Transcript for the ACIM Explained video by Lisa Natoli Hi. Welcome! I m Lisa Natoli and the cofounder of the Teachers of God Foundation. I am the author of Gorgeous for God and the creator of the 40 Day Program for Transformation. I thank you so much for being here with me today. I d like to talk about the number one question that I receive as a teacher of A Course in Miracles: How do I do it? People often buy a copy of A Course in Miracles and then have no idea where to start. I really want to talk about that today. My husband Bill Free and I were talking last night about how each of us individually began our journey with ACIM. I told him that I hadn't known of a single person who had heard about A Course in Miracles for five years. I had no clue what this book was. Bill had a completely different experience. He watched videos, movies, joined groups, and researched it. He knew exactly what it was when he began. He knew of the workbook in here. I didn't even know that. I want to talk about this. This is the standard copy of the book from the Foundation for Inner Peace. It includes all of the different books inside. I want to show you the different versions of the book that I have here with me. I actually have the original version from 1975. It was originally published as three books. It is a text with 31 chapters in it. It has a Workbook for Students that include 365 workbook lessons in it. It takes one year to complete. It has a Manual for Teachers. This is the original 1975 addition. They since have changed that. I got the book in 1992. I did not have a clue what this book was. All I knew is that it was A Course in Miracles and I thought that was really cool! I thought: A Course in Miracles! Okay, I could use that. I remember opening up the book and at first being completely turned off by the religious terminology. I personally think the preface is very difficult to understand. I m sure that other people have a very different perception of it. I did not understand that there was a workbook with 365 lessons inside of this book. When it said, Manual for Teachers, I didn't understand that I was a teacher. Personally, I was very confused.
For the first five years, I would open the book randomly. That was from 1992-1996/1997. I finally met a man in New York City who told me about the workbook. He said, There are 365 lessons and you make a one-year commitment to do them. It is a mind training. You train your mind in a systematic way into a different perception of everyone and everything. I just want to point that out to you. It s in the middle of the book. I know this might sound very basic to those who are already doing it. My mom just got a copy of the book. She told me over the phone the other day that she really wants to do it now. She s been listening to me for a long time. She did the 40 Day Program for Transformation and totally loved it. She called me on the phone the other day and she said, I want to do A Course in Miracles. I was like, Really? Oh my God! So, she got a copy of the book, called me again, and said, Okay, now what? I realized that this is the number one question I get asked from people. They come up to me, have the book, and say, I have it. What do I do? My suggestion is to simply make a commitment to do the workbook lessons. That s the first thing I suggest because it s going to take one year. Then you can do whatever else feels comfortable to you. You can start with the text or the Manual for Teachers. There s additional sections in here. There s the Clarification of Terms, the Psychotherapy Handbook, and the Song of Prayer. My suggestion is to begin with the workbook lessons.
I always have to tell people where it is. I have to turn the pages and show them that it s in the middle of the book, at the end of the 31st chapter. You re going to turn the pages until you get there. It s called Workbook for Students. It lists all 365 workbook lessons in an index. As a teacher, I have found that the number one overlooked aspect for people who are struggling with this book is that they did not read the introduction. I tell people to make a one year commitment to do the workbook lessons and to do one lesson a day. After I tell people to make this commitment, I tell them to read the introduction to the workbook. It tells you exactly how to do it. It says, Don t try to understand these lessons. They are not understandable. Then, you just begin! Start with lesson one and do exactly what it says. Don t try to understand it. The next day, wake up in the morning, open up the book, turn the page, go to the next lesson, and just do what it says. It s very specific. It tells you exactly how to do it. It s a mind training. It s designed to undo the thought system of fear. That s why I always suggest one year in which you make a 100% commitment. Don t just say, Okay, I ll do it and I ll see how it goes. I always suggest to make that one year commitment. One year is going to go by and you will have done it. In my experience, a lot of old baggage such as old fears and doubts starts to come up into your awareness. You ll want to say, I don t like this book. That was me for years. I had so much resistance to some of the terminology in here, but someone told me something that was so helpful to me. I did not know this for the first five years. The author is Jesus, the same guy that walked the Earth 2,000 years ago. He is the author of this book. Once I knew that, I was reading it differently. So many say,
I don t understand what this book says. I don t have a clue. If you read it like a letter from Jesus to you, it will be easier for you. I was always trying to understand who the I was that s speaking here and who are they speaking to. I thought that perhaps this was something written for Helen Schucman. She was the one who brought it into time and space. I had difficulty with the concept of this being channeled material. I thought, No, this is just a woman who s trying to get her own message into the world. I kept being drawn back to the book. I didn t know what it was. I kept being curious about it. I kept being interested in it. I kept thinking about who the I is and who the you is. The I who is speaking as the author is Jesus Christ from 2,000 years ago, who walked with those twelve disciples, extended the love of God here on Earth, and created miracles. That s the same person, and he s speaking to me. When he says, you, I know he is speaking to me. Jesus is with me. How you finish the text is up to you. You need to make a commitment to set time aside to read it. You can read a chapter a day, a chapter a week, or a chapter a month. I suggest you start from the beginning and you just go. Maybe you dedicate a half an hour a day to reading. Maybe it s something you do in the morning when you wake up. What ever way you structure finishing it is up to you. Then there s the Manuel for Teachers. To me, that s an easy read. Again, I m just sharing my own perception. It may be different for you. I encourage you to just begin it. Begin it and allow yourself to keep an open mind. Stay curious. Be like a child. Be like a beginner. Don t try to understand what it says. Just do it. At the Teachers of God Foundation, we have so many awesome programs and an amazing community for you. I wish I had that in the five years I did it alone. You don t have to do it alone anymore. There s so much online. There are so many amazing organizations and places where you can be inspired. If you would like additional inspiration, I offer a one year program called ACIM 365. I give a ten minute audio talk for every single workbook lesson, for every single day of the year. It has been very helpful to many people. I don t do the workbook lessons for you. I really believe that you have to work with your own thought system, vibration, and old ideas. I m really just guiding and pointing out some of the things I ve seen in these lessons. These are great reminders everyday of the commitment you
have made. If you re interested in that, it s available under courses on the Teachers of God website. You do it at the pace you want to do it. It s always there for you. I m so excited that you re starting this. The reason that I ve dedicated my own life to telling people about this is because of how it transformed my own life. I feel like my purpose now is to get people excited about this book. People feel that it s complicated and difficult. It is not. It s one of the easiest things that you can imagine once you open your mind up to a different perception. Again, read it like a love letter. Make that your commitment and just go. Have fun! I look forward to hearing from you and the changes that occur in your life. I love you.