Conference hydra::dejavu

Here in Atlanta you can purchase the books (about $40) and if you wish
attend a 'Course in Miracles' study group.  I haven't myself but have
talked to a few folks that have.  It is a long process (a year or more)
and quite intense (meaning alot of reading and alot of work) with the 
focus being on application of the ideas discussed.  The groups are free 
and usually form by word of mouth and usually advertised in the local
new age publications.  

There is an extra set of books for those who desire to facilitate a group 
after having gone through one.  From what I know, there isn't a 'figure-head'
or leader as such.  It was written by a woman (psychologist, I think) and
designed to be a self or group study course.

Those that I have talked to that have gone through or tried it spoke very
highly of it.  I may do it myself sometime.  Heck, it's free...

Hope this helps.  Maybe soneome can fill you in some more.

Terry

    
    
    Don't know anything about the book, but wonder if the NSA is the
    best way to get an unbiased view of Buddhism.  
    
    The NSA seems to foster a version of Buddhism which verges on
    boosterism with the huge groups of flag twirlers, marching bands,
    drill teams and look-alike dress which, at least for me, would detract 
    from a contemplative search for the truth of the universe.       
   
    At the enormous show (parade) last month in Worcester ( with an
    estimted 10,000 NSA members from all over the East Coast) with famous
    Buddhist, Patrick Duffy as Grand Marshall, the sheer number of American
    flags was staggering.  Must have been thousands in all sizes.  
    
    It makes one wonder why such a conspicious show of patriotism!
    
    Could it be like the invading, occupying armies waving the flag
    of the conquered homeland as they roll in to take their rightful
    place?  Sarcasm aside, frankly I don't know enough about it to make a 
    more concise appraisal but it sure looks hookey.    
    
    Perhaps someone could shed some light on what the NSA is really
    all about.
    
    Mary B 

       Of course if you are interested in Buddhism in any of its aspects
       I presume that you are aware of the conference

                            ERIS::BUDDHISM

       /. Ian .\

    Reply to .0, Roy,
    
    You like channeled material?? If so you'll love Course in Miracles,
    which if I remember correctly, was inadvertantly channeled by an ahteist
    psychotherapist. The voice was so strong that she knew she had to
    write the material down.
    
    It's an interesting paradox, an atheist channeling Buddhist-Christian
    philosophy. It seems to be a good tension in that what came through
    was not originally a part of her belief system.
    
    The voice of our times??
     

    
    re: 4
    
         As an aside, there are several different shcools of thought
    on the whole phenomenon of channelling, especially as applies to
    a book like "A Course in Miracles". One viewpoint holds that it
    is all nonsense, which I disagree with simply because I have read
    a lot of channelled material and most of it is very clearly expressed
    and inspiring. I usually walk away with the feeling that learned
    some profound new things. Another viewpoint holds that the sources
    of channelled material are indeed spirits or "personalities" from
    other dimensions, i.e. Seth. I believe that there is at least some
    degree of truth to this, but that this is not necessarily always
    the case. I guess the viewpoint that I most closely align with is
    that the real source of most channelled material is the "higher
    self" of the writer. Dr. Richard Moss (another one of my favorite,
    most inspiring writers) explains this pretty well in "The Black
    Butterfly: An Invitation to Radical Aliveness". He believes that
    people have all of this inherent wisdom inside of themselves, but
    that in many individuals, it is expressed as sort of a schism, or
    split-off fragment of the individual's actual personality. He respects
    the profundity of most channelled material but says that because
    it does not purport to be from "incarnate" beings (actual living
    people), it lacks a deeply humanistic realness. It therefore lacks
    the full value of, say, the teachings of Jesus. 
    
         I guess whatever viewpoint you agree with, if any, there is
    still a lot that can be said in favor of channelled material, and
    I myself judge it from how deeply it moves me, and how *elegant*
    it appears to be.

