prACtIcuM

Daniel Wagner
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A conversation about putting the ideas of A Course in Miracles to work in ordinary life: relationships, the work we are here to do, judgment, forgiveness, and the ongoing practice of seeing Love show up in everything we do. With Aaron Westfall and Daniel Wagner.

Episodes

  1. 1d ago

    The Gifts of the Kingdom: Why Giving Heals

    We foreground the question that guides our inquiry: what are we giving, what are we valuing, and consequently what are we strengthening in our own experience. We examine Chapter Seven of A Course in Miracles, The Gifts of the Kingdom, and argue that the ego, though internally coherent, rests upon the false premise of separation and thus produces systematic confusion by mislabeling pain as joy, control as safety, attack as protection, and specialness as love. We delineate the distinction between projection and extension, and maintain that genuine healing and wholeness arise not from inventing truth but from recognizing the changeless reality already present within the mind, a process facilitated by vigilance and the Holy Spirit. We pose the practical question: what am I still choosing because I believe it will bring happiness, even though it continues to cost me peace? We affirm the hopeful conclusion of the chapter: the confusion that governs egoic perception is acquired and therefore may be unlearned, enabling the recovery of grace, unity, and the natural extension of love. We ask what we are giving, what we value, and what we strengthen in our lives. I describe how the ego can be internally logical yet begin from the false premise of separation. We trace how projection and extension differ. Projection hides truth and reproduces fear. Extension shares what is whole and increases joy. We discuss the role of the Holy Spirit as the translator that leads us back to the kingdom. I explain that healing is recognition of truth and that vigilance is a training tool, not the final state. The chapter teaches that love and joy extend naturally and that only by shifting our thought system can we stop investing in illusions. We conclude with a simple promise. The confusion we carry is learned. Because it is learned, it can be unlearned. We describe grace as our natural condition. We remind listeners that remembering, not creating, restores peace, and that giving true gifts returns that wholeness to us and to others. Takeaways: We ask what we give, what we value, and what we strengthen in life.We describe how the ego can be logical yet start from the false premise of separation.We note that peace, love, and wholeness are not created by us but are recognized and remembered.We say healing comes when we stop feeding illusion and hand our mind over to the Holy Spirit.We warn that pleasure, control, or specialness can seem like joy but cost peace and produce pain.We remind listeners that vigilance is needed to learn the right thought system, but true peace has no vigilance.We teach that giving extends and increases joy, while the ego seeks to bargain, hoard, and compete.We offer the good news: the confusion is learned, and therefore it can be unlearned and healed.

  2. Nov 2

    The Real Meaning of the Crucifixion: Teaching, not Sacrifice?

    We undertake a rigorous exegesis of the Course in Miracles material entitled "Lessons in Love," and we articulate, as co-hosts, a sober reinterpretation of the crucifixion as an exemplar of unmitigated atonement rather than punitive sacrifice. We describe how the episode charts a trajectory from diagnostic analysis of the ego—its mechanisms of separation, projection, guilt, and self-defense—to the practical didactics of the Holy Spirit as an alternative thought system; this progression is presented as a pedagogical movement from problem recognition to disciplined practice. We frame the crucifixion as an extreme didactic instrument that demonstrates how an unassailable commitment to forgiveness and nonretaliation reveals the illusory character of attack, and we emphasize that resurrection is portrayed not merely as mythic return but as the dawning remembrance of our ontological identity, the altar of the I AM that precedes all adjectives and evaluations. We further explicate the chapter's pragmatic modalities: the relinquishment of attack, the substitution of projection with extension (love), and the implementation of vigilance as a quotidian exercise in discernment. We recount our dialogues on the phenomenology of meditation—its experiential "rain of grace," the rendered spaciousness that permits reception of the Holy Spirit’s quiet guidance—and we assert that these practices are not metaphysical luxury but necessary exercises in reconditioning perception. The summative contention we advance is that salvation is not a deferred juridical verdict but an immediate cognitive realignment: by choosing to teach peace rather than attack in each moment, we remold our lived reality and invite restorative communion with the divine mind. Takeaways: We learned that love can be learned through daily practice and a steady choice of mind.We learned to silence the mind and listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance and inner peace.We saw the crucifixion reframed as a teaching device that shows steadfast love under extreme projection and attack.We practice rejecting projection and extending love instead, because what we give mentally and emotionally returns to us.We accept responsibility for what I reinforce after my first reaction, and I can choose again in the next moment.We learn to relinquish attack in all forms, including blame, sarcasm, contempt, and silent withdrawal from others.We practice vigilance by watching my thoughts and choosing peace, blessing, and kindness over fear and self defense.We believe the good news that each new moment offers the chance to choose differently and to return our minds to home.

