ARTICLE
| May/June 2005 |
A Course in Miracles
Made Simple
by Jon Mundy
A scholar visited a Zen master and asked
him,
“What is the teaching of Zen?”
The master recited a verse from the Dhammapada,
“Do no wrong. Do only good.”
This is the teaching of all the Buddha's.
“But” said the Scholar,
“A 3 year old child knows that.”
“A 3 year old may know it,”
the master said,
“but an 80 year old may find
it difficult to practice.”
For many years now people have been telling me they like the
way in which I make A Course in Miracles simple. I hope so.
I like being simple.
I like a simple life. I like simple pleasures. There is
almost nothing in which I take more joy than the simple
pleasure of sitting outside on our deck with my wife Dolores
on a summer evening listening to the katydids, tree frogs
and crickets, waiting and watching evening fall and then the
stars and fireflies.
Physicists, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and David Hawkins
are all said to have discovered basic truths of physics by
reducing everything to its most essential element, by asking
incredibly simple questions.
Einstein once said that
Everything should be made
as simple as possible.
Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more
violent. It takes a touch of genius to move in the opposite
direction.
Einstein's own insight into the nature of relativity came
when he asked the simple question, “What would it be like if
I could travel at the speed of light?” As mathematician
Josiah Gibbs once expressed it: The principal object of
research in mathematics is to find the point from which the
subject appears in its greatest simplicity.
One of my favorite contemporary mystics Jed Mc Kenna writes
in his wonderful book Spiritual Enlightenment: The
Damnedest Thing: Enlightenment is truth-realization.
Not only is truth simple, it’s that which cannot be
simpler—cannot be further reduced.
I’ve been hanging out with the Course since 1975, the more
I've studied it, the more I have found that some of the most
outlandish (and seemingly on the surface) most unbelievable
statements in the Course are both amazingly simple and
amazingly true. The Course is sometimes said to be complex.
The text is 669 pages long. All total there are over 1,300
pages. There are 365 lessons. It takes a year to work though
the Course and when you get to the end it says you are at
the beginning.
The Course is very simple.
It says so several times. The Course
talks about the simple truth, simple concepts, simple
statements, simple logic, simple knowledge, simple courtesy,
simple honesty, simple willingness, simple justice and
simple being. The simplest of all lessons the Course says
is, “By their fruits ye shall know them, and they shall know
themselves.” (T-9.V.9:5-6) The Course says of itself that it
is “very simple and direct” and then it adds,
Simplicity is very difficult
for twisted minds. (T-14.II.2:3)
One of the earliest of the Christian Mystics Bernard of
Clairvaux, from the last half of the 11th Century said, the
primary characteristic of the soul is that it is simple,
immortal and free. German mystic Meister Eckhart (1260-1327)
said the soul simply is and God simply is. It’s in innocence
and simplicity he said that the soul is connected with God.
In the early fifteenth century Nicholas of Cusa, another
German mystic, reported a profound, revelatory experience in
which he said he was shown that God Is Simplicity Itself.
God he said, can only be seen with an intellect that is
completely simple. Man’s mind he said, has over the eons
become way too complex. Our minds are, he said, so full of
religious suppressions and erroneous thoughts that we know
of nothing except our own wheels spinning in a dream within
a dream. He said that 700 years ago when life was arguably
much simpler than it is now.
Nineteenth century Americana transcendentalist Henry David
Thoreau said that his whole philosophy could be explained as
simplicity. You can only get to the truth he said as you
simplify, simplify, simplify. He knew all kinds of things,
he said, because his philosophy could be expressed in one
word - Simplicity. He said he could keep his accounts on the
nail of his thumb.
I
am convinced that to maintain ourselves on this earth is not
hardship, but a pastime,
if we may live simply and wisely.
I went to the woods because
I wished to live deliberately to confront only the essential
facts
of life and to see if
I could not learn what it had to teach and not when I came
to die to discover that I had not lived.
