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A Workbook Companion, Volume I, Second Edition
SKU: B119
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Overview
Book Description
The indispensable companion to A Course in Miracles,
illuminating your journey through its 365 daily lessons. Allen Watson and
Robert Perry provide first-rate help and guidance in their Workbook
Companion series. These books offer abundant provisions
for the journey, from insightful teachings and personal anecdotes to detailed lesson
instructions and cameo essays on related topics such as meditation in the Course.
Allen and Robert’s companionship and wise counsel make the lessons spring to life,
bringing miracles into your daily experience.
Included are:
- A commentary on each daily lesson, offering explanations, illustrative personal anecdotes, and suggestions for carrying out the practice instructions
- Helpful summaries of the practice instructions for each lesson
- Periodic overviews of the goals in various sets of lessons
Volume I covers Lessons 1 through 180.
From the Publisher
Thousands of ACIM students worldwide have already benefited from the lesson commentaries and summaries found in A Workbook Companion. Scores have written to tell us how their practice of the Workbook lessons has been transformed and their understanding and appreciation of the teachings enriched. The Circle of Atonement is proud to make A Workbook Companion available now as a revised and expanded two-volume set.
A Workbook Companion has been revised before being reissued in this Second Edition. The original three-volume set has been expanded and re-issued in two volumes.
New in the Second Edition
- Cameo essays on special topics such as meditation and prayer, by Robert Perry
- Completely rewritten and expanded Practice Summaries by Robert Perry for each day's lesson
From the Author, Allen Watson
A Workbook Companion is intended, not as a replacement for the Workbook for Students, but as a companion to the Workbook to encourage students in practicing the exercises as we believe the author intended for us to do them.
May these daily readings encourage you to put the daily thoughts offered by the Workbook into practice, filling your mind with them, until you begin to experience the inner peace and joy promised by A Course in Miracles.
Praise
Advance Praise
"If the Text of A Course in Miracles is to get the messageclear in our heads, the Workbook is to bring it home to our hearts. In their Workbook Companion series, Allen and Robert speak straight to our hearts, complementing the spirit and meaning behind the lessons. Their work resonates with intellectual honesty, building our relationship with the Course on the solid ground of their years of dedicated study."
—Tim Schoenfelder, M.D.
"Sometimes it seems as though Allen is reading my mind when he writes his Workbook commentary for the day. He has an uncanny way of addressing precisely the questions and objections that occur to me. I find Allen's commentaries unique in spanning the distance between the peace and truth of the real world and the dramatic distractions of the illusory world of separation. He is never just theoretical; he knows the terrain on this path, and he is a great travelling companion."
—Milli Gravel
"Encouraging, stimulating…a beautiful and extremelyimportant work."
—Armando Brons
"The return of the Workbook commentaries is like the returnof a long departed friend. When I started the Course several years ago, the commentaries got me through the difficult but veryrewarding process of completing the Workbook."
—Dennis Weston
"Robert and Allen are companions in a very real sense. Robert's support in terms of practice, and Allen's inspired commentaries, have been my travelling friends in my study of the Course for nearly two years. They deliver genuine and often mind-expanding insights throughout the series. I keep the Workbook Companion alongside my copy of the Course."
—Clive Bayne
"The lesson commentaries have been very helpful. I have been doing the Workbook for over fifteen years, and the additional insight has expanded my understanding of the Course. Thank you very much!"
—Judy Junghans
"Since I started to use these lesson commentaries, I havegained a much deeper understanding of the Course's teachings. Allen's brilliant insights have helped me immensely, opening many new doors of understanding for me. He one of the most down to earth, loving, gifted Course scholars living today."
—Rev. Lee Poepping, Unity Church of Santa Clarita
"I have found the Workbook Companion books to be valuable tools in helping me gain a greater understanding of each lesson. They reinforce the goal for the day and encourage dedication to the actual exercise instructions so we can apply them to 'in the world' use. The commentaries enrich and enhance what can initially feel unclear. Any confusion about what each lesson might mean or how to apply it is clarified beautifully. I highly recommend these tools to anyone who has an interest in using the lessons in their daily lives."