    Reply to .5, Clay,
    
    Please don't mistake me. I really like some channeled material,
    but not all of it. It matters most if I can learn something from
    the material. Most of the New Age material I can't learn anything
    from because I already learned most of it, realtively speaking of
    course, from Seth and a few others. And yes, I can do without the
    New Age feel good drivel. I want the meat (metaphorically speaking)
    not the pablum.

    My personal experience has been that the more I learn, the more
    I realize how little I know, and how much more there is to learn.
    
    I haven't seen or read any of these books, but I will comment that
    it shouldn't surprise anyone to find both Buddhist and Christian
    philosophy being channeled at the same time.  I've said all along
    that all the great religious prophets of the world, and *some of* the 
    channeled entities who are becoming well-known now, are all teaching
    the Laws of the one entity some call God, to different people, in
    different cultures, at different periods of time and different levels
    of spiritual development, in the way that was most relevent, easily
    understood, and coherent with what the people being spoken to are
    ready to hear and could relate to.
    
    For some strange reason, men have felt the need to assert that one
    prophet is right and the others are wrong, and to use religion as
    something to fight over and debate about, rather than as a tool
    for spiritual development and a closeness to God. Some even fault
    God for the fact that this has happened, which is really not very
    fair to Him.
    
    Read 592 in this conference for more discussion on why the statements
    in the Christian New Testament that Christ's word was the only correct
    one for the world to follow, have been misinterpreted to exclude
    other revelations God has given to others.  Or more appropriately,
    join me in the RELIGION conference.
    
    DW
     

   	I belong to "A Course in Miracles" study group outside of work.
   I also get together occasionally for lunch with people inside of
   DEC who are in someway involved with "A Course In Miracles".   If
   you're located anywhere in the Mass./N.H. area, maybe you can join
   us for a lunch.  Let me know.
    
    					Maureen
      
   

    Does anyone know of "A Course in Miracles" study group in the greater
    Nashua area?  Also, should one begin reading/studying the materials
    before joining a group?  If so, are these books sold in local
    bookstores?
    
    Thanks in advance,
    
    Ro
    

    If you can't find the book locally, it (and others) is available from:
    
    Miracle Distribution Center
    1141 E. Ash Ave.
    Fullerton, CA 92631
                      
    phone 714-738-8380

    They are the world-wide distributor of the course. I haven't read
    the book, but have seen it advertised in various places.
    
    	- Bill

There are plenty of bookstores around Harvard Square in Cambridge that carry the
CiM books.  In Particular, I can recommend the ?Skylight? Bookstore on ?Auburn?
St. between the hotel and the T electric bus exit/entrance.  They have a lot of
esoteric religious stuff. 

Regarding CiM, It made a big impact on me as well, just when I needed it most. I
stay away from most channelled material because I am never quite sure of
who/what/where/why is on the other end of the line; I don't believe that it is
always obvious.  I am pretty sure that The Holy Spirit is behind CiM.  While I
cannot take everything in CiM literally, as that would contradict some of my
more basic religious beliefs, I find it very valuable in a mystical/allegoric
sense. 

I know there is a CiM group in Littleton, and one at BU.  There are occasionally
classes at Interface.  If you can contact Vicki Thomas in Boston at Blazing
Salads on Washington St, she has a list of *lots* of people and groups on the
east coast.

I work in Tewksbury MA, if anyone is interested in CiM in that area, please feel
free to contact me.

Jim Baranski 

    Did anyone happen to see the special Oprah show on Tuesday?  The guest
    was author Marianne Williamson who wrote A RETURN TO LOVE, REFLECTIONS
    ON THE PRINCIPLES OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES.  Apparently, Oprah had read
    the advanced copy of the book and liked it so much that she invited
    Marianne on the show.  Oprah bought everyone in the audience a copy of
    the book and stressed that she hoped all the homes viewers would read
    the book.
    
    As a long-time student of ACIM, I was enthused by the program.  
    Here is a description of the book taken from a flyer I picked up at the
    Little Professor book store:
    
    "A Return to Love reveals that by practicing love we can enrich our own
    lives and the lives of others.  Whether we're experiencing problems in
    our relationships, our careers, or our health, Marianne Williamson
    shows how love is the potent force that can lead to inner peace.  
    Her book explains how each of us can become a miracle worker by 
    expressing love and accepting the God within us."
    
