ACIM Chapter 8. I. The Direction of the Curriculum, P 1, 2. Knowledge is not the motivation for learning this course. Peace is.
ACIM Chapter 8. I. The Direction of the Curriculum, P 1, 2
I. The Direction of the Curriculum, P 1
1 Knowledge is not the motivation for learning this course. Peace is. This is the prerequisite for knowledge only because those who are in conflict are not peaceful, and peace is the condition of knowledge because it is the condition of the Kingdom. Knowledge can be restored only when you meet its conditions. This is not a bargain made by God, Who makes no bargains. It is merely the result of your misuse of His laws on behalf of an imaginary will that is not His. Knowledge is His Will. If you are opposing His Will, how can you have knowledge? I have told you what knowledge offers you, but perhaps you do not yet regard this as wholly desirable. If you did you would not be so ready to throw it away when the ego asks for your allegiance.
First, I appreciate that Jesus is pointing out to us that knowledge is not the motivation for learning this course. I was confused about that at first. I thought it was all about learning new stuff. It was only much later that I realized that peace was my goal. I am learning this course because I want peace. Before I could understand this, I had to learn to value peace.
Now I understand that peace is the condition of the Kingdom. As the Course tells us, if we want the Kingdom, we must give up conflict for all time. There is no compromise in this. Since peace is the condition of the Kingdom, we cannot bring conflict into the Kingdom. Therefore, if conflict is in the mind, we cannot be in the Kingdom. It makes perfect sense when I think of it like this.
Knowledge is the Will of God.
If I seem to be opposing His Will, that is, if I am entertaining conflict in my mind, then I cannot have knowledge. In the ego world, we learn knowledge. This is not really knowledge; this is learning we do. It is merely the gathering of assorted perceptions that we call knowledge. In reality, knowledge is not something learned; it is something revealed when I remove the block that keeps it from me. Lack of peace, which comes from conflict, is the block that must be removed.
I have learned a lot about the value of peace, and I have learned that I want the Kingdom. But I have not realized that it is all that I want. I know that I have not made this total commitment yet because I still sometimes toss it away in favor of the ego’s meager offerings. I think the peace of God is all I want and then the ego thought that more money, weighing less, getting my way, being appreciated, etc, etc, etc, would be really nice. And off I go in search of a better illusion.
But here is the thing. I don’t really believe that anymore. The ego still attracts my attention once in a while, and sometimes, I get distracted, but I never lose sight of my only purpose. The peace of God may not yet be all I want, but it is all I want to want, and I never forget it. Thank you, God, for that!
I. The Direction of the Curriculum, P 2
2 The distractions of the ego may seem to interfere with your learning, but the ego has no power to distract you unless you give it the power to do so. The ego’s voice is an hallucination. You cannot expect it to say “I am not real.” Yet you are not asked to dispel your hallucinations alone. You are merely asked to evaluate them in terms of their results to you. If you do not want them on the basis of loss of peace, they will be removed from your mind for you.
For a while now, I have been experiencing major shifts in my understanding. My connection with Spirit has grown stronger and stronger. I am more peaceful, and happier. Frustrating periods of confusion and, sometimes, unnecessary suffering have preceded many of those shifts as I looked at the false beliefs in my mind. But I am happy to do it, and it passes much more quickly now because my willingness is stronger than my resistance.
My part in this process is my willingness and my sincere desire to awaken. I do not dispel my illusions alone. The Holy Spirit undoes them for me as that becomes my desire. It happens slowly, a small step at a time when my willingness is weak. As it strengthens, the transformation is quick. There is a big difference for me now. I used to believe the ego had power over me. I used to doubt and become fearful when I seemed to temporarily fail.
Now I know that I made the ego; the ego did not make me.
Therefore, the ego is powerless before me, and if it seems to rule me, it is only because I desire to keep it in place. I am no longer trying to lie to myself about this because I no longer feel guilty about it. Foolish, maybe, and frustrated with myself sometimes, but not guilty.
Recently, I was reading a past entry in my journal. I was reminded of this passage from The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament. It says:
“The choice you make will seem to be made many times in complete sincerity and truth of heart. And then you will seem to slip and forget the choice you have made. Do not let this distress you. Simply make the choice again.”
That really helped me to let go of the concerns I had about my seeming failures. In fact, reading this and accepting it was a turning point for me.
Evidently, I am also learning to evaluate everything on the basis of loss of peace.
I notice that I am very sensitive now to loss of peace, and when it happens, I immediately look at my thoughts to see what precipitated the loss. When I see the thought, I evaluate it. What is its value to me? Do I want this belief more than I want peace of mind?
Sometimes, I become temporarily confused and think I need to make the thought go away or somehow fix my ego with my ego. But as Jesus says, The ego’s voice is an hallucination. You cannot expect it to say “I am not real.” Eventually, usually very quickly now, I always come to my senses and allow the Holy Spirit to do His job, and my mind is corrected, and my peace is restored.