….See Prophesy Based on the Book of Revelation About the “End of the World”

Let us see everything we see and think now on the basis of our learning through Jesus in A Course in Miracles who is a symbol God's love in the world and in our minds.

He is a symbol because there are in reality no differences among the Sons of God which ultimately join as One Christ. So Jesus is an expression in 'form' of the One Son we all are.

This also means there is no Satan, no individual being called Satan. In the course the Holy Spirit is the spiritual identity of Jesus and every one of us in our right-mind. The ego, Its counterpart, is the spiritual identity of Satan.

There are many fear-ridden prophesies nowadays about the end of the world, many of them even match assumptions with words from the book of Revelation, pointing even at specific churches like the Catholic church and its leaders as signaling the end of the world. This is all focused on the world as the stage of life, of course, and not Heaven as the course explains. The world is a stage for sin, guilt, fear and therefore death, not Life.

The course tells us that “nothing lives outside of Heaven” (T-23.II.19), therefore the life we perceive on this plane is illusory, and in this illusory plane life comes and goes, there is birth and then there is death, and the space in between is filled with fear of what is to come.

So let us look at those prophesies of fear and doom from the perspective of ACIM, but first let us understand the distortions in semantic meaning many of the words used in the Bible have undergone throughout the ages.

The etymological meaning of the word Satan is "the accuser" or "the voice of the accuser" or "an accusing voice"so it is not a person or a being, it is a state of mind as in this verse from Revelation depicting the moment of the end of times (italics are mine):

Revelation 12:10 (New International Version)

10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down."

So, the end of time comes when the accuser (guilt) is undone or cast out (hurled down).

Is this a moment in the future to be feared or one to look forward to and perhaps to hasten to in order to find our freedom?

Furthermore, the etymological meaning of the word 'hell' is 'distance from God' which through hundreds of years of misinterpretation and mistranslation became the description of an awful place to go to after you die. We’re not even going to get into what making a place like that says about a God of Perfect Love, which according to any scripture “casts out fear,” that is for another blog entry.

Ultimately then, he who is always accusing you of having sinned, when you had not, (lest God not be truly God Almighty but a vulnerable and very small demi-god) is the ego, a.k.a. in course's terms guilt for having sinned. This makes Satan = guilt.

The work with this course in miracles is about giving up (undoing) our guilt (Satan). Without guilt (Satan) there can't be a separate identity, a small autonomous self we call 'me' -- a.k.a. 'fallen angel' whom, if you believe the accuser (your guilt), has fallen outside of the grace of God. Why? Because, if you feel guilt, you must have done something! Something unforgivable, which means --in the eyes of the ego-- you have triumphed over God. Hence guilt gives the 'fallen self' the sense of identity it craves by justifying its existence on the basis of guilt=evidence of sin, and evidence of sin = "I" am here, more powerful than God.

That hidden desire to be a separate self, that desire to be me is the cause of the guilt (Satan's reason), while the desire to return to being One, the 'attraction of love for love' (T-12.VIII.7.10) is the cause of your release from guilt (The Voice for Love, Holy Spirit's reason).

The inner battle plays itself out upon the stage of the projected world, and the world is nothing but an outward picture of an inner wish (T-24.VII.8.) and the wish engenders guilt, therefore:

" If you did not feel guilty you could not attack, for condemnation is the root of attack. 2 It is the judgment of one mind by another as unworthy of love and deserving of punishment. 3 But herein lies the split. 4 For the mind that judges perceives itself as separate from the mind being judged, believing that by punishing another, it will escape punishment. 5 All this is but the delusional attempt of the mind to deny itself, and escape the penalty of denial. 6 It is not an attempt to relinquish denial, but to hold on to it. 7 For it is guilt that has obscured the Father to you, and it is guilt that has driven you insane." (T-13.in.1)

Now, believing the thought of having sinned (tiny mad idea in T-27.VIII.6.2) to be real, causes you to feel guilt (you hear the accuser, Satan), which causes you to fear punishment, hence sin, guilt and fear the 'dark companions' the course speaks of (T-11.III.4-5).

Contrast this with the 'mighty companions' the course also speaks off (innocence, peace, love) which keep you company and help you accomplish the undoing of guilt (Satan) once you take the first practical and purposeful steps in this undoing (M-4.I.A.6.11).

Guilt, once there, becomes unbearable--this is all happening at an unconscious level by the way--and so it gets projected onto others, which then are perceived as guilty instead of you.

What we see then in traditional religious myths and these ‘end of times’ prophesies, are expressions in form of this inner battle, representations in form of the sin, guilt, fear trilogy and the battle for their undoing, which in reality takes place in the mind once the process of forgiving this world ensues, or as Jesus is said to have called it, overcoming the world.

This is the battle depicted in Revelation. It is an inner battle.

The whore with scarlet and gemstones--diamonds says the course-- is guilt which causes you to do unspeakable evil to others or see unspeakable evil in others, in an effort to lessen the weight of your own guilt:

"The glitter of blood shines like rubies, and the tears are faceted like diamonds and gleam in the dim light in which the offering is made." (T-17.IV.8. 4)

In the beginning the Christ appears in white robes dipped in blood because He comes into our minds in the midst of our blood thirsty ego, always ready to pounce on its nearest target and where to cast out the guilt, seeing guilt everywhere but within. This image is a symbol of the state of our mind when He first arrives, not that He ever left, but it is us who are beginning to recognize Him, and so at first we cannot distinguish between the Christ in us, and the Satan in us (our guilt), and thus He appears symbolically as draped with a blood stained white robe, His purity stained with the blood of our guilt, which we have been projecting for centuries... there have not only been Papal inquisitions, there have been Pogroms, World Wars (I, II, and now potentially III), Arab-Israeli conflicts, Holocausts, and all matter of persecutions of brother against brother, and if you look further back in History one nation attacks another over and over and over, through generations, in the name of some belief system, an outward picture of an inward condition.

How about Another Way?

This "Revelation" of the end of times is not a one time event, there is no person named Satan and the 'End of Time’ is not to be feared.

The end of time is the time when you approach the sixth stage in the Development of Trust (M-4.I.A.8.), the last stage in your awakening. In the hands of the Holy Spirit, the Answer to the tiny mad idea of sin, our Freedom and our Friend, the memory of God we have taken into the dream of death and desolation, in His hands time is an instrument, a 'learning device to be abolished when it is no longer useful (T-5.VI.12. )', and like all instruments, like all learning devices, like pencils, pens, computers, books, schools, etc. it ceases to be useful once it has served its learning purpose. The goal is to learn to traverse time with Forgiveness, so that your guilt (Satan, the accuser) is undone.

Many fear-mongers would like you to be very afraid of times to come, but we should rejoice, because the times to come will only reflect our own inner state of mind. As we awaken to our true nature, which is Love Itself, the world of sin, guilt and fear that has been projected outwardly disappears.

