“The task of the real intellectual consists of analyzing illusions in order to discover their causes.”
-Arthur Miller
If you look at the illusion… accept it and don’t attempt to make it something else (another illusion)… then it begins to change… it starts to disappear on its own.
If you haven’t taken the time to play the games we’ve covered so far… you can start at A Course in Miracles: Day 1
Today we begin to peel back another layer of illusion…
Our thinking tends to be locked in certain ways… and this tends to lock our perceived world into patterns…
We may describe these thinking patterns as:
- Sentimental
- Nastalgic
- or simply “The Past”
Are You Ready to Release the Patterns of the Past?
A Course in Miracles: Day 8
The game for Day 8 is:
My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
This exercise should be done with eyes closed.
As with many of the games, you will want to take some time to watch the thoughts that are arising in your mind for a minute or two… then start to notice the central theme of the thought… and state what appears to be the theme:
- I seem to be thinking about work
- I seem to be thinking about a movie I saw recently
- I seem to be thinking about my friend
- I seem to be thinking about bills
- I seem to be thinking about sex
- etc.
This, of course, is the reason for the idea/game from Day 7 (I see only the past). The preoccupation with past programming/perceptions is the reason that the past is all we tend to see.
You will want to end the exercise with
“But my mind is preoccupied by past thoughts”
Practice several times throughout your day.
My Experience:
Some of the things that came up for me were difficult to accept.
It doesn’t seem like all my thinking is locked in the past.
But as the workbook tells us… we don’t have to believe the idea is true… we just have to walk through the steps and play the game to the best of our ability, and the transformation will take place.
That’s definitely what seems to be happening.
Some of the internal shifts are subtle… but I’m still noticing them…
It is weird to think that the way we think not only gives rise to the world of illusions… but also all the suffering we experience within it.
To make it a little bit easier…
Blend what we’ve played with so far into a single process:
- Do a little EFT tapping for a minute (get your energies flowing)
- Put on a brainwave entrainment track
- Take a few deep breaths
- Get relaxed and centered
- Just allow yourself to notice your arising thoughts for a minute or so.
- Play today’s game from A Course in Miracles (“My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts”).
Again, if you haven’t done the games from A Course in Miracles while using brainwave entrainment… then I encourage you to get one of the instant downloads from The Unexplainable Store. It is a different experience… I’ve only tried it with one track (Shaman Consciousness) so far, but I look forward to playing with more.
See you tomorrow for Day 9!
keep smiling,
Ben
P.S. Here’s a quick summary of the ideas/games we have covered so far from ACIM (If you haven’t already practiced them, go back through, read the posts, and practice the games):
- Nothing I see in this room means anything.
- I have given everything I see in this room all the meaning that it has for me.
- I do not understand anything I see in this room.
- These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room.
- I am never upset for the reason I think.
- I am upset because I see something that is not there.
- I see only the past.
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