—Kathy Smith
"Allen brings a perspective to the lessons that has helped me to understand them at a deeper level. I have also found that his references to appropriate sections of the Text have deepened my appreciation for the importance of the Text to understanding the messages in the Workbook. Instruction in how to practice the lessons also makes a wonderful contribution. A very valuable aid to anyone starting out with the Course."
—Sarah Huemmert
"Allen's explanations and commentaries are so helpful. When I am not clear about a lesson I can refer to the practice summary and lesson commentary. What a godsend they are. The Workbook Companion books are valuable and important tools in my understanding and living A Course in Miracles."
—Allison Craig
TOC
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Second Edition
Preliminary Notes on Workbook Practice
I. Introduction to the Workbook
II. Lessons 1-50
- When Should You Take Your Morning Quiet TIme?
- A Pictorial Version of the Practice for Lesson 35
- Meditation in A Course in Miracles>
III. Review I: Introduction and Lessons 51-60
IV. Lessons 61-80
- How to Listen for Guidance
- Let Me Behold My Savior
V. Review II: Introduction and Lessons 81-90
VI. Lessons 91-110
VII. Review III: Introduction and Lessons 111-120
- "Course-Sanctioned" Excuses to Not Practice the Lessons
VII. Lessons 121-140
IX. Reviw IV: Introduction and Lessons 141-150
- The Ocean of Your Mind
X. Lessons 151-170
XI Review V: Introduction and Lessons 171-180
Introduction
Introduction by Allen Watson
I've been happily amazed at the strong positive response from readers of A Workbook Companion. I had no idea that this series would turn out to be the most popular books published so far by Circle Publishing. What delights me most of all is that people who read A Workbook Companion are reacting to it just as I hoped they would react—by truly putting the lessons of the Workbook for Students into practice.
The Second Edition has some substantial changes from the First Edition. The lesson commentaries themselves (by Allen Watson) remain the same, but the practice instructions (by Robert Perry), previously called "practice summaries," have been completely rewritten. Rather than just condense the practice instructions found in the Workbook lessons, Robert has expanded on them, adding commentary and explanation, so that these pieces really coach you in detail on how to actually practice the lessons. Additionally, Robert has written a number of cameo essays on different aspects of Workbook practice. These are related to the specific instructions given at various points in the Workbook, and so are interspersed throughout the volume at the appropriate places. These cameo essays can be read as separate pieces, although they will add to the richness of your practice experience if you incorporate them as you go.
The other main change to the Second Edition is that the original three-volume set is being turned into two larger-format volumes. This means that the new Volume I contains Lessons 1-180 (the original Volume I and the first half of the original Volume II). Volume II of the Second Edition contains Lessons 181-365 (the second half of the original Volume II and the whole of the original Volume III).
In the original introduction to this series of commentaries, I declared that the most important thing I could say about them is that they are definitely not intended as a replacement for the Workbook for Students that makes up Volume II of A Course in Miracles. My commentaries are meant, rather, as companions to the Workbook, aids for students to assist them through a spiritual program that some people have found intimidating and confusing. Most of all, they are intended to assist you, as a student, in actually doing the Workbook lessons as the author intended for us to do them.
How delighted I have been to hear from one student after another that the effect of reading these books has been that, for the first time, the student has actually completed the entire set of Workbook lessons! Some have written to say that they had tried to go through the Workbook several times, and never made it, but with the help of A Workbook Companion they are thrilled to have done so.
One student did confess to me, sheepishly, that she often read my commentary and did not read the lesson it was discussing. But she was the exception. Numerous people told me that the Companion had motivated and helped them to apply themselves to the full program of the Workbook, something they would not have done without it.
