"A Course In Miracles" is a Miraculous and Complete Teaching of Truth.
It was channeled by Jesus to a New York psychologist, named Helen Schucman in the late 1960s. The voice came as a clear inner dictation. She was not in any special meditative or trance state, while channeling the Course. In fact she didn't even comprehend the full import of what was channeled to her at the time. She just wrote it down, as if receiving dictation. Since then the Course has become recognized worldwide, as a Spiritual Masterpiece.
Its Fundamental Teaching is that the World we Experience is One of Ideas.
Mere mental projection of our thoughts onto the screen of the void. An outward picture of our inward condition or self-portrait of our thoughts. We are therefore not a victim of the world we perceive, but its Architect. Only when we take full responsibility for this world we see, can we begin to truly heal. Once our minds are completely healed, we will regain awareness of the Eternal, undifferentiated True Existence that is everpresent. Because Eternity remains a constant Reality. One silently awaiting for us to embrace its peace, potency and power which is our Divine Inheritance. It is only ever illusions that present the illusion of change, yet all illusions are the consequence of endorsing toxic ego-based beliefs. As we rid our minds of all fallacious ego beliefs, the Real World of the Eternal will come back into view and the veil of darkness will have been lifted.
The World is the Product of Fear, not Love!
This world is one of fear, because it represents our quixotic attack on God. We use it to both deny and hide away from Him, so that we can have Reality on our own special terms. We experience tremendous unconscious guilt for our abortive attempt to usurp God's Power and for fashioning our own special kingdom. Since this kingdom is unloving and built without God's collaboration, it remains unreal. Therefore God knows nothing about it. Meanwhile its unreality makes it a place of despair because it can never BE.
In the meantime, our denial of our Creator led to an extreme state of dissociation within us. This dissociated state is known in Course vernacular as the "Split-Mind". It is one in which those illusions and contradictions, generated out of our false understandings continuously wage war. The only healing remedy for our "Split-Mind" condition is the practice of True Forgiveness. This alone can heal our minds and it does so through Integration. By purging all unloving wrong-minded beliefs of our ego, we regain our original purity of Mind.
Our Ego Search for Specialness.
As we hover around on psychoplanet, we seek for Specialness as a compensation for our loss of Knowledge and Bliss. God can never grant our request for Specialness, because His Kingdom is built on total inclusion, not exclusion. He holds no exceptions to this Rule, because no one can be left outside The Holy Circle. Specialness in an unwholesome ego desire which is is always exclusionary by definition. It depends on cutting another down, often mercilessly so, to make oneself shine all the more.
So our outrageous specialness demand threw us into the darkness known as 'The Fall'. This is the Biblical term for the deep sleep that descended upon Adam. One that only occurred after he sought for the specialness that God could never give. He remains in this nightmarish drugged sleep and we as part of him have never awoken. Quantum Forgiveness alone can awaken us. It can heal us of all belief in Separation. It can restore us to our right minds, so that we see the lack of substance and futility of our specialness dream. Yet this spiritual cure we refuse, because our ego self cannot love. It cannot even extend a blessing or kindness to "another". So it plods about joylessly everyday, experiencing a kaleidoscopic barrage of grievances and victimization thoughts. It feels strengthened through judgment, condemnation and attack and feels weakened in the presence of love, altruism and unification. In our unfortunate and confused state of being, it has us chase after every trinket that seems to glow in the dark. Specialness, remains the one trump card, in which it sees its own Salvation.
"Split-Mind", the Dissociated Mind-state and the apparent Separation are all Synonymous.
"Split-Mind" and the ego are our inner state of turmoil and confusion, for which the apparent "Separation" is the projected outer counterpart. So we are presented with a hierarchical world of illusions, in which various orders of reality seem to have meaning. Because we are fooled in feeling separate from "others", we think we can function autonomously and independently. We think we can increase our piece of the cake, by denying the rights and opportunities of "others". Thus we quickly leverage on another's poor fortune and feel all glory is in taking. The ego teaches us that the more we deny or exploit those around us, the stronger we will become. We therefore seek to decimate all enemies and even undermine our "friends". This is because all "friends" are temporary to the ego. Merely to be used as jewels in its crown of self-glorification. It uses all "friends" to increase the number of feathers in its cap and to engage in grandiose dreams of conquest and self-empowerment. The ego would have us nourish the specialness belief in our own perfection, innocence and purity, while continuing to see "others" as sinful, tarnished, ugly and evil.
