Tuesdays with Marianne

Marianne Williamson has returned to her roots. After a decade of living in Detroit, the spiritual guru is back in Los Angeles, doing weekly talks, just like she did when she was first getting started in the mid 80s.

Each Tuesday, Williamson hosts a spiritual talk at the Showcase Theater on La Brea Avenue (at Melrose). So far, each talk has been standing room only, despite very little publicity about her return, indicating both the size of the her following and the hunger Southern Californians have for spiritual guidance.

Meditate

Meditation is the key to everything spiritual. Williamson says that a mere 5 minutes of meditation in the mornings is enough to raise your thought patterns to a higher vibrational level to put your “thought forms in the care of God” for the entire day.

More than that, meditation is the way to tap into the spiritual solutions people seek. Williamson says she once met a Hindu spiritual leader who people came from many miles away to see. The Hindu master would listen to people’s problems with great interest, then pause to reflect on the information and finally respond, “Meditate.” No matter what issue was presented to him, the guru would reply, “Meditate.”

Pray

While meditation is the way people listen to God, prayer is the way they talk to God. Williamson says that “prayer is the medium of miracles.” She explains that there is no order of difficulty in miracles. All people have to do in order to receive a miracle is be willing to ask.

She also says that group prayer is highly effective for creating change. A gathering of people focused on the same idea creates a powerful force. “Ideas become stronger when they are shared.”

Beginnings

Williamson began her spiritual journey as a result of her study of A Course in Miracles, a psychological mind-training based on universal spiritual concepts. The Course encourages people to relinquish a thought system based on fear and replace it with a thought system based on love.

“Love is to fear what light is to darkness,” she explains. “Let the love in and fear disappears.”

In the mid 80s, she started sharing her insights from the Course with others seeking spiritual answers. What started as small gathering of seekers soon became a local phenomenon with hundreds attending each week. Later, she compiled her ideas into a book, A Return to Love, which went on to be a best seller. In the two decades since, she’s written almost a dozen more books.

Tuesday Talk

The Tuesday talks, which are signed for the hearing impaired, are divided into two sections. She shares her ideas on a specific topic for the first half, then opens the floor for audience questions.

One of the most remarkable things about Williamson is that she doesn’t stumble during the question and answer period. She listens deliberately to people’s questions, then immediately comes back with a response, frequently quoting from the Course. She doesn’t fill time with “ahmmm” or “you know” while trying to come up with a response.

The other remarkable thing is that she is not afraid to call people on their stuff in front of the 800 person audience. If someone presents a situation to her where she hears that they’ve done something wrong, she’ll point that out. And of course she also offers guidance for dealing with the situation.

Williamson also frequently shares her own journey, talking about her experiences and how she had grown from them. “Early in my career, it was easy for me to go on and one about forgiveness,” she said during her first Tuesday session. “Nobody had fucked with me yet.” She believes that continually learning from experiences keeps her humble, allows her to keep practicing the principles she’s advocating.

Simple ideas

Other snippets of Williamson’s wisdom:

• One of the simplest solutions she has found for frustrating or irritating situations is to pray, “I am willing to see this differently.”

• There are no coincidences. People come into your life for a reason, be it for a minute, a year or a lifetime. “Everyone you meet is either your crucifier or your savior, depending on what you do with it.’

• If a person doesn’t feel at peace about a situation, that’s an indication they must have acted wrongly. She advises to look at what you are withholding from the situation. Quoting from the Course, she says, “Only what you are not giving can be lacking in any situation.”

Visit Marianne's website.