Thoreau’s friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson thought
Thoreau was sitting out there by Walden pond going to pot
watching fire flies. Thoreau could spend the whole morning
sitting in his doorway just looking -- and seeing, that is
finding himself, his spirit, the most valuable thing of all.
Dolores and I watched the PBS, DVD series “I Claudius” about
the Roman emperors of the first century, Caesar Augusts.
Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. This story, the
opening chapter of which might be called, “All about Lydia”
is a story about a complex web of lies, intrigue and murder
woven initially by Caesar Augustus’ wife Lydia. With
complete self absorption and unbridled ambition she saw to
the poisoning of anyone she wanted, including all of her
step-children and even it seems, Caesar himself. Caesar's
last words were, by the way, Have I played my part well in
this comedy of errors?
The stories of the succeeding emperors, Tiberius, (Lydia’s
son), Caligula, Claudius, and Nero is a complex drama of
intrigue, scheming, and murder. Nero even killed his mother
because she tried to tell him what to do. There was such
righteousness and such unhappiness. Throughout the whole
drama, only the simpleton Claudius, though in fact he was
not a simpleton, seemed to understand the whole tragedy.
Likewise in the novel “Moby Dick” it was only the first mate
Stub who understood the drama and how is Stub described? As
a “happy go lucky -- simpleton.”
The word simple comes from the Latin word simplic meaning
the same or not divide. It means free from guile and
complication, innocent, modest, fundamental, unconditional
and easy. Simple is straight forward and honest, Simple is
humble and sincere,
Lift up your eyes and look
on your brother in innocence
born of complete forgiveness
of his illusions.
ACIM T-19. IV.D. 8:7
Innocence
Jesus in the gospels asks that little children be brought to
him for as such he said are those in the Kingdom of Heaven
(Luke 18:16). It is only through eyes of innocence that we
can see truth. Innocence does not judge. It does not
project. It contains no machinations of the mind. It just
is. Infants can look you straight in the eye for a long time
without looking away. They can look because they have
nothing to hide.
During the early 80’s when I was working as a Methodist
minister I had to deal with a church board chairman who was
a bit of a tyrant. A moralistic conservative, he preferred
righteousness over happiness. One of the most daunting
things you can run into in life is a “good” person with a
mean mind — someone who is convinced that they are right and
you are wrong and they are going to “fix” you.
After one particularly uproarious and disbursing board
meeting I asked him if he could just sit and look at me
“eyeball to eyeball without talking.” He tried but he
couldn’t do it and he quit the church. After he left a
feeling of levity developed in the church and the other
member told me how happy they were to be free of his
despotism. The solution was so simply. It did not even
require words, or any attempt to “reason” with this
“unreasonable” man.
Innocence is simplicity.
The Course says that strength is innocence and that
innocence is wisdom because it is unaware of evil. There is
nothing “complicated,” nothing “twisted,” nothing convoluted
about innocence. One of my favorite contemporary mystics
A.H. Almas says that truth can only come to a mind which is
“unfettered,” “uncomplicated,” or, if you will, “simple.”
Mystical experiences are simple, clear, unfettered. The
truth is simple. Love is simple. The ego is convoluted,
complicated and complex. Depth psychology talks about
“coexes” or “complexes” as complicated “ideas” concerning
such things as guilt, abuse and unworthiness that create
quirks in our personalities. We get confused because we
literally “have too much going on.” If you want to know
anything - give up “complexity.”
Stop trying to figure out the ego. The truth is going to
come to you. It already has. Further analysis of the ego
only makes things more complicated.
Simple statements from A Course in Miracles
I enjoy passages in the Course that use words like all,
only, always, wholly, forever, eternally, nothing, and
never. Words like always, only, never and
no are categorically clear. They give a definite
direction. They are simple and unambiguous. Always,
means all ways — forever and eternal. Never
means not ever. Here are some passages which may
appear complex. They are quite simple.
Never underestimate the insanity of
the ego. (T. 14-2:6)
Never underestimate the intensity of the ego’s drive for
vengeance. (T-16.VII.3:1)
As I watched the two airplanes flying into The World Trade
Center the above sentences kept going though my mind. Here
are a few incredibly simple statements. If we just “really”
lived by them, things would be fine.
