Seeking Understanding or Avoiding Discomfort?

           It seems to me that in the past decade or so, due to the further proliferation of information on the internet through social media, many A Course in Miracles students have become what I call nonduality generalists. They may or may not consider the Course their primary path but having come to see the similarities in all nondual teachings, they pursue nondual ideas wherever they find them.

It can be helpful to read the same thing in different ways, especially when ideas are new to you. Sometimes what you cannot understand from one turn of phrase you understand from another. Many don’t realize that the Course itself says the same thing over and over until they have studied it for a while. What seemed a complicated teaching at first turns out to be very simple.

But the Course is dense and difficult for many to understand. For new students, it can be helpful to read the same thing in different words and symbols and come back to the Course with eyes opened.

And whether you study one teaching or many, eventually with understanding comes fewer pleasurable a-ha moments. This is when some students begin to roam, not so much for further understanding and knowledge, but to have again the pleasurable sensation of the a-ha. New teachings and new teachers can be exciting. They and their approach are novel and refreshing, and they may say things that illuminate your mind delightfully. I hear things like, “I used to follow Teacher A, but they don’t work for me so much anymore. Now I’m listening to Teacher Q.” I have come to hear of so many teachers from so many nonduality approaches that I wonder if many nonduality generalists are caught up seeking a sensation when instead they could simply sit quietly with Spirit (Awareness).

Ah! But there’s the rub. Being quiet means being with the chatter of the mind and the uncomfortable feelings of a person. It means facing ego’s resistance to Spirit within, which is never pleasant. It means entering the long, hard slog of spiritual practice, the part without the excitement of the new and the pleasure of the a-ha moment. It is just these things that need to be seen and felt and allowed to pass to get to the awareness of ever-present Peace within you in Spirit, which is so much more than a-ha moments.

If you find you are continually seeking or moving onto the newest thing, check in with yourself. Are you moving toward deeper understanding or running from discomfort? Because in the end, the only Teacher that will bring you the Peace you seek is not in any teaching or human teacher, but past the discomfort within you.

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