ACIM Shindig - San Francisco, CA 2009

ACIM Conference 2009 – San Francisco, CA Feb 27, 28, & Mar 1
Hoiday Inn – Van Ness Ave

Update 3-11-09:
After rereading what I wrote here in this blog entry several days after I had posted it, it occurred to me that there are some things I say here that may be perceived as me being obnoxious, self-righteous, and/or arrogant. That certainly wasn't my intention when I wrote this.

I have the utmost respect for the material presented in A Course in Miracles, and am very adamant about not comprising on the integrity of its message (even though I don't really work with the Course directly.) But that's the reason why Gary's teachers appeared to him in the first place, to set the record straight, as the message of the Course was being diluted and watered down. It is my intention to do my part to help keep the real message of the Course, in tact. I get very passionate and excited when talking and writing about this stuff, as it is very near and dear to my heart. So please keep in that mind if something I write rubs you the wrong way, and most importantly, remember what it's all for. Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Back in the Fall of 2007 when the announcement was made for this event, I had put down my $100 deposit in order to lock into the discounted rate in case I decided to go to this, when time drew nearer. In the Fall of 2008, I was quite certain I was not going to go, as I wasn’t feeling strongly about it, and didn’t think it would be worth my while to do so considering hotel fees, travel and parking fees, not to mention the rest of the money for the conference itself.

However, all that changed when my Course buddy Bruce Rawles, (who I like to call Bruce Almighty just for kicks) who lives about thirty minutes from me in Eagle Point, OR, told me he was going to go to the conference and stay at his mother’s house in Livermore, about forty-five miles outside of San Francisco, and commute to the conference via the BART, and that I was welcomed to join him. So, I paid the reminder of the conference fees by the end of December, and took Bruce up on his (and his mother’s) generous offer.

So the theme of this conference was called ‘A Blessing from the Abundance of our Grandeur.’ Don’t ask me what that’s supposed to mean, to borrow a line from Gary in DU, ‘I have not a freakin’ idea!’ If it were up to me, it would have been called something a little more radical such as, ‘There is no world, after all!’ Anyway, I’ll write out a day by day blow, from my perspective, including the schedule of speakers and events, as listed on the program (without the details of each speaker’s topic summary.)

Friday February 27th

12 – 4 PM Registration

4 – 4:30 PM Blessing & Song Rev.Tony Ponticello & Rev. Larry Bedini

4:30 – 5;45 PM David Fishman & Regina Dawn Akers

6:00 – 7:15 PM Breakout groups - 5 Concurrent presentations:
• Rev.Deborah & Rev.Paul Phelps
• Candace & DavidPaul Doyle
• Tom Whitmore & Carmen Cameron
• D Patrick Miller
• Carol Howe

7:30 – 8:45 PM Dinner

9:00 – 10:15 PM Breakout groups – 4 concurrent presentations
• Earl Purdy
• John Nagy
• David Hoffmeister
• Martha Lucia Espinosa

So, Bruce and I left in the early morning, with him picking me up from my home in Ashland at around 7am. The first few hours of the ride were spent with me reading out loud my hand-written Gary cards, with Bruce and I engaging in deep discussion on pretty much each one. A few hours into the drive, however, shortly after we passed Redding, we picked up a nail and wound up with a flat tire. So, we got out of the car, and Bruce changed the tire. I watched. It was done in fifteen minutes, and then it took an additional fifteen minutes to fill it up with air. A female cop pulled over onto the shoulder behind us to make sure we were all good - we were. So, after the tire was filled with air, we got back on the freeway, doing about 50 MPH since the spare tire recommended not to go any faster than that.

Bruce had mapped-out a Costco in Fairfield ahead of time to get gas, so we spent the next three hours doing fifty until we got there. It just so happens that Bruce had recently bought new tires from a Costco, so when we got there, he was able to get his tire replaced, for almost free, just paying the difference on the tread that had been used. Bruce was happy about that.

So, by the time we got to the BART station in Pleasanton, and the train ride to the Civic Center stop in San Fran, followed by the twenty minute plus walk to the Holiday Inn for the conference, it was 5 pm. The conference started at 4 pm.

