This informative article begins a set on which A Course in Miracles (ACIM) means when it speaks of the “miracle” and the “mind.” While most students can cite definitions from the Course, understanding the non-dualistic meaning within the knowledge of dualism does take time to understand and apply. It is only with the gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit that people can make this happen unlearning-learning process. Correction is in your brain of the perceiver and not through forms as true choice is between listening two voices: God or the ego. Claims to be of a “miracle mind” is actually the ego, forgiveness-to-destroy and spiritual specialness. The ego speaks first and the loudest. Love is quiet; and love is expressed nowadays through right-minded forgiveness.
Spiritual specialness is from the unconscious arrogance of the ego wrong mind which believes it’s in competition with God. Since we’re the same, we’re actually competing with everyone constantly until we learn this lesson. All conflict arises from the thought of competition acim. Spiritual specialness makes some relationships holy and others not because the ego’s agenda is that people don’t understand that the reason given anything is in your brain from choosing with God or the ego. To take back our decision making ability is the point of the Course.
The ego’s voice, which we mistakenly believe could be the Holy Spirit, contains no humility nor dependence on God. Rather, it’s the voice if you are self-created, i.e., the authority problem. All of us have confusion regarding the author of our existence (ego or God) and the difference between form (illusion) and content (mind where correction take place). To be miracle-minded, we can’t be in conflict on any level for the right-mind itself is conflict-free. There is a distinction between right-miracle-minded and the miracle mind of the ego.
We’ve no honesty once we use spiritual specialness even as we assert we’re more holy, more chosen by God than another. This can be a defense against the opposite and we are discussing this subject in greater depth in subsequent article. Being more chosen could be the antithesis of the Course’s message.
To continue this discussion, let’s start with some word symbol definitions. We will look at the ego definition and the Course’s definition. Only the ego is fully definable because it’s limitation itself. Perceived lack through projected forms (illusions) leads directly to spiritual specialness.
The Ego’s Miracle:
In the dictionary, the word symbol definition for “miracle” is: “A surprising or welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the task of a divine agency.” This is for “agency” is, “An organization with two or more parties.”
This can be a perfect example wherein two separate parties, the ego god and its version of the vengeful God, compete for forms within the dualistic illusion as the “divine agency.” This is the reason forms don’t need correction but instead your brain that perceives this silliness is in need of correction. Asking the ego god for magic event (to replace a form with a form) distorts prayer and the Son forgets who He is. The ego becomes the author of the Son’s existence and spiritual specialness takes root wherein the Son who is choosing the ego, competes with God to create himself special to obtain noticed by God. As long as we don’t understand this, we remain a prisoner of the world.
A typical mistake so you can get noticed here by God is to believe that changing our mind will change our life (forms, bodies, behaviors, relationships, etc.). Based on the ego, if we’ve a good life, we avoid punishment but there are many versions (forms) of a good life so that’s full of judgment. Again, changing forms make error real since it applies judgment that certain form is better while condemning another.
There is no life beyond Heaven. Purpose is in your brain; and our life’s purpose is to understand and practice forgiveness if we are to be miracle-minded. Peace, or inner peace, is about content and not form. It is from choosing what is not of the world (the right-minded content of the Holy Sprit) which is the actual miracle-mind within the illusory world. The miracle is really a shift in perception and not just a shift in form (illusion).
The Course’s Miracle:
In the Course, the word symbol definition for “miracle” is fairly long as a result of what all magic accomplishes. We’ve referenced some aspects but to completely understand the miracle, spending some time and willingness to unlearn the ego version and learn the ACIM version by beginning with Chapter 1: The Meaning of Miracles. Additionally, Kenneth Wapnick has written a guide called, “The 50 Miracle Principles of A Course in Miracles.” For the purpose of this brief article, it’s sufficient for us to incorporate these in to the discussion:
“The miracle forgives; the ego damns (C-2.10). Miracle-minded forgiveness is the only real correction since it does not have any section of judgment at all (T-2.V.A). Wholeness could be the perception content of miracles. Thus they correct, or atone for, the faulty perception of lack (T-1.I.41). Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind, or state of miracle readiness (T-1.I.43). Miracles are an expression of inner awareness of Christ and acceptance of His Atonement (T-1.I.44).”
The Ego’s Mind:
In the dictionary, the word symbol definition for “mind” is: “The section of a person that allows them to keep yourself informed of these world and their experiences, to consider and to feel, the intelligence and brains, reasoning and judgment.” Intelligence is really a key point which reveals the decision being made out of the ego wrong mind.
Intelligence is defined as, “The ability to acquire knowledge and skills, intellect, judgment and reasoning.” Intelligence makes the world real (error real) by making use of judgment that certain form is preferable to another. If we look back at the Course’s definition for the miracle, “Miracle-minded forgiveness is the only real correction since it does not have any section of judgment at all (T-2.V.A).
How fast intelligence gets used as a system through spiritual specialness to contend with God is astounding. We believe we’re following a Holy Spirit’s guidance when it’s actually the ego god. Like, everywhere we use intelligence to manage other people’s issues which is really a blame projection. You can find no “other people’s issues” unless we first believe in separation and differences and want to see our repressed guilt in another. Everyone and everything is part of our mind. Further, to claim it’s our job to manage or correct other’s issues take specialness to a far more arrogant level of being chosen by God. We are literally saying with your ego that people can do the Holy Spirit’s job better than Him which removes a billboard sign announcing our direct competition with God. It uses, “I’m better than you” forgiveness-to-destroy, the most massive in separation between God and our brothers.
The intellect can be to blame behind our need to develop a curriculum of teaching the Course through retreats and workshops for money. In other words, we are now saying the Course’s curriculum by Jesus is insufficient and we could do better. We try this because we don’t understand the Course’s point that people are all unhealed healers attempting to do what we cannot do for ourselves and thus why we truly need the Voice for God. This is another point to be discussed in the next article. Very, hardly any are right-minded enough to let the Holy Spirit lead just how because most believe they are in competition with God and others.
Nowhere does some of this show that we would not want boundaries with ego’s crossing the line with spiritual specialness. In fact, it’s unkind not to have boundaries when spiritual specialness gets control since it has such massive arrogance of someone believing they are better than another. Competition makes egos act incredibly vengeful because of the total belief in lack.
The Course’s Mind:
In the Course, the word symbol definition for “mind” is, “The activating agent of spirit, supplying its creative energy (C-1.1).” This is broken on to, “Right-mindedness which describes the Holy Spirit, forgives the world, and through Christ’s vision sees real life in its place (C-1.5); and wrong-mindedness which listens to the ego and makes illusions (C-1.6). Nowadays, the only real remaining freedom could be the freedom of choice; always between two choices or two voices (C-1.7).”
As Kenneth Wapnick once said, “Love is quiet and will not need to make assertions.” The miracle-minded understand that prayer is always to ask to learn to forgive first in order that true prayer is released back in song. Our goal will be miracle-minded with the actual miracle mind of the Holy Spirit right-mind and that is only through choice. The ability of decision can be your one remaining freedom as a prisoner of the world You are able to opt to see right (T-12.VII.9).
