That which Cannot be Named

. . . only known in experience

Sometimes we ask how we can know if A Course in Miracles is working. One possible answer is, if something wonderful is happening for which you have no words, then A Course in Miracles is working.

Now I shall use approximately six hundreds words to explain what I mean.

One of the reasons I took to the course when it appeared in my life was because it made no claim to be the way. It emphasized the contrary - it was one form of a curriculum that took many forms, according to the needs of the student. So there was nothing to defend; you could focus on the practice.

A universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary. It is this experience toward which the course is directed (C-in.2:5-6).

For an inveterate arguer - for a trained arguer (I am a former lawyer) - this was both a relief and a challenge.

Broadly speaking, theology is the study of God and the belief in God. When there's consensus, theology becomes a thought system around which religion is constructed. Theology is abstract and depends on words in order to be expressed, shared and codified. Specifically, it depends on the precise distinctions language makes.

Theology is inherently divisive; it is separation taking form. Those who disagree are heretics, a nontrivial number of whom are tortured and executed for their temerity. Not for nothing do luminaries like John Lennon and John Denver invite us to imagine a world without theology.

A Course in Miracles isn't wild about theology either, by the way. It says that theological considerations are "necessarily controversial" because they can be accepted or rejected, and as such, are a distraction from salvation (C-in.2:4).

. . . those who seek controversy will find it. Yet those who seek clarification will find it as well. They must, however, be willing to overlook controversy, recognizing that it is a defense against truth in the form of a delaying maneuver (C-in.2:1-3).

One can be confused about this for a long time. Even Ken Wapnick, who I admire and respect, wrote a whole book about how the course was gnostic, not Christian, and should never be blended with any other religious or spiritual tradition. “Philosophical speculation” and “precise terminology” can be very difficult temptations to refuse (C-in.1:1).

But the course is pretty clear and sooner or later we avail ourselves of its clarity. A Course in Miracles is about Atonement, which is the correction of perception, the means of which is forgiveness, and is therefore unconcerned entirely with "the structure of 'individual consciousness'" (C-in.1:2-4), much less the wordiness upon which that individuality depends (e.g. W-pI.184.7.3-5).

Given all this, I want to make an observation, one that often yields a helpful effect on my practice - the way that I use ACIM to respond to, and be in relationship with, the world and all that comprises it.

A Course in Miracles explicitly aims for a "universal experience" that cannot be accepted or rejected. It simply is.

. . . there is no answer; only an experience. Seek only this, and do not let theology delay you (C-in.4:4-5).

As a fun exercise today, try to encounter that which cannot be denied or accepted because it merely is. This is an extension of the course's two-sentence summation:

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists (T-in.2:2-3).

Really try to experience that which is real.

The measure is, what can you neither accept nor reject? What is there and is shared with others regardless of what it is named? What is there regardless of whether your body is there? What is there regardless of who agrees or disagrees it is there?

The answer cannot be put into words! Words may point to it - and some folks can be quite skillful in their pointing (e.g. lauds and praise to Emily Dickinson) - but words can never be it.

This is not a trap! It is not grounds for yet another existential crisis. The invitation is to go beyond the domain of theory and argument. Whatever your mind can generate and name is not that to which the word "God" points. Yet you can still experience that to which the word "God" points. Why else would the word exist?

No one can fail who seeks the meaning of the Name of God. Experience must come to supplement the Word (W-pI.184.13:1-2).

Experience must come to supplement the Word . . . That is an exquisitely beautiful promise.

I love words. In language I play with the Lord. In language I remember how to join with you in love. And yet there remains that which is not subject to words and can be neither accepted nor denied. What is it?

Love,
Sean