26.02.06
Prayer – Part I (Oct 17, 1997)
Posted in Transcripts at 3:16 pm by miracles 
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Notes from a talk given by Linda and James Hale Oct 17, 1997
Contents
The quotations from the Course are given in the second edition format. We have presented only the first few words of the relevant quotes and request that you look them up to read them in full as we do consider them very important.
Prayer is one of those words we use quite widely in our lives and ascribe various meanings to. It is also one of those words which, if not dramatically redefined, is certainly used in a number of specific ways by the author of the Course. Like many of the ideas presented in the Course the meaning of a particular presentation very much depends on the context in which we, find ourselves. Our resistance (as characterised by Helen Schucmans) to fully understanding or, more to the point, realising, what Jesus actually means by prayer is such that he dictated more on the subject in some special messages to Helen culminating in the pamphlet the Song of Prayer some 5 years after the completion of the Course.
To many students of the Course, the Song of Prayer is like an advanced text on the ideas presented in the Course itself, and an integral part of it. To others it is quite unknown and perhaps a little intimidating at first sight. We will draw from both the Course and the pamphlet in these two talks on prayer and urge those of you who have not read the pamphlet to do so. It is truly very beautiful and helpful in ones study of this simple yet difficult thought system we know as A Course in Miracles.
We will follow for the most part the same presentation as given in the Song of Prayer though we will be referring both to the pamphlet and the Course in our discussions. At the outset it should be pointed out that prayer, like many of the concepts presented in the Course, seems, at first quite easy to comprehend or understand. It is presented in a number of ways and contexts that resonate with us at different times in our lives and way along the spiritual path. It is however, basically a description of a state, or way of being, rather than a prescription for a particular behaviour or a goal to aim for. The understanding of prayer (among other things) we think we have can very quickly become absorbed and incorporated into a mechanistic way of being that seduces us with its form, leaving the content of the experience it is actually guiding us towards, languishing outside in the too difficult basket. As Jesus makes very clear throughout the Course, and also in the Song of Prayer pamphlet, this is not something to be upset or judgmental about. He merely asks that we be willing to see what we are actually doing so that we can, with him, choose again.
As suggested in the introduction, how prayer is understood depends very much on the level one is approaching it from. As is the case for all subjects discussed in the Course, there is a lofty, non-dual way of understanding prayer, which is linked up with the Courses non-dualistic metaphysics. Ken Wapnick has coined the phrase Level One to refer to this aspect of the Courses teaching. We will start with the most high in order to get a sense of the broad picture in relation to prayer, and then begin looking at it in its more practical aspects.
The opening paragraph of the Song of Prayer poetically describes prayer as a song of joy the Creator and Created sing to each other in eternal gratitude and thankfulness; and in that song, Creation is extended, so that the Son also becomes Creator in the Fathers name. It is:
the single voice Creator and creation share; the song the Son sings to the Father, Who returns the thanks it offers Him unto the Son S-1.in.1:2-6
Prayer at this level is no less than the very being of creation, extending itself eternally in endless joy. It is Heaven. This is the song of prayer, the song from which the pamphlet derives its name. This is a crucial metaphor, and one which is used repeatedly by Jesus in order to point poetically to truths which the rational, logical mind is hard put to grasp. In the Text, we are told that those who remember their relationship to the Creator no longer perceive, but know. In the Text this is called communion rather than prayer so as not to confuse this state with the usually understood meaning of prayer.
Communion, not prayer, is the natural state of those who know. T-3.V.10:4-9
All of us who perceive ourselves in different lights, or who in fact perceive at all, experience ourselves as being outside the condition of Heaven. We have forgotten that prayer in its ultimate sense is:
the greatest gift with which God blessed His Son at his creation. S-1.in.1:1
The Course is here to remind us, however, that we have not been left where we think we are because prayer is also:
a way offered by the Holy Spirit to reach God. S-1.I.1:1
Given that we experience ourselves as separated from our true selves and Creator, prayer, because of our need, has become a means as well as an end.
Prayer as the meansthe beginning of true prayer.
The prayer which becomes the means to help us remember our relationship with God is the prayer which helps us let go our separate goals and interests, and turn to the truth of union, both with each other and God. In this we are reminded of how the Course describes someone becoming a Teacher of God; at some instant they perceive their interests as not separate from another’s. In letting go our sense of separation from others we can see how crucial forgiveness is:
Forgiveness is prayer’s ally; sister in the plan for your salvation. S-2.in.1:3
Holding onto our beliefs in separate goals and interests turns them into idols, which we seek to substitute for God. As the Course teaches, what we ask for we will receive. If, however, we are asking for a substitute of the truth to be real, and to satisfy us as only the truth can, we are asking for nothing:
Pursuit of the imagined leads to death because it is the search for nothingness W-p1.131.2:1-6
While we seek for idols cherished by the world, we are asking Reality to be something other than it isand that is impossible. It is for this reason that holding on to these goals could be described as false prayer; the means are as empty and devoid of content as the end. It is only when we start to seek a goal that reflects the truth that true prayer begins. That is why the Course again and again, in many different ways, encourages us to let go of all that we think we know, and think we need, so that we may be finally taught a different way. That willingness to let go represents a change of mind, which is the miracle:
In electing perception instead of knowledge, you placed yourself in a position where you could resemble your Father only by perceiving miraculously. T-3.V.6:6
Asking for help and guidance, and opening our minds, becomes our living prayer. It is the means for the miracle of our reawakening to truth and becomes the vehicle by which we remember what has always been and never has been lost.
