The topic for today is meditation. This is a question that is often asked by students,
"What is the Course's view of meditation? Is meditation an integral part of the Course?"
because many students who come to the Course come to it from other disciplines or spiritualities
in which meditation is emphasized. In truth, meditation is not a significant aspect of
the Course's process, not the way it is typically considered. To be sure when one does the workbook,
the one year training program, an integral part of almost all the lessons is some form
or another of meditation. We're asked to sit quietly right at the beginning of the workbook.
This is one or two minutes, sometimes three minutes. In time however Jesus says�in fact
in one passage that "you'll find that even 30 minutes is not enough time to spend with
God." So that spending quiet time in which one seeks to search one's mind, mind searching
being an integral part of the workbook process�search one's mind for all the obstacles all the thoughts
of anger, guilt, fear, anxiety, etc. that interfere with our memory of God�that meditation
becomes one form of doing that. And then as our mind over time becomes increasingly quiet
and still then we're asked just to sit quietly. And then thoughts of the workbook lessons,
thoughts of God Himself come to us. But setting that aside, since this is a one year training
program, formal meditation is not only not a part of the Course process but in many ways
would be inimical to it. There is a passage in the teacher's manual that tells about how
a teacher of God should spend his day in which Jesus specifically cautions against our quiet
time or meditation or prayer time becoming ritualistic. Namely that it becomes that "If
I don't begin my day with a 30 minute meditation, if I don't sit a certain way, if I don't burn
a certain candle, smell a certain incense, etc., etc., then somehow my day is going to
be ruined."And indeed Jesus' training of us, if I can actually use that term, his training
of us is to have us go through our entire day in a meditative state. Not that we tune
out the world or close our eyes or sit in a corner someplace quietly but that throughout
the day we always be mindful of his presence. So that when we find disquieting thoughts,
thoughts again of anger, guilt, anxiety, fear, depression, pain, concern, any aspect of specialness�that
we would know there is a presence in our mind that is sane because at that moment we are
truly not sane. And to that sane presence, that quiet presence of forgiveness and love,
we would bring all of our disquieting thoughts, all of our thoughts of the ego. That's the
meditation. Over and over Jesus tells us this is a very practical course, in other words
it is meant to be applied. Well, if I believe that the only way I can feel God's Presence
or feel Jesus' presence is to be quiet, then what do I do when I'm in a traffic jam and
all of a sudden I find myself on the verge of being late for a very important appointment
and my anxiety builds and my frustration builds and my anger at the other drivers builds?
I just can't pull over or stop the car and quotes, "meditate," unquote. So what we're
trained to do in this course is to again be continually mindful of this presence of Jesus
or the Holy Spirit that serve to be the correction for all of my ego thoughts. So again, when
I'm caught in a traffic jam or I'm in a meeting that is bringing up lots of anger in me or
anguish or anxiety and there's no way that I can excuse myself and be quiet, that I now
know that I can be quiet even in the midst of the turmoil of the meeting or in the traffic
jam or what's going on in the world. I can be still. And in the words of one workbook
lesson, "I could see peace instead of this." And that I could see peace instead of this
because peace is always in my mind and it's always awaiting my changing my mind shifting
my decision maker's identification with the ego and putting it instead in the Holy Spirit's
peace and His thought system of forgiveness. So that basically, again, this is not a course
in meditation. In fact the section in Chapter 18, "I need do nothing," specifically addresses
that where in effect Jesus says this is not a course in meditation or contemplation. Certainly
he is not opposed to our meditating if we find that helpful. That would be absolutely
silly. But all that he's saying is do not allow yourself to form a special relationship
with it wherein you would then feel, as I mentioned at the beginning, that unless I
have my meditative time I will not be at peace and I can't face my day. Rather it would be
the training, to say it still one more time, is that we have our entire day from the time
we awaken to the time we go to sleep at night be an ongoing meditation in which we are continually
mindful of Jesus' loving presence and his thought system of forgiveness.