ACIM Is Not For Enlightenment

         When Liz here was first a student of A Course in Miracles in 1984, no one in the Course community was talking about awakening or enlightenment. If someone had come across Eastern nonduality teachings, they saw the similarity in that they, too, teach the apparent world is an illusion. But no one thought the Course was meant to lead one to enlightenment. Liz here very quickly had mystical experiences that showed the apparent world is not real and she glimpsed what enlightenment could be, but no one she knew seemed to have these experiences themselves. Because of these experiences, when she began to write in 2006, what she taught was different from the typical Course teacher. She read things into the Course that others did not seem to see. She saw that there were two ways to read the Course: A better way to be in the world (dream a better dream) and validation for perception that showed what the Course teaches is forgiveness, the awareness that nothing occurring is real. But there was no pursuit of enlightenment.

Then with the expansion of the internet, and mostly with the explosion of social media, the Course community changed. Long time students veered off into other nonduality teachings and new students from other nonduality teachings showed up. Suddenly, the focus of a good portion of the Course community shifted toward enlightenment. And many of those students subsequently became disillusioned with the Course or felt they were failing at it because they were not becoming enlightened.

There is a difference between the illusions of ego and the illusion that is ego. If you become aware that ego is an illusion, you will become aware of ego’s illusions as well. But becoming aware of ego’s illusions does not lead to becoming aware that ego is an illusion. Ego can be taught to see its illusions. But ego cannot be taught to see that it is an illusion. That awareness comes only when truth (pure consciousness) rises to conscious awareness, which it does of itself. This is not something that ego can make happen. And the awareness does not come to ego. Ego only senses that there is something else in consciousness and claims it for itself, which is how it makes its religions and spiritualities.

Ego makes illusions through projection and story making. This is what the Course leads you to see through the first part of its Workbook. You are never upset for the reason you think because the source of upset (forms of fear, guilt, lack) is ego, but ego projects the source away onto the material world and says that person or that situation is why you are upset. Ego has elaborate stories about the world, your person’s identity, your person’s past, what is supposed to happen as opposed to what is happening, etc. This is how it makes its world. Ego can come to see this and learn that its world is not immutable. It can learn to interpret things differently, which is what the Course offers after showing you that your world is not fixed. It offers better illusions because it cannot lead ego to see ego is not real.

If you come to see that ego is an illusion, this does not come from practicing the Course or any other teaching. Enlightenment occurs not when ego becomes aware of its illusions and chooses better illusions, but when pure consciousness rises to conscious awareness and ego falls away. You cannot bring this about. There is confusion on this point in the Course community because the Course teaches ego to see its illusions and some think these are all the illusions there are to see. And the Course’s ontology is nonduality and it points to enlightenment, but the fact that it offers practice and learning indicates that it is for ego. In fact, the Course points to enlightenment but does not emphasize it because the Development of Trust it lays out in the Manual for Teachers was Bill Thetford’s path, which did end in him joyously indicating to friends (the “mighty companions” predicted in the fourth stage) just before he died that he was “there”. His seeing the “real world” just before dying was also described in the Course. This is clearly not how it unfolds for everyone.

If you do not understand that the Course was a conversation between Helen Schucman, Bill Thetford, and the inner teacher and that it describes their experiences and specifically what will happen for Dr. Thetford, then you may think the Course describes cause and effect: If you do as Dr. Thetford did and practice radical forgiveness you will reach enlightenment. In fact, it wasn’t even cause and effect for him. His radical forgiveness practice did not cause him to see the real world at the end of his life. His practice was the effect of truth rising to conscious awareness, which looks different for each of us. And then it so happened that at the very end of his life, truth rose fully to conscious awareness. Again, this does not happen for everyone practicing forgiveness.

The awareness that the Course was specific to Drs. Schucman and Thetford in their “special function” of bringing the Course into the world came bit by bit here over decades and then finally came to be fully seen when enlightenment occurred. So, just like other students, Liz here took the path as her own, falling into guilt and fear and feelings of failure. Fortunately, she also got, from the start, the most important purpose of the Course, validation of her inner teacher. The inner teacher led her away from some of the worst mistakes ego makes with the Course (although she made some doozies!).

What the Course is, is a wonderful example of an “individualized curriculum”. It is an example of how the inner teacher in us all can lead each of us away from the worst of ego, as it did for Dr. Thetford and would’ve done for Dr. Schucman if that was to be her way. Yes, the lessons are valuable, but you are not a failure if you are not nailing down every lesson. Doing them for a year is helpful, and is a start, as the Workbook itself indicates by leaving you with the Holy Spirit (inner teacher) in the last five lessons. From then on, it is meant to be you and your inner teacher and your own “individualized curriculum”. And of course, the Text and MFT are full of good information, all of which should be taken in with your inner teacher. You know if you are doing this if reading the Course leads you away from guilt and fear. If guilt and fear increase, you are reading it with ego.

The Course is not a teaching for all for all time. It was a specific teaching for two people that was to extend past them, not as an infallible teaching, but rather as an instrument for the inner teacher in those who come across it. Nor is it a path to enlightenment, which cannot be taught. All spiritual paths are expressions of truth rising to conscious awareness. They do not cause enlightenment, but it may unfold for some students that truth rises fully to conscious awareness.

So, the movement of truth toward conscious awareness is a matter of degrees. All on any spiritual path represent this movement. How this unfolds through you is a unique expression of the same thing unfolding through everyone else. You have not failed as a Course student, nor has the Course failed you, if enlightenment does not occur. If you think failure has occurred, you may be missing the miracle that shows up as your unique unfolding. 

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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.