ACIM Mentor

             In the past several articles, I’ve been drawing a picture, one that is clear to me now but was not always. As truth rises to conscious awareness it affects ego and the two become blended and it is difficult to sort them out. Especially as ego is not motivated to do so. It will use whatever comes to conscious awareness to validate itself, its reality. Of course it does, it knows nothing else. The spiritualities it finds acceptable always include some version of itself, subtle though that might be. Its idea of heaven, of the “real world” in A Course in Miracles’ terms, is some version of what it wants to be true. To help uncross the wires—sort out ego from truth—I’ve been using the distinction between enlightenment and self-realization because these goals are not the same but are often confused. And what occurs when these goals are confused is spiritual bypassing that does not address dysfunction and/or inevitable disappointment after yea...

             The absolute, being all that is, must contain the idea of its own opposite. But being all, the absolute cannot have an opposite. So, the idea of the opposite of the absolute can only ever be an idea , and one that is simultaneously undone by the onlyness of the absolute. This idea and its simultaneous undoing are represented as consciousness . Consciousness is a symbolic depiction of an idea of a truth (represented by pure consciousness ) being opposed by ideas (represented by ego and its world) that appear in it and that it undoes over time. Pure consciousness (the truth of consciousness) is whole and does not have parts. But ego, as the idea of denial of truth, makes it seem that it does have parts: Conscious awareness (what is in immediate awareness), subconscious (what is just out of conscious awareness), and unconscious (what is out of conscious awareness). Ego’s occupation of conscious awareness pushes truth into the unconscious...

            In ego-consciousness, Liz here was in the first generation of A Course in Miracles students, having come to it in 1984 at the age of 20. Right away she had mystical experiences that revealed to her the nondualistic teaching of the Course —that the one and only truth is beyond appearances. The study group she was in at the time did not discuss the kinds of things she experienced. The members were mostly focused on relationships and giving things to the Holy Spirit. Because of her experiences, Liz felt pulled in another direction and left the group to form a relationship with the Holy Spirit and study the Course on her own. (Back then, I did not use the term nonduality . I said the Course was “Eastern religious philosophy in Christian language.”) From what she heard and read about Course teachers in the years that followed, no one was talking about the kinds of experiences she had. When she returned to a Course study group in 2000 after t...

            There is a difference between self-realization and enlightenment, but these goals are often confused and thought to be the same thing. They are not. Self-realization can be taught and enlightenment cannot. Self-realization can be a deliberate “path” and in fact the journey itself is often the goal. (“The journey is the destination.”) But there is no “path” to enlightenment. It cannot be attained or achieved. It happens if it is to happen. Both are caused by the movement of pure consciousness (truth) toward conscious awareness. But self-realization occurs to ego. It is the effect on it of truth rising, transforming it but not wholly undoing it. So, one’s mind continues split between truth and illusion. Enlightenment, however, occurs when ego falls away because pure consciousness has risen fully to conscious awareness. The split is gone, there is only one reality, one truth, pure consciousness. Anything else remaining is recognized as unreal, m...

            Something that happens after a shift in consciousness is you see how things are in consciousness as opposed to what ego has said is happening. Obviously, it’s a radically different point of view! From ego’s point of view, a spiritual journey can seem integral and deeply meaningful. It is the source of ego’s deepest validation of itself as real, so it is its deepest delusion. But from the point of view of truth, pure consciousness, ego’s spiritual journey is incidental. It is what ego does when it senses truth rising to conscious awareness. Some have glimpses of truth, moments of “awakening” where pure consciousness rises briefly to conscious awareness, like near-death experiences or mystical experiences. As only ego can be said to be in any kind of dream (the illusion that it is real), then “spiritual awakening” can be said to be something that happens to ego. It is ego coming to realize that there is a truth beyond itself and its world. (It...

           One of the first words I understood A Course in Miracles to redefine, as it did with so many, was ego . It clearly referred to something more than just pride or self-centeredness or one part of the human psyche that, along with the id and superego , Sigmund Freud had defined. I understood ego in the Course to mean the whole personal experience. I discovered in time that most students understood this right away, too. If you’ve had more than insights but mystical experiences , then you are aware that pure consciousness is more than just perceiving differently or perceiving something different, it is a different experience of existence. While I referred to ego as a thought system as its mind structures were what I dealt with daily, I was aware that if it fell away, there would be a shift in the experience of existence. However, I didn’t realize these two aspects would not wholly fall away together. The ego thought system , which I have refe...

            Last week I wrote how the idea of a “Son of God” only seems to make sense from ego’s perspective so it falls away when ego does. From the perspective of truth (pure consciousness, what ego senses as “God”) no part of it has ever been lost and so the idea of a “journey” of return is totally illusory. For readers and clients who have not come to see this there is always the question, “What can I take away from this information?” First, that there is a truth here in consciousness, even if it is not an individuated “your” truth. It is what is and it is lovely. Second, forgiveness as A Course in Miracles teaches it, that nothing appearing in consciousness is real, is a fact . Last week I shared how this is realized here. You may not yet see this for yourself, but I give testimony that it is true, perhaps reinforcing it in you. Third, if you experience the split mind, where you are aware of truth beside ego, then you too have forgiveness righ...

              In last week’s article I mentioned that after the shift in consciousness here I could no longer find anything in this mind to call the “Son of God” and struggled to fit my experiences into the ontology and theology of A Course in Miracles . Here I will explain. This is what I thought and expected and taught over three decades as a student, teacher, and mentor of the Course :   I (along with you) am a (the) Son of God. In my pure state I am what is called Christ . I had come to understand “God” or “Father” as Whole and “Christ” or “Son” as Part of that Whole due to the Course making it clear that God and Christ were truly One. The reason for the distinction was that part of the whole had “forgotten to laugh” at the ridiculous idea of being separated from itself and had “fallen asleep”. Thus, the Son, or Part, was looking to get back to its Father, or its Wholeness. Since this was only a dream, this Part had not really left th...

