The Connecticut School Shooting and ACIM

My heart clutched with horror and grief when I heard about the Connecticut school shooting. I ached for the parents who lost their children, but, unable to tolerate that level of pain, I immediately surged forth with rage at political and societal factors I believed caused this tragic incident. I had plans to attend a Christmas gathering the next day and many of the attendees were of a different political persuasion than me. I found myself attacking them in my head. I hope one of your kids gets killed. Then maybe you won’t be so smug in your beliefs.

Appalled, I saw in myself the murderous thought system that A Course in Miracles says abides in all of us. I was no different than the shooter or the people I blamed for their “wrong” beliefs. Rage, boiling from within me, led me to wish death on loved ones! My rage was not caused by what appeared to happen in Connecticut. My rage was not caused by other people’s political agendas. My rage is my own, and I am the one who has to take responsibility for it.

A Course in Miracles tells us to pray to see things differently, so I did. The first words I heard were, “Lorri, there is no world! There is no world! There is no world! (W-132.6:2) (The miracle) looks on devastation and reminds the mind that what it sees is false.” (W-p.II.13.1:3) This calmed me down. Emotions are an ego device, designed to make the world seem real. They work well, for how can the world not be real when it feels so intense? The ego voice argued with the Holy Spirit. But if I don’t feel for the parents, if I don’t take political action to stop escalating gun violence, aren’t I being callous and complacent?

The Holy Spirit reminded me that action in the world, if we are guided to take such action, must be taken from a standpoint of love, not rage. Rage is a cover for fear and fear always stems from the ego thought system. My desire to point out my friends’ political insanity was clearly not coming from love. Our task as students of A Course in Miracles is to choose love over fear consistently. We have to choose Truth over illusion and not waver, because the second we believe in the false world we perceive, we’re in hell. Forgiveness is not callously denying the pain a brother thinks he is experiencing—it’s a blessing of sanity on an insane world. “(Forgiveness) looks on them with quiet eyes, and merely says to them, ‘My brother, what you think is not the truth.’” (W-134.7:5)

A Course in Miracles says there is no cause for the Connecticut shooting, because it is a dream of death being projected from our sick minds. A dream is an illusion. ACIM says the entire world is in our minds. It’s not out there! The only way violence, disease, poverty and injustice are going to stop is by healing our minds, for the mind is the source of the belief in separation. We have invented a world of chaos, murder and suffering because we think we’re separate from God. We think we’re shameful and guilty, but because facing that shame is unbearable, we project it onto others. “Do not forget, however, to deny God will inevitably result in projection, and you will believe that others and not yourself have done this to you.” (T-10.V.2:1)

When we remember God, we know we are the holy Son of God who cannot suffer. I thought I had faced my belief in separation, but there were deeper levels I was still defended against. My rage at the shooting was evidence that I continued to believe I was a body, vulnerable and capable of being attacked. The random shootings in public places left me frightened and feeling bereft without God in this terrible, cruel world. As the Course says, “The world provides no safety. It is rooted in attack.” (W-153.1:2-3) Our only safety is in our relationship with God. Our only peace is in not returning attack for attack, but choosing to forgive. Then we will wake up from our nightmare and be restored to our oneness with each other and God.

As I forgave those who held different opinions, forgave myself, and forgave the entire Connecticut tragedy, the sense of separation lifted. As I continued to pray for guidance and healed perception, I was reminded that the body’s eyes see only the past. (Lesson 7) What appears to be happening in the world is over and done. Every single person that appeared to be killed or peripherally hurt in the Connecticut tragedy is an eternal, holy Child of God. If you want to give a true gift to them, pray in a manner such as: “I see the Christ in You. You are a holy Child of God. You cannot suffer. You are as God created You. You are safe at home in Heaven now.”

This is the Truth of their Being, and of your own. To join in suffering perpetuates the illusion, but to join in Truth is to make whole.

Merry Christ-mass! May the Christ Self be born in your awareness this season.

Love, Lorri

Physical Healing with A Course in Miracles

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/poeticenergynetworkstation/2012/12/06/breaking-free-with-psychotherapist-lorri-coburn

Here is an hour radio episode in which I discuss physical healing with A Course in Miracles. I read from the book Gorgeous for God, by Lisa Natoli, an ACIM teacher who has had a positive influence on my spiritual growth. Her website is www.teachersofgod.org.

We discuss how healing occurs when we release the concept of linear time and move into the NOW. In the present moment you are spirit and you cannot be sick. When you learn to identify with your true identity as spirit, you shift dimensions and move outside of time and space. Miracles happen and you know that you are healed.

Urinating Marines Deserve More Forgiveness, Fewer Sanctions

As Marines urinate on the dead enemy’s bodies, we hear the outcry, “This is uncivilized, un-American, an abomination!”

This is hypocrisy at its finest. It’s ok to kill, but desecrating bodies that no longer feel anything is an outrage.

