Q: How can you tell for certain that you are following the Voice of the Holy Spirit rather than the egos voice? I know the Course says that we will feel peace when following the Holy Spirit but in practice I dont find it that simple. For one thing, I am often so filled with fear that I cant let go enough to feel the Spirits peace. For another thing, my ego is quite capable of conjuring up such good facsimiles of the Holy Spirits peace so that sometimes I feel I am following the Spirit, only to find myself badly mistaken. There are many examples today and throughout history of adherents of spiritual paths, committing fear and hate-based acts, all the while believing they are following the will of God, or the Voice of the Spirit. Course students are not immune to that mistake. Until we develop to the point where are can reliably tell which voice we are following, isnt it better to have some sort of outside framework, such as rules against killing, violence etc., by which we can judge our guidance? A: In our experience, this is the second most commonly asked question, the first being, How could the separation have happened in the first place? Your question is everyone’s question who practices the Course. We have addressed it in our book, The Most Commonly Asked Questions about A Course in Miracles, question 43, in which we comment on the section in Chapter 14 of the text, The Test for Truth. In general it can be helpful, as you conclude, to have an external framework or set of rules as a guide to keep our egos within certain boundaries. In addition, plain old common sense should never be lost sight of either. Unfortunately, and obviously, that does not stop people who appeal to God’s Will or the Holy Spirit’s guidance to justify whatever they do, thinking they are no longer bound by the world’s laws and now follow a higher authority. But conforming to normal laws of civilized people is always advisable. Such conformity, though, should not be used as a measure of spiritual advancement. What you describe as your experience over the years is typical of most students. The theory is simple, but the practice is anything but that because of our investment in our lives as individual, special, needy persons -- an investment we either overlook or sorely underestimate. We are entrenched in our defenses without even recognizing they are defenses. That is why Jesus stresses over and over again, especially in the workbook, that the heart of the practice of this Course is looking with him at all of the hatred and guilt in our minds. Consistently practicing this would enable us to recognize more clearly how our egos operate, what form our projections would most likely take, and how we defend against the fear of letting go of judgments, specialness, etc. Our focus should always be on letting go of the ego thoughts in our minds, and not behavior. If we do this right, which means look within with the love of Jesus as our eyes, we would experience peace for more and more extended periods of time as we go along. But it usually takes the assessment of another person who knows us very well, to help discern whether the peace is genuine or not. Most people do not experience the Holy Spirit or Jesus as a voice speaking to them, such as was Helen Schucman’s experience of Jesus. Her experience should not be taken as a criterion of what hearing the Holy Spirit should mean. That we are hearing the Voice for God is often indicated by our discovering that we have become less judgmental, less demanding that our specialness needs be met, less angry, less selfish, less depressed, etc. But again, this is not easy. We are masters of self-deception. Humility can go a long way toward keeping us honest.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 16:54:00 +0000
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