To all A Course in Miracles Teachers:
We read with considerable interest
Robert Perry's open letter to Ken Wapnick concerning the transfer
of the copyright for ACIM to the Foundation for A Course in Miracles.
We would like to thank Robert Perry for presenting, with his usual
kindness and good sense, an outline of the issues and their possible
ramifications. We share his concern that any aspect of the Course
should come to be the possession of any one person or group, as
heretofore the very thing that has distinguished the Course from
other systems of belief has been its lack of specialness, that
is, Jesus' repeated assertion that enlightenment is available
to all and only through every brother's extension of forgiveness
to every other brother can enlightenment be received by anyone.
We would like to make several points,
however.
The first of these is that the Course,
in contradiction to the point Robert Perry makes on page four,
has no need for any custodians or custodianship of any kind. The
Course already has a perfectly competent custodian in the Holy
Spirit. Any contribution any of us would seek to make that would
help or protect the Course or the words of Jesus is an effort
of the ego to make a tiny kingdom of its own, arrogating the Course
to its own aggrandisement in the world. There are no gradations
or compromises permitted here. The Course does not need one custodian,
several custodians or many custodians. Our function here is simple
and clear, and it is our only function here. By definition, if
we assume any other function, even the function of caring for
the Course, we are making an error that will be corrected by the
Holy Spirit.
Yes, we feel, the Course is at a crossroads,
but the copyright conflict is only a symptom of the real problem.
The real problem is that institutions in the world, with buildings,
money, newsletters, teachers, infrastructures, and all the other
appurtenances of"churches' have been formed around the teachings
of the Course, in direct contradiction to the explicit assertions
of the Course that everything in the world is illusory and based
on separation. At the heart of these separate institutions is
the problem of "interpretation". Jesus says that it
is futile to use our understanding to get at the truth of enlightenment;
it can only be gotten to through experience, and then words fail,
and must fail, in the communication of that experience. That is
why we must show a little willingness and leave the rest to the
Holy Spirit. "Interpretation7' is specifically an ego function
that inevitably Emits the experience of the Course. It is a game,
a device, and best remembered as trivial. All interpretations
must change, and therefore all interpretations are perceptions,
not knowledge. For that reason, no one can claim to stand upon
the truth of any interpretation. No interpretation is true. That
interpretation leads to separation is the sign that interpretation
is an error of the ego, and attachment to any interpretation is
a"seek and do not find" endeavor. We ask that all of
our teachers give up all their attachments to all their interpretations,
in spite of the temptations of print, money, and status that interpretations
offer them.
Our teachers who have attached themselves
to their institutions and interpretations and books and identities
as teachers have readily at hand a corrective, in the Course's
Manual for Teachers. Any teacher who does not act in accordance
with the characteristics of God's teachers (see M-4) must know
that insofar as -he or she varies from those characteristics,
he or she is sojourning in the land of the ego, and needs to return
from there. Once again, there are no compromises or gradations
here. A tantrum is the same asa passing irritable thought--a sign
that one is not performing one's function of forgiveness,which
is to change one's perception of one's brother.
Our view is that those who are at loggerheads over this copyright
issue, or any other issue, will not be at peace until they recognize
and accept each other as their teachers, show sincere gratitude
and forgiveness to each other, and gladly accept the correction
that each offers the other. Joy is the only true state of mind,
and joy lies in surrender. There is no reason NOT to surrender,
as the Course itself is in excellent hands,and does not need any
of our efforts to promote or sustain it or to make sure it is
read correctly. The feeling of separation creates the issues that
justify it. Only a miracle can erase that feeling of separation
and thereby resolve those issues. We are told over and over that
miracles are ours for the asking. Now seems to be an appropriate
time to ask.
Jane Smiley
Jack Canning
Carmel, California