Taking Responsibility for Dreaming

There are no victims in this world

So, I’m currently reading Gary’s second book, Your Immortal Reality, for the sixth time, and there’s a section in there that really hit home for me while reading it last week. Now, of course, I already knew this, but that’s why repetition is so very important, and necessary, when it comes to hearing right minded ideas. As you hear these ideas over and over again, they sink in on an even deeper level.

So in chapter four of YIR, Murders Without Corpses, Gary talks about how the founder of one of the most recognized organizations within the Course community, Miracle Distribution Center aka MDC, ‘screwed’ over his critically acclaimed book, The Disappearance of the Universe, saying that they refused to carry it despite its popularity amongst Course students.

Note: According to the Miracle Distribution Center website, the names of the founders of MDC are Richard and Beverly Hutchison. Neither name was mentioned in Gary’s book, however, a woman was referenced.

So Gary went on bitching and moaning to Arten and Pursah about this woman, saying that she could at least carry the book without having to promote it. Gary also went on to say that MDC not carrying Disappearance was 'a public smack in the face.' That’s what I love about Gary, he just puts himself out there as being human, not anything special, nor presenting himself to be more ‘evolved’ than the rest of us - at least I’ve never gotten that impression. He’s just going through the same forgiveness process like the rest of us. And like the rest of us, he’s not perfect about doing it all the time. I have a great appreciation for his authenticity. I mean, Gary could have edited this part out of the book, among other things that showed he wasn’t perfect in practicing the Course, but I don’t think his books would have had the same impact. Arten and Pursah knew what they were doing when they chose him to appear to. If A&P appeared to someone who was practically enlightened already, not many of us would be able to relate. With Gary, it’s as if we are walking in his shoes in a sense. So A&P chose some typical wise-guy that we can all relate to, a regular guy that digs women, music, sports, and beer (not necessarily in that order) which helps put the reader in the mind-set of, ‘Hey, if this clown can do this forgiveness gig, so can I.’

As a side note, this past summer I sent an email to MDC suggesting they carry Gary’s books and CDs, and asking them why they didn’t. I mean, they carry Marianne Williamson’s A Return To Love, a book that is allegedly based on A Course in Miracles, but it’s quite obvious just in the introduction part of the book alone that she doesn’t really get it. Now, I’m not suggesting that her work cannot be very beneficial to people in some way. In fact, I know it is, as back in the 90’s I was heavily into Wayne Dyer and the like, who speak on pretty much the same level as Marianne, and they were very helpful to me at the time. So I certainly wouldn’t knock Marianne, nor knock anyone who is into her stuff. With that said, however, her work shouldn’t be confused with the uncompromising message of A Course in Miracles, because as Arten puts it, ‘….once you have compromise, you no longer have the truth,’ (DU p 18.) Marianne’s work is about fixing up your life, while the real message of A Course in Miracles is about waking up from what you think is your life - as Arten would say, ‘That’s not just a minor distinction.’ Not that there is anything wrong with trying to fix up your life, but that is not the focus of the Course, although it can be a fringe benefit; and Mikey is down with fringe benefits!

So anyway, I got a response to my email from MDC saying one of the reasons why they don’t carry Disappearance is because of an article written by a Greg Mackie a couple years ago, who had some unflattering things to say about Gary and his experiences. They didn’t give me any other reasons as to why, and I find it a tad askew that some Course people will be quick to question Gary about his experiences, yet, accept the fact the Course came from Jesus himself! But I just left it at that. I’m here only to be truly helpful, so trying to convince people of something they are not ready for, is not a good use of my time, and a waste of the other person’s time as well. So I didn’t respond to the email. My personal opinion is that people just look for ways (both consciously and unconsciously) to avoid and resist the truth, which you can’t run away from in Gary’s books, as Arten and Pursah’s message is so blunt! But there’s no shame in that - some people are in elementary school, junior high, high school, college, and so forth; it doesn’t make one person better than any other - you are, where you are. Not every one is ready for this stuff, so as Jack Nicholson says to Tom Cruise in the movie A Few Good Men, ‘You can’t handle the truth!’ Oh, I have to mention this too since I’ve always been a big Seinfeld junkie - George Costanza does an impersonation of Jack Nicholson using that same quote in the classic Marine Biologist episode where Georgie Boy saves a whale by pulling out a golf ball from the whale’s blow-hole, a Titleist golf ball that Kramer had hit into the ocean. Anyway, there will come a time when everybody will be able to handle the truth!



