Introduction

June 10, 2022

Introduction

A Course in Miracles is holographic, of this there is no doubt. It seems that every page points to the same thing, that we are one with God, that the body has nothing to do with what we are, and that the world is just an illusion. We don’t have to study the Course for a very long time to get an inkling of this, but we do have to study it for a long time to have an experience of it - maybe even several lifetimes. Slowly, each page becomes a little clearer as the truth begins to reveal itself. The goal of the Course is to know peace and to see the real world, but this can only happen when we are ready.

The Song of Prayer was not part of the initial publication of A Course in Miracles on 1^st January 1976. It came one year later, in 1977. The Song of Prayer is really the heart of what A Course in Miracles teaches, touching on prayer, forgiveness and healing. It is beautiful to read but might be difficult to fully appreciate without having studied the Course for quite some time. The point is, even if we opened the large blue book right at the beginning, the first chapter still begins with the fifty principles of miracles. This is like being a child of six and starting with something a sixteen-year-old might study, and so where we are in our learning doesn’t really appear to matter. We are all students or else we wouldn’t be here.

The near-death experience (a weekly video of which will be included from the seventeenth week of the reflections) is all about oneness. It is about our direct connection to the realm of infinite love. It is really a verification of who we are and what we are. However, words can never do justice to what can still only be an experience. Spirit is indescribable in its beauty and it aliveness. Words, as understood by the human intellect, and heard by the ears or read by the eyes, are just symbols. By themselves, they are quite meaningless.

A Course in Miracles never mentions the near-death experience, and this should be made clear. Any ACIM purist would tell you that the near-death experience is just part of the dream. And so it is except, by listening to a near-death experience, we are shown what the world can never teach us. It demonstrates that there is more to life than meets the eye. It proves that unconditional love is where we came from and unconditional love is where we return to. And, even the hellish near-death experiences (of which there are a few) serve a purpose; very often, the experiencer is met by the light and the hell disappears (and, even if they aren’t, they still come back to learn about it). A message of hope arises out of their account.

The Song of Prayer can be viewed as a present to us. It is the icing on the cake. It is a reward for being persistent enough to continue with our studies. A Course in Miracles never claims to be the only path to spiritual awakening; it states very early on that it is just one path among thousands. But the Course is absolute truth. And, even when we slip up and feel that we are failing, we should always continue. The reward is clarity of mind and a mind that never looks back.

These reflections are written daily for one year. Below are a list of the YouTube videos as they are used. These begin with Keith Kavanagh and his Facebook group who cover the Song of Prayer in sixteen sessions. Then there are the near-death experience accounts. The year concludes with the nine sessions that cover the Song of Prayer, as taught by Cate Grieves. You can just click on any of the links as you find them and listen to them independently, or just to go to the reflections and find them there. The point is that each NDE account stands out as a teaching in itself.

The main thing about each reflection is that it challenges our own understanding of the teachings and/or that it moves us to find our own spiritual path. Every path leads to the same goal, which is a sense of oneness and wonder. When the mind thinks along these lines, war and suffering are impossible. The mind either loves totally or it fears totally, there is no in between. This is the message of both A Course in Miracles and the near-death experience.

Keith Kavanagh. The Song of Prayer.