The Course portrays the Workbook as absolutely essential and crucial for its curriculum in spiritual mind training. It says:
A theoretical foundation such as the text provides is necessary as a framework to make the exercises in this workbook meaningful. Yet it is doing the exercises that will make the goal of the course possible. An untrained mind can accomplish nothing. It is the purpose of this workbook to train your mind to think along the lines the text sets forth. (W-pI.In.1:1-4)
Adhering to the Workbook's structured program will train our minds to "think along the lines the text sets forth." Mere study alone cannot accomplish that, although study of the Text is also a necessary part of the training. Nor can simply reading through the Workbook lessons bring the benefits it promises. What trains our minds is actually doing the exercises. A Workbook Companion is designed to help you to understand and practice the exercises—nothing more than that.
In Robert's and my experience, many people have read the Workbook without actually attempting to carry out the practice instructions as they are set forth. We believe that in failing to make a serious attempt to do the practice, students get only a miniscule fraction of the possible benefits. We hope that these two volumes will help students to avoid that pitfall and to enjoy the promised benefit: realigning their minds from fear to love.
Each day's lesson in A Workbook Companion contains two parts: a summary of practice instructions (written by Robert Perry), which extracts and condenses the actual instructions for practice given in the Workbook and gives helpful suggestions on putting them into practice, and a commentary (written by Allen Watson), which attempts to highlight and clarify some of the teaching given in the lessons. The commentary does not, in most cases, attempt to comment on everything in the lessons; that could fill four or five sets of books the size of these. Rather, I highlight things that have spoken to me in my reading, or things that seem most central to the lesson. You may find that a different part of the lesson speaks more directly to you; that is entirely appropriate.
How should you use this book in conjunction with the Workbook for Students? I recommend reading the lesson for the day from the Workbook and then, if time permits, reading the corresponding section from A Workbook Companion. The Companion comments on the practice instructions, often clarifying them and helping your practice to be more focused and meaningful. If, however, you must choose between taking time to read the commentary and taking that same time to actually do the practice, by all means skip the commentary and do the practice. Read the commentary later in the day, whenever you find time.
A few notes on some formatting details in the book. I have chosen to include a date at the top of each lesson; this shows the day of the year the lesson will fall on if you begin with Lesson 1 on January 1. This is purely a convenience for people who choose to do the Workbook in synchronization with the calendar. There is nothing in the Workbook itself to suggest that this is necessary or even desirable. You can start the Workbook on any day of the year you choose.
Although it isn't necessary to follow the calendar if you are working alone, it can greatly facilitate doing the Workbook along with a group of friends. The distribution of these commentaries by electronic mail resulted in hundreds of people doing the same lessons each day. In Sedona, in our local Course community, we chose to do the same thing. We found that doing so adds enormously to our ability to support one another, to encourage one another in doing the Workbook, and to discuss the lessons together.
I highly recommend that anyone setting out to follow the Workbook program also obtain a copy of Path of Light: Stepping into Peace with 'A Course in Miracles,' by Robert Perry (available from Circle Publishing). Chapter 7 gives a wealth of practical advice about making these lessons a part of a consistent, daily spiritual practice, and the book as a whole shows how the Workbook fits into the total spiritual program presented by the Course. You can find even more detailed help online at our website: www.circleofa.org.
These commentaries were written informally over a period of four or five years. They began as written meditations on the lessons in my personal journal, with no thought of publication. I covered nearly half the Workbook lessons in this manner over a period of three years. Some of the comments refer to events in my life that were current at the time, but now are long past. I have chosen to leave in many of these personal references because they illustrate so well how the general theme of a lesson can be applied to one's immediate circumstances. Many readers have told me that these personal anecdotes are often the most helpful thing in the commentaries.
In 1994, I began sharing the commentaries by electronic mail (email) on America Online, writing new commentaries for lessons not covered previously, day by day. In 1995, I expanded to the general Internet, with the help of James Hale of Latrobe University in Australia, who offered his computer system to host my electronic mailing list. A companion electronic discussion group about the Workbook lessons was also begun that year. That lasted for several years. We have since set up our own mailing lists for the Workbook lessons and discussion groups with a commercial e-mail list service. Over time I also added the practice summaries (since revised and renamed "practice instructions") written by Robert Perry for each lesson. In addition, during 1996 I posted the commentaries on the Internet newsgroup talk.religion.course-miracle.