    (Psychology) HarperCollins
    ISBN: 0-06-016374-7  Hardcover $20
    
    
    Ro

    HI.
    
    I've been trying to locate a copy of the ACIM materials in local book
    stores.  I saw the book by M. Williamson, and then saw a cassette by
    Jampolski (don't know first name) and someone else, that I wound up
    buying, out of pure curiosity.  I live in Clinton, Mass.  The stores
    I've been checking will order it, but none of them have had it in
    stock.  There's a place called the Alchemist, in Hudson, MA that has
    a little book called CHOOSE ONCE AGAIN, which is selections from
    the text of ACIM.  That cost $8.  Tatnuck Booksellers, in Worcester
    is currently out, but generally keeps re-ordering the ACIM books, so
    living near there helps.
    
      So, an excerpt:
    
    "Let us be still and instant, and forget
    all things we ever learned, all thoughts we had,
    and every preconception that we hold
    of what things mean and what their purpose is.
    Let us remember not our own ideas 
    of what the world is for.  We do not know.
    Let every image held of everone
    be loosened from our minds and swept away.
    
    Be innocent of judgement, unaware
    of any thoughts of evil or good
    that ever crossed your mind of anyone.
    Now do you know him not, but you are free
    to learn of him, and learn of him anew.
    Now is he born again to you, and you
    are born again to him, without the past
    that sentenced him to die, and you with him.
    Now is he free to live as you are free,
    because an ancient learning passed away,
    and left a place for truth to be reborn.
    
    The miracle comew quietly into
    the mind that stops an instant, and is still."
    
    
    Sounds like meditation to me.  What little I've read and heard of the
    rest of the material talks about each person really being the higher
    self in him/her, that is above and beyond sin and separation.  Somehow
    that higher self is Christ in us.  The idea is to reach the peace of
    God, through forgiveness.  Forgiveness is remembering that people are
    not their bodies, that they are really that higher self/Christ that is
    one with God, and love, and that it is impossible to harm that higher
    self.   So you really can't do anything to harm someone else, because
    nothing you can do can hurt that higher self.  And nothing anyone can
    do can hurt what you really are.  Forgiveness, then isn't overlooking
    your own, or someone elses's sins or transgressions.  It's more like.
    Ooops, pardon me, I thought we were something else, and that your
    something else hurt my something else--pardon me my delusion.  Another
    main idea is that we pretty much live in that delusion that we are
    our bodies, and that the world that we see, that changes isn't what's
    going on either.  We are really our higher selves, and are one with
    God.
    
    I don't know that I have the above right, from what little I've read so
    far.  I mostly intend it for someone with no familiarity with ACIM, to
    give them some inkling.
    
    I like what I've read so far, because I'm working on not judging
    people, and me, so much, and on relaxing and letting things be what they
    are more.  I like that it has such a hopeful message, and that it does
    away with the idea that we are all sinners with a slim chance of making
    it through the eye of the needle, and all that.
    
    (I'd prefer another text editor, though.  How did people function
    before word processing?)
    
    Bye,
    
    Mike

    Hi Mike,
    
    I've been a student of ACIM for several years now, I think it was here
    in DEJAVU or else the HOLISTIC notesfile where I first heard of it.
    
    Unicorn Bookstore in Arlington carries ACIM, along with the bookstore at
    Interface in Cambridge.  In southern New Hampshire, Barnes and Nobles
    carry it now (I'm pretty sure), Toadstools Bookshop in Milford, NH, and
    Heart Song gifts in Amherst, NH all carry it.
    
    ACIM is difficult to study on ones own, so you might want to join a
    study group in your area.  There are some newsletters in existence based
    on ACIM that are helpful.  My future in-laws have studied ACIM for over
    a dozen years (they are in their eighties) and have been more actively
    involved in group work than I have and have access to a number of
    resources regarding ACIM.
    
