Seek to Be With Spirit
It makes far more sense to seek to live with Spirit as your Companion in ego-consciousness than to seek enlightenment, because enlightenment is rare, because it cannot be made to happen, and because it is not what ego wants anyway. Ego seeking enlightenment is like one spending their life studying and training for a position that they can only hope for since they cannot make it happen. Then, if the time comes for the position to be filled, they discover that it belongs to someone else forever and, worst of all, that they must now die for the other to fulfill it. So, all that time studying and practicing was not preparing for a better state, but for death.
Ego imagines
enlightenment is some sort of glorification of itself. But enlightenment is not
a better ego experience. And Spirit is not ego transformed; Spirit is not ego’s
True Self. Spirit is an entirely different experience of existence from
ego. What you really want is what something like A Course in Miracles
offers, which is a better way to be in ego-consciousness.
The Course
does not offer the way to enlightenment, but it tells you, if you didn’t
already know, that you have the Holy Spirit within you as a Teacher of God (Reality)
and Guide through a false world. It reminds you to be with Spirit in
everything. And it is an example of an individualized curriculum (Bill Thetford’s)
that offers you information, wisdom, and practice. It is not for all, and it is
not all for you, but if you are moved to study it, it will play some part in
your own expression of the Atonement (individualized curriculum). The part it
plays for you is up to Spirit within you. Spirit should always be the final word
for you, not words in a book, not a teacher. Books and teachers are instruments
of Spirit and should facilitate your awareness of Spirit within you. If
they do not, put them aside.
I know that for
those who have glimpsed the real world (Spirit-consciousness/enlightenment) the
urge is often to pursue it as a state of being. But no matter what you do, you
will not bring it about. If it is to happen, it will happen of itself, and not
through your efforts. Instead, remember those experiences to remind you that Spirit
is here with you. Cultivate and grow that awareness, and it will mitigate the
discomfort of ego-consciousness.
If you have a question the answer to which you
feel may be helpful to others, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate
that you want it answered in this newsletter/blog.
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