War is never civilized. It is ugly. It is down to the bones mean. We send our kids over to kill the enemy, and when they join in a task well-done, they are crucified. These Marines were enacting a bonding ritual that strengthens their comradeship. For them to kill, as we command them to, they need to be tough, to see the enemy as worthless. They have to pull together. They crush the enemy together, and finish the job by pissing on him when it’s done. A Marine needs to know the guy covering his back is willing to go all the way.

War is animalistic. Animals mark their territory by urinating. When these Marines act in accord with their nature, and follow orders to kill, it is not they who are wrong. We are wrong to unjustly punish them.

In different circumstances, that one act of urination unseen, these Marines would be hailed as heroes. These young men are highly skilled snipers, not your average Joe. They endured grueling training: don’t flinch when being bitten by bugs; hold bodily functions; and lie perfectly still for hours. They accomplished their mission for our country. But because they got carried away, albeit in an unsettling manner, their careers may be ruined.

Every one of us is capable of heinous behavior, but we don’t like to admit it. Instead, we project our guilt onto others. We make an enemy to carry our shame so we don’t have to look at it. These young men are being scapegoated so the rest of us can maintain the illusion of our innocence. The public outcry is the result of our inability to look at our own shadow sides.

We prefer to ruin the reputations of these Marines rather than look at our hypocrisy. But, we cry, we would not be as barbarous as they. A Course in Miracles calls this the false face of innocence. We are filled with attack thoughts, but the face we present to the world is one of purity. War is a necessary evil, we must kill the enemy, but we would never pee on his dead body.

The Geneva Convention guidelines prohibit certain wartime behaviors, and this does indeed bring an ounce of civility into an impossible, uncivilized situation. The protocols are designed to bring humanitarian treatment to war victims. However, the bodies the Marines urinated on were already dead. What the Marines did was unseemly, but their actions must be held in the light that extreme conditions beget extreme behaviors. Before we haul them down, let us remember the merciful adage from A Course in Miracles, how we judge another is how we judge ourselves deep down. These fine young men, while requiring consequences and correction, deserve our understanding and forgiveness.

(The face of innocence is one of the ego dynamics I write about in Breaking Free: How Forgiveness and A Course in Miracles Can Set You Free. Go to www.lorricoburn.com to preview the book.)

Blessings, Lorri

The Soul's Code: Book Review

The Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling by James Hillman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was going to contact Dr. James Hillman and thank him for his wonderful book, and found that he died this past summer. I wish I would have read this book 20 years ago. It echoes many sentiments I have felt about my psychotherapy clients, the ones who were labeled "crazy" when they were simply following their soul's calling. Hillman draws on Jungian archetypal therapy to explain what he calls the acorn theory. We all have an acorn that demands to become an oak, regardless of convention. When that acorn does not fit societal norms or parental expectations, we are given a psychiatric label, called obstinate or resistant, or medicated to bring us back into line.



Hillman shares many fascinating stories about famous people who refused to be put in a box. Violinist Yehudi Menuhin wanted a violin for his fourth birthday, and was given a toy violin. Menuhin states, "I burst into sobs, threw it on the ground and would have nothing more to do with it." Hillman explains, "The daimon (acorn, soul's calling) does not want to be treated as a child; it is not a child." Indeed, it is our inner wisdom, the drive to wholeness, which is routinely dismissed in our society.



I remember a case I had in which the identified patient began literally screaming, and the family wanted her hospitalized. She was simply screaming to be heard, and the family did not want to hear what she had to say. In fact, she was calling out the family dysfunction, so it was easier for the family to label her crazy than to listen to what she was saying.



In my own case, several therapists called me dysfunctional, when I was simply following my soul's calling. I knew deep down that I did not fit the categories they were putting me in, but also knew they did not have a clue about the depth of the drive I felt. I tried to supress this drive for 20 years and it would not let me go. Reading this book made me realize I'm not obsessed, fixated, codependent, or any other of the psychiatric labels traditional psychiatry would pin on me. Now that I have stopped judging myself, I feel whole. I honor my soul's quest rather than running from it.



We all have something we dream of doing, but few of us follow our dreams. Hillman's book reminds us that we will never be happy until we pay attention to our inner urgings. One of my favorite quotes is "Don't die with your dreams inside you." I believe it's from Wayne Dyer.



View all my reviews

Review of book: Paulo Coelho: A Warrior's Life

Paulo Coelho: A Warrior's Life - The Authorized Biography by Fernando Morais

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Paulo Coelho has sold 100 million books in the metaphysical spiritual genre, written in the style of light novels or fables. His most famous one is The Alchemist, which I loved. Since I've read most of his books, I wanted to see how much of his personal life was contained in them. I found out that many of the magical/sorcery experiences he's had actually are things he's experienced in real life. In addition, his experiences with being forcibly hospitalized as a young adult, for what his parents called mental illness and I would call just not fitting in, figure into his books.



Coelho is a passionate, deep, unconventional man with a profound sense of the mystery of life. Those who feel practices like tarot, rituals, and searching for hidden meanings are silly, however, might not like his books.



