I shared a draft of this post with a friend over the weekend and they wrote back, in part:
" . . . you're losing the plot, brother. This world ain't real! That mug, those stories, the whole universe and even your wife aren't real! You're building a house on not even sand but a hologram of sand. I love you but you're watering down ACIM beyond recognition."
I mean yes and no, right?
Yes, in some ultimate sense, the world is not real and the cosmos isn't real and it all collapses into something infinite and eternal that can't be named or defined or explained or anything. On that view, who cares about a mug?
But most of us aren't there. Certainly I'm not. Most of us are here in a body in the world doing what we can to be happy and at peace and ensure our brothers and sisters are happy and peaceful as well. For me, ACIM is an invitation to get as honest and clear as I can about that fact. I really have to lean into the dream to learn how it IS a dream. Only then does awakening begin to make sense.
It's relatively easy to SAY it's all a dream, but to actually experience the dream, let alone wake up from it . . . That requires study and practice. For me it does.
I don't experience ACIM as an express path to enlightenment (whatever that means) but rather as a deeply practical means of awakening - through clarity, contemplation and service - to the internal blocks that obscure Love and to the internal Teacher who helps me undo those blocks.
Awakening is a shared process, not a personal accomplishment. Sharing - e.g., cooperating, coordinating, communicating, COHERING - is a practice. Together we "forgive all things, and let creation be as God would have it be and as it is" (W-pII.342.1:7). "Together" is the key point. Unlike a lot of nondual paths, ACIM truly emphasizes relationship.
These sentences from the Clarification of Terms feel on point:
"There is no need for help to enter Heaven for you have never left. But there is need for help beyond yourself as you are circumscribed by false beliefs of your Identity, which God alone established in reality" (C-5.1:1-2).
Of COURSE the mug isn't real. Of COURSE the oceans and history and marriage and the cosmos aren't real. But since we remain confused about our identity, they appear real, and so we need help in the CONTEXT OF THE DREAM, and for some of us it's this course, this way. Through it, we learn how to give attention to the world and our lives in a way which reveals to us the underlying Love which makes all relationship possible, and this ongoing revelation slowly and gently teaches us what we are in truth (by removing the blocks to our awareness of love). It undoes the dream.
I think of our work as learning to assume in all situations - all events and circumstances - the Vision of Christ, which "looks on everything with love" (T-13.VIII.4:4), even though even that most holy and beatific vision does not see reality itself but rather "partial glimpses of the Heaven that lies beyond them" (T-13.VIII.4:6). Glimmers, as I said in a recent post.
So anyway, I went with the post mostly as it was, but do feel grateful for a chance to post this little addendum. Thank you for reading and sharing.
“Love invites us to co- create with it (Love) . The form this co-creation takes will differ; all that really matters is our willingness, our YES “
A little willingness to say YES….. there must be another way….. to see (as to understand), Peace instead of conflictedness. A WILLINGNESS “to lean into the dream to learn how it IS a dream. “ thank you Sean for your sharing your post and your comment. I am leaning into the dream because I said YES and my study and practice of the ACIM everyday has been my salvation to learn I could see peace instead of this. Yes, the course is a”deeply practical means of awakening” which I am deeply grateful for Thank you Sean.
Thank you, Sean, for the beauty and power of this post. So much I could say but I think maybe the best thing I can say is that I will never look at the coffee mug with the big golden ‘D’ on it gifted to my by my partner the same way ever again. Seeing ‘things’ differently is what it’s all about right? God/Love is in everything I see.
Sean - thank you. As I read this my body has bronchitis. Your post has helped me focus on the changeless and not judge the illness. Your thoughts on resistance are hugely helpful to me also at this time. Separation IS synonymous with resistance. I am ready to embrace "glorious complexity"!
Thank you Sean. Your post brought home the fact that as I braille my way through the dream there are so many 'glimmers' that help me to feel the love and connection that is just below the surface. Sometimes I feel transformed by a simple bird call, a stone on the river bank, or something that looks so plain but resonates in me. Thank you again for putting this in words.
Tears and deep emotions of love arose as I read your article this morning Sean.Describing your relationship with the mug helpful me open to relationship with "everything". Thank you...🙏
I shared a draft of this post with a friend over the weekend and they wrote back, in part:
" . . . you're losing the plot, brother. This world ain't real! That mug, those stories, the whole universe and even your wife aren't real! You're building a house on not even sand but a hologram of sand. I love you but you're watering down ACIM beyond recognition."
