(Update: 24June2010: We actually haven’t started yet, but if this sounds interesting, email me your skype name and I’ll add you to the list for when we get started… soon!

A handful of our local (Rogue Valley, Oregon around the Ashland/Medford area) ACIM enthusiasts from the Wed. evening ACIM/DU group have been having way too much fun (at the ‘post meetings’ on Wed. evenings we call our ‘after parties’) to not extend it, so we thought it would be fun to have an informal Skype chat on a regular (or semi-regular) basis and just see where it leads… Skype (if you haven’t already used it) is a free application you can download and install on your computer with just a few clicks that allows free teleconferencing with video and audio (if just between two computers) and audio (if teleconferencing between 3 or more computers.) I’ve used it for several years and find it’s much better than the phone in many cases and best of all, free! (You call also use it for computer to phone and phone to computer calls for a reasonable rate, which is how skype is able to subsidize the free service. I’ve talked with friends and family in Europe, Australia, Canada and all over the US.

Here’s Jonathan‘s comments on the idea (from our recent meeting talking about this fun idea):

“Our Course study group is morphing into an experiential group as we share and offer insights into the practice of forgiveness, and how it continues to clear up our murky perspective on the world and our lives. We are guided to extend the love and celebration, and so invite you to do the same! All students feeling called to the Course or connected works by Ken Wapnick, Gary Renard, and others are welcome. With close to 20 years of the Course combined between us, we realize that this is not an easy path, and even if it doesn’t feel so loving and celebratory at times, we aspire to offer a safe space with whatever transpires as a gift toward healing our minds with the love of the Holy Spirit.”

Anyway, we thought we’d give it a go and start an informal chat session this coming Monday (June 14, 2010) at 7PM PDT (for an hour or two) and just see how it goes. It could be a lot of fun! The intention is to share the same sort of inspiration, heart-to-heart connections and support for our mutual (eternal) interest as we do with all of our other (wonderful!) local study groups, just without the gasoline and logistics for carpooling, driving, parking, etc.

At some point, we could record the sessions and put them online (It’s quite easy to upload audio, and I think it might be fun to share with folks via the web. I sure enjoy a wide variety of online media from other ACIM students, ranging from Gary Renard & Gene Bogart’s podcasts, to videos from Nouk Sanchez & Tomas Vieira and  Ken Wapnick, to Regina Dawn Akers‘ audio recordings, Philip Urso’s “Crash Course In Miracles” podcasts and much more; all of these have been inspirations to share our common interest in undoing the ego and it’s sneaky made up unconscious guilt in a fun and enjoyable way. There’s lots of audio and video and other resource links on ACIMblog already, BTW, if you haven’t checked them out…

If you are interested, there’s really only a couple of steps, and the first one you only need to do once.

1) Visit http://www.skype.com with your web browser (e.g. Firefox) and follow the (relatively simple) instructions to install it. (You don’t need a video camera to use skype, but it is very fun for 1-to-1 chats. We’re going to just use audio for now.)

2) Email me your skype address, with “ACIM skype chat” in the subject heading.

This way I can add you to my skype ACIM list (different from the Wed. study group email list); since there’s no geographic boundary (aside from perhaps 7PM possibly not being a convenient time for someone in London perhaps , there’s no reason we can’t invite ACIM-minded friends from around the planet. Please forward to anyone you think might be interested… The current limit is 25 (including the one who initiates the skype conference call) but we’ll deal with that when we get to that point.

Then I’ll make a list of all the folks who want to get a ‘skype call’ Mon. evening at 7PM, and we’ll chat about ACIM with whoever show up!

Since we’re not limited to just the Rogue Valley (although the off-planet connections may be problematic for a while), this little invite is for any ‘serious’ student of ACIM. This page is where I’ll also post announcements for folks that just want to spontaneously attend any of the future sessions…

If you’re not interested in the ongoing idea, after trying it out, just let me know and I’ll remove you from the skype-chat list. If you’re busy or not interested in a particular session, just ignore the call (if you have skype running on your computer)
when it comes in (just like a regular phone call in that sense). Pretty easy, huh!