So, is anyone Satan or a Satan impersonator? Yes, along with all of us, in our wrong-mind. Everyone that walks this world in dreams of sin has a split-mind and in his right-mind is the Christ, awaiting to be recognized. The body is guilt's impersonator. Any body, not just somebody's. The battle is between Christ (our Reality) and Satan (our illusory concept of a sinful guilty small and vulnerable self).

All of these prophesies are talking about a battle that is being fought in the mind of the sleeping Son right now.

Therefore, we need to learn to look at these things as outward pictures, representations, symbolic imagery of what is going on in the mind, for is Jesus the Christ?

"O yes, along with you. 3 His little life on earth was not enough to teach the mighty lesson that he learned for all of you. 4 He will remain with you to lead you from the hell you made to God. 5 And when you join your will with his, your sight will be his vision, for the eyes of Christ are shared. 6 Walking with him is just as natural as walking with a brother whom you knew since you were born, for such indeed he is. 7 Some bitter idols have been made of him who would be only brother to the world. 8 Forgive him your illusions, and behold how dear a brother he would be to you. 9 For he will set your mind at rest at last and carry it with you unto your God." (C-5.5.)

So let us not fear the end of time, but look forward to the moment when we no longer have need of time, when we have remembered our true Identity in Christ and therefore time is no longer needed to learn what has been learned.

In this course, this fearless path, the end of time is a blessed moment of awakening, the Second Coming of Christ and the remembrance of our true inheritance as God’s Son, who was lost in a dream and now is found, awake to His Reality in Love and as Love, the perfect creation of a truly perfect and ever benevolent Creator, God Almighty.

... see Creation as Wholly Innocent

Remembering Our Innocence

“Miracles fall like drops of healing rain from Heaven on a dry and dusty world, where starved and thirsty creatures come to die. Now they have water. Now the world is green. And everywhere the signs of life spring up, to show that what is born can never die, for what has life has immortality.” (ACIM W-340)

ACIM has proved to be beautiful, yet challenging to apply and quite deep. I studied The Course for more than three years and practiced the lessons it prescribed in the Workbook for Students, but I somehow felt that I was progressing slowly. Even more stormy weather came into my personal life, and the more I studied and practiced, the rougher it seemed to become. You might recall similar moments in your life when you feel as if everything is coming apart, as if there’s very little you can do to hold it and yourself together, yet you know you’re headed somewhere. You reach out and grasp in the dark for a thread with which to get out of the maze.

This is how I felt throughout 2001 and 2002 as my prayer took on a new form. I asked again for understanding, and for an accelerator of sorts. Somewhere, there was a missing link I wasn’t grasping in this voluminous material that I knew contained truth. I was failing to fully grasp it.

In August 2003, I attended a seminar in Anaheim, California, that was sponsored by the largest distributor of ACIM materials. There, a publisher named D. Patrick Miller was onstage and recommended a book he’d recently put out called The Disappearance of the Universe. It had been written by a then-unknown author called Gary R. Renard. I trusted D. Patrick, as I’d also read his balanced journalistic accounts of the history of ACIM and other writings. I ordered The Disappearance of the Universe, or D.U. as its readers now fondly know it, immediately upon returning home from the seminar.

What followed was akin to the experience of intense psychotherapy. It felt as though I were being opened up like a can and poured from the inside out. Many emotions, dreams, visions, ideas, thoughts, feelings, and sensations flowed to finally bring clarity and a sense of true direction and guaranteed peace at the end of this journey. My search came to a stop. Now there was nothing but work left to do in order to reach the goal.

D.U. has been my companion in the study of A Course in Miracles ever since, and it proved to be a spiritual accelerator. It also sealed the answer to my childhood prayer about God’s impossible cruelty and endless and flawless unconditional love for all of His creations. Most of all, it offered a clearer understanding of a simple process of advanced forgiveness that helped me find the way home again along with all of God’s children—not some, but all. There are no exceptions in His infinite mercy and complete, perfect love, which casts out all fear and where no one is left behind—a gospel of complete inclusion and of perfect mercy.

“If God was the maker of this world, He would indeed be a cruel God,” says D.U. Now, at first glance this statement doesn’t sit well with our traditional upbringing. In fact, we may tremble in fear when we read it, seeing it as blasphemy or heresy, based on what we’ve been taught. Yet this simple misunderstanding is the source of all our pain and the block to accepting God’s completely benign presence in our lives. We see Him as the maker of both our joys and our sorrows, and this causes us distress. We then see Him within the frame of a fearful and withdrawn dualistic perspective, where God has two faces, not one, and a flimsy will. As a defense, we set out to make a will that isn’t His but ours and are destined to live in endless competition with the Almighty, who does nothing in return but love without end. God is infinite love. And not only is that all that He is, but that’s all there is, all that you are, and all that I am.

However, in order to see this truth clearly and experientially, you must purposely and voluntarily take on your cross. You must be willing to give up and remove the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence in you. The speck that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 7:5 is in your own eye, as is the plank, and both are quite easily removed if you but invite him to gently put his finger into your eye and pluck them out.

Your willingness to give up your sense of separation from your fellow humans and from God is the only way to take away the pain of the world so that every tear shall be wiped away, as promised in the book of Revelation. The key is to forgive others, yourself, and the world—the whole thing, even Jesus and God Himself if you still hold a grievance in your mind from years of misunderstanding their relationship to you. “A forgiven world rises before your eyes in innocence and majesty, to bring the face of Christ in every brother,” says ACIM.

As D.U. states in its pages, the apparent suffering that ensues whenever we embark on a path of self-transformation and enlightenment is merely the unconscious guilt that surfaces now in order to be forgiven. I had misunderstood the stormy nights that came forth after beginning my work with The Course as indicators of failure, when in reality they heralded the truth that I was really doing nothing more than learning how to face the makings of my own ego, and that’s what needed to be healed.

That’s ultimately what needs to be forgiven so that your total innocence is remembered. You don’t effectively welcome Jesus as a personal savior until you’re ready to forgive yourself and then do so effectively. You can’t give of what you don’t have. An empty vessel can’t offer water to those who thirst; it must first fill itself with water, which it can then give and pour abundantly. To receive forgiveness, one must forgive. To receive peace, one must first choose it.

NOTE: Based on an article that appeared in the September '07 issue of Hay House's Present Moments newsletter

… see ACIM Based Cults, Ministries and Organized Religions

Is it “OK” to become an ACIM minister? To join an ACIM based religious order, cult, or organization or to start one?

Sometimes it can take the wind our of our sails as a friend recently put it to realize that it is no longer illegal for people to do what they want to with the contents of this beloved course, as seen by the many who have been its students for years before the copyright decision by a NY judge to place it in the public domain changed everything. Sometimes it even hurts for those who would see themselves as ‘true’ followers or students.

