A Course in Miracles

Throw away the to-do list

June 6, 2023 46 Comments

“You will receive a thousand miracles and then a thousand more.”—A Course in Miracles

I have come to the conclusion that the most controversial statement in the entire Course is this: “I need do nothing.”

“But, but…..” we long-time seekers stammer.

What about meditating?

Opening your chakras?

Forgiving your mother?

All of it—every last strategy and goal and worthy intention–is predicated on the notion that something needs to be fixed, that something is broken.

When we create a list of spiritual to-do’s, we obscure our perfection, we miss the life force, the radiant joy that dances wildly though every cell of our bodies.

I used to describe myself as a spiritual seeker. But “to seek” is to remain captivated by issues and beliefs that are not real. Finding and repairing problems is an impossible quest that keeps dangling a carrot just out of reach.

The best we can do is base our little “self-improvement project” on what we’ve been so far taught. But those lessons cover but a tiny, insignificant piece of our totality.

So when I commit to “doing nothing,” I create boundless space way beyond the very limited set of facts I’ve been given. In fact, the energy exerted to hold back this unfathomable life force is far greater than the surrender.

I recently heard an interview on Conscious TV about what many call “waking up.” The host was talking about a guy named John Ray Lewis, who had a spontaneous awakening after nearly dying in Thailand. He was so bamboozled by this “new and unexpected reality” that he set out to interview others who experienced a similar retreat from “consensus reality.” What he found is that 75 percent of those he interviewed were “doing nothing” when it happened. Not one described themselves as a spiritual seeker. In fact, it had never occurred to most of them that such a spacious, gentle reality was even possible.

Not only is it possible, friends, but it’s the truth of who we really are underneath the thoughts and crazy self-improvement projects.

#222 Forever!

Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World).

This year’s Nobel Prize proves our minds render reality

December 9, 2022 27 Comments

“Our willingness to place unjustified faith in immediate perception leads us to an inaccurate and starkly limited vision of reality.”—Brian Greene

This video of how we render reality was kindly sent to me by Michael Dawson of the Action Factory who recently interviewed me on his podcast. See how the figures suddenly pop up.

I was super jazzed to learn that the main tenet of my long-time spiritual squeeze (A Course in Miracles) was just awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize for Physics. The three physicists who landed the prize called it “experiments with entangled photons,” but to quote the Scientific American headline that announced it, “The Universe is Not Locally Real, and the Physics Nobel Prize Winner Proved It.”

What that means is that we, as observers, literally create the world from our minds. In other words, we’re not interacting with a fact-based world of material objects, but with our own perceptions. Yes, it appears that objects, our bodies, etc. are real and solid, but John Clauser, Alain Aspect and Anton Zeilinger, the Nobel award-winners, just proved the key supposition of quantum theory: that local realism is false.

This means that, when not observed, material objects are not there. Nothing exists until it is perceived. Like the first lesson of the Course says, “Nothing I see means anything.” And it goes on to say that I’m the one that gives everything I see its meaning.

This idea that nothing has a position until its observed has been a prediction of quantum theory for years, but it was so stunning that nobody could believe it to be true. It makes absolutely no sense. Even the scientists making the calculations figured there HAS to be a loophole. The Nobel committee, even though they didn’t like this crazy idea that the observer “creates” the “world,” finally consented to award the prize after Clauser, Aspect and Zeilinger were able to eliminate every single escape clause.

What this means for non-scientists like me is that I literally render the world I see from my own consciousness. The nature of reality is defined by how I choose to look at it.

This is throw-out-the-streamers news because it means that the parody of life I’ve thus far created can be rewritten. Individual consciousness, profoundly limited by senses, egoic ideas and cultural messaging, can surrender and synchronize with a vastly greater reality. I mean, how cool is that?

We can literally render a different world. We can relinquish our minds, our consciousness, our beliefs to a reality that transcends time and space.

So that’s my science lesson for today, folks. As I repeatedly say, “Go out there and have the very best weekend of your life.” #222 Forever!

Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World).

Let me invite you to a different kind of party

November 29, 2022 27 Comments

“Happiness, when done right, is a kind of holiness, palpable and redemptive.”—Mary Oliver

It occurs to me that my blog posts all say the same thing. I wrap them up, of course, in different packages. But basically, they assert some variation of this theme: 1.) That our natural state is peace and happiness and that 2.) Our feckless egos tell us just the opposite.

