By Jean Weston
Editor's Note: Most readers of Universalist Friends will have heard of the work known as A Course in Miracles (ACIM), which was published in 1976 and has been widely studied and discussed among spiritual seekers. The contents was communicated over a period of seven years to Dr. Helen Schucman, a medical psychologist at Columbia University, by an inner voice claiming to be that of Jesus. It has never been distributed by a commercial publisher but is available from the Miracle Distribution Center with a workbook for students and a manual for teachers.
My Own Journey
I wanted to write this article when I saw the similarities of my Quaker understanding to ACIM and had a profound sense of `fit,' like a hand in a glove. At times in Quaker meeting I felt certain things were being missed but did not have a clear vision of what was missing. I loved my Quaker understanding, but it seemed as if I were being tested and that if I should fail in some way I would be forever judged as not `weighty.' I disliked this feeling and realized that it was the same old dynamic the world uses. Those that learn to `play the game' can often come out ahead, but, unfortunately, it is usually at the expense of losing our loving and compassionate natures. This is what ACIM so eloquently explains as our investment in ego vs. spirit. When we choose from a position of ego we make that stronger within us. When we choose from a position of spirit, spirit becomes stronger.
This made great sense to me. I felt it was a simple idea but one that causes lots of stumbling, and in my excitement I wanted to bring it to my meeting, naively thinking Friends would appreciate and embrace these ideas that would really help grow the meeting. But I was mistaken, of course, because it was something I had found an interest in, and that was not going to mean that other Quakers would do likewise. Still, I know my heart was in the right place. I had seen Quaker meetings suffer due to a bit too much emphasis on one ideology at the loss of another. A need for a deeper understanding of how we could work together within our meetings, as well as how we could connect with the outer world seemed to be very necessary. But where could we go to get this information?
Some Friends get insight from the Bible, while others do not feel an attraction to it. In the last decade or two there has seemed to be a growing interest in the gnostic gospels, which tend to be the mystical or less concrete side of spirituality. Many wonder why these gospels were removed from our Bible and feel we can't be whole in our spirituality when half of it has been removed due to the fears of early political leaders. ACIM helps us to understand the Bible in a new way that fits with newer human understanding. It shifts the terminology and ideas of the Bible slightly, so they open our minds to the gnostic ideas as well as new discoveries in science and psychology.
This reminds me of First Corinthians 13:12: "Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face." I feel that ACIM helps us to see more clearly, much like using a higher power on a microscope. It is a useful tool for us at this point in time when our world is becoming a global community. It reminds us that we are all one in Christ and need to align with the truth about our relationships to each other, which we can only really see when we align with spirit. When we get caught up in our ego side and try to solve problems through that way of seeing, it does not work. This is because only God's will can prevail and God's will is what we truly want whether we realize it or not because we are extensions of God. When we are not clear or in unity we are caught in our human/ego dynamics and need to let go so that God's vision can come shining through. The layers of human rules and ideas we have come to accept as simply 'the way it is' must be unraveled, and this can only be done by letting go of our own understanding and giving it to spirit. We have been bombarded by the worldly view of things without realizing that it is quite fallible. It is fallible when it is based on an idea that is not from a perspective of oneness. In other words, it will be as fallible as it is unloving or judgmental. Judging separates us; it does not transcend.
As an example, many of us have become very invested in college education. This is not wrong, but we tend to forget in our desire to acknowledge and affirm education that spirit does not come from textbooks. And when we give more credence to those who have education over those who do not, we are being discriminatory. We can justify why we do it, but this is one way that our ego/human natures can take hold and we lose our spiritual connection to one another. There are many examples of where we have let ourselves be caught in this kind of bias. It could be on social action, or vegetarianism, or simple living. All of these are worthy ideals. However, if they take precedence over `seeing the face of Christ in our brothers' (an ACIM idea), we have moved from a transforming ideology to a limiting one.
This is one reason I could not unite with my meeting. The members seemed happy with their social action and feeling that they were doing good things, but for me there was a deeper layer that needed to be addressed in order to do anything that would be truly transformative. I loved Quaker philosophy as I understood it, and I wanted to make a better world where people would not feel that they were living in different camps or at opposites poles. Limiting ourselves to one set of political or lifestyle beliefs did not seem to be helping to bring humanity together, and, in fact, it was doing the opposite.
