Dark Ages

Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own.
-- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Mysticism

... the essence of the mystical experience is the encounter between God and the human being, the Creator and creature; this is a union which leads the human being to an ‘absorption’ or loss of individual personality. It is a movement of the heart, as the individual seeks to surrender itself to ultimate Reality; it is thus about being rather than knowing.
- Oxford Philosophy Dictionary

We are not here...

In a book I read, a philosopher was trying to impress upon somebody the great uncertainty of all our knowledge, and said: "we are here, and this is now. Beyond that, everything is guesswork."

This illustrates how advanced ACIM is, and how crazy this world is... no matter how basic you think you get, how little you assume to be true, you're still wrong.
Because we are not here. There is no world.
And this is not now. Time is an illusion.

The Course is really the negation of everything we think we know. It's no wonder that that book (and this universe) drives us crazy!

Einstein

"The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe." - Albert Einstein

This is a surprisingly profound statement. This is basically the decision which decides whether you stay in this universe indefinitely, or you go free and go home.

Carol Howe taught me this exercise: imagine that every single thing and every single person in the town where you live, has only love for you, and only wishes you the very best.
This exercise obviously scales up or down as you want.

Peace

I'm getting a growing sense of Peace.

It's like being cold to the bone, and then sitting in a bath tub in which into which is running warm water. Only an inch or two yet, but wonderful.

My own best interest

One of the many things which will seem really offensive about ACIM is the statement that I don't know my own best interest.
How condescending! :)

But I'm finding out how true it is.

And what painful learning that is.

It follows

If one speaks or acts with a cruel mind, misery follows, as the cart follows the horse... If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows, as a shadow follows its source.
-- the Dhammapada

Lose the shore

One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
-- Andre Gide