Hope to see and/or skype with you soon!

Eternal smilezenhugs!

* NOTE! EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNTS!!!
In order to encourage early registration, we’re offering the following discounts for those who send in payment before these 2010 dates:
register by Feb. 1: $45
register by Mar. 1: $50
register by Apr. 1: $55
register by May 1: $60
register by June 1: $65
register by July 1: $70
at the door: $75

Discounted lodging information for this event (first come, first serve) is here.

Here are more details about “The Endless Now”

Timeless, ageless beingness. Perfect unity with source. An experience of your true nature. This is how wisdom teacher and best-selling author Gary Renard describes what he calls -The Endless Now – and it’s an experience readily available to us all through the simple act of connecting with source.

Gary relates his personal story and we join him in remembering what it’s like to be pure spirit or love itself. You will learn how to break through all appearances including the false idea that we are separate from source – and consistently recognize what we truly are.

• True Meditation – rest in the perfect space of silence where you are one with your source and all is perfect exactly as it is.

• Place Holy Spirit in charge of your day and live each moment guided and directed from this pure space of wisdom, love, and compassion.

• Use forgiveness to release yourself from the false idea of separation from source and move into a consistent experience of truth and the endless now, out of which a high level of peace and skillfulness arises.

Jesus, Buddha and other Wisdom Masters walked and lived in the pure space of continuous connection with source – and reminded us that this is our natural state of being. Gary invites you to courageously unlearn the habits of the ego and experience life like the great spiritual masters – in eternal harmony and natural benefit of humanity. Gary offers a way of looking at the world that leads to the endless now and the full flowering of the human spirit.

An acclaimed teacher of A Course In Miracles, Gary underwent a powerful spiritual awakening in the early 1990s. As instructed by two ascended masters who appeared to him in the flesh, he wrote his first best-selling book, The Disappearance of the Universe, over a period of nine years. He was later guided to speak in public and has recently been described as one of the most interesting and courageous spiritual speakers in the world.

Gary has spoken in 41 states, 16 countries, and was the keynote speaker at the International A Course in Miracles Conferences in Salt Lake City and San Francisco. He is also the most recent recipient of the Infinity Foundation Spirit Award. The award is given to a person who has made a meaningful contribution to personal and spiritual growth. Past recipients include Dan Millman, Ram Dass, Gary Zukav, James Redfield and Neale Donald Walsch.

Here’s a Press Release (MSWord format) and a pdf version and a printable jpg flyer about the seminar and a pdf flyer about the seminar and a version of the flyer as 4 mini-posters.

I’m enthused to report that again, by popular request, Gary is offering a third seminar in Ashland. Please spread the word to anyone you know who enjoys Gary’s work and/or A Course In Miracles; thanks!

If you are traveling from out of the area and need lodging info please contact Ed Karlovich at 541-646-8332. Some rooms at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Ashland (adjacent to the Windsor Inn) are reserved and available at discounted rates for attendees of Gary’s seminar. Group rates are available for direct booking through July 17 by following this link. Additional information with links is here.

POTLUCK UPDATE!

Following Gary’s seminar, we have a potluck scheduled the same day at 6PM; the venue will also be the Best Western Windsor Inn (same room as the seminar, contrary to earlier messages which mentioned the Peace House.) All are invited, even if you can’t make it for the seminar.

Also, I am happy to report that we have a high probability that Gary’s wife Cindy Lora-Renard will also be present for this event. Cindy and Gary, in addition to roles that readers of Gary’s books are quite familiar with, are also both musicians and there are rumors that the seminar just might include a bit of music from them… We’ll see!

I had the pleasure of meeting Cindy (and her mother, both very wonderful folks!) in SF earlier this year when “Giddyup Mikey” (who posts the DU quote of the day on the DU Yahoo group) and I attended the ACIM conference there and saw Gary, Nouk & Tomas, Tom & Linda Carpenter, and so many more wonderful ACIM presenters and fellow students. Having BOTH Gary and Cindy with us in Ashland will be a real treat!