Unfortunately, we cannot say that activities like publishing mock-up copies of A Course in Miracles, altering it or breaking it apart or starting religions and cults in its name are illegal activities. They aren't even unethical any more, though they could be seen as such, since the material was originally stolen and disseminated widely through the internet before the copyright decision was made by a court.

But no, they are not illegal, and no longer can they be called that as everything is now blessed by the legal system of this country and its copyright laws.

However, could they be mistaken? Yes, according to the purpose that Helen Schucman, the actual scribe of the course identified for the course back in 1977, and which I quote here, bold and underline are mine:

"The names of the collaborators in the recording of the Course do not appear on the cover because the Course can and should stand on its own. It is not intended to become the basis for another cult. Its only purpose is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own Internal Teacher." (http://www.acim.org/ACIM/HowItCame.htm)

Though true then, that the course is not intended to become the basis for another cult or religion, it does not stand that this is a ‘sin’ since in ACIM there is no ‘sin’, only error, which calls for correction, not condemnation. There is no prohibition by Jesus in the course as He does not prohibit worldly behavior. How could He, when He is teaching that "there is no world!" (W-132.6.), why would He then give us commandments on how to operate in an illusory world He is telling us is not really there although it seems so real and it is the reason why we feel imprisoned and not free to accept our birthright the Love of God?

All the teachings Jesus brings to us in ACIM are to be applied to the cause of the world, the mind projecting it. Changing, modifying, prohibiting or its reverse, indulging, behavior only helps to emphasize the false idea that there is a world in which to act or not to act, therefore making it all the more real to us and plunging us deeper into the world of the ego, making it stronger by reinforcing our belief in its reality.

Another thing that the course asks of us is to be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle; to be kind and respect our brother's path. Everyone is embarked in a path of Atonement. Some are further along and some would appear to be stragglers. But these differences occur only "in time" while we believe we are here. In reality there is no difference among the Sons of God, but while we seem to be having this experience some walk to God on the left side of the path, some on the right, some in the middle and some between the blurred lines. That is ok. We all get to come Home in the end for the Prodigal Son is only dreaming of a world of scarcity, apart from his all loving and completely benevolent creator.

Some people can only conceive of loving God or serving their brothers within the confines of organized religion, not realizing that the true spirituality or true religion is their life process itself. That their real church is in their homes, in their minds, in their personal and interpersonal relationship with the world that apparently surrounds them, where forgiveness lessons await them ripe for the taking and without which they will not be able to find their way home as these are the very lessons that they have brought with them to learn and forgive.

The reason it makes us feel bad when we see what these organizations are doing to the course and we react defensively, is because these persons and organizations remind us at a subconscious level of all the times we too have rejected the Love of Jesus or God in our own life, wanting to make Him fit into our own little box and parameters within which to accommodate Him and conditionally accept him.

What scares us in reality, at a very deep level, is this awesome unconditional Endless Source of Love and the ego fears disappearing into it and ceasing to exist. So you accept God in small portions, with answers to specifics in prayers, with religions and rituals, in bits and pieces, but not as your complete Being, Author and Source. And that is ok.... everyone is fighting this same battle.

So as to your neighbor, be kind to yourself. See this for what it is, and remember that the Love of God is unconditional, meaning there is no condition under which He cannot love you, because you are His Love Itself. And we all get a little scared at that and tend to run a way in many, many forms.

Becoming a minister, starting a church, printing another course and altering it, and teaching others about love are some of those ways in which we sometimes run away.... the ego says "better them than I" also using this as a defense mechanism to rid the self of the guilt that this rejection deeply entails. It, projection, is self-medicine…. or a form of what the course calls magic. And even that is overcome in the end by the loving part of the mind and the minister realizes that he or she has only been teaching himself all along.

And that is also ok, Jesus just waits in infinite patience as He is outside of time and so to Him time does not matter... and He does not condemn, having unified with Love Itself, He only Loves, and Is that Love, infinitely patient, kind, generous, comforting, and always available.

Just know that we are loved and that no matter what any of us does to run away from Love, Love simply is and waits in infinite patience until we are ready to fully accept It as our own, until the fear subsides.

...see Worldly Assets, Property, Things

Is It Ok To Own Property? Things? Money?

Words you read in ACIM can quickly become weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the ego… I mean a massive destruction of the true binds that bind us: Love. They can be turned into tools of the ego to further separate and alienate our already separated brothers from each other and the Self we share. Let’s take a closer look:

"Do you want freedom of the body or of the mind? 2 For both you cannot have. 3 Which do you value? 4 Which is your goal? " (T-22.VI.1.)

Compare this to another line which, if read out of context, can be rather intimidating:

"Ownership is a dangerous concept if it is left to you."(T-13.VII.10)

Some people may wonder, well.. what do I do? Do I give away every thing I own? Do I stop buying things? Do I sell my car? My house? My business? What is being asked of me here? And… who is going to ‘own’ my stuff if I give it up?

Let’s take a look at the second one above. In this one, the operative words are "if it is left to you."

If left to the mind that thinks itself fragmented (you) from the One that is its true Being and encompasses the entire Sonship, every thing is perceived through the lens of scarcity, and therefore the belief that getting, owning, having, and possessing can offer happiness and peace or what the course calls Salvation becomes the driver for your actions. You begin acting out of scarcity, and you buy and buy and accumulate wealth, or clothes, or friends, or jewelry, or food, or drugs, or alcohol and cigarettes… and there is never enough! This is because the mind that thinks it is alone is being born at each instant, in each moment out of the seed of scarcity, and following the laws of mind it then multiplies as such.

However, when holding the Holy Spirit present, and He is the Atonement principle Itself (a.k.a. nothing happened, we are not apart from God nor from each other), then the light of abundance, joining and sharing illuminates all of our decisions, and we are guided to take actions that are inclusive, mutually beneficial, and most of all, that lead to the undoing of the idea of separation among the Sons of God. How this reflects on the level of form based on circumstances can change. Sometimes you may give something, sometimes you may get something. Sometimes you may do nothing. But the key here whether you do or don’t, is there is peace in the mind.

Concepts like these quoted lines are easily distorted if one quickly reads based on the interpretation we have previously had about these concepts, for example, some people may rush to give away all their belongings thinking that by literally not 'owning' anything in the world they will be doing God's will. Others may become the target of those who use this course to talk people out of owning any property and to give it up to ‘their’ organizations. Yes… this does happen out there, in every spiritual community and the course community is no exception.

This is no different than the traditional belief system based on scarcity, which believes that in giving something away you have lost it but will ‘score’ some point in the realm of Heaven. Or that owning something is somehow 'sinful'.

Both are really reflections of the thought of scarcity, born in the thought of separation, the opposite of the Atonement ---the Thought of Joining which expects and needs no sacrifice, and expects and needs nothing because it Is everything.