I was surprised to find that his books are extremely popular in Russia.



The biography, which was authorized, was fascinating, but the writer gave to many details, so it moved too slowly.



View all my reviews

2012: The End of the World?

Apocalyptic wars. tsunamis, and plagues? The end of the world on December 21, 2012? An era of prolonged peace following the War of Armageddon?

Prophecies and predictions abound regarding the year 2012. What does the spiritual teaching of A Course in Miracles have to say about it?

Nothing. 2012 is not mentioned. A Course in Miracles concerns itself only with the mind that is outside of time and space, and 2012 is a year in linear time.

What is this mind outside of time and space? It’s our mind. It’s what we are. A Course in Miracles tells us that we are mind that’s dreaming up a world of form. We’re asleep, dreaming a nightmare of an earth filled with terror, much like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. The lions and tigers and bears along the yellow brick road are the dire predictions of doom, death and destruction. We’ve been dreaming up the end of the world for millennia, long before 2012 arrived.

The world we are dreaming appears as a place of scarcity through violent wars and more subtle wars of unfair trade. Countries grab land and resources from other locales, because we believe there’s not enough to go around. We believe in separation instead of the oneness of humanity, and are afraid that if we don’t steal what we want, we’ll never get it.

The good news is that the mind that dreams of terror can also dream of peace. There is a part of our mind, called the right mind, which is pure Love. This part is connected to all living beings and knows our togetherness. It’s the part of us that aspires to world peace, kindness and goodness.

When we access our right mind, the world of terror can indeed cease to exist. A Course in Miracles tells us once we see we’re dreaming up the world, we can choose what type of world we want to dream. But first we have to recognize we’re the dreamers. We have to admit we’re just like Dorothy.

When Dorothy awoke from her coma, she insisted that Oz was a real place. It felt real because the wicked witch and the wizard evoked intense emotions. Feelings make us believe the world outside of our mind is real.

So will the world end in 2012? Yes, the world of hatred, lack and ugliness will end if we choose love over fear. And that can happen in any holy instant, not just in 2012. How do we choose love? We make a mental decision to forgive the dream: “I choose to see love instead of fear. I choose a new perception of the world. I choose to awaken from the dream I made up.” Your right mind then takes over and you dream what A Course in Miracles calls “the happy dream.”

I write more about A Course in Miracles in my book, Breaking Free: How Forgiveness and A Course in Miracles Can Set You Free. It’s available on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and my website, www.lorricoburn.com.

Happy New Year and sweet dreams in 2012.

A Relationship Miracle

A miracle has happened! The book that came through me six years ago has finally been published. It’s called Breaking Free: How Forgiveness and A Course in Miracles Can Set You Free. It took six years to publish because I had some more forgiveness work to do, which I describe below.

The book poured out of me after I made the decision to forgive what A Course in Miracles calls my “chosen learning partner.” We usually have two or three major learning partners, and they provide us with our greatest forgiveness lessons. This learning partner has been a man I’ve called my “twin flame,” the soul mate of soul mates. I formed a special relationship with him, expecting that our soul mate relationship, the grandest achievement on earth in my mind, would make my life whole.

It went bust. Right after I had a baby, I left my husband for this man, and then he abandoned me. That was not part of my plan, and I spent the next 15 years raging at him. I’ve spent the past six years alternating between trying to forgive him and raging at how I thought he victimized me. Yet I still loved him and felt terribly guilty for loving such a jerk. Further, I have a wonderful relationship with my partner of 11 years, so I’ve felt guilty about continuing to love another man.

The Course tells us that a special relationship is something we think will substitute for the love of God. We all form special relationships and these can be with people or things. Addictions are special relationships—we fall in love with alcohol or something else, and initially we feel we’ve found what we’ve been looking for. Then it goes bad, as things here on earth often do.

Last week I spoke with a new friend, Jane Lee Logan. (www.janeleelogan.com). I told her that I can’t stop thinking about my twin flame and how guilty I’ve felt about that, since he’s been so mean to me (that’s another story and the subject of my next book). She echoed the words another friend of mine has been saying, but this time I was able to take them in. “Love him! Love him! How can you possibly stop loving him? Love is what you are! He’s your savior! Don’t even try to stop loving him!”

Something shifted in me, and I’ve had tears of gratitude since. I can finally say that this relationship is healed and that I’ve forgiven what my twin flame never did. A Course in Miracles tells us that we are the dreamers of our own dream, so we’re never victims. The person we think we have to forgive never did what we think they did, because life is a dream. When we awake, we see that nothing ever happened and love is all that’s left. When we finally see this, we are free.

I see it! I used to think I needed my twin flame to apologize before this would be healed, but now I see I just needed to open up to total love, no matter what I dreamed he did.

This open heart is a gift like no other. Whoever has hurt you, s/he is your ticket to freedom. Keep asking the Holy Spirit to help you forgive, and you will break free.

Breaking Free is both the title of my book and what life’s all about. You can read previews or order it at www.lorricoburn.com.

Blessings, Lorri Coburn