A Spirituality That Actually Works

Many spiritualities are out there fighting for our 'soul', telling us that their path is the only way to God. Yet, A Course in Miracles only claims to be one of the thousands of spiritualities out there, all of which leads to the same path.

Arten and Pursah, ascended masters who appear to the best-selling author of Disappearance of the Universe, Gary Renard, have revealed that there are people who obtained enlightenment in various spiritualities. Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Saint Francis and Mother Teresa are some examples from Christianity. So have Buddhists, Hindus, other religions and also non-religious people. The author behind the pseudonym, Shakespeare, is another enlightened being and it shows in his literary masterpieces. Ultimately, it is how you interpret the world with your beliefs that leads to enlightenment.

Nonetheless, A Course in Miracles is also very clear in that it is the fastest way to reach enlightenment. This enlightenment is the realisation that we have always been one with Spirit and it is only a dream that we think we are separated from God.

We have often heard of miracles in various religions, such as miraculous healing or god-like interventions. Personally, I have heard of an ex-schoolmate who became a pastor because of a miracle healing for his child after undergoing faith healing at a church. What really happen though, is that we are all of one mind and the Holy Spirit works with each individual in forms that they could accept and are ready to receive. Likewise, we can torment ourselves with misthoughts and almost literally experience hell. That is why some people think that Earth is hell for them.

One of the key processes for studying A Course in Miracles is about the experience -- that this spirituality actually works. After all, what is the point of doing a thousand pages of the course textbook and workbook to find that it is only theoretical? The course specifically states that "a universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary." (Manual, p. 77) And this is truly where A Course in Miracles shines. It works every time if you know how. It is not a case where God sometimes intervenes in your life and then ignores you on other times, especially when you need Him most.

The Holy Spirit promises that He "will respond fully at your slightest invitation" (T-5.VII.5). All we need to do is ask. Some beginning students of A Course in Miracles may wonder why the Holy Spirit seemingly does not respond when they call for His help to fix their lives. We must first understand that the Holy Spirit, being of the right mind and which only understands perfect love, cannot do things for us in this illusory world which is a projection of our wrong mind.

So the most common mistakes some beginners of the course and countless religious devotees have made is to ask the Holy Spirit to do something, such as providing money in desperate times or getting rid of something undesirable. The Holy Spirit cannot do something here, simply because He only sees the truth. If He did something in this dream, then He would have acknowledged that the situation here is true and therefore we are forever condemned by all the problems of the world.

The first thing the Holy Spirit would remind us is that the trying situation or relationship in our life we want changed is not real. It did not really happen. You are not really broke, or abandoned, or handicapped, or sick, or downtrodden. It only appears to be so in the dream. The introductory passage of A Course in Miracles cannot be clearer in this.

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.

So that is the first thing we must recognize. Our true reality has not been affected and we are whole and innocent. Yes, we may not see or feel it yet since we are not enlightened. But this is also where your faith and beliefs come in. The stronger your faith in the Holy Spirit, the more peace you will find, knowing that if what He reminded us is true, then our seemingly difficult situation must be an illusion.

Secondly, it always boils down to forgiveness in any situation or relationship. So after doing the forgiveness process (see here) taught by A Course in Miracles, we ask the Holy Spirit what we should do next. Notice the subtle difference here? We do not demand that the Holy Spirit do something for us. We ask him for an inspiration of what to do, how to react, or how we can work towards our goal or carry out a task.

At times, you could be asking the Holy Spirit how to resolve a difficult situation. This always involves forgiveness since the situation is a guilt projection from your wrong mind. It presents an opportunity for us to recognise that it is not real and to forgive it. At other times, I may not have an issue with anything but I will consciously choose to let the Holy Spirit decide for me. As an example, I could be simply asking the Holy Spirit if I should travel to a certain place.

Personally, the Holy Spirit has responded time and again to my requests. There were situations in life where I may have conflicts with people or someone has said something to upset me. Most of the times, I will remember to ask the Holy Spirit for help. The first thing He will remind me is that it is not real, then I will be reminded to forgive and trust that He will take care of the rest. If it bothers me again, I will redo the forgiveness process until it bothers me less. And voila, the situation miraculously resolves itself at a later time, often in ways I could never have imagined myself.

Let me give two specific examples here, bearing in mind that they are just two of the countless examples where the Holy Spirit has helped me. Once, someone said something nasty to me and really made me upset. Initially, I would blame that person for disturbing my peace but after some moments of anguish, I remembered to ask the Holy Spirit for help. Soon, I realized that the situation was my own projection because of my identification with the wrong mind. I forgave it multiple times (whenever I could feel the anger in me again) and then some days later, I was in good terms again with that person. I actually never really did anything. It is like that incident has never happened.

On another occasion, my boss at work approached me to do a project which I really did not wish to get involved with. Of course, I thought of asking the Holy Spirit for help and as always, I was reminded I needed to forgive and did the forgiveness process a couple of times. The next day, it turned out that I did not have to do anything with that project anymore. You should see the grin in my face then. Literally, there were many such occasions where I took the time to mentally thank the Holy Spirit for His help.

Paradoxically, this is also where the experience part comes in. The more help we experience from the Holy Spirit, the more we will trust Him. The more we trust Him, the more evident the experience will be over time. It is like building a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. It does take practice and the willingness of a mustard seed to start seeking His help.

So what is stopping you? Unlike our frail and illusory human relationships, the Holy Spirit is always there for us, until the time when we achieve enlightenment and realize again we are really one with Him. And guess what? Yes, I have certainly asked for his help in writing this article too.