Ok, so now trying to get back to my original point. What I also love about Gary’s books is that Arten and Pursah are right there to correct Gary whenever he goes off course. When Gary forgets to do his forgiveness homework, A&P are right there to put everything in proper perspective. We are all still human, and sometimes we feel a need to vent before we do the forgiveness work. And Gary is no exception. I think he is a representation of each of us, so when Arten and Pursah are gently, or not so gently, reminding him of what needs to be done, they are also reminding us to practice forgiveness on the things that push our buttons and piss us off on any given day. Although, as my old man used to say me, ‘It’s better to be pissed off than pissed on!’

Now getting back to Gary’s grievance with the founder of MDC, Pursah goes on to explain to Gary how people orbit each other, much like how planets orbit the sun. And that Gary knew this woman in previous lifetimes, and that they were even married once, including one lifetime where, according to Pursah, Gary had killed her; so they had some unfinished business. So we all get an equal share of playing the role of victim and victimizer throughout all our lifetimes, and sometimes even within our own lifetimes. So this woman had an unconscious grievance towards Gary the minute she saw his book. So in this example, Gary is the ‘victim’ in this lifetime. Now here’s the part that really hit home for me, after reading this again, it just sunk in at a deeper level, so much so that I was thinking of this quote in my dream while asleep the other night, (I love it when that happens!) So as Pursah so eloquently put it to Gary, ‘The question is, what are you going to use it for this time, freedom or bondage? Are you going to get that you are not a victim and take responsibility for dreaming, or are you going to make it real and stay stuck here?

So, there’s no excuse for not doing the forgiveness work, as it is only our own freedom and peace of mind being delayed by not doing it. But as the saying goes, ‘It’s simple but not easy.’ But I can see why Gary would be irritated by this experience he had with that woman, and would be tempted to go on whining about it all. And on the level of form, he is certainly right. But as the Course asks you, ‘Do you prefer you be right or happy?’ The trick is not to let the ego rule you, and not allow yourself to get sucked into all this crap, and most of all, to remember what it is all for – forgiveness of the ego’s script. And remembering is the hardest part. Another reason why repetition in hearing right-minded ideas is so necessary is that it becomes more easily accessible when the shit hits the fan!

I remember back in my days as a smart-ass teenager, my mom once asked me that same rhetorical question, would I’d rather be happy or be right, and my response was, ‘Well, I’m happy when I’m right, damn it!’ Of course, as a student of the Course, I now know all being right will do is keep me stuck in illusions, but it can certainly still be a temptation at times.

So, on a personal note before I close, I’ll be attending the ACIM conference in San Francisco that’s taking place the weekend of February 28 – March 1. Gary will be among many others speaking there. I hope to have another post to my blog up before that, but if not, my next post may very well be about my experience at the conference. Also, I still want to get my catholic school story up on here at some point this year, just for a change of pace and a fun read that has nothing to do with Gary’s books or ACIM.

So, I wanted to wrap up this post with the definitive statements from the Course mentioned in the same chapter as Gary’s forgiveness lesson with MDC. Pursah says a definitive statement is an idea in the Course that is so clear it defines what the Course is teaching, and it encapsulates what the Course is saying. So here are a few mentioned:

There is no world! This is the central thought the Course attempts to teach. Pursah follows up this quote with this: If there is no world, then there’s nothing to forgive, and recognizing that fact in the events, situations, and people you see is advanced forgiveness, because now you’re not forgiving other people for something they’ve really done, you’re recognizing that they haven’t really done anything. So you’re actually forgiving yourself for dreaming them. That distinction is vital. Without it, you’re doing the old-fashioned kind of forgiveness, which can’t undo the ego.

Anger is never justified. Arten says that if you made the whole thing up, then who is there to be angry at? And a related idea; The secret of salvation is but this: that you are doing this unto yourself. Arten goes on to say that these two ideas fit together like a hand in a glove, and once you really get them, then there’s no getting away from them.

The world you see is an illusion of a world. God did not create it, for what He creates must be eternal as Himself. Yet there is nothing in the world you see that will endure forever.

So Happy freakin’ New Year everybody! And here’s the mutha of all definitive statements to close this puppy out:

God Is