One more thing, don’t forget to check out Gary’s website, and his oh-so-fun podcasts with Gene Bogart. They’re free, fun and always full of forgiveness … no matter what the question!

If you want to automatically receive ACIM-related event news, updates and other non-dualistic musings, you might also want to subscribe to our email bulletin.

Tomas & Nouk reveal why…
“you will never consistently experience what
you really want until the one unconscious
saboteur is revealed and released!”

Popular teachers of
A Course In Miracles,
Nouk Sanchez & Tomas Vieira

authors of Take Me To Truth: Undoing the Ego
will present an experiential 3-day workshop

“Love Without Limits:

Applying the Principles of ACIM Daily”

Friday-Sunday November 13-15, 2009 – 10AM-4PM
Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Ashland

For more information, contact us via email, or phone 541-973-3512. To register, please mail a check for $250* to Elysian Publishing, POB 1515, Eagle Point, Oregon 97524 and include your full name, email (very important since that’s how we’ll contact you primarily), phone number, address, and any other pertinent contact info or details.

* The cost will be $275 at the door, so save $25 by pre-registering today! If you register yourself and a friend/partner, $375 for two in advance or $400 at the door for two.

If you are traveling from out of the area and need lodging info please contact Ed Karlovich at 541-646-8332. A few rooms at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Ashland are reserved and available at discounted rates for attendees of the seminar.

Here is a printable flyer as 4 mini-posters and both pdf and MSWord versions of  a Press Release about this event.

If you want to automatically receive ACIM-related event news, updates and other non-dualistic musings, you might also want to subscribe to our email bulletin.

LISTEN to a sample of Nouk and Tomas!

If you wish to hear a sample of Nouk and Tomas, and have iTunes on your computer, click on “Podcasts” from the Library section, and search for “a crash course in miracles.” This will bring up a podcast whose logo is a red donut with a bite out of it. Listen to episodes 11 and/or 27 (which also have “Take Me To Truth” in the title.) They feature Nouk and Tomas and Ed & I have really enjoyed how clear and insightful they are. Or you can follow this link.

Potluck 6PM Sat. Nov 14 (2009) at Peace House in Ashland

We’re having another ACIM potluck at the Peace House in Ashland at 6PM
on Saturday,  November 14, 2009. This will be the evening of the 2nd day of Nouk & Tomas’ workshop, but it isn’t limited to those attending the workshop… Hopefully as many of you as possible will be able to attend! Here’s the address and details for Peace House in case you need them
541-482-9625

http://www.peacehouse.net

543 South Mountain Avenue – POB 524, Ashland Oregon 97520

Webmaster’s note:

Earlier this year (2009) I was fortunate to attend the Community Miracles Center conference on A Course In Miracles in San Francisco, where I had the pleasure of attending some wonderful presentations from Gary Renard, Tom & Linda Carpenter (both featured in our ACIM speaker series in Ashland earlier this year), as well as Earl Purdy, Lyn Corona, Martha Lucia Espinoza, and many others. They were all superb. The presentation that spoke to me with such depth and light-hearted humor (what a great combination!) that I felt drawn to attend their second presentation was … you guessed it! … Nouk Sanchez and Tomas Vieira. Having thoroughly enjoyed their brilliant book “Take Me To Truth: Undoing the Ego” I wanted to experience their insight first hand, and both sessions exceeded my already high expectations. It is with great joy and anticipation that I am enthused (with abundant help from colleague Ed Karlovich and a wonderful ACIM community here in the Rogue Valley – you know who you are!) to be able to present Nouk & Tomas’ first extended seminar/workshop for this part of our beloved hologram!

The authors/presenters share this about their workshop:

(The purpose of the workshop is to) “reveal why you will never consistently experience what you really want until the one unconscious saboteur is revealed and released! … Through a mix of delivery, reflection, journaling, experiential exercises, much laughter, and discussions, you will learn to recognize the extent of the ego’s role in your conscious and unconscious mind and how to initiate your release from the only barrier to consistent peace, love and happiness. If you’re done with seeking, suffering and pain, then you will find Truth at this workshop. Spend three profound days deepening your awareness of Perfect Love through Radical Self Inquiry, Quantum Forgiveness & Now Moment Presence.”

