I’m on Lesson Five:
“I am never upset for the reason I think”
I’ve been repeating this today at work, not trying to intellectualise. Better to get a feel for the meaning, taste the texture, the nuance.
Why do I get upset? The lesson implies there is more to this than meets the eye…oh, it’s tempting to rush ahead.
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December 3, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Keith Padden
Does the same thing apply to everybody with whom we have contact during the day? It must do, I guess!
Is the reverse of this statement true also? That is to say: I am ALWAYS upset for the reason I think? I don’t know. I suppose the implication of the lesson is that the reverse is not true.
Is ACIM a solution to getting upset? I would love to know if it is. I don’t know if it is, or not. Are there times when we’re justified in getting upset?
I am thinking of the “person” who dictated ACIM. He got very upset in the Temple one time, but for an excellent reason. He similarly got upset with some of his disciples, but once again with good reason. Could you call the latter a “teaching experience?”
Some spiritual teachers say that if another person appears to be upset with us, then that’s just because we happened along at the wrong time.
The person concerned was already upset, and so somebody was going to get it sooner or later, and we just drew the short straw.
In other words, even though we might take it as such, it isn’t a personal attack on us. We might wrongly interpret it as such, and then an argument starts.
I can do that without the need of anybody being present. My PC is slow tonight, and the Broadband connection keeps dropping out. I get upset. Justified or not?
Is it nothing to do with the PC, but rather my natural tendency to “control freakery” that is causing the upset? In other words, am I upset because I seem to think that I’m not in control, when I really do want to be?
Welcome to what could be called “The Onion Skin.” You peel away one layer, and you find another. You peel away that layer, and so on.
Oh, man! Where does it end?
December 4, 2007 at 6:42 pm
skywood
Hi Keith, thanks for responding.
Yes, indeed where does it all end?
“Is ACIM a solution to getting upset? I would love to know if it is. I don’t know if it is, or not. Are there times when we’re justified in getting upset?”
Not sure if ACIM, or anything, is the solution as such. My guess is it’s possibly a useful tool…I’ll have to see how it plays out.
And yes there are times we are justified in getting upset but I think the point is to do something with that upset other than throwing it in the face of the next person one bumps into.
That’s what I’m trying to do. A lot of my suffering comes from blaming other people and things for the woe that ‘poor me’ has to endure.
And yet, at times that suffering does come from other people and things, and sometimes it is right to take whatever action is necessary…
I don’t know yet, I’m still working on the workbook and trying not to figure it all out too much. We’ll see what happens.
December 17, 2007 at 6:20 am
Tim
Hi Martin,
I think that’s very wise to “work on the workbook and not try to figure it out”. Despite the fact that I’m not at all sure about the *theory* part of ACIM any more, there no doubt that the WB lessons can have a profound affect.
As you’re indicating, the best approach (IMHO) is to try it and see.
Ultimately, the one who is doing the lessons will have to be considered: Who’s doing the lessons and what are “they” aiming for? That’s where the dual and nondual aspects of ACIM can be confusing.
Cheers,
Tim