So, how are giving things away for ‘points’ or keeping them with guilt both the same? Accumulation of things and the giving up of things is stating that ‘things matter’ and that this is where peace is found, somehow in ‘them’ and not in God. Peace is not found out there, in the world, in having things or not having them. It is found in the mind that chooses what meaning those things have at any given time.

Many people fall into the trap of using behavioral changes, lifestyle changes, even relocating to some cult compound and giving away all their property in order to 'comply' with the course or as if somehow this will score them some brownie points with God, as if He were keeping a book of deeds.

The course is not telling us to do anything on the level of form and there are no compliance requirements. If we turn actions into ways to control spirit we are doing nothing better than traditional faiths that use rituals to appease the god of their religion, a god of the ego, for the True God needs nothing, demands nothing, requires nothing, expects nothing, HE simply Is.. as the course says. Love simply Is. This is the Kingdom we are to seek first, and of course, all else is given unto us. There is nothing else!

The belief that owning can make happy is what needs to be undone, and just as well is the belief that giving everything away is what makes happy! The belief in scarcity that makes you want to complete yourself based on external stimuli or actions taken on the level of form, whether it be giving things, or having things, or using things, or people to fill the hole we all walk around with until we find the true love of our LIFE, which is within, is what needs to be changed. Not the assets, not the actions, not the behavior, not ‘others’ or things. As the song says: The greatest love of all I found in Me.

And this is not a little separate isolated 'me' mind you. But the expansive, generous, all fulfilled and complete Me that God Created Whole and Healed and One, in need of nothing. Once this shift in Identity takes place, who needs to find happiness in anything of the world? And who needs to find happiness in denying themselves anything of the world that is available for his enjoyment and well being?

And so, it does not stand that by ridding yourself of property you are somehow achieving a higher spiritual level. In fact you are doing the opposite, for you are still asserting the power that things have to give or take away the Peace of God in you, or complete you or take away from you and make you somehow less than What You Are. That is again an ego strategy to own the definition of What You Are, which cannot be defined by you at all, since It was Established by God Himself at the moment of creation, and that is that.

You are What God says you ARE and nothing else... His Thought of Love, and nothing else.

In the world, you cannot help but own things. i.e. It is more effective to own a house than to rent a house, for example. Not that one or the other can give or take the Peace of God, but one saves you taxes... and therefore enables you to make better use of another worldly resource: money. You buy food to sustain the body, and when you buy food you ‘own it.’ When you buy a pet you ‘own it.’ When you pay for your water bill, you ‘own the water’ you consume… when you breathe air, you ‘own it’ it becomes your own air and no one else’s!

Now, what if all 6 billion of us on Planet Earth went out stopped working and contributing, gave away our ‘things’ to who knows who, and started living off of ‘donations?’ Aren’t donations money you ‘own’ when they are given you? Is there a difference between money earned through work for donations than money earned through work for compensation? What if 6 billion people did this and went to live off of donations, and gave away all property? Who then would donate? Who would work and produce the food we eat, the things you would still need to buy to survive like shelter and clothing for inclement weather?

This is confusion of levels... nothing in the world can affect Truth. Yet, we must make peace with the world, it is the first step.

And that is that...

In the world, we simply behave normally, and reflect the kindness that we are, as called and guided to do unto our brothers. That is all. But we do not need to do anything behaviorally to control the state of Spirit. That cannot be done.

And thus is how we learn to be in the world, but not of it. And this is a process, it is not a balance we achieve overnight, particularly in the beginning because the ego is still driving our actions in the world, the thought of scarcity and separation.

We do not need to 'act' spiritual, we just need to recognize that our true Identity is Spirit, while we seem to be experiencing a different thing and seem to see each others as separate bodies with separate interests and levels of being. Keeping that thought in mind then we ask for guidance as to how to proceed in our actions and let them reflect our new learning.

The key is in recognizing that nothing of the world comes from God and therefore nothing of the world can give or take His peace. Once you know that, then you act in the best interest of all, as guided by Spirit. Sometimes that may mean that you buy and own things, sometimes that may mean that you do not. Let The Heart of Love be your guide as behavior is only the effect of cause, which is in the mind. We want cause (mind) driving our actions, not effect (behavior).

Our goal is to learn to remember Spirit is our true Identity, and we do it by removing the blocks to its presence in us, the thought of scarcity and separation and its many manifestations is that block.

There is no difference among the apparent fragments of the Sonship, no one is wiser, better, higher, or more spiritual or different. Nor can we ‘buy’ our way into a higher level of being, we can only awaken to it, by changing our minds about what we believe to be true.

We all have wisdom within for the Sons of God are created equal, and we are that Wisdom, we are the Love of God. We are everything we could ever desire
to BE.

You are the fulfillment you seek, and no action in the world is going to return this Identity to you, only the removal of the blocks that impede our Vision to its awareness can give us our Self back.

… see Worldly “Duty”

Is Serving Jury Duty A Forbidden Activity In ACIM?

As the eyes scan a mailer that comes in this week and has included a request for donations from a large Course In Miracles organization I sit here and ponder and the thought comes that there is need to clarify.

It seems that a lot of ‘level confusion’ is taught by several of these newer ACIM based organizations, a very common thing nowadays. This is a natural process of making a transition in the mind from the worldly way in which we see things to a more abstract and benign way, Another Way, a way that is less entangled in the formalities of form and more in line with the fluidity of Spirit for the betterment of all humanity.

Here is an example: If you become a supporting member of this organization by making a pledge / donation you enjoy the many benefits of membership. Here is one of these benefits listed: “Supporting Members who feel morally guided to not serve on a jury because they do not want to sit in judgment of another "brother" can receive a letter to help them explain to the Judge why it is against their religion to be on a jury. This letter has been 100% effective.“

The mind travels back to a time last year when I had to serve jury duty in a local murder case in the town where I live. Two teenagers ages 18 and 19 had killed a 40 year old drug dealer in a robbery stint. They were trying to rob him of his drugs and accidentally killed him, according to them they didn’t mean to and that was not their intent, though in the end that is what happened.

As it is I prayed and talked to Jesus that if my help and judgment were needed in this capacity I would do the best job I could with integrity, and I was made alternate juror no. 13. I had to listen to the entire trial, examine the evidence, and be ready to vote if someone became unavailable. But no one got sick or missed a day of the trial, so at the moment of deliberation I was sent away. The votes came in. One was found guilty on all charges, the other guilty on all but one. The 12 agreed with what would have been my vote. While we waited, the bailiffs and I took a pool, and everyone’s vote agreed as well. Not a single one disagreed.

Now, was I sitting in judgment of my brothers?

Well, there was no guilt. It was a job, and I gave it my honest best. I was called to Jury Duty, it was a duty. My brothers in the community were asking me to represent them and do my duty on their behalf. I listened to the evidence and prayed to let any bias pass by, in case one may be there, one never knows (one of them was Hispanic).