So we walked into the hotel lobby and got ourselves registered. Bruce went into the room where the current speakers were speaking. I was just glad we hadn’t missed Gary, who wasn’t scheduled to speak until the next day. Anyway, with me being a vegan and into organic foods and all that, I’m very particular about my food, (perhaps even to the point of it being a false-idol,) I headed over to the Whole Foods Market. I never leave it to chance when it comes to food, so I always bring my own wherever I go. Whenever I travel, I always do my research on-line ahead of time of where the nearest health food stores in the town I’m visiting are. Fortunately for me, there was a Whole Foods Market just a hop, skip, and a jump from the hotel, so I was very pleased about that. So I walked over there to get my food for dinner, since I didn’t feel like going to the presentation.

When I came back to the hotel lobby, the presentation had just ended. There were over four hundred people attending this event, and most of them had just filtered out of the room, but I didn’t see Bruce come out. So, I walked in the room and Bruce was talking to a woman in there. So I approached them, and Bruce introduced me to Cindy, who is Gary’s girlfriend, who I presumed to be this lifetime’s Arten, as well as who Gary refers to as ‘mystery woman’ on his podcasts, but I wasn't about to pry.

So, Gary came over and suggested we carry on our conversation in the lobby since a new presentation was about to start in that room. So we were chatting in the lobby, and then I noticed Gary’s t-shirt. It was black, and it had the word ‘Jesus’ on it. But the rest of it was covered up until he moved his arm. Then I saw a cartoon picture of Jesus with the word ‘Saves.’ I made a comment, and then lifted up my sweatshirt. ‘Coincidently,’ I just so happened to be wearing my black t-shirt that reads ‘Beavis Saves,’ with a picture of Beavis as an angel. Gary and Cindy really dug the shirt, and all four of us got a kick out of the synchronicity of it all. Speaking of pictures, I should have asked Bruce to take a picture of Gary and I wearing our respective SAVES t-shirts, but I wasn’t really thinking. I had already had a picture with Gary with us wearing matching Masshole t-shirts together when he came here to Southern Oregon last summer. So getting a picture of us together wasn’t a priority going into the conference so it wasn’t in the back of my mind, though I did have my camera on me, oh well.

So, after a few more minutes of conversation, I mentioned to Gary that I’ve been posting a Quote of the Day over on the DU Yahoo group, and he said that he noticed and thanked me for doing that – to help people keep focused. Anyway, Gary and Cindy had to split but they suggested we eat at the same table with them at some point during the weekend.

So Bruce and I decided to hit one of the five presentations going on at that moment. We decided to attend the DavidPaul and Candace one since they too are residents of Southern Oregon, actually they live in the same town as me, but I’ve never met them. We walked in about twenty minutes late, and stayed until the end of it. But I pretty much daydreamed through the entire presentation while sipping my Ginger Brew– no offense to the presenters – I just had my mind on other things. So after that was over, it was dinner time.

Lunch, Dinner, and Sunday morning brunch buffets were included in the conference fees. But as mentioned earlier, I always have my own agenda when it comes to food. But I stood in the long line anyway talking with Bruce, as well as mingling with new acquaintances, which is rare for me because I’m not someone who has a lot to say, in the conventional 'world' anyway. At one point, Bruce was speaking briefly with D Patrick Miller (Gary’s original publisher) but I didn’t realize who it was until he walked by me. When he did, we kind of looked at each other and I said, “D Patrick Miller?’ He said yes and we shook hands. I then went on to say that I am big Gary Renard fan and before I got to finish my sentence he moved on to the next person. I guess I could have been offended by that, but I wasn’t. Actually, I thought it was pretty funny. Anyway, the rest of the sentence that he did not hear was, ‘….thank you for publishing Gary’s book.’ But he probably just wanted to chat with somebody who was interested in his own writing, not Gary’s. I don’t blame him.

So anyway, after getting through the buffet line, Bruce spotted the table that Gary and Cindy were sitting at, and there were a couple of empty places, so we joined them. Gary’s booking agent, Jan Cook, was also sitting at this table. There were also some other people at this table, including two people from West Virginia who I would have conversations with throughout the weekend. They seemed very familiar to me, which would be a theme throughout the weekend – meeting people I supposedly never met, yet feeling like I was part of a family reunion. Nice feeling!

