The One Awakens the Other
. . . on being supremely helpful
A Course in Miracles is not about us - not about the individual - but about a relationship between brothers and sisters who are intent on remembering Love.
When we accept responsibility for the awakening of others - setting aside vested interest in "our" spiritual life, in “personal” enlightenment - then we will experience the imperturbable stillness of inner peace and joy. That is because Love remembers Itself when we relinquish our embodied identity in favor of the shared reality that is Creation.
You are not yet awake, but you can learn how to awaken. Very simply, the Holy Spirit teaches you to awaken others (T-9.VI.5:1-2).
How many times did I read those words and mentally amend them? How many times did I see them and think, well, after my own disco-ball-meets-Nordic-thunderbolt awakening, I'll get around to helping others find their own version of awakening?
A lot.
I did that, of course, for the same reason we all do. It seems easier to resist love than to accept that what we are in truth is Love. So we go on being scared, substituting our judgment for God's, and end up locked in painful cycles of guilt, condemnation and attack.
There is another way. We can consent to let the Holy Spirit teach us how to awaken others.
Accept your brother in this world and accept nothing else, for in him you will find your creations because he created them with you. You will never know that you are co-creator with God until you learn that our brother is co-creator with you (T-9.VI.7:8-9).
What does this look like in practice?
It begins with giving attention to our relationships with our brothers and sisters. We cannot overlook any aspect. The good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly. We raise it all to the light. We become radically honest. We need to see without qualification or condition the way in which we regard our brothers and sisters as means to an end which serves only our interest.
This is hard to do because it makes us look terrible. And yet, the more we can accept that we are not doing a great job of relating to our fellow saviors, the more we can open to a new way of relating to them. We become teachable.
We become willing to save and be saved.
We make it about them, not us.
So that is the second thing that we do - or let happen, actually. We allow the Holy Spirit to act through us, because we see clearly that our own efforts are not sufficient. We get out of the way. And the Holy Spirit naturally and gently awakens our brothers and sisters through us. Our surrender becomes a profound and beautiful gift, both to others and to our self.
As you see [your brothers and sisters] waken you will learn what waking means, and because you have chosen to wake them, their gratitude and their appreciation of what you have given them will teach you its value. They will become witnesses to your reality, as you were created witness to God's (T-9.VI.5:3-4).
Choosing to wake our brothers and sisters does not mean lecturing them about A Course in Miracles, nonduality, Christ Mind, vegetarianism or whatever. It means letting go of those ideals altogether so the Holy Spirit can flow through the relationship unimpeded. Our job is simply to get out of the way. What happens next - sharing about ACIM, running a soup kitchen, being a good listener, whatever - will be natural and helpful precisely because we are not the one doing it.
This early prayer in the Text is a beautiful reminder of our function.
I am only here to be truly helpful.
I am here to represent Him Who sent me.
I do not have to worry about what to say or what
to do, because He Who sent me will direct me.
I am content to be where He wishes, knowing
He goes there with me.
I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal (T-2.V.A.18:2-6).
There is no fear or discomfort - there is no burden at all - in doing God’s Will because in truth, it is our will too.
In this world, in these bodies, it seems logical and natural that life should be all about us - our happiness, our satisfaction, our well-being and so forth. But A Course in Miracles invites us to consider we've got it backwards. It's not about us, but about our brothers and sisters. The One is the other. Give attention accordingly and know at last the peace that surpasses understanding.
Love,
Sean