The Law of Belief
But the eye by which we see others cannot but become the eye, by which we look back upon ourselves. This is known in the Course as the Law of Belief. As a reflex of our belief that we could successfully steal God's power, it is only natural that we now believe parts of our mind can steal ours. Thus through projection we feel constantly attacked and victimized by parts of our own mind. Parts we longer recognize as part of our greater unity, because of the blindness imposed by dissociation.
This dissociated mind-state is distortive and this distortion is manufactured and maintained by all our erroneous held beliefs. The composite of these erroneous beliefs is known as the ego. The ego has no existence in truth. It is merely a phantom or mirage that appears to be real, so long as its belief system is endorsed. It presents a fearful hall of darkness and ignorance to our senses. One that seems bereft of all hope. Nevertheless the ego will return to the nothingness of non-being, once light and vision is restored to our Mind. There has never been any hope for the ego but our Reality remains a certainty.
The Onward Journey of "Split-Mind"
So then, the only purpose of all our apparent travels in the world and of all the gin-joints we walk into, is simply to heal our dissociated mind-state. By doing so we wake-up and are Enlightened. "Split-Mind" presents a virtual artifice or holodeck by which we experience the world of spacetime, phenomena and objects. In our abject state of ignorance, we proceed to view our reality as mere objects in the world of our perceptions. One known as the Relative Existence my Metaphysicians, Hell by Christians and Samsara by Buddhists.
Deep within our "Split-Mind", there remains a direct connection with Truth. Knowledge is still within, but this Knowledge now has become lost to our awareness. Our valuing of illusions made from dust has blinded us to it. Our acceptance of worthless ego beliefs has placed Knowledge on a parity with illusions. We feel powerless to regain this Knowledge because these illusions interpose a screen of darkness into the landscape of our perceptions. One in which the unreal becomes amplified, while the Real seems diminished and obscure. One in which Truth seems to have discombobulated and broken up into a gazillion fragmented and meaningless pieces.
The Holy Spirit Comes to the Rescue
The Holy Spirit has been sent by God to guide our minds back to our Eternal Reality. Through His loving guidance and inspiration we learn to distinguish Truth from Falsehood. When all untrue beliefs have been seen through and eliminated, we are restored to the Kingdom. Healed of all distortive beliefs, we are restored to Knowledge. Thus we come to know ourselves as the unconditional love, in which we were Created. All fear ceases, because it never had a real cause. Simultaneously the ego and the world of illusions comes to an end.
The One-Mind as the Son of God
The primary aim of the Course is to heal our Split-Mind and thus restore our True Identity to our awareness. To restore us to the wholeness, wisdom and radiance of the One-Mind. Only the One-Mind is capable of Knowledge, because it contains no unrealities or contradictions. It is Immaculate Mind that knows Eternity directly. This Mind is "The Kingdom", because God establishes no separation between His own Mind and that of His Son.
Since it cannot distort, it produces no illusions. These mind-made ego illusions function as our barrier to Truth and Eternity. They instantiate a veil of darkness over the mind, that makes a hell out of Heaven. Thus one becomes deeply embedded in the disheartening web of complexity, chaos and contradiction. Fooled into reacting to hallucinations generated from one's own mind. The One-Mind, in startling contrast is completely purified and divested of all erroneous beliefs.
The Buddha referred to the One-Mind as Nirvana. He taught that the Samsara and Nirvana are the same reality, perceived differently because of different perceiving mind-states. The Samsara is Eternity experienced through the dark distorting lens of Split-Mind - AKA the ego. Nirvana, on the other-hand is Eternity experienced directly and transparently without any overlay of distortion. It is therefore light-filled and untouchable by illusions. Vibrating always with True Life, unconditional Love and Bliss.
