Overcoming the Appearance of Spirituality

Some of the early obstacles we have to overcome as students of the Course are our own ideas of what it is supposed to be like to be a truly spiritual person. All of these ideas are steeped in the belief that sacrifice is required to be accepted by God. They inspire fear and make a spiritual path seem undesirable. These ideas are heavily fostered by the world, and some students are initially offended when they learn these treasured ideas have nothing to do with truly being in touch with God. They expect – rightly – that if they take on these undesirable appearances the world will pat them on the back. Here’s a partial list of situations, behaviors, attitudes and attributes that have nothing to do with truly being spiritual but may be an obstacle to you:

Poverty
Suffering
Loving everyone to the point of not having boundaries
Being “nice” to the point of being a hypocrite
Serving others
Preaching to and converting others
Living in isolation from the world
Sacrificing what you value
Marriage
Celibacy
Forming a family that looks a certain way
Not forming a family at all
Behaving “perfectly”
Living “morally”
Becoming politically involved
Fixing others
Fixing the world

A true spiritual path is one of awakening from the dream that this world and “life” are your reality. The changes that occur as you shift your identity to Truth manifest outwardly as expressions of abundance, love, harmony, happiness, inner peace. This takes whatever form is meaningful to you. Others may or may not recognize it. If you are concerned about the form your personality or your “life” takes in order to appear more spiritual, you are not awakening but trying to dream a different dream.

www.acimmentor.com

Comments

Unknown said…
Absolutely right! I love in the Course when Jesus says that he would never ask me to sacrifice. I joke often about the "spiritual ego" and how it is just another face, not the real me. When I am only concerned with what the Holy Spirit says and guides me to say and do....then I am walking my walk. When I am concerned that you see me as someone who sounds good and wise, my master is the Ego and the World.
5:28 PM
Anonymous said…
What if someone doesn't want to form a family, maybe not as it is ideally pictured in the world... I guess there's no timeframe...it happens when it happens...
2:39 PM
ACIM Mentor said…
Form the family that you want. The point of the article was that no appearance in the world depicts spirituality. True spirituality is an internal awareness of Truth, not a lifestyle.
2:52 PM
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