Keys to Understanding A Course in Miracles

Arten and Pursah's Keys to Understanding A Course in Miracles

In this post, I'll be addressing some of the things that Arten and Pursah point out as being trouble areas and pitfalls that some Course students run into, and I'll go into a little detail about each one. This is written with the assumption that you have some familiarity with A Course in Miracles and/or Gary Renard's books. I'll be quoting often from The Disappearance of the Universe aka DU, as well as Your Immortal Reality aka IR in this post, while covering the following topics: Why the Course seemingly contradicts itself; what should and should not be taken literally; why Christian terminology is used in the Course; the use of judgment, discernment, and common sense; the proper use of denial; and getting caught up in over-analyzing and nitpicking the Course.

Before I get started, I should admit that I'm not as heavily into A Course in Miracles as I am into Gary Renard's books. Gary's books are what keep me focused and motivated on the task at hand. With the exception of some of the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, humorous rhetorical questions, reading from the Course can nearly put me to sleep at times. With that said, however, I have a great appreciation and respect for the lofty goal the Course has to offer. The Course is all about the healing of one's unconscious guilt by the Holy Spirit and the return to Heaven through the dynamic of forgiveness, (DU p 92.) Despite the fact that A Course in Miracles is very much about the healing of this unconscious guilt, most of the teachers of the Course never even mention it, (DU p 143.) This is why I love Gary's books so much, his teachers let you know what you are really up against, and do so in such a blunt way, and put in everyday human language and in no uncertain terms. And at the same time, there's no pressure or guilt trip being laid upon the reader, which was a breath of fresh air for me, as I have encountered this in other spiritual teachings on ascension and enlightenment prior to reading Gary's books. In fact, Pursah specifically quotes J as saying that we shouldn't feel any pressure, and that salvation would come to each mind when it was supposed to, (DU p 402.)

One big issue that some Course students have encountered, according to Arten and Pursah, that over the years there have been a number of people who gave up on A Course in Miracles because they incorrectly thought the Course was contradicting itself. A&P point out, however, the reason the Course seems to contradict itself is because it is speaking on two different levels. Jesus, as you know is the voice of the Course, speaks to us on both the level of the world, as well as the level of absolute truth, and does so interchangeably throughout the Course. The key to understanding the Course in regards to this matter is that anything that expresses the absolute truth, the level of non-duality, the level of oneness, should be taken literally. On the other hand, Jesus also speaks to us in the Course on the level of the world. The reason being for that is he is meeting us where we think we are, which is in the world. If he spoke to us just on the level of absolute truth, we wouldn't get very far due to the very complex nature of the ego. So anything in the Course that speaks on the level of the world, the level of duality, the level of separation, is not intended to be taken literally but to be taken as metaphor, (DU p 92.)

In Gary's audio series, The Secrets of the Immortal, Gary gives a good example of what should be taken literally, and what should be taken as metaphor: Here is an example of a statement from the Course that should be taken literally, as it speaks the absolute truth:

God knows not of separation.

Here's an example of a statement that should be taken as metaphor, as it is speaking on the level of the world:

God weeps for his children.

Now, without understanding that not everything in the Course should be taken literally, one may incorrectly see the Course as contradicting itself with the two aforementioned statements. However, if you properly make the distinctions of what should be taken literally, and what should be taken as metaphor, you'll understand that the Course is speaking on different levels, and that it is indeed, not contradicting itself. So when something like 'God weeps for his children' is read in the Course, it should be taken as a metaphor as the Holy Spirit wanting us to choose His voice rather than that of the ego. Ultimately, everything but God is metaphor, (DU p 92.)

