Beyond the Self: Transmissions from Inside the Practice

H. Marcus guides daily contemplations on A Course in Miracles. Listen-in to explore non-duality, spiritual surrender, and the direct experience of your own true nature.

Beyond the Self is a daily, unscripted working of the ACIM Workbook, one lesson at a time. Hosted by H. Marcus — scholar, interpreter, and teacher of the material. If you’ve spent years collecting spiritual ideas without experiencing lasting transformation, then this is for you. A Course in Miracles is a 365-day training in changing how you perceive the world — not just a philosophy to collect, but an thought system to embody and practice. The Course is the curriculum. Your life is the classroom. New episodes daily. Full written companions and the complete Workbook archive at Beyond the Self on Substack. #ACourseInMiracles #ACIM #NonDuality #SpiritualPractice #MindTraining hmarcusbts.substack.com

  1. 5d ago

    ACIM Lesson 302: “Where Darkness Was I Look Upon the Light”

    TITLE ACIM Lesson 302: “Where Darkness Was I Look Upon the Light” DESCRIPTION What if the darkness we experience is not inherent in reality, but something the mind projects onto it? hmarcusbts.substack.com In this episode of Beyond the Self, we explore A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 302, “Where Darkness Was I Look Upon the Light.” The lesson invites us to reconsider the relationship between suffering, perception, and our underlying True Nature. We begin with the distinction between what happens in the world and the meaning we assign to it. Much of our suffering arises because we believe life needs to conform to our expectations in order for us to be at peace. But the Course goes further, challenging the more fundamental belief that we are separate physical bodies, inherently vulnerable to limitation and death. From there, we examine the Course's reinterpretation of the world itself. How can a world described elsewhere as an illusion also be called holy? What changes when we relinquish our projections and begin to perceive through Christ's vision? We also explore the relationship between holiness and wholeness, the recursive logic of God as both the end we seek and the means by which we reach Him, and why spiritual practice must ultimately extend across every circumstance of ordinary life. The lesson is simple in principle, yet extraordinarily comprehensive in application: recognizing what we truly are, regardless of what appears to be happening around us. #ACIM #ACourseInMiracles #BeyondTheSelf #Nonduality H. Marcus is a translator and interpreter of A Course in Miracles. All quotes from A Course in Miracles © are used with gratitude from the Third Edition, 2007. Used with written permission from the copyright holder and publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd #306, Novato, CA 94949. www.acim.org and info@acim.org. Explore the complete daily Workbook series, The Workbook, practiced daily, at Beyond the Self. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hmarcusbts.substack.com

  2. 5d ago

    ACIM Part II, Section 9: “What Is the Second Coming?”

    TITLE ACIM Part II, Section 9: “What Is the Second Coming?” DESCRIPTION What does A Course in Miracles mean by the Second Coming of Christ? Is it a future event, or does it point to something beyond time altogether? hmarcusbts.substack.com In this episode of Beyond the Self, we explore Part II, Section 9 of the A Course in Miracles Workbook, “What Is the Second Coming?” The Course uses familiar Christian language, but it often redefines that language in ways that challenge our conventional understanding. Here, the Second Coming is not presented simply as the return of an individual Christ figure. It points toward the correction of separation, the restoration of the one Identity of the Sonship, and the end of learning itself. We examine the relationship between the Second Coming, Atonement, the Last Judgment, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, paying particular attention to the Course's recursive language and its use of seemingly dualistic concepts to communicate non-dual truth. We also explore the relationship between time and timelessness. If the Atonement has already been accomplished beyond time, why does the Course still ask us to participate in awakening? This leads to one of the most important passages in the section: the Second Coming requires our willingness, our voice, and our participation. Drawing on Alan Watts, Michael Singer, near-death experience accounts, and the Course's own metaphysical framework, we consider what it means to relinquish the separate self-concept and recognize the Christ that is already present in all of us. The Second Coming is, in a sense, the final illusion—the correction that brings all illusions to an end. #ACIM #ACourseInMiracles #BeyondTheSelf H. Marcus is a translator and interpreter of A Course in Miracles. All quotes from A Course in Miracles © are used with gratitude from the Third Edition, 2007. Used with written permission from the copyright holder and publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd #306, Novato, CA 94949. www.acim.org and info@acim.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hmarcusbts.substack.com

  3. Oct 24

    ACIM Lesson 297: “Forgiveness Is the Only Gift I Give”