        In her book, The Real Christ , Bernadette Roberts details how Christ , or the awareness of truth, was lost in a cult of Jesus that arose in the early Christian Church. One of the ways this occurred was through a rigid insistence that only certain approved language could be used by writers and teachers, which meant much authentic experience was lost. If someone wrote about their genuine experience in language that was not approved by the Church, they were labeled a heretic and executed. She lamented this when she had begun having experiences that were not described in the contemplative or mystical teachings of her Church ( The Experience of No-Self ), leaving her without validation and support. Eventually, the Church’s power diminished and within and outside the Church there were many contemplatives and mystics who did write about their experience in their own authentic language, but she still could find only one or two teachers who wrote about what she was ex...

          “Could you tell more about the factor of predetermination in one of the upcoming newsletters? Specifically, how we can discern if our longing and drive to wake up comes from the ego or from Spirit?” – D   As truth (pure consciousness) rises to conscious awareness, along with mystical experiences and/or a growing awareness of truth, it shows up as a motivation and sometimes desire for spiritual study and practice in some form. These are effects, not causes, of truth rising to conscious awareness. They may also serve as a form of preparation for changes that will occur as truth rises further in conscious awareness. It sometimes occurs that a desire for something, be it an object or situation, shows up out of the blue before the object or situation shows up. This is not a personal desire; it does not come from a sense of lack. It simply signals an awareness of what is to occur. I’ve heard the longing for greater spiritual awareness described a...

            Perhaps you are aware of Russian nesting dolls—matryoshka—where a larger doll contains a smaller doll which contains an even smaller doll and so on. I’ve discovered that the absolute and consciousness and ego are like this, which is why there is confusion about which experiences are true and what is the ultimate truth, the absolute. Let’s begin with the actual only truth, the absolute . Being all, the absolute must contain the idea of its own opposite. Being all, the absolute cannot have an opposite so its opposite can only ever be an idea . It can never be real. Moreover, as soon as the idea of not-absolute arises it is simultaneously undone by the absolute’s all-encompassing nature. In the absolute, there is only the absolute. So, in the absolute, no opposite actually arises and must be undone. The idea of a truth that must undo its opposite can only be representational . These ideas play out in a “space” we call consciousness . In conscio...

           Ego fell away here, but I did nothing to cause it to fall away. It happened because it was to happen. Before it fell away, ego went through many stages; it went on a “spiritual journey”. This was merely the effect of truth rising to conscious awareness here. The journey did not result in ego falling away. Truth rising to conscious awareness resulted in what looked like ego going on a “spiritual journey”. While an effect of truth, the journey had nothing to do with what truth actually is. In general terms, the journey was symbolic, an indication of truth rising to conscious awareness. But the specifics of the journey were wholly in the context of ego. This is why enlightenment was such a shock. A Course in Miracles is also an effect, not a cause. It was the result of Bill Thetford’s awakening, not the cause of it. Truth was to rise to his conscious awareness and the Course was his “spiritual journey” or “individualized curriculum”—how truth ri...

            When I write articles like the past two where I emphasize the centrality of your awareness of your inner teacher (Holy Spirit) to your sense of inner peace, I hear from those who say they are not aware of their inner teacher. Everyone experiences their inner teacher at some point, but they may not identify it as such. So, let’s look at some obstacles to identifying your inner teacher.   The expectation that your inner teacher will stand out , be something dramatic, lofty, or special in some way. Your inner teacher is always in your mind, and its ordinariness may make it hard for you to pick it out from ego’s many, also familiar experiences. So, it sounds and feels like you, but a quiet, rational, detached you.   Your inner teacher is quiet , so easily lost in ego’s cacophony. However, this quiet can be how you distinguish it from ego—in time. Ego will try to be quiet to mimic it, but you will sort that out in time through othe...

           Years ago, I had a client who had been attending a weekly A Course in Miracles study group for years. In our first session I asked, as I do if it has not already come up, about his relationship with his inner teacher (Holy Spirit). He was surprised. He told me that many of the participants in his study group could quote the Course chapter and verse, but no one discussed their inner teacher. Whatever topic someone brought up, someone else would merely quote what the Course teaches on the topic. Now he understood why he felt stuck. Once I received an email from someone who described herself and her friends as highly educated, but they were struggling to understand certain aspects of the Course . Those were aspects that would only be understood through experience. So, I asked her about her spiritual experiences. “Oh,” she wrote back. “There’s supposed to be an experience ?” Indeed, there is.   “A universal theology is impossible, but a...

            A Course in Miracles is not dogmatic. It is not a doctrine to live by. It is not a prescription , but a suggestion , as it was for, and was written in in the context of, Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford’s relationship. No one must “get it right” or be a “good Course student”. In fact, there are times when it is most loving to yourself to put it aside. The real, lasting value of A Course in Miracles is it leads you to an awareness of, or validates an awareness you already have of, the teacher of truth (Holy Spirit) in your mind. If you get only this from it, it will have done its job in your life. If you do not have this, then the Course’s value will be limited and may not even be there for you. In fact, it might be harmful. Like anything else, the Course is a weapon in ego’s hands. The awareness of ego and how it works, the practices suggested in the Course , and the ontology and theology of the Course are not for everyone, and you do ...