Once again, I started A Course in Miracles in January 2018. It was the fifth time, I think, that I started the course. It’s easier these days because they send you a daily email, but I still dropped off after a few weeks.In the past, the Judeo-Christian language was a turn-off for me, but since I’ve found out about and working towards Integral Consciousness it was no longer a problem. I could look past it.
By far the best thing I took from the course this time was the I Am That meditation. I experienced a very real breakthrough with this. It helps with judgment and empathy by using a simple mantra-like phrase to make us mindful. You simply sit in a room and allow your eyes to gently shift about the space, out the window, wherever, and as they alight on anything, you think ‘I Am That.’ You see an indoor plant – I Am That. You see a family portrait – I Am That. You see a pile of dust on the floor – I Am That. You see the cat – I Am That. You see a chipped tile – I Am That. You see an antique vase – I Am That.
This doesn’t even have to be in meditation, you can even sit at your desk at work and practice this, or at the traffic lights, or even when you’re visiting relatives…
Then when you leave the house you can do it too. At work, the phone is ringing – I Am That. You water the plants – I Am That. A crack in the pavement – I Am That. The garbage truck collects the skip bin – I Am That. A gecko runs across the ceiling – Yes, even weird little pink lizards get an I Am That.
Then you are able to extend this to people. A needy client – I Am That. A friend is late for coffee – I Am That. Your cousin wins the lottery – I Am That. I wish!
Great medicine for the soul – take five minutes each and as required. It really helps in the traffic, or when a fellow shopper is walking like they have all bloody day to do the shopping…
I am working on it…
It’s all about non-judgment, for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so ~ William Shakespeare.
I love this blog – The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally – I am inspired by Ann to work on my own year of non-judgment.
Luckily we can start again anytime because I’ve already blown it by mercilessly judging the over-dressed mother on the beach who refused to take her daughter’s sandals off because, and I quote, ‘her feet would get sandy’. The little girl looked down at her little leather sandals and sighed in defeat. yeah, yeah, yeah, I Am That, too…
We are everything that people say or think we are. We are all that, and more. And also less. 😀 we can be anything we choose to so be. But without another to guide us and help us.. It’s really difficult to have both purpose and direction on one’s own. To be the rolling stone that gathers no moss, AND also the ground from which to grow nourishing fruit of our labours. Your course thingy sounds really helpful and beneficent. ❤
I really don’t recall getting anything out of it when I’ve started it in the past because I was so turned off by the traditional language it uses but thanks to meditation and flashes of integral consciousness I’ve been able to get some value out of it. Most post modernists are going to be completely repulsed by it unless they’ve managed to reconcile their traditional religious beliefs in a post or modern way which I find really fascinating. Anyone who grew up seeing the worst aspects of organised religion may struggle as I did for sure. It’s been so helpful to me just this little nugget especially when combined with metta meditation.
Beautiful!