ACIMblog bulletin for April 2014:
Jon Mundy’s Tribute to Ken Wapnick
Jon Mundy, who knew Kenneth Wapnick from the early days of ACIM’s history and is a great teacher himself, offers an excellent video tribute to Ken and his profound legacy, with lots of personal anecdotes that attest to Ken’s kindness, wisdom and sense of humor.
The Three R’s of Forgiveness
Review of the 3 Steps of Forgiveness (excerpted from a FaceBook post by Virginia Sandys McDonnell in the Out of the Blue – ACIM virtual study group)
1.) I recognize that the darkness is not in another, but in myself. This does not deny the darkened spots of sin in someone, but only that they are irrelevant to my perception. I understand that the darkness I made real in you by my reaction, originated in me, and thus I recall the projection and remove the wall I had placed between us.
This is a painful step, for in the instant of recognition the pain of my guilt returns to awareness. I realize (from Lesson 190) the gun pointed at me is not held by your hand, but my own. In other words, the guilt is not in you. I am the secret murderer.
2.) I now understand, with Jesus’ love beside me, that not only is it an illusion that you were the killer, the fact that I am a killer is an illusion, too. I made up the guilt in you because I made it up in me. Heaven’s Love was only believed to be destroyed. It truth, not one note in its joyous song of oneness was lost (T-26.V.5:4). Recognizing this happy fact completes my part in the Atonement, and the wall between my self and Self dissolves into nothingness.
3.) We are taught this step is not our responsibility. Once I look at the guilt I put in you and recall it, realizing it was only my dark fantasy, I have fulfilled my part. I looked at guilt without judgment, and remembered to laugh at the tiny, mad idea of separation, which allowed it to dissolve into the Holy Spirit’s gentle laughter (T-27.VIII.6:2;9:1).
If I become afraid of love again, I need but let the tender hand of Jesus touch another’s pain, and immediately his light of truth abolishes the darkness of illusion, as we together return to the place of truth we believed we had abandoned for the ego’s home of separation and guilt.
The secret walls of defense are no longer needed, and so have disappeared. In their place is the light of forgiveness, which shines the way to the home we never left. And thus it is no secret we are healed (T-27.VIII.13:9).
~Ken Wapnick, Ending Our Resistance to Love: From Dissociation to Acceptance of A Course in Miracles, p 137-138
… I added this commentary:
I’ve been adopting a “3 R’s” short-hand mnemonic lately for the 3 steps of forgiveness: 1) Reveal 2) Release and 3) Replace: Step 1 involves taking responsibility for my projections as I REVEAL, realize, and recognize that there’s no “other” responsible for my mind and its projected dream experiences. Step 2 requires me to RELEASE my judgments (and the associated guilt baggage that burdens my identity with fraudulent imagery and beliefs. Step 3 is done automatically by our Inner Kindness Teacher as we’ve removed the barriers to the awareness of Love’s presence; if I try to interfere here, I’ll just limit the scope of what forgiveness can do.
The importance of vigilance
In this video, Susan Dugan shares her appreciation of the current staff at FACIM, and a few of the insights they shared in Temecula at the most recent academy class there. Susan and Bruce Rawles talk about the importance of (gentle) vigilance in watching our mind for ego incursions and why this is crucial to replacing our maladaptive thought system with one that will truly work for us. (Please excuse the reference to technical audio difficulties that turned out to be experienced only on our end.)
FACIM – May Book Sale, AmazonSmile program and more
If you would like to support the Foundation for A Course In Miracles, the FACIM Announcements page currently features a May book sale, their AmazonSmile program (if you’re going to buy items from Amazon anyway), new publications, translations, information about the Foundation for Inner Peace, and more.
New Wapnick-inspired videos
Hakim Hamza has a YouTube playlist of video monologues about course-related topics, inspired by Ken Wapnick’s work; check them out! :-)
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