Author: Shirley Durden-Stone

Contemplatives-Our Blog

Posted on by Shirley Durden-Stone

About the Lessons

Course says, "An untrained mind can accomplish nothing. It is the purpose of the exercises to train the mind to think along the lines which the course (teachings) sets forth.  The exercises are very simple. They do not require more than a few minutes, and it does not matter where or when you do them."

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About the Lessons
Like the text for which the mind training workbook was written, the ideas which are used for the exercises are very simple, very clear and totally unambiguous. We are not concerned with intellectual feats nor logical toys. We are dealing only in the very obvious, which has been overlooked in the clouds of complexity in which you think you think.

The purpose of these exercises is to train the mind to a different perception of everything in the world. The workbook is divided into two sections, the first dealing with the undoing of what you see now, and the second with the restoration of sight.

The lessons need no preparation. They are numbered, running from 1 to 365. The training period is one year. Do not undertake more than one exercise a day.

It is recommended that each exercise be repeated several times a day, preferably in a different place each time, and if possible in every situation in which you spend any long period of time.

The purpose is to train the mind to generalize the lessons, so that you will understand that each of them is as applicable to one situation as it is to another."

You will begin with lessons that will introduce thinking exercises for a different way of perceiving our world. The following is a sampling.

Lesson 1 - "Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything."

Lesson 2 - "I have given everything I see in this room[on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that it has for me."

Lesson 3 - "I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place]."

Lesson 4 - "These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place]."

Lesson 5 - "I am never upset for the reason I think."

Remember lessons are based on the teachings. The teachings will give the lessons an easier understanding. Most of the teachings are provided online, featured on course teachings websites and others, and complete books, but the lessons are provided as independent self study. You can download a PDF copy of the workbook mind training lessons here. No email or anything else required for download. Click here for download.

What Do You Believe You Are?

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What Do You Believe You Are?

Taken from the quiz, "What do you believe you are?  A human body, a human being or something else?  The answer is, "something else".

Course teaches, you are mind and your body is its tool for learning who you are.  The body is perceived, not real to your natural existence and is a projection from your mind.

The following is an explanation of why, but first let's review what the world teaches.

A Human Being is any individual of the genus Homo, a member of the species Homo sapiens. 

Homo sapiens is the modern species of humans, the only extant species of the primate tribe Hominini. n the specific name of modern man...

Hominin: Any member of the zoological “tribe” Hominini (family Hominidae, order Primates), of which only one species exists today—Homo sapiens, or human beings.

A Primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the latter category including humans.

All living creatures are thought to descend from an organism that came into being three billion years ago.

The Body is the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead.

Being is the quality or state of having existence.

Evolution is the gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form. 

We must remember that the world teaches us about being and behaving in the world. It teaches that we are our bodies and that we have evolved from monkeys and have to be trained to be a certain way.  But course teaches we were created whole, perfect, without a body or any needs, one way, and our only existence was being.

So how did we get here, seemingly stuck in believing we were monkeys evolving to become better humans, so we or our species can live better and longer lives in peace at no time in the future?

Course teaches...

The evolution of man is merely a process by which he proceeds from one degree to the next. He corrects his previous missteps by stepping forward. This represents a process which is actually incomprehensible in temporal terms, because he RETURNS as he progresses.

The confusion between your own creation and what you create is so profound that it has literally become impossible to know anything, because knowledge is always stable. It is quite evident that human beings are not. Nevertheless, they are perfectly stable as God created them.

The body is the instrument the mind made in its striving to deceive itself.

The body thinks no thoughts. It has no power to learn, to pardon, or enslave. It gives no orders that the mind need serve, nor sets conditions that it must obey.

The body is not capable of understanding. Only the mind KNOWS anything.

A pure mind knows the truth, and this IS its strength. It cannot attack the body, because it knows EXACTLY what the body IS. This is what “a sane mind in a sane body” really means.

The body holds in prison but the willing mind that would abide in it. It sickens at the bidding of the mind that would become its prisoner. And it grows old and dies, because that mind is sick within ITSELF.

(Your) Being (was) made out of the denial of the Father... minds have willed to see themselves AS separate beings; yet, each Soul knows God completely.

You cannot conceive of the real relationship that exists between God and His Souls, because of the hatred you have for the Self you have made.

You project onto your own idea of yourself the will to separate, which conflicts with the love you also feel for what you have made because you made it.  Read More

Course Not Religious

Many claim NOT to be religious and I am one of them. Tried to be, but failed at it. However, I am religious about expounding the study of our minds to learn how to think a better world.  On religion, the course teaches, "All religion is the recognition that the irreconcilable cannot BE reconciled.  Click here to learn what course teaches about religion.

Prayer

Prayer is the medium of miracles.
Prayer is the natural communication of the Created with the Creator.
Through prayer, love is received, and through miracles love is expressed.
Miracles are thought creations. Thought can create lower-order or higher-order realities.
One creates the physical, and the other the spiritual. We believe in what we create.

Every Mind Has to Join

Atonement, is a spiritual term, I've never thought about until studying the course.  I've never considered its meaning. Now, I've learned that the atonement is our final lesson and we all will have to join it.  Didn't know I needed this, did you? Learn about the atonement here... Listen to the audio. 

More Course Teachings