A Course in Miracles: WHAT IT SAYS Part I -- The Resplendent Unity of Heaven (Volume 5 Number 2 June 1994) Gloria Wapnick Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D.       In September 1993, we wrote an article entitled: "A Simple, Clear, and Direct Course," which discussed the various attempts on the part of students of A Course in Miracles to interpret what the Course says, rather than seek to understand its simple, clear, and direct teachings. Beginning with this newsletter, we shall present a two-part article which summarizes how A Course in Miracles is a radically new approach to spirituality, since it erases almost all former religious and spiritual concepts. This first part discusses the nature of Reality -- the Oneness of God and Christ -- and how the Course's understanding differs from the teachings of both traditional and contemporary religious and spiritual paths. Once we have understood the non-dualistic nature of Reality, it will be easier to understand the nature of the separation and its correction through the Holy Spirit, discussion of which is the purpose of Part II of this article. As one studies A Course in Miracles, it is helpful from time to time to return to the foundation of its thought system, to the Beginning as it were: the resplendence of our Reality in Heaven. While the clear focus of Jesus' teaching in the Course is on the undoing of the blocks to the awareness of Love's presence in our minds (text, intro; T-in.1:7), it is nonetheless essential never to forget what our ultimate goal truly is. If, as the Course teaches us, we have fallen asleep and are dreaming the nightmares of separation and specialness, reminders of what we shall eventually awaken to are helpful to keep us on track as we make our way Home. And so in Part I of this article we wish to speak about the nature of Heaven, and Who we truly are as God's glorious creation. Several years ago, in our book Awaken from the Dream, we wrote the following description that attempted to present a word-picture of the non-dualistic wonder that is our true Home. As you read these words now, try to allow them to be the wings that carry you beyond the everyday consciousness of the dualistic world of perception, lifting you to the soaring awareness of the Reality of Oneness and Truth that cannot be understood, but only experienced. Come with us on a journey of discovery to the remembrance of who we are. Sink back into your mind, and let yourself be carried out of time and out of this world into another dimension, whose glorious splendor language cannot express. Yet must we use words to reflect the ineffable Reality that is beyond all words, in order to recall to our minds the radiant abstraction of Heaven which has been replaced by our world of concrete specifics. Our memory leads us back to this state of Holiness where, in the Beginning, before there was even a concept of beginning, there is God, our Source and the Source of all creation: a perfection and resplendence whose magnificence is beyond comprehension; love and gentleness of such an infinite nature that consciousness could not even begin its apprehension; a pristine stillness of uninterrupted joy, a motionless flow without friction to impede it; a vast, limitless and all-encompassing Totality, beyond space, beyond time, in which there is no beginning, no ending, for there was never a time or place when God was not. God our Source is the All, and shares this Totality with us. This is a sharing without limits, and with no withholding of what truly is. Therefore, as part of our Source, we share all Its qualities, even unto being a co-creator. Creation, like spirit, is abstract, formless and unchanging. Its nature is unity, knowledge of which is that there is nowhere the Creator ends and the created begins. There is no boundary, no differentiation, no separation. Yet, included in this knowledge is the fact that we are not the Source of creation, though we remain one within It. Can the Mind of God begin? Can the Mind of God end? Can a Thought that is part of that Mind be something other than that Mind? Surely not, since there is no subject or object in the state of Heaven; no observer or observed. There is no perception, simply the total knowledge of who we are: a glory of such unified resplendence that concepts of within-without have no meaning. We are an Idea in the Mind of God, and this Idea, with no limitations, is composed of an infinite number of Thoughts. All these Thoughts are the Sons of God, and the unified Idea -- the Christ -- is the Son. Therefore, all God's Thoughts are creation and, since Mind extends, the unlimited Thoughts the Mind of God extends are the Christ. We are the formless Thoughts that pulsate from this vast Mind, yet these Thoughts are abstract and have no counterpart to the specific forms in our world. As Thoughts in God's Mind, we emulate the process of creation, and our extensions are our creations. We know our Creator-Source and have total gratitude for being part of the All. Gratitude is a constant song sung by the created to its Source, in glad thanksgiving for the knowledge of its Holiness as part of the Source. God's Being is Love, and Love, without end, flows continually between Creator and created, unbroken and uninterrupted. It is the Source of all Being and is itself all Being. Love is the very fountainhead of God, the essence of spirit and Mind, from which the Great Rays of resplendence radiate all that belongs to the Kingdom: truth, joy, unity and peace. This is Reality, our true inheritance as children of our Source Who says that all that I have is yours. Totally at rest, the Son is home in the knowledge within the Mind that created it. This is the Reality God established, forever changeless, forever perfect. This is His eternal truth: God is; His Sons are one with Him in perfect love, innocence and peace (Awaken from the Dream, first edition pp. 21-23; second edition pp. 3-4). It is this non-dualistic Oneness -- the experience of the truth that there is nowhere that God ends and our true Self begins -- that A Course in Miracles identifies as Heaven, and which forms the foundation for its teachings on the ego's thought system of guilt and fear, and the Holy Spirit's thought system of forgiveness. Before continuing, however, it would be instructive to contrast this non-dualistic theology of A Course in Miracles with three other theological forms, all inherently dualistic: pantheism, polytheism, and monotheism. The theology of pantheism (etymologically meaning "god is in all") holds that god is found in every aspect of the physical universe; i.e., his essence and substance permeates everything, and therefore he is not outside his creation. This means that there is no supreme being who exists outside the world, for god and the world are one and the same. Thus the world of materiality, with all its myriad forms and thoughts, is seen and experienced not only as real but divine as well, for matter is not separated from spirit. This is clearly a dualistic theology, holding that both spirit and matter are real, though integrated as one. Polytheism (" many gods" ) is the belief that there are many gods, each different and with a different personality that symbolizes different traits and forces of nature, as well as, in many instances, a creator-god. For example, in the Greek pantheon Poseidon is the god of the ocean, and Athena the goddess of wisdom. Thus the different gods would be prayed to for different purposes and in different situations. As these gods would often be associated with the forces of nature, we again find a theology in which both the physical universe and the divine co-exist as realities. Monotheism (" one god" ) has always been considered by theologians to be the most developed form of theology because of its belief in only one god, seen to be an advance over the worship of many gods. Since two of the major monotheistic religions, Judaism and Christianity, form the background of almost all students of A Course in Miracles, we shall confine our discussion to the biblical god for the rest of this article. There are two characteristics of this god of the Bible that bear directly on our discussion of the Course's theology. NEXT ?