The Difference Between ACIM and SOM and Why It Doesn’t Matter!
There are several reasons that I am writing this article. First, there are many who mistakenly think that the teachings of Science of Mind (SOM) and A Course in Miracles (ACIM) are the same. Still others realize that there must be a difference, are not sure what it is, and are a little uncomfortable without knowing why! This discomfort becomes a small disturbance, like a minor troubling noise under the hood of a car. For Course students within the SOM community, the teachings of the Course could possibly become unclear.
My purpose is to:
1) Clarify this difference in the teachings, and in doing so,
2) Clarify a difficult teaching in the Course, and finally
3) Clarify the meaninglessness of this difference for students of ACIM.
To begin with, there are remarkable similarities between the thought system of ACIM and that of SOM. The most important of which is the focus on our minds. This idea was considered a revolutionary idea when the New Thought movement (re) introduced it!
The difference between these two is very simple and is a key factor for properly understanding both. The important difference between the metaphysics of ACIM and the SOM is simply this.
SOM teaches that the world is real and is a manifestation of, and the Body of God!
ACIM teaches that the world cannot be real and is made up by you, and not God, to justify the idea of separation from God.
OK! That’s it. Thanks for your time! Have a great day! Thanks, again!
Just kidding, everyone!
Before I go on, I think it only fair that I show where this came from! There are MANY direct and indirect references in the written record to show my point. Here are just two:
From SOM:
“WHAT IS THE BODY? Body is a concrete idea, existing in time and space, for the purpose of furnishing a vehicle through which Life may express Itself. The physical universe is the Body of God; it is a manifestation of the Mind of God, in form. It is that Creation which, while It may have beginnings and ends, of Itself neither begins nor ends. The Manifestation of Spirit is necessary if Spirit is to come into Self-Realization; hence, Body.”
The Science of Mind (ERNEST S. HOLMES)
From ACIM:
“The world you see is an illusion of a world. God did not create it, for what He creates must be eternal as Himself. Yet there is nothing in the world you see that will endure forever.”
ACIM Clarification of Terms Section 4, Paragraph 1 (C-4.1:1)
I am not saying that this is the only difference. I am saying that this is the essential difference and MOST of the other differences can be explained by this one. If you are participating in the SOM community and you are not clear about this difference, you might begin to think that the Course is saying something that it is not saying.
It is easy to fall into the habitual assumption that God made this world / universe. To struggle with this concept and integrate it into your thinking, can be a steep hill and fraught with fear. We would not want to delay your opportunity to join this struggle, now would we? J
Well, just HOW important is this idea anyway. According to the Course, it is not important! Not only is the Course one of thousands of spiritual paths, but even those that have chosen the Course, struggle with this concept! Yet the illusory nature of this world is a foundational teaching, for Course students! Ken Wapnick recalls an incident with Helen Schucman:
“I remember on one occasion that Helen and I were with someone who was prominently associated with the Course, but did not really know what it said. Helen said to him that he would never understand this course unless he recognized that this world is an illusion. She was very emphatic:
‘This world is an illusion. God had nothing to do with it, and you will not understand this course that way.’
Again, no one understood this course better than Helen.”
ACIM Manuscript History by Kenneth Wapnick (Single Quotes added by me)
Accepting the illusory nature of the world makes the Course clearer but also clarifies what others say about the Course. But the real key to comprehending the Course is the understanding that it is a completely Non-Dual Thought system. This is the underlying principal behind the illusory nature of the world!
I will discuss the idea in more detail in another article. For now, a brief outline of Non-Dual Thought will do:
· This Reality has no parts that make it up
· This Reality has no opposite
· This Reality is the only existent Truth or Actuality
From these principals, it is easy to understand that the world is just a “seeming”, a dream, an illusion! The World of our perceptions cannot be Gods Reality as it is made entirely of parts. Also, this world cannot be “inside” God. This would require that all the parts of this world be included as Gods reality.
“We” dream! This dream, as any dream, is a real experience, but of something that never happened!
You surely will agree that this dreaming is quite compelling! Pinch me, somebody! That’s the trouble isn’t it? In this world curriculum of learning, a good “pinch” just seems to be evidence that the dream is real!
I want to show how the acceptance of a Non-Dual Reality is helpful for Course students. Consider the following quote:
“Each hour that you take your rest today, a tired mind is suddenly made glad, a bird with broken wings begins to sing, a stream long dry begins to flow again. The world is born again each time you rest, and hourly remember that you came to bring the peace of God into the world, that it might take its rest along with you.”
W.pI.109.8:1-1
These beautiful passages are part of the reason that many are attracted to the Course. This second statement seems to contradict our earlier quote about the world! It is not a contradiction if we recall that the Holy Spirit meets you where you are, and that it operates in such a way as to not increase your fears! This, also, must be true of the Course!