Now, these are the laws of the land, these are the laws of the world we made, our very own version of ‘cause and consequence’. I felt no guilt, no remorse, but only peace and gratitude for the learning experience.

Additionally, is ACIM a religion?

Of course not! It is not intended to be one, never was and never will be, though that is how many of these new organizations are setting themselves up to function. We are reminded of the words of Helen Schucman, the course’s scribe, in the brief summary she wrote about the course in 1977 where she says (the bold and underline are mine): “The names of the collaborators in the recording of the Course do not appear on the cover because the Course can and should stand on its own. It is not intended to become the basis for another cult. Its only purpose is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own Internal Teacher.” (http://www.acim.org/ACIM/HowItCame.htm)

Nothing Jesus asks of us in his course is about form, but it is all about content. And contents is always the same, one or the other. We are either being guided by the idea of fear and separation, or the Thought of Love that KNOWS what is best for everyone of the Sons of God, the entire Sonship.

Nothing is to be applied on the level of form, but on the level of mind where the contents rests and where the cause of this world rests as well. The world is the effects of its choices. The effect of this cause is reflected in the world we experience and perceive.

As I serve in jury duty I personally do not sit in judgment of my brother. I bless him and hope that he can find the way home after making such a sad mistake. But we do not know what anything is for. What if as young as they are they find their way home in jail? There are many programs nowadays that teach both The Work of Byron Katie and ACIM, like Joe Wolfe (http://www.prayguy.com) an ex-convict turned Teacher of God that is doing such a wonderful job mailing the transcribed summary of Gary Renard’s workshops for free to prisoners and others who cannot hear or attend workshops.

The course tells us not to judge, but this means not to condemn, because we do not know everything as the Holy Spirit does in order to judge justly. We are not to judge because we simply can not judge, not because it is an edict, a commandment, or a sin.

However, doing a job as a juror and following the guidance of the Legal System is a duty and a service to the community, and a responsibility as a citizen on the level of the world. The judgment is passed by the law of the community, for the community’s well being in a world filled with confused brothers who have chosen to act mostly based on fear instead of love, for now, not by the juror.

No wonder the course says: “Nothing so blinding as perception of form” (T-22.III.6.7). If one thinks everything the course teaches applies on the level of form one ends up literally paralyzed, unable to serve jury duty, unable to be a judge or an attorney, unable to even pray for any thing or anyone or to attend a funeral and be appropriately kind and loving, since it also says that the idea of death itself is unreal.

I was so impressed with how the system works, how the jurors are instructed to cast a vote, not to judge, only based on the letter of the law, only based on the ‘evidence’ presented and nothing else. They must read the law and understand it, then understand their boundaries. But they are not asked to condemn their brother.

If we learn to tune in to the Thought of Love instead of acting out of fear, we may be guided at times to go ahead and serve Jury Duty, go ahead and give testimony that sends someone to prison, go ahead and sue someone, go ahead and teach some one, go ahead and hug someone. The actions don’t matter. We may at times be guided not to do any of those things, but do others that in that one instance represent the beneficence of God for the entire Sonship. We do not know, so let us not think that our actions by our individual decisions are what is right or wrong. It is our thinking that makes it so, and is our thinking that will lead us out of fear, not our action in the world.

There are no "forbidden" activities in ACIM. Only mistaken thoughts.

....see 'Doing' In the World

What is “Do nothing” all about?

This phrase appears in the course five times explicitly, and other times implicitly throughout the book.

This as many other statements is often confused with either being an injunction, a sort of suggestion or even as far as a commandment by Jesus to be applied on the level of form to worldly activities, whether good news or bad news, as in: “Well.. I just got promoted so I need do nothing” or “Well.. Someone just got robbed and I need do nothing” or “I am being abused and I need do nothing” or “ "I need do nothing, so I'll just sit here and watch TV or tweedle my thumbs."

Now, if it were true that ‘I need to nothing’ is something to be applied on the level of the body we might as well just sit on a couch like lumps of coal for the rest of our lives and become nothing more than vegetables. And even then, we will be doing something.. we will be "sitting on a couch like lumps of coal, breathing, eating, thinking, shifting positions, yawning, sneezing, etc."

Why would Jesus want that? Even worse, how would that ever make you happy or help you find happiness in the long run?

This is why it is so important to keep in mind that all of these statements represent nothing but thoughts, ways of thinking, changes of mind, changes in how we approach our actual doing, first on the level on the mind, then letting that approach reflect our allegiance in the mind to the thought of Oneness, the healing thought, and let it then take form as needed to help, aid, love, protect, extend, engage, embrace, assist, heal, learn, teach, etc.

“I need do nothing” is a thought… to be carried with you as a helper at all times. The operative word is "I."

“I need do nothing” as a thought of non-interference:

Right before we actually have to ‘do’ something.

“…3. You do not know what healing is. …. 9 Focus your mind only on this:

I am not alone, and I would not intrude the past upon my Guest.

I have invited Him, and He is here.

I need do nothing except not to interfere.” (T-16.I.3.3)

“I need to nothing” as a realization:

This is a reflection in a moment of ‘light’ when you say to yourself “duh! I really should trust God more often!”

“T-18.VII. I Need Do Nothing

“When peace comes at last …; or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone, it always comes with just one happy realization; "<I need do nothing.>" “ (T-18.VII.5.7)

“I need do nothing” as a statement of allegiance to God (Oneness) in the mind:

To be believed, trusted, and carried with you in the mind.

“ "I need do nothing" is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. 8 Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation. “ (T-18.VII.6.7)

“I need do nothing” as a statement of dependence on God, our Author and Creator:

A realization, quoted in the scriptures as “Of myself I can do nothing…I can do all things through Christ who give me strength” but keeping in mind that in the course Christ is not a man but Gods entire Creation, which includes you, me and the entire Sonship. It is the thought of that Oneness that brings you strength. I do not represent me alone but all my brothers. This helps allay the temptation to act selfishly.

“And I must learn I need do nothing of myself, ….” (W-337.1.6)

As we can see, not once does Jesus say that this is an order or a suggestion for us to become couch potatoes, but on the contrary, to be very involved in the world, to keep doing what we do, but to bring our dependence on God, our loyalty to Him and our trust in Him to all that we do.. to learn to step aside and realize that we are not alone and therefore we must not make decisions alone but must make them in a way as to not exclude a part of the Sonship from a benefit, a blessing, a healing. The thought of not excluding anyone from our forgiveness.

As bodies that we think we are, we cannot help but do something at all times… the human body and its attached individualized psyche is always doing something... much of it on auto pilot. Right now as a body, you are doing something, you are reading these lines, you are breathing, typing, thinking, seating, standing, moving your foot, itching your leg, blinking your eyes, assimilating these words...

We cannot “do nothing” on the level of form, that is an impossibility.

