A Course in Miracles Monk

Last night my wife, Bonnie, had what she described as ‘one of the most amazing spiritual experiences of her life.’ She doesn’t like to write, so the following post is my account of her description to me, having been given a final proofread by her:

I had an intensely clear and powerful dream wherein I was watching a filmstrip of events from my current life along with those from my many past lifetimes. There were probably close to three hundred animated images flashing one after another with vivid scenes of myself in different situations: war, poverty, hunger, birth, death, marriage, childhood, swimming in a pool and looking up at the sky with a really happy smile, parties, wealth, celebrations, jumping, falling, an accident where my leg was severed, pain, crying, laughing, and many more.

I recognized and remembered every scene as if I was right back in that lifetime, that very moment. The filmstrip was in black and white, and I could see each image clearly, with acute detail, and had an emotional response to each one. Although it all occurred with amazing speed – in about five seconds for all three hundred images – it seemed as if time stood still and I was re-experiencing each event in the present moment.

Watching the filmstrip was incredibly impactful and, as the images flew past my eyes, I felt both emotional and disturbed. Then, just as quickly, the screen suddenly went black, totally blank… like a visual dial-tone. I felt like I had hit a brick wall in my mind, coming to a sudden and complete stop which jolted me from my dream. Out of the darkness, I heard Jamie’s voice beside me in bed, which from his deep-sleep-breathing I immediately recognized as his ’sleep talking’ voice (he sleep talks regularly).

Seemingly on cue, he said, ‘Be grateful to yourself.’ My eyes widened in the darkness and my heart jumped.

He continued, ‘It seems like a lot of mixed images are affecting you, but everything you see is internal.’ I was astonished! It seemed like Jesus was lying beside me, speaking through Jamie, narrating and responding to what was happening in my mind.

Then he said, ‘Think of the transfer value.’ (This is a quote / idea from ‘A Course in Miracles’ with the implication being that one lesson truly learned could be applied to and heal all problems or situations, or in my case, to each image, event and lifetime in my filmstrip, healing them all.)

I thought back to the screen of flying images and the emotional rollercoaster ride it had been, and I instantly saw them as all the same! And I saw that I could basically wipe them and their effects away in one fell swoop by forgiving them as one singular illusion.

Laying there in the dark, a bright light began to expand in my mind. I felt very close to Jamie and to Jesus; enveloped in protection and love. I heard Jamie turn over so his face was away from me and he said in muffled tones, ‘You should listen to me. I am full of wisdom. I was sent to be your teacher.’

He mumbled a few more things I couldn’t understand before returning to silence.

Lost in deep thought, I lay quietly for some time before finally drifting back to sleep.

When we woke up in the morning and I told him the story, he vaguely remembered saying ‘Everything you see is internal’, but everything else was shadowy in his memory. What I’m left with is a keen and unequivocal awareness that minds are connected, that we’re all students and teachers to one another, and that Jesus is right next to us at all times, helping and loving us during every event and moment of our lives.