  3. Oct 23

    We Teach by Being: Healing, Forgiveness, and Defiant Joy

    We examine chapter five of A Course in Miracles with deliberate attention to the primacy of joy as the authentic index of spirit. I articulate how joy functions not as an egoic affect but as the radiant expression of union with the Holy Spirit, and we underscore the irreconcilability of fear and love within a single mind. We present the fundamental binary the course describes: two thought systems, two voices—one of fear, scarcity and specialness that the ego projects, and one of peace, forgiveness and remembrance that the Holy Spirit offers. I emphasize the practical premise that healing begins when we refuse automatic assent to the voice of fear and become willing to consider another interpretation. We navigate the chapter’s structural delineations—the invitation of the Holy Spirit, the voice for God, the guide to salvation, and the pedagogy of teaching and healing—showing how each section converges upon the same transformative decision: to choose perception aligned with love. I recount the text’s insistence that ideas strengthen through sharing, that giving precedes receiving in the realm of spirit, and that time and the ego are intertwined while eternity is the field of presence in which true wholeness is realized. Our summation affirms that the course offers not mere doctrine but a practical reorientation of perception that is both immediate and cumulative. Takeaways: We state that joy is the direct measure of how closely I am aligned with the Spirit.We describe healing as a shared, relational process that increases when we give love away.We emphasize the necessity of willingness to hear another interpretation as the beginning of all true healing.We warn that the ego uses guilt, attack, and specialness to sustain separation and to obstruct peace.We teach and heal by embodiment rather than mere words, and I insist that authentic being instructs far more than any verbal claim.We explain that time and ego are linked; by creating a tiny gap through meditation we can choose spirit over fear in the present.We assert there are two voices, and I propose that when we feel joy and peace we are listening to the Holy Spirit.

  4. Oct 2

    The Illusions of the Ego: A Practical Examination

    We state the central point early: the ego sustains itself by the belief in separation and persuades us that we are separate from God and from one another. We explain that the ego is a thought system, not a thing, and that it can appear as arrogance, humility, control, vulnerability, or victimhood. We teach practical responses: observe the ego without obeying it, choose again when you are not at peace, and practice right teaching and right learning so your actions reinforce love rather than fear. We emphasize that true love is extension, not acquisition, so giving peace and kindness increases what you have instead of depleting it. We invite listeners to use the simple correction “this need not be” when suffering arises, to be still, and to seek God’s communication that heals the mind. We close by urging you to join us in living the practice of being present, sharing love, and recognizing our shared kingdom. We examine the Illusions of the Ego and the practical path out of separation. I describe how the Course in Miracles offers both an intellectual map and a set of lived exercises. We recount how the text alone can feel dense, and how the 365 lessons render the teachings experiential. I emphasize that the ego is not a single trait but an entire thought system built on the belief in separation. We teach that the first corrective step is to observe the ego without obeying it. When we witness our anger, fear, and judgement, we create space to choose differently. We offer concrete signals for change. If you are not in joy, peace, or flow, then you may be operating from the ego. I explain the difference between giving to get and giving as extension. We also show how love need not be transactional. By choosing to extend peace instead of seeking proof, we align with the Holy Spirit. We close with a call to steady practice. We invite readers to pair the text with the daily lessons and to use stillness as the testing ground for truth and for correction. Takeaways: We describe the ego as a thought system that survives only because we believe in its separateness.We emphasize right teaching and right learning by noticing how our actions teach others and shape our beliefs.We recommend choosing peace in moments of conflict by pausing, observing the mind, and asking for a different perception.We explain that love is extension not acquisition, so giving peace and kindness increases rather than reduces our experience.We warn that the ego uses the body for identity and hides by creating shame, fear, and endless attempts at control.We urge daily practice of the lessons, stillness, and joining minds because our true nature is the kingdom and healing follows.

