Ask: About "teachers of God"...

From the point of view of A Course in Miracles, only one teacher of God is needed to save the world. According to the Course, all the rest would be the ego's arrogant specialness. ACIM also talks about The Hundredth Monkey Theory of Salvation which states that a certain number of people are needed to tip the scales to favor of salvation, and as a corollary, that there is some sort of divine plan to have this done by certain special people… Speaking for myself, nothing wrong with this The Hundredth Monkey Theory, except that I happen to believe in the concept of the critical-masses of people needed to tip the scale of salvation of the world.Perhaps, that is why, I believe that part three of A Course in Miracles is devoted to these God's teachers who are destined to tip the scale in favor of salvation of the world. I read somewhere that Helen, the scribe of the Course, mentioned about the "Celestial Speed Up" process. The manual for Teachers was written for these God's Teachers. Can you please explain your views on this subject? – JJ

There is only one split mind thinking about a world so there is only one mind that needs to let go of this thought. This one split mind takes many forms, but they are all the same in content, so they are all the same. This is why it takes only one mind to “save the world”. When any seemingly-individual mind remembers Truth it is the one split mind remembering Truth. This is why your “sole responsibility is to accept the Atonement for yourself.” (Remember, “atonement” in the A Course in Miracles means “correction”).
It is important to clarify what the Course means by the word “world”. Just as with so many other words, the Course does not use the word “world” in the conventional sense. It is not speaking of the universe of form, but of your thoughts about (perception of) a universe of form. This is what makes up the “world” for each seemingly-individual mind and why each personal self really does live in their own world. So by “saving the world” the Course is not speaking of changing the universe of form to somehow reflect Truth but “saving” your mind by correcting how it thinks about a universe of form.
The “Hundredth Monkey Theory” is never mentioned in the Course. With a little cursory googling I found that this theory is an observed phenomenon among monkeys where when a certain behavior is accepted by a certain number (critical mass) of monkeys in a group the behavior spreads spontaneously to other related groups of monkeys. This is not at all what the Course teaches. The Course is concerned with mind, not behavior. This circles back to what was stated in the first paragraph.
The “teachers of God” that the Course refers to are not special people but anyone whose mind is open to God. And you choose to open your mind to God because God is Truth and you can only be at peace being aware of Truth. If you have any other motivation, like “you have to do your part to save the world”, be aware of the guilt lurking behind this thought. This implies that the universe of form is real and has an effect on God, so it implies that guilt and “sin” are real. Or it is the personal self seeking to glorify itself, so again implying that it is real and reinforcing guilt in your mind.
If you truly want Truth and peace, rather than just a better personal life, then do not be too attached to the story of “salvation” laid out in the Course. Like any spiritual teaching the Course can be read superficially as only a means to a better personal experience. But if you want something more then you must be willing to put aside the personal story and allow the Teacher of Truth (Holy Spirit) in your mind to reveal to you the deeper message of the Course. Then the story of salvation in the Course will be a temporary bridge that meets you where you are when you first read the Course: almost wholly identifying with a personal self that longs for a purpose and a context for its “life”. But you will eventually cross this bridge and leave it behind.


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Comments

Brooke said…
wow, you seriously rock.

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