Oh, another interesting conversation took place at this time in regards to Gary’s speaking schedule. He was supposed to be hitting Australia during the month of April, however, that got pushed back until November so Jan told Bruce that he’s open to coming up to Ashland in April. Right now, Bruce and I are researching venues here in Ashland in order to have Gary come do a workshop on April 25th. Giddy up!

So, after dinner, Bruce and I went to Lucia’s presentation titled, ‘From Scarcity to ABUNDANCE – How to Get Everything in Exchange for Nothing.’ It was a nice presentation, and I got a kick out of her Spanish accent being mixed in with a little bit of a Southern accent. Cute. Anyway, I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself to her after the presentation (she’s my friend on Facebook though) as Bruce and I were engaged in an extended conversation with a young Asian woman who was sitting behind me during the presentation. By the time we were done talking, Lucia had already left the room. So, I never got my Spoken Miracles book signed by her. I did, however, do a review of her book over on Amazon a while back, Mike's Amazon Reviews

So now it was after 10:30, and it was time to catch the BART. We got to Bruce’s mom’s place around midnight, and end up talking with her for about an hour before we went to bed. I was so wired from the fun interactions I had all evening that it took me well over an hour to fall asleep. Then I woke up around 5:15, and since I was to get up at 6, I just decided to stay up, so I ended up with about three hours of sleep. I did some yoga stretches, and then jumped in the shower.

Saturday February 28th

8:45 – 10:00 Breakout groups – 4 concurrent presentations
• Tom Carpenter & Linda Carpenter
• Jon Mundy Ph.D.
• Lyn Corona & Edward Duhaime
• Ian Patrick

10:15 – 10:30 ‘Abundance’ & Song

10;30 – 11:45 Gary Renard

12:00 – 1:15 Lunch

1;30 – 2:45 Breakout groups – 5 Concurrent presentations
• Nouk Sanchez & Tomas Vierira
• Sandy Levey-Lunden
• Carol Howe
• Tom Whitmore & Carmen Cameron
• Mary Gerard Lenihan

3:00 – 4:15 Breakout groups – 5 concurrent presentations
• Candace & DavidPaul Doyle
• David Hoffmeister
• Ian Patrick
• Earl Purdy
• Rev. Deborah & Rev Paul Phelps

4:30 – 4:45 Grandeur & Song

4;45 – 6:00 Rev.Robert & Mary Stoelting

6;15 – 7:30 Dinner

7:45 – 9:00 4 Breakout groups – 4 concurrent presentations
• John Mundy
• D Patrick Miller
• John Nagy
• Lyn Corona & Edward Duhaime

9:15 – 11:15 Dance

So Bruce and I were out the door at about 6:45 AM, and arrived just in time for the morning presentations. I wasn’t up for sitting through any of the presentations, so I decided to walk around the city with my iPod in tow, listening to Enya. Bruce attended the Carpenters presentation. I have the Carpenter’s book, Dialogue on Awakening, but I have never read it. I’ve skimmed through it several times but it has just never jumped out at me.

So I just spent part of the morning walking up California Street – the residential part of it. I was noticing that there were these gingerroot looking trees that I don’t recall ever seeing anywhere before. Anyway, I made it back in time for Gary’ presentation, of course. And I didn’t feel like sitting down, so I just stood in the back of the room for the entire 75 minute lecture. As Gary’s podcast buddy Gene Bogart said on a recent podcast about what you get at Gary’s presentations, ‘Just the raw truth mixed in with a few jokes!’ Well, this was certainly no exception.