I mean yes and no, right?
Yes, in some ultimate sense, the world is not real and the cosmos isn't real and it all collapses into something infinite and eternal that can't be named or defined or explained or anything. On that view, who cares about a mug?
But most of us aren't there. Certainly I'm not. Most of us are here in a body in the world doing what we can to be happy and at peace and ensure our brothers and sisters are happy and peaceful as well. For me, ACIM is an invitation to get as honest and clear as I can about that fact. I really have to lean into the dream to learn how it IS a dream. Only then does awakening begin to make sense.
It's relatively easy to SAY it's all a dream, but to actually experience the dream, let alone wake up from it . . . That requires study and practice. For me it does.
I don't experience ACIM as an express path to enlightenment (whatever that means) but rather as a deeply practical means of awakening - through clarity, contemplation and service - to the internal blocks that obscure Love and to the internal Teacher who helps me undo those blocks.
Awakening is a shared process, not a personal accomplishment. Sharing - e.g., cooperating, coordinating, communicating, COHERING - is a practice. Together we "forgive all things, and let creation be as God would have it be and as it is" (W-pII.342.1:7). "Together" is the key point. Unlike a lot of nondual paths, ACIM truly emphasizes relationship.
These sentences from the Clarification of Terms feel on point:
"There is no need for help to enter Heaven for you have never left. But there is need for help beyond yourself as you are circumscribed by false beliefs of your Identity, which God alone established in reality" (C-5.1:1-2).
Of COURSE the mug isn't real. Of COURSE the oceans and history and marriage and the cosmos aren't real. But since we remain confused about our identity, they appear real, and so we need help in the CONTEXT OF THE DREAM, and for some of us it's this course, this way. Through it, we learn how to give attention to the world and our lives in a way which reveals to us the underlying Love which makes all relationship possible, and this ongoing revelation slowly and gently teaches us what we are in truth (by removing the blocks to our awareness of love). It undoes the dream.
I think of our work as learning to assume in all situations - all events and circumstances - the Vision of Christ, which "looks on everything with love" (T-13.VIII.4:4), even though even that most holy and beatific vision does not see reality itself but rather "partial glimpses of the Heaven that lies beyond them" (T-13.VIII.4:6). Glimmers, as I said in a recent post.
So anyway, I went with the post mostly as it was, but do feel grateful for a chance to post this little addendum. Thank you for reading and sharing.
~ Sean
Well done Sean - thank you!
You reminded me of the Welcoming Prayer;
The Welcoming Prayer (by Father Thomas Keating)
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today, because I know it's for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and God's action within.
Amen.
To maintain this approach would be total bliss!
Absolutely gorgeous post. Thank you again for sharing your insights.
“Love invites us to co- create with it (Love) . The form this co-creation takes will differ; all that really matters is our willingness, our YES “
A little willingness to say YES….. there must be another way….. to see (as to understand), Peace instead of conflictedness. A WILLINGNESS “to lean into the dream to learn how it IS a dream. “ thank you Sean for your sharing your post and your comment. I am leaning into the dream because I said YES and my study and practice of the ACIM everyday has been my salvation to learn I could see peace instead of this. Yes, the course is a”deeply practical means of awakening” which I am deeply grateful for Thank you Sean.
Thank you, Sean, for the beauty and power of this post. So much I could say but I think maybe the best thing I can say is that I will never look at the coffee mug with the big golden ‘D’ on it gifted to my by my partner the same way ever again. Seeing ‘things’ differently is what it’s all about right? God/Love is in everything I see.
Sean - thank you. As I read this my body has bronchitis. Your post has helped me focus on the changeless and not judge the illness. Your thoughts on resistance are hugely helpful to me also at this time. Separation IS synonymous with resistance. I am ready to embrace "glorious complexity"!
That hits on all levels ❤️
Sure the mug isn’t real as we usually perceive it but there’s definitely something, a reality … is it the Reality that’s real.
I loved your post Sean.
Amanda
Thank you Sean. Your post brought home the fact that as I braille my way through the dream there are so many 'glimmers' that help me to feel the love and connection that is just below the surface. Sometimes I feel transformed by a simple bird call, a stone on the river bank, or something that looks so plain but resonates in me. Thank you again for putting this in words.
Tears and deep emotions of love arose as I read your article this morning Sean.Describing your relationship with the mug helpful me open to relationship with "everything". Thank you...🙏