So let us not torture ourselves thinking that Jesus is asking us to do the impossible and trying to traumatize our lives. As if we weren’t already impaired enough in our judgment, interpreting things this way can make it even worse.

We “do nothing” only on the level of mind. The emphasis here is on the word “I,” as in “I” need do nothing, “I” must step aside and let the thought of “joined interests” be my guide in all that “I” DO.

“I” in and of myself am nothing, and can judge nothing justly, therefore “I” must get out of the way as much as possible and let One Who Knows the needs of the entire Sonship at all times direct my actions, my words, my thoughts.

This is the formula: One quick prayer of joining, take action, no regrets, no looking back. Trust.

When “I” step aside, I learn to be an instrument of peace, and cease being a lonely “I” becoming an integral part of the ongoing miracle of Love on this plane.

...see Resistance to Change

What is I.S.? "'ism syndrom," can happen in any spiritual student community. I've also noticed it both in the course in miracles community and with some of the more prominently displayed certified facilitators of the The Work (Byron Katie's work).

I once received an invitation to a conference call with Katie and was happy to receive it and have the chance to hear Katie on the phone. So I joined the conference call at the appropriate time and day and a woman came on saying that Katie would be along shortly and that she usually pops in whenever. Katie never came on the call and we spent the hour listening to this presenter emulate Katie, her expressions, her voice, even her h'mms.. when she is pausing and bringing into words the thoughts that she tries to express in a comfortable human language for her audience. But this woman's emulation was intriguing to say the least, then another woman joined her, I guess they were collaborators in their venture. She sounded just like her, like a Katie imitator. They bring down their tone, pause between words, and use her speech patterns: "I see that" "I hear that you think that.." and repeated many known Katie'isms.

The same phenomenon occurs with different expressions in form within the course in miracles student body. And it has nothing to do with the course, but everything to do with the student. The course is threatening to the ego, and there is an immediate response from the ego to resist, lest you change your mind and be done with it!

Many resistance or defense mechanisms develop, one of them is a sudden inability to pray normally, to speak normally, to relate to others normally, behave normally or to suddenly begin channeling your own material, as if trying to one-up Jesus and his course. So you end up with a mix of run-away gurus, would-be extensions of the course by the self denominated gurus, formation of cults, publication of alternative versions to the authentic FIP and final version, etc.

Another type of resistance is to render you incapable of being honest with yourself as far as where you stand spiritually when you look in the mirror. Believe me, I've been there. When you begin to catch your ego in action and worse, when you learn not to feel guilty about its antics, what the course calls "the face of innocence" (T-31.V.4.) displays itself more and more intensely, in an effort to cover the horror that a peek at the ego has brought about ("the face of guilt") the false concept of self, which lies just beneath the face of innocence. Both cover over the Real You, the Christ that shines wholly innocent within, but One which through dissociation you have forgotten and buried and covered over with these two layers.

So, as soon as you begin to inquire into your mind, and the lid opens to the subconscious, the face of innocence makes itself more visible, and you begin to try and prove you are somehow more spiritual, more developed, on a higher level than your brothers.

When this occurs, many declare themselves 'enlightened' and run around telling people that Holy Spirit tells them even what movie to watch this evening, and use words like "dear one" and "sweetie" and "beloved" to talk to perfect strangers on the internet in order to appear to have gone beyond any form of grievance, and lose the ability to describe themselves in plain human terms as if doing so was a shameful thing, accepting only descriptions that sound somehow enlightened or more spiritual. What is not noticed is that what we are doing all along is doing precisely what the course teaches us not to do: separating.

Nothing sinful or terrible. It's just a normal, a very normal reaction from the ego part of the mind that now perceives threat because the right mind is stirring and awakening looms in the not too distant future, and this heralds the disappearance of the ego. If you were an ego.. you would move to survival mode too, which is what happens.

And since the ego is self-made, it knows what its weak buttons are in any given fragment at any given time (seeming fragment, you, me, x or y person) and so it uses the retaliative technique that will most promptly push you away from this path... but it is only resistance and this resistance is quite easily overcome if you learn to recognize the ego and forgive yourself for it rather than running away from it and spiritualizing its shenanigans, fearing that if you don't 'act' spiritual you won't BE spiritual.

Just something to notice, but it's not because of the work, or the course, it's because of the ego that the work is here to undo. And it is nothing to feel ashamed or guilty for, just something to notice and then be aware of and on guard about. If we are not aware of this, it is very easy to fall into the temptation of becoming a premature guru and forget to do the course altogether, or even worse, a risk of becoming unkind and losing any sense of compassion for others and being so worried about 'looking' spiritual that you may say totally hurtful things at the worst times, like telling people that death is not real at a funeral, or telling a very sick person that 'sickness is a defense against truth' and rather then being helpful, we end up becoming the bearers of fear and pain for that person, basically going the ego route.

In reality all the course calls us to do and be is kind and to join with others in the most helpful way they can accept. That is all.

Additionally, just because people read the course, it doesn't mean they are living it one hundred percent of the time and they can be expected to behave like angels or enlightened beings. So another form or resistance is to look for faults in spiritual students and teachers and point them out as 'evidence' that the teachings they usually represent do not work.

Another form of resistance is to master the material, the book's contents intellectually and be able to quote it right and left, but not to live it at all, just appear as if you do. I'd say the large majority of students spend a great deal of time in their lifetime in this stage.

Resistance ultimately is nothing but a fear that has to be overcome because the fear is to disappear into oblivion if you follow the course. As the course says, to the ego the logic is upside-down and awakening means oblivion (paraphrasing). This is something to forgive when we perceive it going on. Not something to deny, ignore or feel ashamed of or guilty for.

However there are also those who live it and you can tell "by their fruits" as is the case of Ken Wapnick, whom I happened to meet two years ago and saw again this summer in Atlanta. If you happen to be able to visit with him personally will help you experience what a student of this course that has practiced its teachings for a few decades consistently turns into. Just humble, loving, unassuming, unaffected, happy, contagiously happy and sincere in his brotherhood as he extends it to you in the best way he knows that you need to receive this precious gift. All in all, a pretty normal loving fellow. There are others, but he is just one that comes to mind.

Resistance is not overcome with resistance though, only like darkness, with light. And light only comes when we actually move the hand and flip the switch, not when we talk about it. The consistent practice of self-observation and forgiveness slowly turns resistance into nothing at all.

... see Lies vs. Truth

Sometimes when thinking about the purpose of lies it makes me wonder why do we lie? Really? And we do it unconsciously too… like when women put on make-up in the morning. Isn’t showing the world a different face than the one you have somewhat of a lie? It seems to be everywhere, even in the Course community. Last year a sad experience around a Course community related event became a difficult forgiveness lesson, further motivating me to inquire.

Early in my studies of the Course I heard about Dr. Ken Wapnick through a member of a study group I was attending at the time. Once I found Ken, I was hooked.