I had a few crises in my life which led me to believing `the sky was falling' and that there just had to be a better way. Luckily at this very low point, I found ACIM. I did not, however, feel lucky at first. I did not like the terminology or voice of it. It seemed to be blaming me or telling me what I thought and how messed up I was. I persisted simply because I did find some beautiful ideas that spoke to me, and I did want to understand God on a deeper level. I later read somewhere that "ACIM has something to offend everyone." I think that might be a test to see how willing we are to try to see a bit differently. Will we extend ourselves even if we read something we think we do not like? Do we really want to grow? {1}
George Fox and Religious Hierarchy
I have always considered Quakers as progressive. From the beginning, George Fox did away with rituals and intermediaries, saying that people did not need anything between themselves and God. He seemed to understand that the more complex our hierarchies become, the more illusions are placed between ourselves and our experience of God. This is just one of the similarities between Quaker philosophy and A Course In Miracles. I am grateful for having learned both of these loving disciplines. Quakers have taught me to see `That of God in everyone' and that naturally segues into seeing `that of God' in other faiths and in all things.
George Fox believed in continuing revelation, and for this reason we should celebrate any readings or ideology that will bring us to a higher way of seeing or experiencing our divine nature. Many have been raised with an idea that we should stick with our own. But does this not only reinforce our feelings of separation, feelings of superiority, defensiveness and polarity? Truth is truth, but certain aspects of truth are often expressed more clearly in one spiritual discipline than in another. As we grow in this global community we need to embrace truth from other disciplines in order to really appreciate people from other faiths and cultures. God is truly not only a God for Christians any more than He is a God only for Americans. It is important to have spiritual writings and new references to help us grow in the light. It is limiting to only recognize God within our own camp and it serves to keep us separate. As ACIM puts it, we need to let go of the idea of scarcity and start living in abundance.
For this article I want to compare ACIM and Quaker Philosophy, because I feel they are coming from the same path or religious experience. Both ACIM and Quakers recognize Jesus as our guide, believe in direct communion with holy spirit (or our higher selves), and reject doctrines or creeds set up by the Christian church. As stated online: "George Fox began preaching that since there was `that of God in every man,' a formal church structure and educated ministry were unnecessary." {2}
ACIM teaches that hierarchy of any kind tends to take us from spirit and get us seeing from our ego or human/carnal way. So, although it is necessary to have structure, both of these paths caution about the difficulty of staying with the divine while trying to make structure. This is an important thing to keep at the forefront of our thoughts, because it is so easy to fool ourselves or to think we are doing something good that, when really examined, is leading away from spirit rather than toward it. The Quaker idea of group `discernment' speaks to the need for this careful check to see that we are coming from a place of spirit over human understanding. Yet both Quakers and ACIM tell us to work in this world for the highest good of all, since we are united as one through God or spirit.
The Inner Journey
Fox was a searcher. He found God by going within. The following two passages show us something of his inner journey. {3}
One morning...a great cloud came over me, and a temptation beset me; and I sat still...And as I sat still under it and let it alone, a living hope and a true voice arose in me, which said, "There is a living God who made all things." Immediately the cloud and temptation vanished away, and life rose over it all; my heart was glad, and I praised the living God.
Great things did the Lord lead me into, and wonderful depths were opened unto me, beyond what can by words be declared; but as people come into subjection to the Spirit of God...they may receive the Word of wisdom that opens all things, and come to know the hidden unity in the Eternal Being. (Chapter II, "The First Years of Ministry, 1648-1649")
The text of ACIM describes this inner journey, and a literal road map to this place within is supplied by the workbook lessons, which are 365 lessons, or a lesson a day for one year. The voice of ACIM speaks often of "clouds and veils" that hide the truth of God from us, just as George Fox mentions in the first paragraph quoted above. Fox's last phrase, "the hidden unity in the Eternal Being," speaks to the ACIM metaphysical aspects of oneness and time vs. eternity. ACIM teaches that there is no death and that we truly are eternal spirit and can experience this right here and now. In fact, what keeps us from remembering this at any time is simply the clouds of ego thoughts and conditioning.
In the following quotation, George Fox reacts to a pastor quoting scripture and shows that it is the connection with Holy Spirit that is sacred — not the scriptures. This `interruption' landed Fox in prison!
