The Illusions to Deal With

           When students read in A Course in Miracles that the entire experience of the person and its world is an illusion, it leads to two common questions: “How can I possibly see my reality as an illusion?” and “Am I to deal with the whole experience as an illusion or only deal with the illusions within the experience?”

That the personal experience is an illusion is an awareness that may come to you through mystical experiences or a slow dawning, but it is not something that you can make occur, so there is no point in trying. Practically speaking, you can deal only with the illusions that occur within the experience.  And this is what a teaching like the Course is for. It is a “better way” to be in the personal experience.

The person and its experiences have no meaning. Without ego, the person is just a human animal living out its life. The person would have thoughts and feelings and take actions and they would all just pass by if ego was not there to give them meaning and spin elaborate stories about them to make itself seem real. The meaning and stories come from projections of the past on the present and future as well as ego’s ideas of what the world could and should be. These are the illusions within the experience that you can deal with. For example, as the Course points out, you (ego, the “I”) write “scripts” for others. If their words and actions line up with your script for them, you are happy with them. But when they do not play by the script you’ve written for them, you are upset and you end up resenting them. But they didn’t fail you. You set yourself up with expectations not based on how things are but on how you wanted them to be. Your expectations were of a world that is not here

In psychotherapy and across all religions and spiritualities there is a common suggestion to live a more peaceful life: Acceptance. Acceptance of yourself as you are, of others as they are, and of what occurs. Ego experiences this as “humbling” because it means it must stop being its own god dictating what is supposed to occur. In the spiritual process, this means coming to see yourself as part of something larger, which is often called God or God’s Plan. It requires you to put aside being the arbiter of reality and to get into the flow of what will occur. You do this by becoming aware of your inner teacher, which helps you to stay present to what is occurring and to put aside resistance, storytelling, and meaning making. Living in the flow of what is occurring, rather than in ideas of what is supposed to happen, is an easier and simpler way to live. But it does require seeing yourself differently, not isolated and autonomous, which is an illusion, but as part of something larger. As long as ego is here, dealing with illusions is an ongoing process, but one in which you will advance to a more peaceful life. 

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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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