  5. Sep 29

    The Innocent Perception: You Are Not What You Think You Are

    We assert that we do not see innocently: healing entails learning to perceive without condemnation. I and my cohost examine chapter three of A Course in Miracles and explain atonement without sacrifice and the link between resurrection and atonement. We describe miracles as true perception and contrast perception with knowledge, showing that judgment and the ego distort our view. I discuss the authority problem and how the ego defends a manufactured self image that blocks peace. We urge listeners to practice forgiveness, choose love over fear, and let spirit guide daily life. We invite you to begin or continue the Course practice and to bring the light of innocent perception into your relationships and actions. We explain the doctrine of innocent perception and its practical implications for spiritual living. I outline the distinction between perception and knowledge and describe how perception is filtered through judgment, guilt, and fear, whereas knowledge is a state of unity and certainty that precedes all experience. We argue that the atonement is established by resurrection rather than by crucifixion, and we show how the Course dismantles the notion that love demands sacrifice. I emphasize the lamb and lion metaphor to demonstrate that true innocence is strength and cannot be attacked. We then link miracles to true perception, describing miracles as corrections of misperception that allow us to see our neighbor as they truly are and to restore inner peace. We also address the authority problem and the construction of the self image. I describe how the ego claims authorship of the self and defends an illusory autonomy that invites fear of spirit and a compulsion to judge. We explain that judgment presumes sufficient context that we do not possess, and that correction, not punishment, is the appropriate response to error. Finally, we connect these ideas to practice: surrendering authorship, practicing pardon, and cultivating communion rather than petitionary prayer are offered as the means by which knowledge reasserts itself and the split mind heals. Takeaways: We present that innocent perception requires choosing love over judgment and practicing forgiveness daily.I observed that miracles are described as true perception which corrects misperception and heals the mind.We explain that the atonement is established by resurrection, not by punishment, and love demands no sacrifice.I note the distinction between perception and knowledge, where knowledge is unity and perception invites error and division.We describe the ego as an authority problem that defends a manufactured self image and resists surrender to spirit.I assert that true healing comes from correcting perception through forgiveness, leading to inner resurrection and return home.We argue that practicing love and surrender dissolves the split mind, allowing us to perceive neighbors as perfect creations rather than objects of fear, guilt, or judgment.

  6. Sep 23

    Separation and Atonement: How Love Corrects the Mind

    We state the principal claim immediately: separation is the root error and atonement, enacted through love and forgiveness, is the corrective. We explain projection versus extension and show how projection breeds fear while extension radiates healing. I relate these teachings to major psychological schools and argue that the Course reorients life purpose toward love rather than pleasure, meaning, or power. We describe the inner altar and how regular communion and meditation repair that altar and restore peace. We emphasize that miracles follow corrected perception, that mind is cause and perception is effect, and that healing is a change in identity rather than only physical change. We conclude that the last judgment is self‑discernment, not divine punishment, and that accepting the atonement hastens the end of collective suffering. Takeaways: We explain that fear shows I believe in separation and needs correction.We describe atonement as a healing choice that corrects perception, not punishment.We contrast projection and extension and say I can choose love or fear.We relate modern psychology to the course and note Freud Jung Frankl Adler offer different goals.We teach that the altar is within me and I repair it by prayer and meditation.We state that miracles arise when I allow my perception to be corrected and extend peace.We assert cause and effect invert: my mind causes perception, so I change my thinking to change experience.We explain last judgment is my own choice to see what is real and let judgment end.