The trick, of course, is deciding which idea to feed.

The ego is pretty mouthy and insistent. It runs like stock market ticker tape, constantly announcing that something is wrong, that something needs to be fixed.

I notice that when I place my attention on the random thoughts profusely supplied by the ego, they clump together and create whole Hollywood-worthy productions, complete with set designers and dancing penguins.

But when I feed idea #1, that my natural state is peace and happiness, I evoke a self that’s more generous, open and spontaneous, one that can respond to whatever happens to be at hand.

My thoughts, I’ve noticed, are like legos. They literally build things. One thought leads to the next and to the next and so on.

And while thoughts, when guided by the ego, can certainly construct a lot of heavily-encrusted delusions, it’s important to remember that they ARE just that: delusions. They simply are NOT true. They’re habits that our long-standing attention has temporarily set into concrete.

The good news is the delusions can be dismantled, blown to smithereens, by simply returning to idea #1.

As the Course in Miracles likes to remind me, when I let go of self-deceptions and images I’ve falsely worshipped, fear disappears and only love remains. When I give up suffering, anxiety and doubt, the awareness of eternal peace and happiness, my natural state, can’t help but come pouring in.

Welcome to the celebration of a different kind of party. #222 Forever!

Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World).

Welcome to the miracle party!

July 7, 2020 233 Comments

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”—Lewis Carroll

10001t

Wow! Wow! Wow! I had no idea that this many people would jump on board.

We’ve got miracle investigators from literally all over the world—New Zealand, Paris, Finland, Australia, to name just a few that identified themselves in the comments section.

What we’re doing this week is creating a resonant field of miracles. We’re tapping into that part of us that’s greater than what we see happening out there in the world. More than a seeking, it’s a recognition.

Living in miracles is to demonstrate what’s actually true. It’s what’s available to us when we give up our addiction to our old story. What we’re doing is planting seeds so that everyone can recognize the new story, the true story.

Today, is a new incarnation, a new chance to enjoy a better version of reality. Staying attached and stuck in the dominant paradigm of scarcity, limits and fear is counter to our own design.

Light is in us now. Why in the heck should we wait?

My big whopping miracle (I had many) was waking up to find an angel Taz once hung from her ceiling lying beside my bed. I also noticed, when I fired up my computer, there were exactly 222 messages here on the blog. It has surpassed that number now, but for me, who lives for signs from Taz, these miracles couldn’t be more perfect.

Today’s party game is to bring curiosity into everything you do. Whatever’s in front of you, whatever happens to be presented to you, ask to see it differently, ask to see it through the lens of illustrious possibility.

And remember to please report your daily miracle (the one you HEREBY EXPECT TO HAVE EVERY DAY) in the comments section below.

But mostly, remember to MAKE. THIS. FUN.

Now recruiting: miracle private investigators

July 6, 2020 274 Comments

“Hard times require furious dancing.”—Alice Walker

This week, I was scheduled to give a weeklong Course in Miracles workshop at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.

Called “All Heaven Will Break Loose,” the workshop was billed as a week “to switch off our thinking caps, cut up our vision boards and rest in the sweet, sweet experience of loving, creating, and being who we really are.”

The main idea was to generate a field of glorious possibility.

Since it got cancelled, I’d like to offer a free weeklong mini workshop right here on the blog.

I’ll show up every day with “assignments.” On second thought, let’s call them opportunities. Opportunities to find a story much deeper than the one we normally perceive. The Course calls this change of perception a miracle.

Yesterday, while zooming with one of my possibility posses, Bonita brought up a party game (that’s what I call exercises) that she’s playing right now. It’s called Find the Miracle. Every day, instead of simply noting three amazingly awesome things that happened (the gratitude program offered in my A.A. 2.0 program), she is actively looking for miracles.

What’s the difference, someone asked?

A miracle happens when we change our perception. Something we thought impossible becomes “well, duh!,” becomes our new, natural way of looking at life. The old life tells us today’s going to be just like yesterday. It says we have to follow all these steps and work really hard and hope, just hope that the other shoe is not going to drop.

Once we withdraw those projections, we find, to quote the Course, “a beauty that will enchant and never cease to cause wonderment at its perfection.”