Do Only This!
The Course says that when it comes to teaching it is best to
teach from the perspective of “Do only that.” That is, it is
better to teach from a positive perspective than a negative
one. Consider the following from ACIM.
Only appreciation is
an appropriate response
to your brother.
Gratitude is due him
for both his loving thoughts
and his appeals for help,
for both are capable of bringing love into your awareness
if you perceive them truly.
ACIM T-12. I. 6:1-2
Not Doing
Only appreciation is an appropriate response both for loving
thoughts and appeals for help. Of course we are all grateful
for loving thoughts. We also need to be grateful for appeals
for help which come our way for through them we discover who
we are in truth. The Course is also about “not doing.”
“Doing” after all is the thing which gets us into trouble.
Giving in to temptations we “over do.” This is why
simplicity is so important. So we are to “Do only good.” How
do you do that — by not doing “bad.”
I Need to Nothing
When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with
temptation and fight against the giving in to sin; when the
light comes at last into the mind given to contemplation;
or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone,
it always comes with just one happy
realization
“I need do nothing."
You need do nothing because once you turn it over to the
Holy Spirit you find you are guided in all things. Decision
making is not difficult. “Do only This!” Here are a few
incredibly simple statements.
1. Do Not Judge
This is one of the hardest things for us to do because the
ego mind is “automatically set to judge.” The Course says,
“The ego analyses, the Holy Spirit accepted.” According to
the Course God’s teachers do not judge because they cannot
judge. To judge is to assume a position you do not have.
(M-4.III.1:2) And, the choice to judge rather than to know
is the cause of the loss of peace.
My favorite quote in the Course is Let him be what he is and
seek not to make of love an enemy. Let other people be who
they are. Don’t try to fix the world. Your job is to love
the world not to fix it. Thinking you can fix it means you
think you know “how” to fix it. What needs fixing isn’t the
world. What needs fixing is our “vision.”
2. Do Not Attack
Anger the Course says is never justified. The
word is “never” — not ever. The ego would love it if it said
“sometimes.” Then we could have debates about when it was
and when it wasn’t justified. This doesn't mean we should
never get angry. It just means that if we do, we need to
realize that something has gone wrong in our thinking
otherwise we would not be angry.
If you attack error in another,
you will hurt yourself.
You cannot know your brother when you attack him.
Attack is always made
upon a stranger.
ACIM, T-3. III. 7:1-3
Attack is “always” a mistake in perception. When we attack
another we make them a stranger.
3. Do Not Defend
I’m not saying don’t defend your body if it is attacked. Do
defend it because you still think you’re a body. Proof of
that fact is that you are hanging out (hiding out) in one
and you would not want your body to be hurt. When I say do
not defend I mean do not defend your silly ego because that
is all it is “a silly ego.” It actually has no reality.
4. Don’t Play Games
Once you see how the silly ego plays its games you realize
-- “You don’t have to play.” The Course say, “Refuse to be a
part of fearful dreams, whatever form they take.” It’s that
simple. If you see fearful dreaming going on don’t play the
game. Don’t get caught it in.
5. Do Not Hide
Most of us are not aware of what a large part “denial” plays
in our psychic systems. Like a lot of people I became aware
of denial “the hard way.” We’ve all been engaging in denial
for so long we don’t even know we are doing it. The
insidious nature of denial is the denial of being in denial.
Do not Judge.
Do not Attack.
Do not Defend.
Do not Hide.
Do not play ego games.
The truth is very simple. We don’t want to understand this
simple Course because it will mean the “undoing” of the ego
and yet when you lose the ego you discover you’ve lost
“nothing” except something which literally “didn’t become
you” in the first place.
What is the teaching of Zen?
Do no wrong. Do only good.
A 3 year old may know it,
but a 80 year old may find
it difficult to practice.
How simple is salvation?
Love Always,