    TITLE ACIM Lesson 297: “Forgiveness Is the Only Gift I Give” DESCRIPTION After several weeks away, I'm returning to the A Course in Miracles Workbook with a renewed emphasis on bringing its teachings into ordinary life. hmarcusbts.substack.com In this episode of Beyond the Self, we explore A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 297, “Forgiveness Is the Only Gift I Give.” Before entering the lesson, I reflect on the direction of this podcast and why I've taken some time away. While we'll continue working through the daily Workbook exercises, I want to give more deliberate attention to how these principles are actually implemented in our individual lives, beyond their philosophical and metaphysical implications. Lesson 297 offers an appropriate place to begin. The first paragraph presents forgiveness as something we actively practice. The second, the prayer, acknowledges that the final outcome is already assured. We explore the movement of desire and aversion, the distinction between pursuing external fulfillment and recognizing our underlying wholeness, and the possibility of allowing thoughts, emotions, and desires to arise without necessarily acting upon them. From there, we examine Atonement as at-one-ment and attunement, using the image of a tuning fork to explore forgiveness as a state of being rather than merely an action. We also return to Michael Singer's The Surrender Experiment, the certainty of God's ways, and what it means to participate fully in Life without assuming responsibility for controlling its unfolding. The question running through this episode is how we move from understanding non-duality conceptually to actually embodying it, moment by moment, in the circumstances of our ordinary lives. #ACIM #ACourseInMiracles #ACIMLesson297 #BeyondTheSelf H. Marcus is a translator and interpreter of A Course in Miracles. All quotes from A Course in Miracles © are used with gratitude from the Third Edition, 2007. Used with written permission from the copyright holder and publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd #306, Novato, CA 94949. www.acim.org and info@acim.org. Listen to the daily Workbook series, The Workbook, practiced daily, at Beyond the Self. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hmarcusbts.substack.com

  4. Oct 11

    ACIM Lesson 284: “I Can Elect to Change All Thoughts That Hurt”

    TITLE ACIM Lesson 284: “I Can Elect to Change All Thoughts That Hurt” DESCRIPTION If our thoughts are the source of our suffering, what happens when we recognize that we can choose to change them? hmarcusbts.substack.com In this episode of Beyond the Self, we explore A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 284, “I Can Elect to Change All Thoughts That Hurt.” Building on Lesson 281, we examine the habitual patterns through which the mind reinforces its reactions to experience. Drawing on the yogic concept of samskara, the conditioning of our responses, and the Course's recursive approach to non-duality, we look at what it means to choose a different relationship with our thoughts. But the lesson goes beyond changing how we respond to circumstances. It also challenges the identity through which we believe ourselves capable of being hurt in the first place. We explore the Course's teaching that loss is not loss when properly perceived, the relationship between attachment and the experience of suffering, and the Holy Spirit's function in reinterpreting our experiences as opportunities for awakening. The question is not simply whether we can think differently. It is whether we can come to recognize what we are beneath the thoughts themselves. #ACIM #ACourseInMiracles #ACIMLesson284 #BeyondTheSelf H. Marcus is a translator and interpreter of A Course in Miracles. All quotes from A Course in Miracles © are used with gratitude from the Third Edition, 2007. Used with written permission from the copyright holder and publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd #306, Novato, CA 94949. www.acim.org and info@acim.org. Listen to the daily Workbook series, The Workbook, practiced daily:hmarcusbts.substack.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hmarcusbts.substack.com

  5. Oct 10

    ACIM Lesson 283: “My True Identity Abides in You”

    TITLE ACIM Lesson 283: “My True Identity Abides in You” DESCRIPTION What if even our idea of being the Son of God is still an image of ourselves—and not the final truth of what we are? hmarcusbts.substack.com In this episode of Beyond the Self, we explore A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 283, “My True Identity Abides in You.” The lesson begins by questioning the image we have made of ourselves. From there, we examine the three layers of self-concept: identification with the separate body, recognition of ourselves as an extension of Source, and the non-dual realization in which even the distinction between Father and Son falls away. We also explore why the Course relies so heavily on recursive logic, how the ego uses its own circular reasoning to sustain the experience of separation, and why understanding these ideas conceptually is not the same as directly recognizing them. The final movement of the lesson brings us into shared Identity. Everything created is part of us, and forgiveness becomes the relinquishment of the limited self-concept through which we imagined ourselves separate. Listen to the daily Workbook series:hmarcusbts.substack.com #ACIM #ACourseInMiracles #ACIMLesson283 #BeyondTheSelf H. Marcus is a translator and interpreter of A Course in Miracles. All quotes from A Course in Miracles © are used with gratitude from the Third Edition, 2007. Used with written permission from the copyright holder and publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd #306, Novato, CA 94949. www.acim.org and info@acim.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hmarcusbts.substack.com

  6. Oct 9

    ACIM Lesson 282: “I Will Not Be Afraid of Love Today”

