ORIENTATION TO THE COURSE

 

INTRODUCTION

At this time in history with all the knowledge that we have at our fingertips we have a pretty good idea that we are more than physical beings and that we do, in fact, have many levels. This course is an opportunity to explore this statement at greater length and in more detail. We have levels of Body (our physical self), Mind, (consisting of the conscious and subconscious minds and our feelings and emotions) and our Spirit (which is our essence and where we connect to the Creator.)

In the Cayce Readings it is said that “Spirit is the Life, Mind is the Builder, and Physical is the Result”. This statement is telling us that our physical body is only the result of our spirit and how we mold our spirit with our minds. This is an eye opening concept and one that seems to put the responsibility of our well being firmly in our own hands (and thoughts). Could this be true? Could it be true that we make choices with our minds and from those choices we create our lives and our physical lives are the result of the choices we make? This is a concept that we will explore at greater length during this course.

The Cayce readings also say many times that “Thoughts are Things” indicating the substance and power of our thought energy. They are not merely fleeting ideas that flow through our heads and then flow quickly out leaving no trace, but have force and creative power. The readings also say “Thoughts are things and can be either crimes or miracles” letting us know that we have the ability to create bad situations or good situations with the power of our thoughts.

In this course we are going to look at ourselves as multi level beings. We will start with the story of the soul and how we came to be on earth as physical beings. We will take a look at our physical body and how it is connected to our spirit through our chakras. We will have the opportunity to discover in the Ayervedic tradition which dosha we are. We will touch on how our attitudes and emotions affect our lives, health and well-being and ways of using creative visualization to create the lives that we choose to live. We will discuss the ways in which we sabotage ourselves and how we can correct this.

This course is designed to help students come to know themselves as whole beings and to be able to translate that knowledge into knowing the people around them better. We hope this course gives the students the opportunity to see themselves and people in their lives in a whole new way and gives the students guidance and a firm foundation in this subject.

OBJECTIVES

We will study and explore the various levels of a human being and talk about where we came from, how we can best live our lives while we are here. We will take a look at how our attitudes and emotions affect our lives and how we can work this to our advantage. Students will be asked to work towards understanding themselves as body, mind and spirit in the fullest sense.

This course is designed to:

• Clearly and simply define the subject area of body, mind and spirit.
• Clearly and simply recognize how our attitudes and emotions can be used as conduits to our physical health.
• Clearly and simply define the physical results of our attitudes and emotions.

ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE

This course is organized in Learning Modules, numbered I-IV. Modules require reading of sections of the text, quizzes, doing some research on a certain topic, problem solving and writing assignments on the specified topic. The specific assignments are discussed at the end of each Learning Module.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

If this were a residential course in which the instructor discusses relevant materials with students in a classroom situation, the timetable would be approximately sixteen hours of course work.

However, in an Independent Study Course such as this, the student does not have the benefit of interacting with the instructor or with classmates in a classroom setting. The student must therefore assume a greater degree of responsibility for his/her learning and study of the material. Furthermore, the student needs to exercise self-discipline so that he/she can complete the course within the prescribed 6-week period following registration. The student is responsible for submitting written assignments relative to the various modules of the course. While the total number of assignments may seem like a lot of work, they will allow the student the opportunity to articulate what he/she is learning and provide the mentor with a better perspective in assessing the student’s understanding of the material.

The final activity is to mail all the assignments done for the course.
The modules should be completed in the sequence in which they are presented.
After you have completed all of your assignments, please mail them in their entirety to your mentor by name c/o

The Cayce/Reilly School of Massage Therapy
215 67th Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23451

On the envelope, under your name and return address, indicate your mentor’s name and the course you are submitting assignments for. This will allow the Registrar to forward it immediately to your mentor without opening the package.

Although this is not a course in English composition, poor writing detracts from the quality of any paper. Papers should be well written, with accurate spelling and effective use of grammar.

MENTOR RESPONSIBILITIES

The mentor will be punctual in responding to work submitted by students. The student will usually receive written feedback and a grade on assignments within two weeks of the time they reach the mentor. The mentor’s critique and comments will generally be written directly on the assignments---notations such as:

• a compliment for a point well made,
• notes of additional ideas that should have been included,
• a rhetorical question to stimulate thought but requiring no written response
  to the mentor.

You should feel free to contact the mentor by mail with comments on the graded essays.

EVALUATION AND GRADING

The mentor will assign a letter grade to each essay. The grades for all the essays will be averaged to produce a final grade. The grading of essays is somewhat of a subjective process. Consequently, the student is encouraged to interact with the mentor after each paper has been graded and received by the student. The mentor’s system for grading is based on the following guidelines:

A      This grade indicates an exceptional completion of assignments. The student has gone beyond basic expectations for the assignment on this module. There are many examples of independent thinking and originality.

B      This grade indicates a paper well done. The fundamental points have been summarized and explained well. There is some evidence of independent thinking and originality.

C      This grade indicates an acceptable job on the essays.

A grade of D or F for an assignment is possible. A paper, which doesn’t measure up to the criteria for a C, will first be returned to the student before any grade is assigned. The student will have another opportunity to complete the assignment.