Prayer is the medium of miracles T-1.I.11.
Thus is prayer described as the means of communication through which the Son is united with the Father. It is a communication of Love to Itself. True prayer is thus full communication. There is nothing unanswered, nothing left to doubt, nothing of truth denied.
Prayer is the restatement of inclusion, directed by the Holy Spirit under the laws of God. T-9.II.6:2
True prayer asks for nothing for what is there that you could possibly lack?
Prayer is a stepping aside; a letting go, a quiet time of listening and loving. S-1.I.5:1
As we can see, prayer in these passages does not seem to be like the prayer many of us are familiar with. We usually understand prayer as a way of asking for something to be given or fixed or healed. Yet it seems that prayer is none of this; in fact it is almost as if it is the complete reverse! Prayer is not a statement of lack or disaster, but rather a song of thanksgiving. Once again we find Jesus is turning our definitions of what we think we know on its head.
Yet we are also told that:
This is not a level of prayer that everyone can attain as yet. S-1.I.6:1
For it implies a level of detachment that seems a long way off for those of us who count the hours still. Yet this is where we are all headed, as sure as night seems to follow day. We are not left bereft for wherever we think we find ourselves, there we will find a level of prayer that suits our condition.
in this world prayer is reparative, and so it must entail levels of learning. S-1.II.3:1
Until all learning is no longer needed, and prayer is once more known for what it truly is.
Prayer has no beginning and no end S-1.II.1:1-3
We have never left our home, never broken our link with our Father. Regardless of how we seem to think of ourselves we are one with our Father, forever in holy communion with Him. Thus if prayer is but another name for that communion, we are always in prayer. We do, however, seem to find ourselves somewhat absent from that experience. It appears to us that we are not in communication with our Father but in exile instead. In this belief in exile we find that the only communication we think possible is that of asking. Asking to appease some sense of lack or scarcity. Indeed, our sense of exile may be so great that it is not even to God that we make appeal.
Jesus tells us that:
Prayer is a ladder reaching up to Heaven. S-1.II.7:1
We could understand the place just described as being the lower rungs of such a ladder. This is where we all seem to begin our journey. In fact it often seems we spend most of the time just looking for the ladder, never mind beginning to climb it. This journey, the steps we take along the way and our asking out of perceived need arise from our:
feelings of weakness and inadequacy, and could never be made by a Son of God who knows Who he is. S-1.II.2:1
The very fact the we seem to find ourselves here in this world is proof we do not know who we truly are and so it is no surprise that we spend most of our time down the bottom of the ladder. In fact the purpose of the Song of Prayer pamphlet is not to make us feel inadequate in our efforts or understanding, rather it is to show us how much more there is.
The ladder of prayer, as described in the Song of Prayer seems to speak of a series of steps or stages we pass through as we attempt to climb it. However it is very important for us to remember that the ladder is simply a metaphor for a process that is continuous. And, as is often the case with processes described in the Course, our traversing of the ladder may not at all seem linear. We may have our feet on many rungs at once. Remember then, that we are really only describing different views of the one process that merely seem to happen at different times within our experience.
With this in mind, we can begin to understand how prayer appears to be different things to different people and even to the same person at different times. Prayer is continuous and if true prayer is communion between Creator and the created, then we can also think of false prayer as the link between the maker and the made.
Temptation, then, is nothing more than this; a prayer the miracle touch not some dreams T-30.VIII.3:4-8
Here is where we seem to find ourselves most of the time. At the wrong end of the ladder, thinking we are asking for a way out. Instead we are actually establishing that which we think we are trying to escape. Each question is but the answer we seek in a different form, the very act of asking establishing the only acceptable answer. That is why when we begin to consciously pray we will often experience what seems like failure. We can often see through this subterfuge but then there come the failures:
in connection with requests that are strictly in line with this course. T-9.II.1:2
Once again we have fallen for the egos principle confuser: form for content. In the Manual for Teachers, Jesus discusses the role of words in healing. It is in this section that we find the oft quoted phrase
words are but symbols of symbols. They are thus twice removed from reality. M-21.1:9-10
This perhaps, has no greater relevance than when talking about prayer, for he goes on to remind us that even though we use words to describe what we are praying for, we are not actually praying for specific objects or events to take place. We are actually asking for a particular experience. The words we use are merely symbols for objects or events that will in turn lead to that experience. That is why the words are twice removed from reality. In our forgetting of this we are often unaware of what we are really asking for. Thus if the experience comes in a form we don’t recognize, we think that our request has failed. Unbeknown to us the disappointment, despair or feeling of being let down, is exactly the experience we really asked for and received.
Yet let us not fall into despair over this for it is only in ignorance that this is a tragedy for in its recognition is healing made. We are not asked to go beyond the symbols of the world (W-p1.184.9:1) for while we still believe in them He can use them on our behalf
Prayer in its earlier forms is an illusion S-1.II.8.:3-5
In other words we are being told, do not despair your use of words or entreaty in prayer! It is a way of undoing the tapestry of illusions you have woven for yourself and it will change with you as your own awareness of your reality begins to dawn upon you.
Linda & James Hale
“Portions from A Course in Miracles Copyright 1975, 1985, 1992 reprinted by permission of the Foundation for Inner Peace, Inc. The ideas represented herein are the personal interpretation of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the copyright holder.