Ask: How can I accept that there is no ultimate responsibility for my actions?

“ACIM asserts that the physical universe and all it contains…are total illusions…ACIM tells us we are ‘sin’ free…and thus all acts we commit, regardless of their impact on others, are consistent with the illusion. ACIM tells us we must only ‘Forgive’ our Brother in the Son of God, recognizing that our Brothers’ acts against us are equally unreal. Every other spiritual path or religion I’m aware of maintains that we are responsible for our actions in our present lives (implicitly asserting they are REAL) and will eventually be held accountable for them in some way, either in the present, directly in the afterlife or during some form of reincarnated future lives…This too, is disavowed by ACIM. The implication is that e.g., serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and Mother Teresa are not only loved equally by God but are equally open to receiving all of God's Love without any consideration of past acts. It is profoundly difficult to accept the rejection of any ultimate responsibility/accountability for our actions...this connection is counter intuitive and I cannot find credible evidence (or argument) in ACIM persuading me to accept it…” - RM

            You never will find an acceptable argument to understand this. True forgiveness is understood only through the experience of God (True Being) as Reality. This does not come through the intellect. It comes through the experience of God within you. And you experience God when you are willing to experience God.

Ultimate guilt is supposed to be the “proof” that the ego is reality. Its story for you when you identify with it is that you attacked a god and made a new reality (the universe of form, including egos). This is the primary “sin” or guilt. Anything that then happens in this new reality is therefore an extension of that original guilt. To undo this you are supposed to live by certain (arbitrary, varying-by-culture) rules. If you do not you are compounding your guilt. So if you say that this has not happened, that Reality (God) is not touched by any of this, and there is no guilt you are effectively saying that the ego does not really exist. It is a mistaken experience. This is, of course, what A Course in Miracles says. But you cannot expect the ego to accept this. You, however, can become aware of this fact apart from the ego because your Reality in God is not changed by this mistaken experience.

            In the world we need rules to live in harmony with each other. So there is a need for legal definitions of “guilt” in the context of the world. And there is cause and effect at the level of form so you do experience the effects of your actions in form. But there is no ultimate morality decreed by a power outside of you. “God”, as ACIM uses the term, refers to True Being, not to a power-over. There is no power outside of you with power over you. There is only True Being and when you seem to forget It you think that you are a separate being among many other beings. This misperception is all that you need to correct if you want to be at peace.

            Certainly all religions and most spiritual paths seek to spiritualize the ego. They are not interested in transcending the ego but in validating it as reality. So they teach that the egoic experience is real and has an effect on God. This is one reason why A Course in Miracles is different from most other paths. It leads you out of your misperception rather than further into it.

            ACIM does not imply that Jeffery Dahmer and Mother Teresa are equally loved by God. What ACIM says is that the entire limited experience of form, including selves (bodies/personalities), is not real. What seems to happen in the universe of form has no effect on God (Reality) whatsoever. So Dahmer and Mother Teresa are not equally loved by God. Both are equally unreal. Neither exists for God. Realizing this is true forgiveness.

The belief in ultimate guilt and fear of punishment from a power that you have defied are the ego’s defenses against God because they keep you from looking inward and seeing God. As long as you want the ego to be your reality you will be resistant to releasing the belief in an ultimate morality.

(My latest book, Releasing Guilt for Inner Peace, looks in-depth at guilt, its source, its purpose, how it is maintained, and how it is released. It is full of every-day examples. It is available for only $5 in digital formats. You can learn how to order it at www.acimmentor.com/booksbylizcronkhite.html).

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Learn about the books The ACIM Mentor Articles, The Plain Language A Course in Miracles, 4 Habits for Inner Peace, and Releasing Guilt for Inner Peace at www.acimmentor.com.

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