    TITLE ACIM Lesson 282: “I Will Not Be Afraid of Love Today” DESCRIPTION What if the fear of Love is actually the fear of recognizing what we truly are? hmarcusbts.substack.com In this episode of Beyond the Self, we explore A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 282 and the relationship between Love, identity, and the Atonement of the entire Sonship. We begin with the lesson's suggestion that fully recognizing Love could bring salvation to the world. From there, we examine the relationship between individual awakening and collective Self-realization, the Course's treatment of time as a dream, and the recognition that what we truly are has never been separate from Source. The episode also explores the distinction between our human identities and our True Identity, including the Course's recursive use of Self, God, Son, and Identity to point toward an underlying singularity. Ultimately, the lesson brings us back to a simple recognition: calling ourselves something other than Love cannot change what we are. #ACIM #ACourseInMiracles #ACIMLesson282 #BeyondTheSelf H. Marcus is a translator and interpreter of A Course in Miracles. All quotes from A Course in Miracles © are used with gratitude from the Third Edition, 2007. Used with written permission from the copyright holder and publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd #306, Novato, CA 94949. www.acim.org and info@acim.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hmarcusbts.substack.com

  7. Oct 8

    ACIM Lesson 281: “I Can Be Hurt by Nothing but My Thoughts”

    TITLE ACIM Lesson 281: “I Can Be Hurt by Nothing but My Thoughts” DESCRIPTION If our True Nature cannot actually be harmed, what is happening when we experience ourselves as hurt? hmarcusbts.substack.com In this episode of Beyond the Self, we explore A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 281: “I Can Be Hurt by Nothing but My Thoughts.” This is one of the more challenging claims in the Workbook. We begin with the Course's non-dual premise that what we fundamentally are remains changeless, then move into the practical experience of thought, contraction, fear, the body, and the ego. We also build directly on Part II's description of the Holy Spirit as the faculty through which perception can be reinterpreted. Rather than simply condemning the experience of fear or limitation, we can begin noticing the thought system through which we're relating to ourselves—and allow even that experience to become a means of returning toward truth. The lesson eventually brings us back to a remarkably simple distinction: the thoughts through which we attack ourselves, and the Thoughts we think with God that can only bless. #ACIM #ACourseInMiracles #ACIMLesson281 #BeyondTheSelf H. Marcus is a translator and interpreter of A Course in Miracles. All quotes from A Course in Miracles © are used with gratitude from the Third Edition, 2007. Used with written permission from the copyright holder and publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd #306, Novato, CA 94949. www.acim.org and info@acim.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hmarcusbts.substack.com

  8. Oct 7

    ACIM Part II, Section 7: “What Is the Holy Spirit?”

    TITLE A Course in Miracles: What Is the Holy Spirit? | Workbook Part II, Section 7 DESCRIPTION What if the Holy Spirit is not something outside of us, but the faculty through which our experience of separation is reinterpreted in the light of truth? hmarcusbts.substack.com In this episode of Beyond the Self, we explore Part II, Section 7 of the A Course in Miracles Workbook: “What Is the Holy Spirit?” The Course describes the Holy Spirit as the bridge between illusion and truth. Rather than rejecting perception, learning, forgiveness, and the ordinary human experience, the Holy Spirit repurposes them—using the very faculties through which we experience separation as a means of moving beyond it. We explore forgiveness as the laying aside of identification, learning as an illusion capable of transcending itself, the movement from perception toward knowledge, and the Course's deeply recursive description of Love calling to Love “that It be but Itself.” Ultimately, the Holy Spirit points toward Self-realization: what seems separate is reinterpreted until separation no longer defines what we believe ourselves to be. #ACIM #ACourseInMiracles #HolySpirit #BeyondTheSelf H. Marcus is a translator and interpreter of A Course in Miracles. All quotes from A Course in Miracles © are used with gratitude from the Third Edition, 2007. Used with written permission from the copyright holder and publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd #306, Novato, CA 94949. www.acim.org and info@acim.org. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hmarcusbts.substack.com

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About

Beyond the Self is a daily, unscripted working of the ACIM Workbook, one lesson at a time. Hosted by H. Marcus — scholar, interpreter, and teacher of the material. If you’ve spent years collecting spiritual ideas without experiencing lasting transformation, then this is for you. A Course in Miracles is a 365-day training in changing how you perceive the world — not just a philosophy to collect, but an thought system to embody and practice. The Course is the curriculum. Your life is the classroom. New episodes daily. Full written companions and the complete Workbook archive at Beyond the Self on Substack. #ACourseInMiracles #ACIM #NonDuality #SpiritualPractice #MindTraining hmarcusbts.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    H. Marcus guides daily contemplations on A Course in Miracles. Listen-in to explore non-duality, spiritual surrender, and the direct experience of your own true nature.
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    49
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Divergence Enterprises LLC
  • Show Website
    Beyond the Self: Transmissions from Inside the Practice