Split-mind presents the world of phenomenality. One characterized by form, concepts, percepts, senseless hyperactivity, futile motions and endeavors. The One-Mind is phenomenal absence - the so-called Noumenal existence. It presents a pure world of formlessness, in which all concepts, percepts and motion are instantaneously recognized as meaningless. All hyperactivity, and anxiety is the product of all the ego's misplaced desires, fears and pervasive state of ignorance.
In the Real world, Perfect Being alone remains. This Being Creates through the extension of Love. This is the body of perfect Knowledge, known in Tibetan Buddhism as the Sambhogakaya. The eternal resting place of all Buddhas past, present and future and of the forever Real. From here they extend their knowledge and grace to all those suffering dark dreams of delusion in the Relative Existence. They communicate their Immaculate Wisdom through the time-transcending portal of "The Now".
The Atonement Plan.
The Atonement Plan is the Course's corrective for undoing all erroneous beliefs. One that heals our Split-Mind so that we experience, once again the Wholeness, Purity and Wisdom of the One-Mind. Its key feature is Quantum Forgiveness, which undoes the dark world of our ego projections. Thus we find ourselves at Home in Eternity. Quantum forgiveness functions by avowing only the True and the Good, while giving no credence to the world of sin, evil and illusions. It recognizes that sin and evil are products of the defiled ego belief matrix. These are not in accord with our true Reality as unconditional Love and therefore should not be recognized or upheld. To condemn or even correct a brother is to teach error is real and so fall into the snare of darkness. We heal by focusing only on the good and the sane in those around us, while dismissing all else an unnecessary accoutrements the ego. When we extend only Love, we will know it alone is Real. Then we will know also, that all else was a mirage arising out of our failure to extend love in the past.
The Correct Practice of Quantum Forgiveness.
Practicing Quantum Forgiveness means recognizing that all evil acts and sins arise from the ego and pertain to the world of illusions. They arise because one has temporarily lost their sanity and is identifying with the unholy distortions perceived through their own Split-Mind. Having become dream identified, they are now reacting to the world of darkness and fear that pervades their dream landscape. This automatically causes them to lose awareness of their true Identity as Love. If we teach these evil acts and sins are real, we are strengthening their belief in the power of darkness. So teaching that the unreal is mightier than the Real and that fear can overcome Love.
Nevertheless Truth remains unchanged by all dark dreams of the ego. Your healing function to teach only this. As we teach those around us their true Reality, we remember our own. As we heal, we are likewise healed because all healing is shared. It is impossible to heal "another" through Q. forgiveness without also being healed yourself. On the other-hand, if you make the mistake of holding another ransom to their dark dreams, you will pay the penalty. You will strengthen your own identification with the world of darkness and not escape the ego. Because what you teach and extend you will learn and receive. We either all escape hell together by becoming lights onto one another, or else we remain in our self-made prison-houses.
Jim Morrison was wrong! He should have said "No ego gets out of here alive, but none of us as Spirit has ever been here." In reality there is nothing to escape from, just the re-dawning of truth to our awareness. This collective recognition of our Unity and Wholeness, that we learn through Forgiveness is our escape. The healing of the dreamworld and our complete restoration to Eternity is guaranteed by God. In fact it has already happened. For we but travel in memory and dreams while safe at Home.
The Key Difference between the Course and Other Belief Systems.
The Course steers us away from untested and contradictory Belief Systems and all Religious ideologies that depend on blind belief. In stark contrast, it aims to bring about direct experience of Truth, through daily practice of its teaching. It outlines 365 lessons for practice and integration into one's daily life. With the conviction earned through practice, one increases in light and attunement to the Real. This light then shines outwards in the world of one's perceptions. As all erroneous ego beliefs and dualistic interpretations are cleared away, one comes increasingly into the real World and is restored to Right-Mindedness. It teaches we know the Truth through attuning to it. In other-words we come to complete integration with Truth through putting into practice the Laws of the Kingdom. It is a very compelling and holistic teaching, without contradiction and highly symphonic in the way it interconnects higher ideas and themes to illuminate the mind. In my opinion, it both encompasses and transcends the veracious content present in all other systems I have known.