    Please contact me offline if I can be of any further help.
    
    Ro
    

    Seeing how you mentiond TATNUK (SP) book sellers........
    
     Try Ben Franklin book store in Worcster (across from the library)
      They have a lot of Janposki's books in the Selfhelp/pshycology 
     section.
     Bill-
    
      

RE:  the last 2 or 3 notes -

THE TAO OF BOOKS store in Medway, on Route 109, carries the 'Course' book(s).  It
comes in paperback, w/all three books in one.  So the 'Text' is in the front,
the 'Workbook' comes next, and the 'Manual for Teachers' is last.  The paging is
identical to the hardcover books, so whichever version you use can be followed
by anyone.  I think the paperback is around $25.00.  At least, that's what it
was 2 years ago when I lost my hardbound 'Workbook' and got the paperback of all
three as a replacement.

Also - there's a CiM group on Wednesday nights at 7:00 in Hopedale, MA.  I work
in the Franklin plant, and would be glad to give directions/info to anyone
interested.  My DTN is 228-5676.  We have a small group, and several people come
from Worcester, and some occasionally come from Rhode Island, so anyone who wants
to come is most welcome.

Peace -

Mary

    I first became a student of ACIM in 1987 after attending a workshop on
    forgiveness as the course teaches it.  
    
    It has forever changed my life.
    
    I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home and was indoctrinated with
    the most dysfunctional concepts of God/love/what-am-I-here-for
    possible.  I studied the Bible every day and prayed and fasted to
    become a better child of God.  But by the time I was 16, the inevitable
    inner crumbling was taking place within me.  The religion that I was
    taught just didn't make sense.
    
    I was so depressed that I didn't want to live.  I escaped from the
    religion to find some peace of mind, but only found more bitterness and
    sorrow.  I was physically disabled, in constant pain, losing my job
    because of my health, angry at everyone, -- I hit rock bottom in 1987,
    ten years after tossing Christianity out the door.
    
    And in my pain, my ears grew bigger...I was willing to change.
    
    I remember one day in my hospital bed thinking over and over:  "There
    has got to be a better way."
    
    And, since I was ready, the Better Way arrived.
    
    A lecturer, Dr. Michael Ryce, was giving a workshop on forgiveness and
    it was free.  My sister asked me to go with her.  By that time my
    physcial therapy had progressed enough so that I was out of my
    wheelchair, using a cane, but I walked slowly and in great pain.
    
    I was taking Demerol and Mepergan for the intense pain I felt in my
    body.  I could barely keep track of the lecture, but I got the
    essential points:
    
    1.  I had asked for everything that was happening to me.  I was not a
    victim of random bad luck or being punished (or even more
    insidious--being taught a lesson) by God.
    
    2.  By cleaning up the garbage that I had put into my mind-body unit I
    could choose a different experience.
    
    Dr. Ryce had this worksheet and recommended that we all take it home
    and do 5 worksheets each day for 40 days.  He said that we wouldn't
    recognize ourselves if we did this.
    
    He was right.
    
    By the end of the month my right leg was behaving and letting me get
    around without a cane (without falling).  The pain was decreasing.  At
    first I didn't notice, but then I realized that the pills were lasting
    a lot longer than they had before.
    
    When I learned that Dr. Ryce's work was based in ACIM, I rushed to buy
    myself a copy.  
    
    I started reading and couldn't put it down.  I would read a page and so
    much inner healing would be going on that I would just sit there and
    cry.  
    
    The old concepts of my childhood religion were left hanging, raw nerves
    that pained me whenever they were touched.  ACIM gave me the thoughts
    that I needed to heal those old wounds.
    
    I am a completely different person now.  I changed from the inside out.
    
    For me, it was the answer to my prayer.
    
    It's not a new religion, and it's not for everyone, but--if you feel
    drawn to it--it may be for you.
    
    Love and Light,
    
    Ruth

Wow!  Thanks for sharing your inspiring story.  As a student of ACIM 
for a number of years now, I can appreciate how it does change one's 
life forever.

Much love to you.

Ro