So moving on to the use of the Christian terminology in the Course, some people may be turned off by it, and others may see the Course as being a continuation of Christianity like it's the 3rd Testament or something. But A Course in Miracles should not be confused with Christianity. The foundation of Christianity is based on Jesus suffering and sacrificing himself for other people's sins, and despite Jesus supposedly doing this, Christianity goes on to give you a million reasons why you're still guilty anyway, and gives you a God that loves you one day, but seeks vengeance on you the next day, apparently all depending on what kind of mood He's in. All the while the devil is just waiting for you to slip up so you can spend all of eternity burning in Hell - now that's nine years of Catholic school talking! The thought system of A Course in Miracles, on the other hand, is consistent in its message, as it is all about love and forgiveness, and give us a God that is perfect Love and sees us all as being innocent no matter what we dream up here in the illusion of time and space. In the mean time, our memory of God, the Holy Spirit, is with us to help us return our awareness to our natural state of peace and bliss while we appear to be here, and ultimately being one with God in Heaven. The terminology may be the same but that's where the similarities of Christianity and A Course in Miracles end, as the Course is much more Eastern than Western in its approach, as it gets in touch with the power of the mind - which makes sense since Jesus was from the Middle East, not Massachusetts.

Now, according to Arten and Pursah, Jesus uses Biblical, metaphorical language in the Course in order to correct Christianity, (DU p 97.) So when Jesus uses the word He to describe God, J is not suggesting that God is some old white guy with a long gray beard sitting on a throne up in Heaven while judging the hell out of us. In fact, you could just as easily substitute the word She for He, but that would not be any more accurate than using He. Technically, It is the proper word, but Jesus is speaking as an artist correcting the Bible which was allegedly based on his teachings, so that's why he uses Biblical language, (DU p 319.) There is no concept of male or female in Heaven; (DU p 5) - only God, Love, and Spirit, which are all synonymous.

The next thing I want to discuss is the concept of judgment. When the Course talks about not judging your brothers and sisters, what it's really saying is that you should not condemn them, (DU p 116.) The Course is not asking you to give up the practical forms of judgment you need just to be able to function in the world while you appear to be here. You have to make judgments just to cross the street, get out of bed, and decide what to eat, etc. As Arten goes on to say "One thing the Course has nothing against is common sense,' (DU p 116.) I'd also like to add that using discernment is part of having common sense. Yes, it is your job to save the world, as the world can not be saved without you - since the world is just a projection of your own mind - however, you saving the world is done so at the level of the mind, and never at the level of the physical. For example, it may be late at night and you're walking through what some may consider to be an undesirable neighborhood. Now, there could be some people hanging around and perhaps you see them carrying guns. On the level of the mind you can see them as innocent, but that doesn't mean you have to prove a point and go walking up to them trying to save them, or to prove how invulnerable you are. It would be in your best interest to get the hell out of there, and as quickly as possible, as Pursah says 'If you're a woman and a man is trying to rape you, kick him in the balls,' (IR p 177.) Forgiveness can always be applied later.

The Course is not about you trying to be Superman. And while we're at it, you don't have to give money to every homeless person you see out there on the street either, and if you do, it's best that you are not doing that out of feelings of guilt. This path is not about being a do-gooder, not that there isn't anything wrong with doing good deeds if that turns you on; but the Course is about being a right minded thinker, (DU p 218.) When the Course talks about being a teacher of God becoming perfect here, it is referring to perfect forgiveness, not perfect behavior, (DU p 234.) Forgiveness has to do with what you think. What you do isn't the important thing, even though it is a result of what you think. It's what you think that wil either keep you dreaming or help get you home, not what you do, (DU p 218.) And as J says in the Course, 'I do not call for martyrs but for teachers.'

Now, some students new to the Course might think that practicing the true forgiveness that the Course talks about is a form of denial. Well,in a sense it is - but in a different way from what the world commonly views as denial. Here's what Gary's teachers have to say about that: The thought system of love and the thought system of fear are both forms of denial. One of them, the Holy Spirit's teaching, leads to Heaven by uncovering and reversing the ego's denial of the truth, as the Course says, 'It denies the ability of anything not of God to affect you. This is the proper use of denial,' (DU p 113.) The Atonement principle undoes denial and projection at the level of your mind by forgiving what you perceive, and the Holy Spirit undoes the denial and projection at the metaphysical level of your mind at the same time - as well as undoing the whole idea of separation right along with you. You must practice forgiveness on the level where your experience is. So your forgiveness is done here, which means you should be practical - and respectful of other people and their experience. In other words, when you're living your everyday life, be kind. Your job isn't to correct others. Just help the Holy Spirit clean up your wrong mind by switching to your right mind, (DU p 166.) When we say you should be kind to others, it doesn't mean you should be in denial about the ego thought system. But don't try to change others; change your own mind instead, (DU p 193.)

