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SearchCan the so called "master teacher" defend a copyright? Does Awakening involve a "physical transformation"? Can you go into the topic of comparison?
Question:
I have followed a teacher for years who has been called and declared himself an awakened master teacher. He has taught that mind is singular, that this world was over long ago, that he speaks from out of time, and that he and all of us followers are going to flash out of time together. He makes many references to the Bible and "A Course In Miracles," yet in the Bible Jesus teaches to turn the other cheek, resist not evil, and says if someone asks you for your coat to offer them your cloak as well. In ACIM, Jesus even teaches: In my defenselessness my safety lies. My teacher has in recent years, however, advocated and participated in an ongoing campaign and lawsuit against the copyright holders of ACIM and justifies this action as taking a stand for Christ against those who would attempt to distort the teachings and block the spreading of His Word. This is confusing. I do not understand how it is possible to engage in a lawsuit, have legal representation, prepare a case against a brother, and defend a position—all in the Name of Jesus Christ? In ACIM Jesus says: If I defend myself I am attacked. Could you explain this?
My second question has to do with the teachings from my teacher about physical transformation. If the body is an illusion, how is it possible to transform or change an illusion? My teacher refers to the transfiguration of Jesus, yet I cannot understand how a change in form or in the physical has anything to do with the transformation of mind called Enlightenment? Am I missing something in the teachings of ACIM?
My third question has to do with spiritual specialness. My teacher has referred to himself, and has been referred to, as an insertion of light into the time-space continuum. At the same time, he speaks of being out of time. There is great importance placed on being WITH the master teacher, and staying in the high energy and fast time of the master teacher and the association. Yet in ACIM I read that the holiest spot on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love. Would you speak about the trap of making somebody special and different from everybody else? I have heard this called the “guru trap” and it seems to be yet another ego ploy to set one brother above others, and to maintain a sense of uniqueness, specialness, and separation in a subtle way. If we are One Mind then it seems that no person, place, event, or thing will have MORE importance and that there is nothing to compare in truth. Is this so?
Answer:
Hello, Beloved one,
Christ is Spirit, created by God, and needs no defense. Concepts were made by the ego and thus seem to need constant defense. Truth needs no defense, for Truth has no opposite or opposition. Concepts of self are fragile and no matter how puffed up they may seem to get in this world, they have no foundation in truth and offer no peace of mind, safety, or security. Mastery through Love sees the folly and the impossibility of defense. Mastery through Love sees that a lawsuit is a joke, for defense and authentic spiritual practice have no meeting point. Defense is an ego attempt to teach that vulnerability is real, and that something exists which is in need of protection. Yet the central teaching of "A Course In Miracles" is "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God." Peace and understanding go together and cannot be found apart. Be glad that you CANNOT understand a lawsuit which has been justified and engaged in under the Name of Jesus Christ. What you have described is a good example of the joke of the world, the foolishness of the ego's antics under the pretense of a "spiritual cause."
In Answer to your second question, ”physical transformation" is an oxymoron or contradiction in terms. This is the error of the world of contradictions. It is indeed impossible to transform or change the physical, for the change of illusion is simply the illusion of change. That is why I say: "Seek not to change the world. Rather change your mind about the world." The Serenity Prayer is the same reminder: "The world cannot be changed, the mind can change by accepting its changelessness, and the Holy Spirit is the Wisdom to know or discern the difference." The transfiguration of Jesus described in the Bible was a "phenomenon" or window dressing. It is seen—at best—as a symbol or representation of going beyond the veil of images to the Light of Christ beyond. It is helpful to be reminded, however, that all perceptions are false. Abstract Light is Universal and not specific or particular. Spirit never comes into matter, and Truth cannot be brought to illusions. Eternity never comes into time, and Infinity never comes into the finite. This is why the concept of an "insertion of Light" is impossible, for the Word does not literally become flesh. Reality cannot be translated or transformed into unreality. Instead, bring the darkness of false belief—including the physical world—to the Light of Truth and Know Thy Self as Spirit. Time-space-matter-physical dissolves, and the Spirit remains. Accept Atonement and this realization is obvious.
In Answer to your third question, the ego IS the belief in specialness or uniqueness. The attempt to single out a person, place, thing, situation, or event from the whole tapestry of the cosmos IS the attempt to make and worship an idol or God-substitute. This ego temptation—which is the wish to make illusions real—of "guru worship" is but one example of the death wish of specialness. Whenever a comparison is made, duality has been accepted as real, and Divine Love is seemingly blocked from awareness. Yet Love simply Is. Spirit Love is the Energy of Life in God. This Energy is never high or low, bright or dim, strong or weak. Spirit is Timeless and Changeless. Time is an illusion, and thus there is no "fast” time or "slow” time. It is impossible to be close to or far away from Spirit because Spirit transcends the false concepts of distance and increments of measurement. The ego attempts to use such concepts to maintain its existence, and its existence rests on the belief in differences and uniqueness. Happily, Oneness cannot be broken into different, unique pieces or parts. Wholeness means One!
You speak of the master teacher and the association. In an earlier post, I addressed the illusion of an "enlightened person,” which is another oxymoron or contradiction in terms. Divine Mind is real. Personhood, a concept of body-mind-soul, is not. It is impossible for a concept to be real, for God did not create concepts. God creates Spirit and Spirit shares in God's Reality. ACIM is but one seeming pathway of releasing past associations, accepting the wholeness of the forgiven world, and remembering Self and God. Where would the association begin? Where would the association end? You see, the false is false and cannot be broken into parts or pieces. There is no we/they split, no in/out split. The association or group is but another self-concept. Remember that only self-concepts require the illusion of defense, and this will offer you insight to the Answer to your first question about the lawsuit. Salvation is nothing more than the escape from self-concepts. Forgiveness, the last illusion, the last self-concept is not made by you alone. The Holy Spirit offers Atonement as the Perspective of wholeness that transcends the ego's personal perspective of parts. To the Holy Spirit, GURU means Gee You are You. The I Am Presence is Spirit, One Self forever in the Mind of God. Nothing else exists.
Truth is an experience. It cannot be organized. Look not to the flesh for the experience within. Look not to man or woman or "master teacher" in form. Spirit neither leads nor follows. Spirit simply Is. Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all. Atonement is the Point of recognition which transcends the ego traps of "leader" and "follower." There is nothing outside of Oneself. Such is Enlightenment!
Love & Blessings,
David