Maria Felipe at Unity of the Westside
On Sunday April 14, 2024 we had guest speaker Maria Felipe at Unity of the Westside in Culver City. Ms. Felipe is certified by third-party vendors as A Course In Miracles practitioner. The main thing that I learned from her talk is that you can just say no. Saying no is not an attack thought. Attack thoughts are not allowed in practicing ACIM.
I can love my enemy and see the Christ in his spiritual being even though I may be forced to set boundaries with his physical form. The concept of setting of boundaries and saying no to physical form is the one thing that I have not yet acquired from the text and lessons in A Course In Miracles. I had to be refreshed about the therapeutic concept of setting of boundaries in my weekly session with my clinical psychologist.
ACIM is a Spiritual Self-Study Program
Maria Felipe probably had to pay a lot of money to be certified as a practitioner. It appears that certification is only provided by third party vendors as the official ACIM website offers no certification or other in-person services or practitioner designation. Third party certifications from third party vendors are very expensive.
The very first thing you see read on the official A Course In Miracles website is that ACIM is a spiritual self-study program. This is why ACIM resonates with me. By practicing the Lessons for Students and reading the Text one can immediately awaken to their own divinity. The only thing you need is the book and a perhaps a free guest speaker engagement from Maria Felipe at Unity of the Westside.
Beyond Suffering With Maria Felipe: Exploring Paths to Your Inner Happy
After Maria Felipe spoke at the Unity of the Westside regular Sunday morning service she offered an additional $25 program after the service called: “Beyond Suffering: Exploring Paths to Your Inner Happy.” I did not partake as I felt I would be better served by simply reading and practicing the ACIM text and letting one main idea from her talk set in-you can say no. I have memorized her one important point that, ‘You can say no to physical form without judging or condemning it’.
Saying No and Setting Boundaries
Two weeks ago at the after Unity Sunday service brunch a well known local eccentric character insisted on grabbing my coffee cup and pretending that he was actually going to drink from it. It startled the heck out of me. My heart skipped a beat and he really stressed me out. He fooled me once so shame on him. I told him that I was currently having a heart blockage and that he almost gave me a heart attack. He said that my heart attack remark was disturbing our table mate Patty and that I was not practicing ACIM. He spoke for Patty which is not allowed in spiritual practice. You are supposed to only make “I” statements. A spiritually authentic person only speaks for himself. He shifted the blame for his unwanted conduct upon me and my heart condition.
I then remarked to our table companions that even in the cold weather season of Covid and Influenza I wished that his unwanted touching of my cup did not bother me as much as it did. My petty tyrant then took further advantage of me by proceeding to reach all the way across my body and once again take my coffee cup and place it to his lips. Fool me twice, shame on me. I should have gotten up and left after the first time he picked up my cup. I was so grossed-out that I had to discuss this disturbing incident a few days later with my EMDR therapist. My therapist then proceeded to guide me into learning how to set boundaries with my eccentric “enemy”. Loving your enemy does not mean that you allow him to treat you like a doormat.
ACIM and maria felipe taken me beyond suffering
Now I can love my enemy, see the Christ in him, and still set personal boundaries that do not violate any spiritual principles such as the ‘no attack thoughts’ precept of A Course In Miracles. This setting of personal boundaries was reinforced when Maria Felipe said that I can say no. I can say no and set boundaries with your physical form and still love you even if you are a mass murderer. When I realize this, I have now gone beyond suffering into peace, love and harmony.
At the very next Sunday service my petty tyrant asked me if I could see the Christ in him and I replied, ‘Yes I see the Christ in you but I have to set boundaries with you.’ He then turned and walked away mumbling something that I could not fully hear about him needing to set boundaries or something like that. I am therefore forced to recalibrate my boundaries by not even speaking to him if he cannot address me in a clear, open and honest manner. I do not require a formal apology but a small acknowledgement that he will not touch my coffee cup would have helped to heal the situation. Regardless, my petty tyrant provided me with a sublimely teachable moment: I can love the latest mass murderer in the headlines but that does not mean that I want to have coffee with him.