So who’s in? Who wants to join my miracle private investigation team? All it takes is deciding right here, right now that you’re going to open up to the possibility that miracles are as normal as the rising sun. It’s a simple matter of what we expect.

If you’re down to play the miracle party game, simply commit to turning your attention away from what “appears to be.”

Instead, make the intention, have the expectation that you will be presented with at least one miracle (a big whopping miracle) every single day this week.

You’re invited to report your daily miracle in the comment section below. There will be a new post each day this week with the opportunity to share your miracles.

I’ll be reporting my miracles each day and I hope you’ll join me right here each day.

Let’s do this!!!!

Choosing a more nourishing narrative

June 13, 2020 64 Comments

“What time but now can truth be recognized?”—A Course in Miracles

With all the uncertainty right now, it’s tempting to fill in the blanks with despair. When we don’t really know what’s going to happen—with the pandemic, with the economy, with the daily unrest—it’s easy to fast forward to fear.

Lately, I’ve been doing just that, listening to my ego instead of the Voice for Truth.

My ego is like a panther, perched and ready to pounce at the first sign of mind wandering. If I go even a day or two without meditating, without counting my blessings, without tuning into a higher truth, that ornery ego slithers right in like a slimy used car salesman.

It tries to convince me that things NEED TO CHANGE. That things are definitely NOT OKAY. In my case, it especially likes to throw down the old “childless mother” card.

“You have good reason to feel sorry for yourself. You lost your only child, for God’s sake. You have every right to be miserable.”

And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Moping around. Focusing on what the Course calls “the valueless.”

In other words, I was focusing on a narrative that doesn’t serve me. It doesn’t serve my happiness, my highest intentions or the expanded awareness to which I am committed.

Just like I choose between eating junk food or healthy, nutritious meals, I choose between thoughts that are valueless (“Eeks! Everything’s going to hell”) or thoughts that are valuable (“This next breath is a lot more real than anything in the news, anything in my past.”)

Some argue that digging up the deep-seated past, addressing unconscious childhood wounds, failed relationships, etc, is how we feel better.

But I’ve discovered that the Course is right. The past is a valueless narrative with a bottomless pit. Most of it’s not even true–or not true right now.

It is only in the present that I can be free. More time, more rehashing, more ‘woe is me!’ never works.

The Course in Miracles urges me not to use these excuses, not to employ these grievances to attack myself. Those things, it tells me, reside in the lower frequencies. They’re fine, if I want to spend the rest of my life there–in the material, in the limited, in the fear.

But I made a commitment to Taz, to God and to myself that I was going to live in the higher frequency, the expanded consciousness, in what the Course calls, “the ancient peace I carry in my heart.” That’s where Taz is, that’s where we’ll all be eventually.

Every day, I get this choice. To chose a narrative of sorrow and pain. Or a narrative that brings me joy. For me, it has to be a daily practice.

A couple things that have brought me joy recently: The Space X flight a couple weeks ago was launched at exactly 2:22 my time. I enjoyed concocting the homemade yard sign in the above picture.

And this morning at Dunkin Donuts, we drove to the window only to be told that our lattes were paid for by the car in front of us. We offered to pay for the car behind us and the guy at the window said, “That’s what’s been happening all morning long.”

That’s love, guys, the only thing there is when we commit to focus on the nourishing narrative, the expanded consciousness, the Truth.

My secret weapon

April 21, 2020 15 Comments

“Hate, in the long run, is about as nourishing as cyanide.” — Kurt Vonnegut
taz photo strip

First of all, I’ve got to gush about all the AMAZING visions y’all (yes, I was born in Kentucky) added to our planetary vision board yesterday. Thank you SO MUCH!

That’s why I love possibility posses where all of us join together, play together.

One of my local posse members did me a solid yesterday by reminding me of some of my own words. (Yes, I need to re-read my own words). I find they are particularly useful when dealing with the political situation several of you mentioned yesterday in your visions for the new world.

Therefore, I decided to run the lesson from my new book, The Course in Miracles Experiment, that she said helped her so much. Enjoy!

Lesson 135 (If I defend myself I am attacked) is one of my favorite lessons. I use it ALL the time.

It comes in handy whenever I’m tempted to play victim. It’s the perfect antidote when I notice myself feeling offended by something someone says. It’s particularly useful when I forget the truth about myself.

Because anytime I defend myself, I take on a role that’s not really me.

