In this video, authors “Dr. Bob” a.k.a. Robert Rosenthal, M.D. and Bruce Rawles resume – after a half year intermission – their ongoing conversation about A Course In Miracles (ACIM) and cover plenty of interesting topics. Dr. Bob is the author of three excellent unique books about ACIM: From Loving One to One Love: Transforming Relationships Through A Course In Miracles, From Never-Mind to Ever-Mind, and From Plagues to Miracles.
We began, as we enjoy doing, with an opening prayer, suitable as a preface for any gathering, activity, or decision, as it aligns us with our Inner Kindness Teacher and the purpose of our shared interest of waking up from the dream of separate interests; leaving the quagmire dream of unfounded, unconscious guilt:
“You can do much on behalf of your own healing and that of others if, in a situation calling for help, you think of it this way:
²I am here only to be truly helpful.
³I am here to represent Him Who sent me.
⁴I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me.
⁵I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me.
⁶I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.”
Forgiveness lets us know that minds are one, as Bob reminded us, and what seems to stand in the way of that forgiveness is the tyranny and terrorism of specialness – the sharp-edged toys of specifics used (misinterpreted) by individual egos for the purpose of maintaining the belief in separation. Holy Spirit – to which we ALL have unshakeable eternal access because it is our real Identity – helps us de-interpret the ego’s misinterpretation of everything, ultimately undoing perception itself to transform the world from the level of mind. We learn that changing our thoughts about the world, rather than trying to changing our projected world – with help from our Inner Kindness Teacher – is what brings effective and consistent – truly sustainable peace.
We read a bit from Lesson 161:
“2. Complete abstraction is the natural condition of the mind. ²But part of it is now unnatural. ³It does not look on everything as one. ⁴It sees instead but fragments of the whole, for only thus could it invent the partial world you see. ⁵The purpose of all seeing is to show you what you wish to see. ⁶All hearing but brings to your mind the sounds it wants to hear.
3. Thus were specifics made. ²And now it is specifics we must use in practicing. ³We give them to the Holy Spirit, that He may employ them for a purpose which is different from the one we gave to them. ⁴Yet He can use but what we made, to teach us from a different point of view, so we can see a different use in everything.”
We talked about how we need to question our personal (ego) misinterpretations, and how ego’s “propaganda machine” doesn’t want its unchallenged beliefs questioned … When Your Minds Up … Double entendre intended! … When I’m in ego mode, I see only what I want to see. … Fortunately, there is an awareness in every mind that there must be a better way:
“Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way.” (T-2.III.3:6)
While theoretically there’s nothing preventing anyone from waking up instantly, we typically are guided to minimize fear by not having the “blinders” removed suddenly. We again shared a favorite related quote about patience:
“Now you must learn that only infinite patience produces immediate effects.” (T-5.VI.12:1)
Other topics addressed: positive and negative feedback loops, essence and nature of self, laying aside the body, football uniforms, two thought systems, self-fulfilling prophecy, the average age of Course conference attendees, looking at empty ego promises that never deliver, Lesson 133, the FIP Facebook group, the pathological liar ego co-opting our genuine peace and claiming it as its own, Lesson 135, the bar scene from the movie Groundhog Day, problems dissolving when we give them to Holy Spirit, the experience of comfort, exquisite miracles of being loved and cared for, not knowing what anything is for, getting real guidance, second-hand cars, hot tubs, manifesting, flooring remodeling, Roseanne Roseannadanna, Gene Bogart, Lesson 79 and 80, baby bottles, spiritual infancy, big toes, catalytic converters, Prius sounding like a Harley motorcycle, what we think we want, and what we really want, the latter of which reminds me of my favorite quote from the Song of Prayer supplement (bolded below):
“2. You have been told to ask the Holy Spirit for the answer to any specific problem, and that you will receive a specific answer if such is your need. ²You have also been told that there is only one problem and one answer. ³In prayer this is not contradictory. ⁴There are decisions to make here, and they must be made whether they be illusions or not. ⁵You cannot be asked to accept answers which are beyond the level of need that you can recognize. ⁶Therefore, it is not the form of the question that matters, nor how it is asked. ⁷The form of the answer, if given by God, will suit your need as you see it. ⁸This is merely an echo of the reply of His Voice. ⁹The real sound is always a song of thanksgiving and of Love.
3. You cannot, then, ask for the echo. ²It is the song that is the gift. ³Along with it come the overtones, the harmonics, the echoes, but these are secondary. ⁴In true prayer you hear only the song. ⁵All the rest is merely added. ⁶You have sought first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all else has indeed been given you.
4. The secret of true prayer is to forget the things you think you need. ²To ask for the specific is much the same as to look on sin and then forgive it. ³Also in the same way, in prayer you overlook your specific needs as you see them, and let them go into God’s Hands. ⁴There they become your gifts to Him, for they tell Him that you would have no gods before Him; no love but His.”
“That lesson (161) gets to what I call the holographic nature of the Course. At the level of God and Christ, there is only Oneness; there can’t be fragments or differences. How can there be a difference in something that is everything? You have to … pull something out of Oneness in order to say, ‘that’s different, that’s over there, this is over here.’ So one brother is all brothers. What does that mean? If any of us were capable of perfectly forgiving even one brother, we’d be forgiving the whole Sonship. … We start at the bottom up by working on our particular relationships that are mired and mucked about with specialness and grievances. As we do that more and more we start to see that all the grievances, all the specialness, they are more alike than not, and we are allowing Holy Spirit to take them all from us and reinterpret them, so that we can see our brother’s and sister’s sinlessness. … There is no such thing as a specific in God’s Mind, so we’re really working to undo the whole mess… the whole catastrophe.” – Dr. Bob Rosenthal
Along with Tamara Morgan – daughter of Judy Whitson, the founder of the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) which publishes A Course In Miracles, Dr. Bob is co-president of FIP, as well as the author of excellent books about ACIM. The book page on his (new) Robert Rosenthal, M.D. website provides an overview of his books, novels, and screenplays. Listen to numerous interviews with Dr. Bob here as well on Charlotte Spicer’s BlogTalkRadio channel series.
Webinars from Foundation for Inner Peace
Visit the FIP Events page to register for webinars with Dr. Robert Rosenthal and other staff members from the Foundation for Inner Peace. On that page you can register for other upcoming webinars and view past ones as well; highly recommended!
This video was recorded on June 10, 2021.
Dr. Bob is the author of several excellent (highly recommended) books about A Course In Miracles; here is the most recent:
“A tranquil mind is not a little gift.” (M-20.4:8)