In 1996 and 1997, I repeated the mailings, beginning with Lesson 1 on January 1. The actual daily work of sending that day's commentary was taken over beginning in 1997 by several volunteers: Valda Gostautas, of Brazil, distributed the lessons during most of 1997; Pierre Caron, a Canadian volunteer, took over late that year; and finally, Susan Carrier, in New Jersey, has been distributing the lessons for us for the last six years. In part, these volunteers have given me more time to devote to other work, so I am very grateful to them all. The enthusiastic response of those receiving these commentaries by e-mail is what originally prompted us to make them more widely available in book form.
The Internet distribution of these commentaries still continues as of this writing (June 2004), without any further effort on my part. If you have Internet access and would like to receive the commentaries via email on a daily basis, you can subscribe to the Workbook mailing list on our website.
My prayer is that these daily readings will encourage you to put the daily thoughts offered by the Workbook into practice, filling your mind with them until you begin to experience the inner peace and joy promised by A Course in Miracles.
Your companion on the journey,
Allen Watson
Portland, Oregon, July 2004
E-mail: allen@circleofa.org
Note: A Course in Miracles, which includes the Workbook for Students on which these commentaries are based, can be purchased at any major bookstore, or at a number of outlets on the Internet, including our online bookstore: www.circlepublishing.org.
Excerpts
Lesson 67 • March-9
"Love created me like Itself."
Purpose: To experience the blazing light of your changeless reality, if only for a moment. To redefine God as Love and realize you are included in His definition of Himself.
Longer: One time, for ten to fifteen minutes.
- Repeat the idea.
- Then spend a few minutes adding related thoughts, along the following lines: "Holiness created me holy. Helpfulness created me helpful." Use only attributes that fit the Course's teachings about God.
- For a brief interval, try to let go of all thoughts.
- The remainder is a meditation exercise, using the method you were taught in the 40s:
- Reach past the thick cloud of all your self-images to the light of your true Self. Sink past illusions about you and reach down to the truth in you.
- When you get distracted, repeat the idea. If this is not enough, add more related thoughts, as in the earlier phase.
- Hold in mind the confidence that the light of your true Self is there and can be reached, and that even if you don't reach it now, you will succeed in bringing that experience closer.
Frequent reminders: Four or five per hour, maybe more.
Repeat the idea. As you do, be aware that this is not your tiny voice telling you this, but the Voice of truth telling you Who you really are. I recommend repeating it once in this fashion now, so you can see the effect it has.
Remarks: The comment in 5:2 is very important. The 60s and 70s really focus on frequency, and this sentence explains why that is so crucial. You need to frequently practice the truth because you so frequently practice illusion. Specifically, "your mind is so preoccupied with false self…'images" (5:2). Contained in each normal thought is a false self-image. That is why you need to inject as many thoughts as you can that contain the truth about you.
Commentary
The Course spends a disproportionate amount of space telling us what we are, how we were created like God, Who created us, and how that reality is "unchanged and unchangeable" (2:1). Lesson 229 virtually duplicates today's thought: "Love, Which created me, is what I am." Review V has us repeat, "God is but Love, and therefore so am I" every day for ten days. And then there are all the lessons on the theme "I am as God created me." There are three lessons with that direct topic (the only lesson given more than once in the same words, in 94, 110, and 162); several others in which the idea is repeated (132, 139, 237, and 260); and twenty review lessons (201 to 220) in which we repeat the words "I am still as God created me" daily. Evidently the Course thinks this idea is worth repeating!
