Not "Should", But Sorting Out

We are so used to the ego’s religions with their “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts” that almost every student goes through a phase where they read prohibitions and admonishments into A Course in Miracles. But the Course does not tell you a thing about how you should live in the world. What it does is compare the ego’s thought system with the Holy Spirit’s thought system to help you to sort out when you are coming from ego and when you are coming from the Holy Spirit. It is helping you to sort out illusion from Truth because they have become confused in your mind. The mistake that many new students make is thinking that they are supposed to make the ego more like the Holy Spirit. This is where they think they read how they “should” or “shouldn’t” be.
Students will say, “I know I shouldn’t judge.” But what the Course says is that judgment is the way that the ego thinks, and that it really doesn’t have the capacity to truly judge because it doesn’t know what the Truth is. Only the Holy Spirit can judge, and the Holy Spirit’s judgment is always that you are Innocent in Truth. If you see anything but Innocence, recognize you are coming from ego and let it go. Then remember your Innocence and extend It in place of the ego’s judgments.
Students will say, “I know I shouldn’t want things in the world.” But what the Course says is that only the ego wants things in the world because it wants to make separation from God real to you, so when you want things in the world you are coming from ego. If, however, you give the things that you want to the Holy Spirit then they are no longer about separation from God but they are a means to be connected to God through the Holy Spirit. You are undoing the ego by giving the world a different Goal. In time, as you practice giving everything to the Holy Spirit, you will eventually not want things in the world and you will just want your connection to the Holy Spirit.
Students will say, “Why am I sick? I should be able to heal the body with my mind.” But what the Course teaches is that the body isn’t you, it isn’t real, and it is your identification with it that makes it sick. You do not heal the body by trying to heal it, which only makes it real to you, but by letting go of your identification with it. When you no longer want the ego, the body will have no use for you, and it will no longer manifest illness.
Students will say, “I know I shouldn’t want sex.” But what the Course says is that sex is a means the ego uses to make the body real to you. Both embracing sex and resisting sex gives it power over you and makes it real to you. Sex is neither good nor bad; it is nothing. Just as with illness, your desire for sex will go with your desire for the ego.
Students will say, “I should change the world to reflect God’s Love and Peace.” But what the Course says is that the world is not real, ever. To change the world is to change nothing. But change your mind about the world’s reality, and see that God is here in your mind despite the world that seems to be in front of you, and you have performed a miracle.
The way to overcome the ego is not to fight it or to try and change it, but to let it go. Recognize when you are coming from it and go the other way. The Course tells you how the ego thinks and how the Holy Spirit thinks not to make you “wrong” or “bad” when you are coming from ego, but so that you can see your choices clearly. When you clearly see the ego and the pain it offers you will naturally turn to the Holy Spirit.