I had never heard anyone speak with more honesty and lack of personal investment on anything, let alone the Course. And I have ve listened to plenty of presenters, having been an avid researcher of metaphysical and spiritual subjects all my life. Most Course teachers cannot abstain from throwing the “I” here and there, as I am doing here. It is always about my experience, my view, my opinion, how I relate to this teaching, etc. But not Ken, he seldom mentions himself in the thousands of pages he has written, and seldom does he make himself the hero of anyone’s movie. The interesting thing is that this makes him even more attractive.

Now, the purpose here is to discuss our deeply rooted need to lie, not a specific teacher of the Course. It’s just that Ken makes a perfect example of a different kind of honesty, one that is very effective and is taught by the Course. In order to undo all the lying that goes on in the world we need to understand where it comes from.

In this world lying is actually a very natural thing. Telling lies is something that is built-in into our nature, the nature of the ego, as long as we do most of our listening from the wrong inner teacher. Lying, or misrepresenting what is, is a built-in mechanism, an intrinsic part of the thought system that rules and perpetuates our world. There is practically nowhere you can look, no advertisement you can hear, no book you can read, that does not contain a lie.

The problem is actually ontological. This world was made as a result of a lie. The world we seem to live in, as the Course says, was not created by God, it was rather made by the ego. This is one of the most basic and core teachings of the Course. The world and everything we seem to see in it, all of it’ was made by the ego and not just for no reason but to serve a specific purpose. Yes there is intent in building it, making it, projecting it, forgetting that we did just that and then seeing it as if for the first time.

Though it makes us somewhat uncomfortable and it is clearly beyond our understanding we, as students of the Course, sometimes quickly settle into the premise that this world is not really there. However, when we do this we stop short of going deeper into the question of why. If we live in a world that isn’t real, not really there, then why do we think it is real? Why do we seem to dwell in it? Why do we prefer that it be real? Why does it make us anxious to accept its unreality? What purpose does an unreal world, accepted as real, serve? And how does this ultimately relate to our basic need to lie?

Are we lying to ourselves then? Yes, of course! Not only do we lie to ourselves on a deep, unconscious, or metaphysical level but this is reinforced by all sorts of lying that goes on at the conscious level. We either tell lies, innocent ones, like when I put on make-up every morning before stepping out of the house, basically changing my face to the world, or when we overlook the lying that goes on in the world, sometimes selectively. We are lied to by politicians at election time, yet we meekly go to the polls and cast our vote for the lesser of two liars, even when the lies are obvious. We are lied to by businesses and we empty our pockets upon their next promotion.

This basic need to lie, and be lied to, is founded on the deep ego premise that in order for there to be a “me,” in order for me to exist, and in order to continue to survive and thrive as a separate organism, there cannot be a God. At least not an all-encompassing non-dualistic One Being of which I am an integral part. In order for me to be here- and I like that- and in order for us to be here- and we like that- there must be a way for there to be many instead of One, or at least two.

But where is the mother lie that births all the children lies? It lies precisely on the idea that God can indeed be undone. In order for me to be here and for us to be here God must die. As impossible and ludicrous as this may sound that is the basic tenet of the ego and of the world, it is the glue that holds the universe neatly in place and an idea that must be perpetuated in order to guarantee its existence. I must convince myself of this on a continual basis in order to experience a separate and individual existence with some consistency.

The only way to convince myself of this total untruth is to tell myself a lie, many lies, and then believe them. It’s not just a thought system it is a lie system. One tiny lie, one “tiny mad idea,” as the Course refers to this big-whopper, snow-balls into a universe of continuous deception from the big-bang to the belief in birth, the belief in death, and everything in between.

Here is an example. I just received in the mail a monthly magazine published by an organization that promotes itself as a Course based organization. The magazine proudly displays advertisements about books and materials they publish, sell, or resale. One ad reads the following, about a version of the Course they are selling, a work-in-progress version before the Course was ever officially published by the Foundation for Inner Peace. The ad reads: “This version derives from a version that was completed by Helen Shucman and Bill Thetford in 1972. Later editing by others removed about %25 of the material…Many students consider study of this unabridged version to be indispensable in their curriculum.”

Upon reading this, an unaware reader may jump on the phone and order the so-called indispensable book. However, one need but do some light research at a couple of web sites or read one or two chapters of a couple of books to find out this is a misrepresentation of the truth. Firstly, this is not an unabridged version of the Course, nor is it the Original Course as it has been dubbed for publication. There were other manuscripts prior to that one. And there was work still left to be done, in order for the document to become what it needed to become in order to serve all of humanity, all inclusively. this particular version is one of several earlier manuscripts, a work-in-progress, of the Course prior to final publication. Second, Helen Schucman was involved in the editing process of the Course right into its publication’s final stages and initial expansion in small groups in which Helen chose not to participate as a teacher, a function she (and Jesus through her) clearly delegated to Dr. Wapnick. But both she and Bill Thetford, her co-scribe, used this final publication, studied it, practiced it, carried it around, and proudly shared it as the definitive work.

It is said that by their fruits we shall know them. Looking at it with the heart it is quite obvious that everyone who was involved in this process was brought into it at the right time, for the right purpose in the role that he or she would fulfill to perfection under Jesus’ Guidance, including the collaboration of Dr. Wapnick with Helen Shucman for stylistic minor edits in the final stages. Edits like punctuation, adding titles and headings, numbering for easy reference across languages like the Bible, moving some of the text around for better readability, and extricating any left-over personal notes between Jesus, Helen, and Bill as deemed appropriate by all of them were necessary in order to bring the contents of the message to its final form.

Helen’s hearing had to be fine-tuned by Jesus Himself in order to arrive at a product that, based on a basic principle of the Course, is equally applicable and can be embraced by the entire Sonship, meaning all of humanity, regardless of culture, language, location, gender, age, etc. A version devoid of personal reference material had to be assembled in order to accomplish this. Specificity is of the ego. Specificity makes specialness, a major no-no in this school. So you see? This was not edited by “others” in absence of Helen and Bill. This is a lie, and it appears in this magazine time and time again, month after month. Its publishers repeat it to people over and over again. One wonders if they even believe it themselves. They probably mean well and this is what they have heard from others, or it may be what they’ve decided to say in order to sell this book and spark interest and therefore more sales. Why is that?

We could find thousands of examples, even within the Course community, of how people use a teaching to lie, deceive, and enrich themselves with material wealth, fame, and fun. But pointing out the faulty behavior in others and dwelling on it only serves one purpose: The ego’s purpose of self-preservation through the enforcement of the rules of separation. There are always others to blame. The misrepresentation of truth above mentioned is a lie that is being told and is spreading among thousands of people. So to those people, it becomes a truth. I am using this as an example of how comfortable we become with lies and how easily we accept them.