  7. Sep 13

    Atonement, Forgiveness, and the Escape from Darkness

    Our conversation advances a comparative, hermeneutical perspective that situates A Course in Miracles within a wider constellation of sacred texts and perennial teachings, thereby demonstrating the Course's integrative capacity. I reference the Gnostic Dialogue of the Savior and the Bhagavad Gita as heuristic parallels: both texts, like the Course, instruct the aspirant to confront inner darkness, to act without attachment, and to remember an original state of wholeness. Daniel and I interrogate the sonship motif and resolve its gendered diction as a principial statement of shared origin rather than a literal patriarchy; we stress that the term indexes the egalitarian ontology that the Course proposes. The discussion examines the paradoxical pedagogy of incarnation and the metaphor of the ‘‘training planet’’—the proposition that worldly experience is calibrated to correct the illusion of separation—and articulates how grace and faith function as unmerited gifts that render the atonement efficacious. We further analyze the psychological dynamics of concealment, the pathology of scarcity arising from lack-consciousness, and the emancipatory power of perfect love to cast out fear. Concluding remarks orient the listener toward Chapter Two, where the taxonomy of the original separation, the altar of God, and the functions of the miracle worker will be interrogated, and we invite sustained study and disciplined practice as the means by which the collective awakening may be advanced. Takeaways: We describe miracles as natural expressions of love that correct perception toward wholeness.We explain revelation as direct knowing and union achieved through shared presence and stillness.We emphasize atonement as undoing the belief in separation rather than punishment or repayment.We teach that escaping darkness requires bringing private fearful thoughts into the light for healing.We present the sonship concept to stress universal equality and to shift identity from ego to collective.We affirm that forgiveness is the practical means to accept atonement and restore creative potential and joy.We connect teachings from other traditions to show the course as a guide for inner action and service.

  8. Sep 4

    Welcome to Practicum: Practising A Course in Miracles

    The principal focus of this inaugural episode of Practicum is to explore our personal journeys in relation to A Course in Miracles, elucidating how the teachings of this profound text have manifested in our lives. We, Aaron and Daniel, embark upon this dialogue to share insights garnered from over two decades of engagement with these teachings, emphasizing the transformative power of forgiveness and self-discovery. Through this podcast, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the course's chapters, offering context and personal narratives that illuminate its relevance and applicability to our everyday experiences. As we delve into the intricacies of our respective paths, we underscore the essential notion that the journey toward spiritual awakening is both individual and communal, inviting listeners to reflect on their own experiences within this framework. With a commitment to authenticity and exploration, we extend an invitation to our audience to join us as we navigate the rich tapestry of spiritual understanding woven throughout A Course in Miracles. In the inaugural episode of the Practicum podcast, Aaron and Daniel embark on a profound exploration of A Course in Miracles, a spiritual text that has significantly influenced their lives. They begin by recounting their personal stories of discovery, emphasizing how the course often finds individuals during moments of existential questioning or emotional upheaval. Daniel reflects on his initial skepticism and subsequent acceptance of the course, while Aaron shares a heartfelt narrative about receiving the book amidst personal loss, illustrating the course's capacity to provide comfort and clarity when needed most. The discussion soon evolves into an examination of the core themes inherent in A Course in Miracles, such as forgiveness, healing, and the importance of self-awareness. Both speakers stress the transformative power of these teachings, suggesting that the journey towards enlightenment is inherently tied to one's willingness to confront the ego and embrace vulnerability. They articulate the necessity of humility in the spiritual journey, positing that true understanding comes not from intellectual comprehension but from lived experience and personal reflection. As they set the stage for future episodes, Aaron and Daniel emphasize their commitment to delving into each chapter of the course, aiming to provide listeners with insights that resonate on a personal level. This episode serves as an invitation for audiences to join them on this journey of exploration, encouraging a deeper engagement with the teachings of A Course in Miracles as a means to foster personal growth and spiritual awakening. Takeaways: This podcast serves as a resource for individuals engaged in practicing A Course in Miracles.We aim to share our respective journeys over the past twenty years with the audience.Each episode will delve into the chapters of A Course in Miracles, offering context and personal experience.The overarching theme emphasizes the importance of forgiveness and healing in achieving inner peace.We explore the idea that the journey is highly individual, though the curriculum remains the same for all.Listeners are encouraged to internalize the teachings, recognizing that the path to understanding lies within themselves.A Course In Miracles - official siteDaniel Wagner — Self-knowledge, inquiry and consciousness

  • 8 Episodes

About

A conversation about putting the ideas of A Course in Miracles to work in ordinary life: relationships, the work we are here to do, judgment, forgiveness, and the ongoing practice of seeing Love show up in everything we do. With Aaron Westfall and Daniel Wagner.

Information

  • Creator
    Daniel Wagner
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Daniel Wagner
  • Show Website
    prACtIcuM