for dealing with daily upsets, etc.) are the Courses means, not another paths means. I read other spiritual teachings with careful discernment, looking at them through the lens of the Course and accepting only what is helpful to me on the Courses path.
My spiritual life is focused on the undoing of the world through forgiving other people.
I regard the Course as a complete spiritual path that provides everything I need to awaken to God.
Walking the Path of Light, July 1-3, 2005, Sedona, Arizona The Circle of Atonement, P.O. Box 4238, West Sedona, AZ 86340 (928) 282-0790 e-mail: info@circleofa.org, website: www.circleofa.org
Final exercise
Walking the Path of Light, July 1-3, 2005, Sedona, Arizona The Circle of Atonement, P.O. Box 4238, West Sedona, AZ 86340 (928) 282-0790 e-mail: info@circleofa.org, website: www.circleofa.org