Actually, we got more than a few jokes; Gary cracked many of them. Anybody who has been to a Gary workshop knows what these are: The 3 nuns trying to get into Heaven; The extra ticket to the World Series at Fenway Park; The Pope being called Elvis; The Daily Chicken; The drunk Jesus and Judas; The Talking Dog; The grocery store. There may have been more, but that’s all I remember at this time. Gary started his lecture by saying, “Hi, I’m Gary, and I’m a recovering jerk!’ Aside from his jokes, Gary spoke about the Course, as well as his recent divorce process. It all ended with a very deserving standing ovation. When it comes to the Course, he’s the freakin’ man! I say deserving because he tells it like it is while being a wicked funny bastid! (Incorrect spelling on purpose to reflect Masshole language!)

Oh, before Gary’s presentation, I got to speak to him again for a few minutes in the lobby. I told Gary that he’s the only reason why I came to the conference (as far as speakers go.) I went on further to say that I am a ‘Gary Renard junkie,’ always reading and listening to his stuff, and that Disappearance is my favorite book, ever, with Your Immortal Reality as #1B, and that there is no close 2nd, including the Course itself. I told him it’s Arten and Pursah’s words that keep me focused, motivated, and inspired, (although J-Dog is the one I converse with regularly in my mind.) From my experience, you don't necessarily need the Course in order to do the Course. As Gary's teachers say on p 108 in DU, 'The truth is an awareness - not a book.' Arten and Pursah spell it all out very well. But, that's what works for me. Actually, my mom is in that same boat too. So anyway, I just thanked Gary for putting himself, as well as his material, out there.

So after Gary’s presentation, it was lunch time. We spent part of the time at one table, and then eventually migrated to another table where Gary and his adopted family were sitting (Cindy and her mother.) While conversing, the subject of dogs got brought up, and I end up mentioning that when I was in Catholic school, the nun used to tell the class that dogs don’t get mad, they get angry. I had no idea what she meant by that, until I asked my dad one time, and he told me that it was because if you spell out ‘mad dog’ backwards, it reads ‘god dam.’ So they got a chuckle out of that. Anyway, it was time for the next slew of presentations, and it was a nice day, and I just didn’t feel like sitting around listening to somebody who wasn’t Gary tell me about A Course in Miracles, so I hopped on a cable car around the corner from the hotel. Bruce, Gary, and the rest of the people at the table went to Nouk and Thomas’ presentation where they were all given a whoopee cushion. Bruce snagged an extra one for me.

So, meanwhile, I got off on the last stop of the cable car at the end of California Street, walked around some, on a mission to find some bandanas, with again, my iPod in tow, listening to a mix of Gary’s stuff as well as some Metallica. The reason I was looking for bandanas was because there was to be a dance at the hotel that night, and Mikey doesn’t dance without wearing a bandana, and without having another one in hand. There was no mention of a dance on the email correspondence with Community Miracles Center beforehand, otherwise, I would have packed some.

So, Mikey needed to find some bandanas. I found an area where people were selling t-shirts, jewelry, art, and what have you, but came up empty on finding bandanas. So I turned around, and started making my way up hill on California Street, passing through the financial district, then turning off into Chinatown. Anyway, I spent close to two hours there going in and out of stores – but still found no bandanas, although I did buy myself a nice denim shirt that said ‘San Francisco’ on it. As a side note, Chinatown in San Francisco is huge, it seemed never ending. The one in Boston is practically non-existent in comparison.

So once I was done with Chinatown, instead of getting back on the cable car, I just hiked up the hill all the way back to the hotel. Right around the corner from the hotel, I found a gift store that just so happened to carry bandanas, yay! Mission accomplished! I bought a few.

Well, one of the highlights of the conference for me was definitely the dance. A pretty decent set list of music was played, including some of my favorite dance jams: You Shook Me All Night Long, Play That Funky Music, The Superfreak, Love Shack, and Mony Mony. There were probably at least a hundred people or so on and around the dance floor.

I used to dance (Ecstatic) regularly on Sunday mornings here in Ashland my first year and a half or so upon moving here, and now just go from time to time. So it was very fun to get out there dancing again, especially since it was with an entire different cast of people who weren’t accustomed to my whacko dancin’ style - hoppin’, skippin’, and jumpin’ around like a little kid. At the Ecstatic Dance, some people love me for the energy I bring to the dance, but for others I’m quite certain I'm there opportunity to practice forgiveness, although they probably don’t realize that, since I don’t believe any of them are Course students. Well, either way you slice it, I’m there only to be truly helpful! So I would imagine that it was the same case here – although Course people are supposed to know that they are supposed to forgive me. Anyway, Mikey’s gotta do what Mikey’s gotta do, and Jimmy cracked corn, and I don't care!