Another stumbling block that some Course students may get caught up in is in overanalyzing the Course. Pursah cautions us not to nitpick the Course to death. She goes on to say that all the details of the Course's teachings should be put within the context of its larger teachings on forgiveness, (DU p 329.) I would add that you don't need to sit there dissecting and analyzing every sentence in the Course. If you don't understand what a particular sentence or paragraph is saying, its not something to get all frustrated about and beat yourself up over - just move on. What really matters, as far as I'm concerned, is that you continue to practice taking full responsibility for your life's experiences by remembering to apply the concept of true forgiveness on anything that pushes your buttons on any given day. If you are doing this, rest assured you are making spiritual progress, regardless of how well or how much of the Course you understand. Oh by the way, speaking of analyzing things, ever notice that the first four letters of analyzing spell out anal? It could be a coincidence, but the only problem is that I don't really believe in coincidences. Just like Arten points out that the last four syllables of the word individuality spell out duality; that's not just a semantic accident, (DU p 141.)

Just a quick note here, Gary mentions on The Secrets of the Immortal CD that the person with a low IQ who is going around just being love is probably making more spiritual progress than the intellect who uses the Course to make other people wrong and himself right. I listen to Gary's CDs quite a bit so when I hear him say that, it always reminds me of my favorite movie of all time, Radio - about a man with the low IQ who is just being love. I highly recommend this movie - starts Ed Harris and Cuba Gooding Jr. Check out the deleted scenes on the DVD too.

So before I wrap up this post, here are some other quick random notes that may be helpful in studying the Course:

On disc 4 of The Secrets of the Immortal audio series, Gary advises that you can replace the word but with only if that helps you to understand a particular section better. For example, here are a couple of lines in the Course with the word but in it, 'For time but seems to go in one direction. We but undertake a journey that is over.' So if you replaced the word but with only, it would go like this, 'For time only seems to go in one direction. We only undertake a journey that is over.' For me personally, I find this suggestion to be very helpful at times. Another thing Gary mentions too is that the Course uses the word make or made in association with the ego - while using the word create in association with God or Spirit.

On page 265 of DU, Pursah says that it may be helpful to remember that the words 'heart' and 'mind' meant the same thing two thousand years ago. When J said 'look into your heart,' he meant your whole being. He wasn't referring to how you feel about worldly behavior or current theology. He was telling you to examine your mind, forgive your brothers and sisters and remember God.

Lastly, as Arten says about their teaching style and A Course in Miracles, 'We've never said that A Course in Miracles is the only way to God, and we've never said that our words are the only way to A Course in Miracles. Ours is one approach. It's for some people - not for everyone. Having said that, let me remind you that we've come here to help you save time. If you really want to know God, then we want you to find the way to your experience of the absolute truth as soon as possible. The Course teaches that the miracle minimizes the need for time,' (DU p 162.) Arten also states, in reference to the Course's introduction where it says that 'It is a required course': 'The Course is required because it expresses the truth. I'm sorry if that sounds arrogant. It doesn't mean that the Course is the only way for anyone to ever find the truth. The truth is an awareness - not a book,' (DU p 108.)

Ok, so I think I have covered everything I wanted to in regards to understanding certain aspects of the Course, and hopefully it has been of help to someone. For my next post, I want to get into what Arten and Pursah have to say about some of the popular new age topics that so many people are 'ga-ga' over - I used to be - including energy, consciousness, evolution, karma, and 'being in the now.'

God Is