In fact, today's lesson tells us exactly why this thought is so important, and why repetition of it is so necessary:
It will be particularly helpful today to practice the idea for the day as often as you can. You need to hear the truth about yourself as frequently as possible, because your mind is so preoccupied with false self-images. Four or five times an hour, and perhaps even more, it would be most beneficial to remind yourself that Love created you like Itself. Hear the truth about yourself in this. (5:1-4)
We need to hear the truth about ourselves as often as we can because we have taught ourselves a false self-image, and we have taught ourselves very, very well. "Teach only love, for that is what you are" (T-6.I.13:2) is one of the most famous sayings in the Course, and emphasizes the same thing: What we are is Love, because Love created us like Itself.
How many of us, if asked, "What are you?" would find the word "love" springing immediately to our minds? For most of us, to think of ourselves as being love and only love is, to be kind, a stretch. We may think we have some love in us, but to think that Love is what we are? Not hardly. That's why we need to hear it as often as possible, why we need to repeat the idea today four or five times an hour or more during the day. That's something like eighty times today, if we are awake sixteen hours.
Love is what I am. That is why I am the light of the world. That is why I am the world's savior, and why the Christ in everyone looks to me for salvation—because what I am is the salvation of the world (1:2-5). How differently would I live today if I knew this about myself?
Notice that the lesson does not expect us to "get" this idea all at once. If we were expected to grasp it right away, we wouldn't have to repeat it eighty times. All we are looking for is to "realize fully, if only for a moment, that it is the truth" (1:6, emphasis mine). Love is in us as our true Self, and we are attempting to get in touch with the Love within ourselves (3:2-3). We may not contact It directly today, but even the effort is worth it, although we may not feel we have succeeded: "Be confident that you will do much today to bring that awareness nearer, whether you feel you have succeeded or not" (4:4).
Some day, though, some time, we will succeed; perhaps even today. It's inevitable because we cannot hide forever from what we are, we cannot escape from what is within us. At some point it will happen: "You will succeed in going…through the interval of thoughtlessness to the awareness of a blazing light in which you recognize yourself as Love created you" (4:3).
"You were created by Love like Itself" (6:4).
How To Listen For Guidance
How many times have you heard, or said, "I ask for guidance, but I just don't hear anything"? Wouldn't it be great if A Course in Miracles gave us detailed instructions in precisely how to listen for the Holy Spirit's messages?
Thankfully, it does exactly that. There is extensive training in Workbook Lessons 71-90 in how to receive from the Holy Spirit. Significantly, every point in this training is echoed by dictation Helen Schucman received years earlier, on the day before the Text started coming through. This dictation can be found in Ken Wapnick's Absence from Felicity (p. 197). I'll begin by commenting on this dictation, which was meant to help Bill Thetford in his own listening for guidance:
I can't answer where he asks amiss. When he asks right I have answered. He has a tendency to get part of an answer and decide himself when to disconnect. He should ask if that's all. Since I don't know when he's going to ring off I have to be very short and even cryptic. It chops up messages too much.
Bill's first problem is that he simply gives up too soon. This forces Jesus to make the messages "very short and even cryptic," since he doesn't know when Bill will suddenly decide to quit (this is a brief reference to the power of our free choice, which is so free that not even Jesus knows what choices we will make). Bill simply needs to be more patient. Jesus then goes on to list "three major areas" of interference in Bill's reception of guidance:
- He doesn't have much real confidence that I will get through. He never just claims his rights. He should begin with much more confidence. I'll keep my promises....
- He has to learn better concentration. His mind flits about too much for good communication. Suggest a very short phrase like "Here I am Lord" and don't think of anything else. Just pull in your mind slowly from everywhere else and center it on these words. This will also give him the realization that he [Bill] really is here. He's not too sure.
- Tell him to be sure not to mistake your [Helen's] role. If he overreacts to or over-evaluates you as a person, both of you will be in danger.
The first of the three areas of interference is that Bill listens without real confidence that he'll actually hear. Receiving guidance is one of his Godgiven rights. Bill, however, "never just claims his rights." When I first read that line it hit me like a ton of bricks: "So I have a right to God's guidance, and I should claim that right." What a refreshing and empowering idea! Asking tentatively and sheepishly may seem courteous to Jesus, but it's actually a subtle accusation that he is a liar, for he has promised that he will be there to answer us. If we believe that Jesus keeps his word, then we will listen with confidence.