He [the pastor] took for his text these words of Peter, "We have also a more sure Word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed…And he told the people that this was the Scriptures, by which they were to try all doctrines, religions, and opinions. Now the Lord's power was so mighty upon me...that I...was made to cry out and say, "Oh, no; it is not the Scriptures!" and I told them what it was, namely, the Holy Spirit...whereby opinions, religions, and judgments were to be tried; for it led into all truth, and so gave the knowledge of all truth. The Jews had the Scriptures, and yet resisted the Holy Ghost, and rejected Christ, the bright morning star. They persecuted Christ and His apostles and took upon them to try their doctrines by the Scriptures; but they erred in judgment, and did not try them aright, because they tried without the Holy Ghost. (Ch. III _ "The Challenge and the First Taste of Prison, 1648-1649," paragraphs 3 & 4)
Fox points out here that it is not the scriptures but what the scriptures point to — the Holy Spirit, which is available to us all. Then he points out that the Jews missed the message of Jesus because they relied on what they had made sacred _ their scriptures — and so missed the gift they would have received if they had used their inner knowing and their connection with Holy Spirit. When we get too dogmatic about things, including our religion or spirituality, we lose our spirit, for we are then investing in concrete form and forgetting about the ephemeral spirit of love and forgiveness. This is not to say either should be denied, but when we give emphasis to one over the other, we get out of balance. ACIM points this out in various ways, reminding us that it is our choice in each moment whether we will invest in our human understanding (ego) or in spirit, which is of a higher authority (God and love).
George Fox describes his mission as follows:
I was sent to...preach freely, and to bring people off from these outward temples made with hands, which God dwelleth not in...directing them to the Spirit and grace of God in themselves, and to the Light of Jesus in their own hearts; that they might come to know Christ, their free teacher, to bring them salvation, and to open the Scriptures to them. (Ch. V _ "One Man May Shake the Country for Ten Miles _ 1651-1652")
This speaks of our inner journey. It is interesting that Fox directs them to"the Light of Jesus.... that they might come to know Christ" because it sounds as if he is saying that Jesus is different from Christ. This correlates well with ACIM, which explains that Christ is not only Jesus, but we are all part of Christ. Once we reach this understanding, Fox seems to be saying, the scriptures can be opened to us, because now they can help us awaken to our true, Christ-conscious selves.
Christ Consciousness or the Oneness of Us All
ACIM teaches that we are all one. This oneness is Christ. Jesus is as an elder brother to us because he lived this belief fully, thus showing us the way to live as he lived, in Christ. In Chapter VIII, " A Visit to Oliver Cromwell, 1653-1654," George Fox states:
But I showed that the promises were to the Seed, not to many seeds, but to one Seed, Christ; who was one in male and female; for all were to be born again before they could enter into the kingdom of God.
Again, this confirms the understanding Fox had of us all being part of this oneness of Christ (seed, not seeds) and that we would have to be `born again' (or re-perceive this understanding) in order to enter into the kingdom of God (heaven).
Sin
At Derby, George Fox was again taken away and questioned. After hours, they asked him the following:
At last they asked me whether I was sanctified. I answered, "Yes; for I am in the paradise of God." Then they asked me if I had no sin. I answered, "Christ my Saviour has taken away my sin; and in Him there is no sin." They asked how we knew that Christ did abide in us. I said, "By His Spirit, that He hath given us." They temptingly asked if any of us were Christ. I answered, "Nay; we are nothing; Christ is all." They said, "If a man steal, is it no sin?" I answered, "All unrighteousness is sin." (Ch. IV, "A Year In Derby Prison, 1650-1651," paragraph 10)
ACIM says there is no sin (as popularly defined) but only error, which is choosing to believe we are separate from God. Fox seems inconsistent in the above quotation, for he says "Christ....has taken away my sin; and in Him there is no sin," but later he states, "All unrighteousness is sin." ACIM helps clarify what this means by explaining that while we are in the world, which it calls "illusion," since it is not what we truly are (spirit), we can choose through our "wrong" mind which is aligned with ego over our "right" mind which is aligned with spirit. All unrighteousness would simply be choosing with our wrong mind. Thus, we would be choosing from a position of being separate from God, or from a position of sin or error.
Metaphysics and The Illusion
The following was written in a letter to Friends from Fox:
All along ye may see, by faith the mountains were subdued; and the rage of the wicked, with his fiery darts, was quenched. Though the waves and storms be high, yet your faith will keep you, so as to swim above them; for they are but for a time, and the Truth is without time. Therefore keep on the mountain of holiness, ye who are led to it by the Light.