To defend myself is to pretend I can be hurt. It’s to make believe that my perception, the hologram that proves itself over and over again to be incomplete, is somehow more accurate than the truth I’m learning here in the Course.

If I defend myself in any way, I forget that I am a beloved child of the Universe. I forget that everything is FOR me. Nothing is against me.

I forget that every single thing that happens, every single person who pushes my buttons is a gift.

This lesson doesn’t suggest overlooking something someone did to me. It says it’s impossible for anyone to DO something to me.

If my perception stays fixed (which it will once I start defending myself), nothing—not a miracle, not a sign, not an evidential slap in the face—can allow any other truth to manifest for me. All I can see, all I will ever see, is what the viewfinder of my limited perception shows me.

Instead of attacking back when my viewfinder shows my fellow humanoids spouting inanities, misinformation, and what looks like hate, I use this lesson to remember: they’re simply replaying old tapes and desperately need my love.

Radical actions such as choosing not to attack, to justify, to see the “crime” upsets the going cultural position. It creates a resonant field that goes out into the ethers making our world a little sweeter, a little safer, a little more beautiful.

Also, I’ve been meaning to mention that Hay House is sponsoring another You Can Heal Your Life Summit. I’m one of dozens of authors who will be included in this FREE week-long summit. If you haven’t already signed up (did I mention the Summit is absolutely free?), you can do it here.

Thanks, everybody. 222 Forever!

The BIG reset

April 6, 2020 566 Comments

“If you’re thinking, ‘but my life is upside down,’ don’t worry. How do you know down is not better than up?—Shams of Tabriz

taz-sunflower2 — This is the beautiful light that inspired the 222 Foundation. Taz Grout! 222 Forever!

We used to have lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!) to frighten us on our journey through life. Now we’ve got a little device no bigger than a deck of cards. As we navigate this new time in our planet’s history, it’s vital that we don’t debilitate our nervous system, that we don’t let thoughts of fear pitch a tent in our minds.

By all means, check in on the latest health and safety recommendations, but right now, while things are going down on the planet, it’s more important than ever to practice spiritual principles.

A Course in Miracles asks me to focus on this: I am complete and healed and whole. I am united with my brothers and sisters, secure in light and joy and peace.

In this week’s lessons, I am asked to remember these Truths for five minutes every hour. Now that sounds like a huge commitment (and in the interest of complete transparency, I’ve never once, in all my years of practicing the Course, remembered every waking hour), but making the intention to put spiritual principles above my addiction to my phone helps me retrain my mind. It makes it more likely that when some fear tries to flag me down, my automatic response is not panic, but a proclamation of the truth the Course is teaching me: That I am safe, that I am in perfect harmony with all there is and all there ever will be. Today’s lesson goes so far as urging me to do my part in bringing happiness to all the world.

While on the subject of happiness, I must tell you I have had SO. MUCH. FUN watching all the Stay-at-Home dances that have been posted throughout webland. So far Taz’s 222 Foundation, thanks to the first 22 dancers, has given money to orphans in Ghana, No Kid Hungry, Trans Lifeline, Reece’s Rainbow, an Emergency Rescue in upstate New York, a House of Hope, Warrior Dogs and a bunch of other amazing organizations. As Mr. Rogers advised us, Look for the Helpers!

Thanks one and all for playing along. It is my belief that our greatest longing is to be of service, to make the world a better place. And why not have fun while doing it!

So I’ll end today’s post with a quick question. How are you spending your mental time? Are you dodging lions and tigers and bears or are you stepping up your spiritual game?

Okay, one more question. I have considered moving these posts to my FB page. They automatically post there anyway, but I’d love to hear in the comments section below if you enjoy getting them as an email in your inbox (like this) or if you’d rather just find them on my FB page when you’re so inclined.

Love you guys! Stay safe! Stay happy! Stay kind!

Uplifting the Planet, One Dance at a Time

April 2, 2020 75 Comments

“Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance–Martha Graham

Two days ago, I woke up discouraged and lethargic. The crazy uncle in my head was concocting a major soap opera. Act I: Woe is Me, starring Pam Grout. Act II: We’re all going to die.

And then, during the commercial break, I remembered: “Oh yea, you’re a Course in Miracles student. This is the time to ask for a miracle. This is when you ask J.C. and the Holy S to replace the grievance in your head with true perception. I uttered a hesitant, mousy “Help!”