The second area is that Bill has poor concentration. "His mind flits about too much." He needs to learn how to still his mind so that it becomes truly receptive. Hearing the still, small voice with a mind full of chatter is like trying to hear someone whisper to you in a noisy room while you are still jabbering away. Bill needs to learn how to quiet his inner chatter, so that the room of his mind gets so quiet he could hear a pin drop. To help him enter this state of inner silence, Jesus gives Bill a meditation technique—one, in fact, that was used by the famous seventeenth-century monk Brother Lawrence, author of the spiritual classic The Practice of the Presence of God.
The third problem area is that Bill is over-estimating Helen's role. I assume this means her role as receiver of Jesus' guidance. Certainly, he needs to respect her role, but if he lets himself get too dazzled by her ability to hear Jesus, this will simultaneously undermine his confidence in his own ability, as well as weaken his motivation to try.
Overall, Bill's approach seems to be, to put it simply, too weak. He gives up too soon, has little confidence that he'll hear, doesn't concentrate enough, and leans too much on Helen. When it comes to listening for guidance, in other words, he's a bit of a wimp. That sounds harsh until you realize that Jesus' critique applies to virtually every one of us. Surely you saw yourself in at least some of the above points. What, then, can we do to stop being "guidance wimps"?
The answer is to really go through the training provided in the Workbook. The Workbook has a bank of lessons, 71-90, designed to teach us how to listen to and receive from the Holy Spirit (almost all the quotes below will be drawn from these lessons). What I find amazing about the instruction in these lessons is just how closely it reproduces the private counsel given to Bill nearly four years earlier. Except for the caution about over-evaluating Helen's role, every single point in Jesus' counsel to Bill shows up as a main theme in these lessons. I'll list the points in the same order as we discussed them above:
Listen in patience; don't give up too soon
Once you have asked the Holy Spirit your question, "wait patiently for Him" (W-pI.75.7:8). And while you wait, periodically repeat your request, not to remind a forgetful Holy Spirit, but to renew your own attentiveness and your confidence that you'll hear.
Whenever you feel your confidence wane and your hope of success flicker and go out, repeat your question and your request. (W-pI.72.12:1)
While you wait, repeat several times, slowly and in complete patience [your request]. (W-pI.75.6:7)
Listen with confidence; claim your rights
The instructions for listening repeatedly emphasize being confident that you'll hear. The lessons are full of language designed to instill this confidence in you. They assure you that you have a "claim to God's answer" (W-pI.71.9:10), that "He will anwer" (W-pI.72.12:5), that "you will be heard and you will be answered" (W-pI.79.10:6). The attitude they encourage is captured perfectly in this quote, which sounds as if it could have been lifted straight from Jesus' advice to Bill:
There is a message waiting for you. Be confident that you will receive it. Remember that it belongs to you. (W-pI.rII.In.3:2-4)
Listen in deep silence; wait for Him in quiet expectancy
According to the Workbook's instructions, so much of the task of hearing the Holy Spirit comes down to one question: How still can you get your mind? The Course puts it plainly: "Learn to be quiet, for His Voice is heard in stillness" (M-15.2:12). This stillness, however, should not be passive and lax. Rather, it should be an alert, attentive, expectant stillness. Your mind should be poised, waiting for the answer with every ounce of your attention. Combining a quiet restfulness with a poised alertness is central to the inner art of listening. The following quotes capture this delicate combination:
Spend the major part of the time listening quietly but attentively. (W-pI.rII.In.3:1)
Hold your mind in silent readiness to hear the Voice That speaks the truth to you. (W-pI.76.9:2)
Wait in silent expectancy for the truth. (W-pI.94.4:1)
Of course, holding your mind in a state of alert, receptive waiting is something most of us can't maintain for more than about half a minute. Just like Bill, our minds flit about too much. This is why the Workbook instructs us to draw them back again and again and again—as often as we need to. Review II, in which we listen for ten to fifteen minutes, urges us to be absolutely determined to keep our minds on track: "Do not allow your intent to waver" (W-pI.rII.In.4:1); "Refuse to be sidetracked" (W-pI.rII.In.5:2).