Do not think that anything will outlast the Truth. For the Truth standeth sure; and is over that which is out of the Truth. For the good will overcome the evil; the light, darkness; the life, death; virtue, vice; and righteousness, unrighteousness. The false prophet cannot overcome the true; but the true prophet, Christ, will overcome all the false. (Here and below, Ch. XVII, "At The Work of Organizing, 1667-1670," quoted from a letter from Fox to Friends)
Here Fox speaks of time vs. eternity. He exhorts us to "keep on the mountain of holiness" or to stay in our right mind connected with Holy Spirit, so that we stay true to our eternal selves and not be tempted by the temporal. The false prophet is what ACIM calls ego. Like ACIM, Fox focuses Friends on the truth of their eternal spirit, rather than investing in what they see in this world of time and ego illusion.
Regarding his vision of the New Jerusalem he wrote:
…I saw the beauty and glory of it, the length, the breadth, and the height thereof, all in complete proportion. I saw that all who are within the Light of Christ, and in His faith, of which He is the author; and in the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, which Christ and the holy prophets and apostles were in; and within the grace, and truth, and power of God, which are the walls of the city; — I saw that such are within the city, are members of it, and have right to eat of the Tree of Life...
Here he is stating that these members are not only within the city but are the spirit, the faith, and therefore the walls. Thus, they must be one with the city _ they are part of this New Jerusalem or, as ACIM calls it, "heaven" or "the real world." In ACIM, when we reach the real world it will be when we are living on earth as one. We will know that we are truly dependent on one another, not in a co-dependent way but because we are truly one. Our minds, thoughts and energy affect the consciousness of the planet, so we need to realize our interdependence and that we `go together or not at all' since we are all part of the one son of God. According to ACIM until we all understand this, and are united, we cannot return to heaven.
In Closing
Before ending I want to share two other topics that are central to Quakers. Most Quakers are social activists. Some ACIM students surmise that since the world is an illusion, there is no sense trying to `fix' it since It does not exist. Ken Wapnick, who is the foremost authority on ACIM today, who worked closely with Helen Schucman and has written numerous books on ACIM, states how difficult it is to be involved in political activism and remain spiritually based rather than falling into ego dynamics. This is due to the fact that politics is largely an ego-based sphere. Ken says, however, that if ACIM students really understood ACIM they would be able to do political activism in a most effective and uniting way. They would be truly transformative activists because they would understand how important it is to stay in spirit and be ever watchful for ego tricks that can make us stumble and set us and our ideals back years. Thus, it seems it would be expedient for Quakers and other sincere activists to do a deep study of ACIM. On the more superficial level ACIM may not sound applicable to social action, since it sees the world as illusion. However, when it is truly understood, it helps us to `be in the world but not of the world' so that we can remain in spirit while working in this ego-driven environment.
ACIM suggests that there must be change, but sees it, first and foremost, as a change in our minds. Yet, as our minds are transformed, so are our actions, and we affect the collective consciousness of all. Thus, the world can be transformed, one separated mind at a time and these transformed minds affect those around them. The above passages quoted from George Fox show that he also spoke of seeing the world through transformed eyes, after aligning ourselves with Holy Spirit.
Lastly, I want to compare the Quaker gathered meeting with the ACIM concept of a holy instant. Sometimes a Quaker meeting will be noticed to be `gathered'. This means that those who are sitting in the meeting have a feeling of oneness. It is as if all tensions and thoughts have dissolved and there is a feeling of unity or joy in the air. Likewise, in ACIM, there is the concept of `the holy instant.' This is a similar feeling between two or more individuals when, for whatever reason, differences fall away and they experience a common purpose, usually closely tied to love and forgiveness.
This comparison has helped me to bridge the perceived gap between Quaker philosophy and ACIM. I hope it will also help others understand the need to study inspired writings, such as ACIM, that will strengthen our understanding of the divine that dwells within and let this reign supreme over any church, doctrine or attitude. If sincere spiritual seekers will embrace the beauty, knowledge and helpfulness that ACIM offers us, we can move this world from a stalled, `us vs. them' mentality into the real world of appreciating our oneness in God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad, et al, for truth is truth and unites us all.
Endnotes
{1} I have published a little book for the beginning ACIM student. It is available at www.lulu.com/content/3100918. There are also many other books that can help new students of ACIM.
{2} http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/quakers.htm See first section.
{3} These and the following quotations are from the journal of George Fox, edited by Rufus Jones (1908). The text can be found online as "George Fox, An Autobiography" at www.strecorsoc.org/gfox/. Since page numbers are not provided, the quotations are cited only by chapter.
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