So I did my typical weaving in and out of dance traffic, busted some funny lookin’ dance moves - with head bangin’ and skinny white but shakin’, and of course my little ritual of using my bandana as a fan to cool people off as I make my rounds around the dance floor. Also, I had a couple of people I hadn’t even conversed with up until that point, stop me to have their picture taken with me, funny!

So, I had a surprising amount of energy considering that I had only got 3 hours of sleep the night before; also, I had done about 6 – 8 miles worth of walking (including up some steep hills) earlier in the day, and the fact that I had indulged in food just a couple hours prior to that so I was pretty full. Just further evidence that the mind is in control of the body, as I was just running on adrenalin from being in a state of bliss.

So, shortly after the dance, Bruce and I did our mile plus walk to the BART station, and got back to his mom’s around 1 am. I got 4 hours of sleep this time. Yay!

Sunday March 1st
8:45 – 10 Breakout groups – 5 concurrent presentations
• Mary Gerard Lenihan
• Tom Carpenter & Linda Carpenter
• Martha Lucia Espoinosa
• Sandy Levey-Luden
• Nouk Sanchez & Tomas Vierira

10:15 – 11:30 Sunday Service

11;30 – 12:45 Brunch

So, coming off of a total of seven hours of sleep in the last two nights, and with my calves feeling like they had been run over by a truck, I decided to just hang out in the hotel lobby, while reading through my Gary cards. We were a little late for the start of the morning day because the BART trains don’t run as as early on Sunday mornings. But it was absolutely wonderful just hanging out in the lobby– had some wonderful conversations with several people who stopped by, including two women who I was already friends with on Facebook (from New Hampshire and British Columbia) prior to the event. Several others stopped by just to say that they had a lot of fun at the dance the night before.

So before I knew it, it was time for brunch, which ended at 12:45, but our table of five or six of us were engaged in deep conversation until about 2. But it was time for Bruce and I to hit the road, as much as we would have loved to hang around longer.

Well, this was something I certainly needed - to get out of town for a little bit and be in a big city, and meeting some new people – as I had been feeling very restless and stagnant for several months prior to the event. But, I totally forgot about that all that this past weekend - fun!

So, I only attended three of the presentations all weekend, two of which, admittedly, I wasn't totally present with. But I didn't go for the presentations so it's all good. For me personally, I just didn’t feel a need, nor felt very really drawn, to attending any of them. I mean, I’ve got Arten and Pursah’s uncompromising, inspiring bluntness, bad ass Gary with his ‘dirty’ jokes, conversations with J-Dog going on in my head, and most importantly, my abundant willingness to do this work. I’ve already done the spiritual buffet line, and have no intention, nor desire, of doing A Course in Miracles version of the buffet line. A buffet line is certainly alright in the short term in order to develop a spiritual background, however, in the long run, you just end up becoming 'a jack of all trades but a master of none.' And the goal of the Course is to achieve full mental mastery. I know what Arten and Pursah say is the truth, and there isn't one thing I disagree with them on, so anything in addition to that, for me, would be superfluous.

So what else do I really need? As far as I’m concerned - and I say this with all humility - but I have the same level of understanding of the Course as Gary does, and for me to sit there listening to someone who may be potentially sugarcoating it or watering it down, or making it more complicated than it has to be, wouldn't be the best use of my time. Because once you have all that, you have compromise, and once you have compromise, you no longer have A Course in Miracles. With all that said, however, I am by no means claiming to have mastered the art of true forgiveness; I'm still a work in progress on that and that's why I keep taking in Gary's stuff over and over again, in order to keep me focused and motivated on the task at hand.

Anyway, it was great for me to go because I met some really wonderful people whom I've felt I've known before. Very nice! Also, it was an excuse to get to San Francisco, since I hadn't made it there in the nearly five years since moving out to the west coast. It was about time!

God Is