I hope you can see just how serious the Course is about us learning how to receive guidance. The last thing it wants us to do is fail to try in the assumption that we are unable to hear. Like Bill, we can be so dazzled by Helen's ability that we neglect to develop our own. True, some people do have more ability to hear the Holy Spirit, but presumably this is only because, like Helen, they developed their ability in the remote past. We can develop ours in the present. If we will train ourselves to listen in patience, in confidence, and in silence, we too can begin to hear that sublime Voice with increasing clarity and with greater frequency.
Review II Introduction
A brief word on the review instructions. There are two longer practice periods (see "One or two?" below) of about fifteen minutes, in which we read over the two ideas and the associated comments, and then spend the bulk of the time with our eyes closed, "listening quietly but attentively" (W-pI.rII.In.3:1) for a message. Most longtime students of the Course agree that this does not mean we should expect to hear a voice, as Helen Schucman did, although some may. Messages can come in many forms: a feeling, an idea, an awareness without words. We are not used to sitting quietly just listening, and this is practice in doing so.
During the first half of the day we are to work with the first idea, and in the second half, the second idea. The shorter periods are not assigned any number; we are to continue the "frequent" applications of the previous lessons. If you take all the lessons in which a number is mentioned in regard to these shorter practices, the numbers average out to five per hour; I think we can assume that is about what is intended during these days of review.
Notice the seriousness attached to both the longer and shorter practices. I, for one, try to avoid the temptation to treat the review period as a time to slack off. This is what the author says:
Regard these practice periods as dedications to the way, the truth and the life. Refuse to be sidetracked into detours, illusions and thoughts of death. You are dedicated to salvation. Be determined each day not to leave your function unfulfilled. (W-pI.rII.In.5:1-4)
This is a course in mind training. Our minds will not be trained if we do not practice. We will not learn listening if we do not practice. This is what doing the Workbook is all about.
Plus comments on: One or two? (by Robert)
Reviews
Add Your ReviewBorders for the Edges of the Path
If you're studying A Course in Miracles, buy this book and its companion volume. Skip lunches, go without your Starbucks fixes, whatever it takes, and spend that money here. You'll thank yourself--and the authors--many times over.
Following the Course is a beautiful walk, but it's not an especially well-marked path. It's easy to find yourself in the middle of either a vacant lot or a scary junkyard while thinking you're still on the trail. If you find either of those, you are not listening to your Guide. The landscape is littered with the remains of those who've gone before and fell off along the way.
The Workbook is a deeply rewarding and expanding part of the mind training offered by the Course, but here again, it's just not that easy to "get it." This pair of books will give you left and right hand borders for the Path of ACIM. Walking a well-marked trail is not only clearer, it's more enjoyable. Even if you could do it alone, why would you want to?
Robert Perry's Practice Instruction is very helpful. He has a keen sense of what the Author is really asking us to do, and thus can lead us toward carrying that out more easily and faithfully. Certainly there is a relationship between what we put into a thing and what we get out of it.
Allen Watson's Lesson Commentaries are full of insight and practical wisdom. The value they add to our study is a multiple of any expenditure of our time or money invested in acquiring them. I admire his honesty and covet his clarity.
Both of these men are true scholars of the Course and can be trusted to help its Author bring out the most for you. Plus they're both good writers, which makes them a pleasure to read and an inspiration to follow.
My experience with Circle Publishing's books has been overwhelmingly positive. Their material is well written and easily understood. And it doesn't hurt that their volumes are aesthetically pleasing, both to the eye and the hand. As a final note, be aware that their website holds a wealth of resources.
Peace to you.
Fred Davis
Henry Dickens & Co
Member, Antiquarian Book Dealers Association of South Carolina

