ACIM Mentor

             A Course in Miracles can be read on two levels, from the psychological or the ontological perspective. ( See last week’s article. ) “Seeing differently” from the psychological perspective means a different view from ego. Asking for and accepting another way of seeing a person, situation, or yourself is something that you can practice. From the ontological perspective, “seeing differently” means a wholesale change of perception. It means Spiritual Sight, or the Vision of Spirit. You can be open to this, but you cannot practice it or make it happen.             “Do you prefer that you be right or happy?” (T-29.VII.1) This question in the Course exemplifies the psychological approach of the Course . It is saying that the psychological ego insists on its way of seeing, but if it is not making you happy, are you willing to see differently? This approach encompasses both ego’s larger world view as well as specific situations in which you find yourself upset.   In my pract

             Just as I began to study A Course in Miracles in 1984 at the age of 20, I had mystical experiences that showed me that the world is not real, just as the Course teaches. I saw another world, the “real world”, and through a direct occurrence of Reality, that even the real world is not real. Nothing in consciousness is real. At the time, I was in a study group of Course students who had far more experience with the material than I had. But no one was discussing the kinds of experiences I was having. I didn’t want to mention them, partly because I was afraid that they’d think I was nuts, partly because I was afraid that they would not and would instead validate these experiences which so threatened ego. I now understand, of course, that I didn’t mention them because they were not going to be mentioned. I also now know that these were not my first mystical experiences. In a sense, they validated what was already known here from mystical experiences I had as a child, and t

           “I have been reading about this topic and would like to hear your thoughts. Is a peaceful ego dissolution long before physical death possible? Is it possible to choose the state of consciousness you would like to die in?...” –ESA   Well, the ontological ego ( see last week’s article ) fell away here over six years ago, and Liz is still here. But peaceful? No. The psychological ego remains behind to wind down (dissolve) and nothing about it is peaceful, although Peace (Spirit) is also here in consciousness as this occurs. So, yes, ego can fall away before physical death, revealing that ego and the person are not the same. But, no, it will not be a wholly peaceful experience. I have yet to hear of anyone who dropped both the ontological and psychological ego at the same time. Every story of ego falling away (“the center dropping out”) has included at minimum something left behind in shock and confusion. Usually, there is at least some fear. Often, it is terrible, at least

              Bear with me, I’m going to tie some things together: When I was first a student of A Course in Miracles back in 1984, one of the first things I realized about it was that it did with the word ego what it did with many spiritual, psychological, and everyday terms: It redefined it. As the Course uses the term, ego is not limited to an aspect of consciousness along with the id and superego , as defined by Sigmund Freud. Ego refers to one’s whole experience as a person. And the Course points out that is is false. This was, to me, radical, and unlike anything I’d heard before. After the Enlightened Mind (Spirit) came to stay in this conscious awareness (2011), ego grew more and more uncomfortable over several years. The awareness of a new landscape in this consciousness grew. When glimpsed, the new landscape was lovely, but ego was uncomfortable with the change.   This discomfort culminated in the moment I call The Break when something fell away, and it felt as tho

             In the past two weeks, I wrote about the spiritual ego as an effect of Spirit rising toward conscious awareness. A corollary to this is an ego-ized God, a version of God that does not question the reality of ego and consciousness, but rather validates them. Let’s say God (Reality) is the sun, and the sun’s extension—sunlight—is Christ, and a house is consciousness. The house has an occupant, ego, and sunlight streams from outside the house into it through the window. This would be Spirit. The sun is not concerned at all with the house or its occupant. The sun simply extends everywhere so its light extends even into the house. But the occupant of the house feels it and the house are all of reality and everything to do with the house is also therefore about it. So, when the sun streams in through the window, the occupant feels the sunlight is part of it and the house.   The occupant ignores the source of the sunlight, the sun beyond the house, because that would mean the