I turned to my phone (not normally recommended for escaping soap operas) and there, awaiting me on Twitter, was Jack Black dancing in his skivvies, cowboy boots and cowboy hat. He called his masterpiece a “Stay-at-Home” dance. It was the exact miracle I needed.

I immediately shared on Facebook, proclaiming his gift to the world a more potent morning pick-me-up than my A.A. 2.0 program.

So thank you, Holy S! Thank you, true perception! And especially thank you, Jack Black, for reminding me that one of the best ways to serve the planet is to get on a higher energetic frequency. Especially right now. Those of us who know about the power of consciousness, who know it’s our energetic vibration that creates the framework for our lives owe it to the world to radiate glee, joy and well, goofiness.

In recognition of this truth, the directors of the 222 Foundation (Taz and me) convened and decided to offer a new challenge for changing the current consciousness of the planet. To reiterate our mission, we believe all people long to be generous and create beautiful things, we believe all humans are interconnected (even when they’re home alone) and we believe tiny actions have great significance.

Right now, for example, I’m enjoying the notes and pictures from the Random Acts of Money project we funded in Snohomish, Washington. The inimitable Kimmy Rhoads, who pitched the project, is turning money into art, adding encouraging notes and changing people’s lives.

Speaking of changing lives, the Taz Grout 222 Foundation is offering $222 to the charity of choice to the first 22 daring dancers who are willing to post a video of their own Stay-at-Home Dance. Maybe you want us to reward your local food bank? Your free health center? Your community art center?

Post your dance here or on FB, Twitter or Instagram. Tag the @TazGrout222Foundation. Just make sure to send a link in the comments below. Weird costumes are encouraged.

For those who are thinking, you want me to do what?$%!!!!, I offer this video interpretation of my own interpretation of Jack Black’s now viral dance. I look forward to seeing your creations!!!

Just another day to love and serve

March 27, 2020 43 Comments

“It’s the best possible time to be alive, when almost everything you thought you knew is wrong.”—Tom Stoppard

Medical peeps are doing their thing. Delivery services, grocery stores and governments are doing theirs.

My “thing” has always been overturning consensus reality. Offering a story that’s different than what we’ve long believed. Some people call these miracles.

At very least, these stories beg the question: Is it really true things are scary now? Is it really true we’re in danger?

Things aren’t always as they appear. A Course in Miracles, in fact, proposes a revolutionary overhaul of ALL our beliefs. It wages an outright challenge to the fundamental nature of reality.

For those who are reading along in my new ACIM book, you probably noticed today’s lesson tells the story of SARK who, after affirming “Miracle find me now,” was walking in San Francisco, where she lives, and six $100 bills floated down to her out of nowhere.

But that’s impossible, consensus reality insists.

But is it really?

In my world, “impossible things” happen all the time. Here are three recent examples:

1. A new friend of mine, also a Course student, knows that nothing real can ever be lost, that nothing that’s truly ours can ever be gone. A few years ago, she seemed to have lost a treasured ring. It had been her grandmother’s ring and, well, she really, really loved it. A few weeks ago, she walked into her apartment and there, lying on the rug by the front door, was her grandmother’s ring. Two years, guys!

2. Just this morning, I was talking to my long-time friend from Florida. She worked part-time for awhile at Whole Foods and couldn’t help but notice the tattoos and many hues of her younger co-workers’ hair. She decided it might be fun to have purple hair. She has always been a manifesting maestro, but even I was surprised when she told me that, out of the blue**, her hair started turning purple. Her powerful thoughts alone turned her hair purple. And, no, she didn’t dye it.

3. Lisa Natoli, my Omega co-leader for the “All Heaven Will Break Loose” workshop, says unexpected money is coming to her like crazy. For example, she just received a several hundred-dollar check from Kohl’s. Out of the blue.** As she said, “I haven’t stepped foot in Kohl’s for five or six years.” If you haven’t read her FB post about “Coronavirus being no different than anything else,” you should definitely check it out here.

I know there’s a lot of messaging out there that makes the world seem less than miraculous. But just remember, my friends, that most of what we hear about the economy, our health, about life in general is a story. It’s a malleable, ever-changing story. And we have the power to change it.

As I often say on Fridays, “Have the very best weekend of your life.” It is, after all, up to you.

**Another synonym for God