If you are sure that the world is real and is God’s reality, the second sentence seems like proof! If you are sure of the Non-Dual Truth and the nature of your “world dreaming” then here is proof for you also!
In both cases there is comfort! That is the real lesson! To know that there is no world, is to understand that the world I look upon is the one I made up. A peaceful mind, therefor, beholds a peaceful world! Beholding a peaceful world comes from training my mind to do so. This process is not about changing the world (not that there is one, anyway). As I fulfill my purpose, (changing my mind about the world that I made up), “The world is born again”. This does not mean that God has given me something to “do” in the world or even that this world is not an illusion! It means I am waking up and waking up is my purpose.
“Projection makes perception. The world you see is what you gave it, nothing more than that. But though it is no more than that, it is not less. Therefore, to you it is important. It is the witness to your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition. As a man thinketh, so does he perceive. Therefore, seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. Perception is a result and not a cause.”
(ACIM T-21.In.1:1-8)
More to the point, the purpose of a student of ACIM, is as follows:
The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for himself.
(ACIM T-2.V.5:1)
To “accept the Atonement for yourself” means to let go of all the barriers you hold in your mind, against Loves presence. Each “letting go”, is the Miracle referred to in the Course. This is the process that forgiveness fosters. Without barriers, there is no dream of this illusory world, only the experience of eternal God-presence. As there is no world then, the Course must be about that state of your mind and our thinking and not about what we want in this world! (The Course is also not about NOT getting what we think we want in this world.)
In Science of Mind, the world is a real place that responds to what the mind is thinking. The goal is obtaining the “Good” of God by aligning ones thoughts with that Good.
In ACIM the world responds to the state of your mind (the barriers you hold) and not what you are thinking. The Course is not about changing what happens in the dream but waking up from it.
I am not saying that there is something wrong with accepting a literal reading of the lovely passage above. Read that way, it says that you came to bring peace to the world! It doesn’t matter. It just is not what the Course is teaching. This is not to suggest that the Course is right and Science of Mind is wrong. All spiritual practices are maps of the territory and not the terrain. I am saying that a literal reading is more consistent with the map of a world being real. If you let go of the literal meaning, the Course is describing your experience of the illusion.
Per the Course, the Holy Spirit meets you where you are. Perhaps, believing the reality of this world is required for your curriculum. Or, perhaps it is important to your curriculum that your brother believes the world is real and you do not. Your question must always be, “Holy Spirit, what is your lesson for ME?” A Course In Miracles might not be for you. Science Of Mind might be for you.
A universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary.
C-in.2:5
The “illusory nature of the world”, idea can be a very challenging one. If we Course students are honest, most of us struggle with it. For example, one very significant pitfall is the incorrect thought, that if the world is an illusion then so must I be! We think that illusion means the same is “doesn’t matter”. This is also, not what ACIM teaches.
There are decisions to make here, and they must be made whether they be illusions or not.
S-1.I.2.4
It teaches that waking up from the illusion depends on the relationship you have with it.
From the Helen Schucman’s quote, we see that there has been difficulty with this concept from the beginning! There is evidence that some our most well-known Course teachers, struggle with this teaching! And, NO, there will be no names here! What they wrote, is what they wrote!
I am suggesting that this challenging distinction is a learning tool for the Sonship! It is unnecessary to try to homogenize these Spiritual Practices so that they conform to each other. Ultimately, ACIM requires we look past the form of these practices take, so that we may apprehend their content.
The Science of Mind Community is one that has provided a safe and loving harbor for a seemingly alien, ACIM community whose beliefs and practices are not the same. The support of the SOM community is well appreciated in the Course community. It is the type of generosity that truly understands that giving and receiving are the same.
To both communities:
Forgive your brother all appearances that are but ancient lessons you have taught yourself about the sinfulness in you. Hear but his call for mercy and release from all the fearful images he holds of what he is and of what you must be. He is afraid to walk with you, and thinks perhaps a bit behind, a bit ahead would be a safer place for him to be. Can you make progress if you think the same, advancing only when he would step back, and falling back when he would go ahead? For so do you forget the journey's goal, which is but to decide to walk with him, so neither leads nor follows. Thus it is a way you go together, not alone. And in this choice is learning's outcome changed, for Christ has been reborn to both of you.
T- 31:II.9
Ken Davis is a certified professional lifestyle management Coach, since 2006, whose focus is expanding spirituality as a basis for furthering life and business goals. His Coaching is based on A Course In Miracles and Energy Leadership and he has authored a blog, ACourseInOnenessBlog.com. He was ordained in 2015 the All Faiths Seminary International in New York. www.KenDavisCoaching.com