The Course’s Manual for Teachers has a section about how to come to God if we follow it in practice. This process results in the manifestation of our Spirit, incipient at first, complete at last, and always paving the way for our return Home. The manifestation is described as a process in which the characteristics, or attributes, of Spirit become freely manifest in the newly born teacher of God, or student of this Course. The first and earliest manifestation or attribute of Spirit listed is Trust. The second one is Honesty, plain and simple honesty. These two are the basis for all the subsequent ones.

In short, being tempted to lie, or being exposed to other people’s lies, is almost unavoidable here in this world, regardless of Course involvement by the perpetrators. The Manual gives us here a good meter for knowing when one is giving in to the temptation to misrepresent the truth and hopefully to know when one is potentially being deceived, brackets are mine:

“The term [Honesty] actually means consistency. There is nothing you say that contradicts what you think or do; no thought opposes any other thought; no act belies your word; and no word lacks agreement with another. Such are the truly honest. At no level are they in conflict with themselves. Therefore it is impossible for them to be in conflict with anyone or anything.” (ACIM M-4.II.1.5).

Based on this description it would seem that we are always lying to ourselves, others, or God. You see? It is not just about what you say. It is not just about what you do. It is not just about what you think. It’s about how all of these are aligned, it is about who you are, consistently. When one sees a Course related organization or teacher engaging in any form of conflict, or even apparent deceit, it is time to do two things: forgive and forgive.

This means it is time to do one thing really: See it as a call for love. This is what the Holy Spirit would have us do with every perceived form of attack. Recognizing a lie simply means that we both have slipped into the temptation to be separate; the attraction that this holds for both of us deep inside.

So, thread lightly, be cautious, don’t get taken-in by the ego’s plan unfolding currently in the barrage of Course-based gurus that are sprouting everywhere in this community. Just DO the Course yourself and follow your Inner Guide. If anyone’s teachings are helpful in this purpose, embrace them. If not, we are better to leave them aside. Either way, it is best to forgive them both because neither is special. There is no lack of forgiveness opportunity in this or any other community. And if you catch yourself telling a white lie, or a major lie, forgive yourself as well. One day day you too, like Pinocchio, will BE the Real Deal, and won’t have to resort to lies to keep this dream alive.

... See Judas

A new wave of mysticism washes over the spiritual community as the taboo topics of yesterday become best selling novels and hot-topics for TV, Internet, and radio talk shows. People inquire and talk about the discovered texts of the Nag Hammadi Library, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Thomas, the finally– and partially –available Gospel of Judas, the ancient secret societies like the Knights Templar brought out to the light by The Da Vinci Code, etc.

Many of us can barely stand the excitement when witnessing one of these modern-day discoveries of ancient texts and well-kept “secrets,” especially one that departs from the traditional views of standard religious dogma. We almost can hear a muffled I knew it! inside our heart as it leaps for joy.

There seems to be a lovingly gentle, wise, invisible and all-knowing hand leading humanity to a new way, a different way, a better way in all this. This same loving Guide also seems to have brought a monumental new teaching into the 20^th Century, our beloved Course in Miracles, and to It leads one’s way to finding and understanding its teaching in a very methodic and personalized way.

This was my experience. I found and quickly plunged into the Course at the turn of the millennium. Prior to that this Guide had led my hand through a transformative process of changing my mind, a process that was nothing more than preparatory work for the moment when the Course would become an integral part of my everyday life.

As most students know, the Course was born in NY in the early 1970’s, and prior to this time it wasn’t even a glimmer in anyone’s eyes. Interestingly, also during the 1970s, a Coptic papyrus was discovered near Beni Masah, Egypt. The document has been translated and appears to be a text from the 2nd century A.D. describing the story of Jesus’s death from the viewpoint of Judas. The conclusion of the text refers (in Coptic) to the document as “the Gospel of Judas” (Euangelion Ioudas) [1].

Interesting timing don’t you think? That both Jesus and Judas should choose to appear again in the course of History at around the same time? According to a 2006 translation of the manuscript of the text, it is apparently a Gnostic account of an arrangement between Jesus and Judas, who in this telling are Gnostically enlightened beings, with Jesus asking Judas to turn him in to the Romans to help Jesus finish his appointed task from God. Way before this time, around 1945, a close-encounter of the mystical kind also took place, which heralds the return of Judas into the 20^th Century. As WWII unfolded and extended its arms to every continent, including South America a mysterious and hardly documented encounter took place. This encounter resulted in the only publication to make a record of it in 1953. A book titled The Flight of the Feathered Serpent ((ISBN 0-9740560-2-2).

Its author, Armando Cosani, was an average Joe, a war-time correspondent and amateur journalist who felt deeply affected by the state of world affairs, the monstrosity of war, not just for what it was and is, but for how easily we humans accept and sometimes even become so comfortable with its hellish reality as to make it our own and even come enjoy or benefit from its circumstances.

Armando Cosani suggests in his account an untold story of Judas as a Spiritual Master. Here is an excerpt:

“I would like to speak to you about Judas, the man of Kariot, the one you have cursed many times, but who was a beloved brother of that Son of Man whose name was Jesus and who was also the son of the Mayab.

I know well that all I’m going to say to you from now on, in this determination for justice, is in open contradiction to everything you believed to be true of what happened in very remote times.

I, the poorest and most wretched amongst mortals, I will relate to you that which I know about Judas, the man of Kariot.”

This is a book that has been recovered from obscurity and finally made public. It contains deep insight into the lives of Jesus and Judas and clears the dust from a long misunderstood time in history. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which contains the real-life account of the journalist during WWII as he meets and develops a friendship with a mysteriously magnetic and affable man, who turns out to be Judas come Master. The second part contains the inspiring teachings of Judas, which are told in Mayan metaphor. In the third part, Judas relates his experience at the side of Nicodemus and his Master Jesus, 2000 years before. He also relates events which took place at the time, when he was chosen to play a role in the Cosmic Drama of the Holy Land, which brought him immense sorrow many centuries ago.

About his book, Armando Cosani himself wrote: “Certainly, this story doesn’t aim to be an autobiography. This was my friend’s will, and I’m carrying it out, not only because I gave my word, but because I notice something in all this that might have some value which escapes my understanding. It is possible that one of the readers may know what it is all about, and could perhaps explain this man to me.”

Prior to finding the Course, I spent nearly three decades reshaping my mind to free itself from the secondary effects, as I call them, of my Catholic upbringing. Effects from which I was determined to break-free very early on, as early as seven or eight years old. But one does not easily free herself from a religion of guilt without the help of a leading hand to light the way. In 1990, exactly 10 years before finding the Course and after studying Gnosis and other New Age and Eastern philosophies for a prior two decades, I received Armando Cosani’s book as a gift from one of my brothers who was also a Gnostic teacher and who had been my first teacher in esoteric subjects as a child and adolescent.