Biographical Information about Nouk Sanchez and Tomas Vieira:

Australians, Nouk and Tomas are the authors of bestseller Take Me to Truth, Undoing the Ego. Initiated by A Course in Miracles (ACIM), their seventeen-year Spiritual Awakening journey led to the almost total deconstruction of their lives and belief systems before emerging from the process together. No amount of theory or substitute can hold a candle to experience. Nouk and Tomas joined in a divine commitment in 1984. The call they heard beckoned them to discover the indestructible nature of love. The precious insights gained from their life-transforming experience are shared in both Take Me to Truth and their workshops. The result is this profoundly practical guide that clearly defines the blocks and the stages involved in Spiritual Awakening. Respected for their practical expansion of ACIM’s section on The Development of Trust, Nouk and Tomas have been invited to deliver dynamic workshops around the world. They are keynote speakers at the prestigious Omega Institute NY, the International A Course in Miracles Conference, San Francisco and The Miracles Network, London.

Their website contains much additional reference material.

Feedback from readers and participants:

Nouk and Tomas describe the challenge we all face which is the uninvestigated “me” also known as the ego. It is a false self that is plagued by intermittent fears, relationship break-ups, financial difficulties and ill health, and its mantra is “Seek And Do Not Find”. Their uniquely dynamic family experience of learning A Course in Miracles (ACIM), as a couple, and then with their daughter, is quite unprecedented, and truly an inspiration to us all. This dynamic duo’s presentation is absolutely engaging as they bring out the experiential dimension of the Course making it easily accessible and applicable to our daily lives and relationships.

“Take Me to Truth is not just a book; it’s a revelation!”

— Gary R. Renard, author of The Disappearance of the Universe

“Amidst much lightness and laughter there is a profound dedication to learning and living the Course, without one iota of compromise to its principles.”

— Rogier van Vlissingen, author of Closing the Circle

Here’s a Press Release and a printable jpg flyer about the seminar and a pdf flyer about the seminar. Please spread the word to anyone you know who enjoys Gary’s work and/or A Course In Miracles; thanks!

If you are traveling from out of the area and need lodging info please contact Ed Karlovich at 541-646-8332. Some rooms at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Ashland (adjacent to the Windsor Inn) are reserved and available at deeply discounted rates for attendees of Gary’s seminar. Group rates are available for direct booking through April 25 by following this link.

We have a tentative potluck scheduled in Ashland for the evening immediately following Gary’s seminar on the 25th; probably about 6PM; venue still TBA, but we have a couple of candidates… Details to follow ASAP!

Also, I am happy to report that we have some great lunch break entertainment lined up; local favorites
Laura Derocher and David Gabriel will be sharing some songs with us! They have some ACIM-inspired music to share.

Here’s more about Laura & David’s music:

Ashland residents Laura Derocher and David Gabriel are partners in life and on the stage. They credit Gary Renard’s The Disappearance of the Universe as being the “Cliff’s Notes” that helped them understand A Course in Miracles, which they study together regularly. Laura and David have performed everything from pop to jazz, cabaret, rock, gospel, musical theater and opera. You may have seen them locally at the Camelot Theater, the Avalon Bar and Grill, or in any number of concerts that they have headlined. David sings and plays drums with the Beatles cover band, The Nowhere Men. Laura leads musical theater camps, teaches voice lessons, and serves as Music Director for the Center for Spiritual Living in Medford. They are both songwriters and recording artists who aim to uplift and inspire through their music. Laura and David will offer songs in keeping with the themes of Gary’s books. They will also share examples of how you can set ACIM lessons to memorable melodies, helping you to study and recall the lessons. Get ready to sing along and have fun as the music helps to reinforce Gary’s message.

If you want to automatically receive ACIM-related event news, updates and other non-dualistic musings, you might also want to subscribe to our email bulletin.

The listing above is a sampling of our favorite ACIM books and media. If you want a larger list, click here for a more extensive selection of books, audios, DVDs and other items related to A Course In Miracles. Purchasing from these links help support this labor of love and is appreciated!