Doing Nothing and the Holy Instant

Transcription

1 Doing Nothing and Holy Instant, Page 1 Doing Nothing and the Holy Instant 4 One basic application of the lesson of doing nothing is learning not to prepare ourselves for the holy instant. When we first encounter the concept of a holy instant, our typical way of thinking immediately begins to develop some sort of plan for achieving it. We read descriptions of this exalted mental state lack of awareness of the body, loss of any sense of past or future, a direct awareness of our true Self and we perceive this as something we do not presently have but which we wish to attain at some point in the future. We see ourselves at present as lacking in some way, not worthy of the holy instant or not ready for it. We believe that we must, somehow, make ourselves ready. So we embark on a program of preparation. Paragraph 4 discusses this phenomenon. It points out that, in general, the idea of preparing for the holy instant is a mistaken idea, however well-intentioned it may be. It also pauses to briefly consider other spiritual paths, showing how most of them make this very mistake; it shows how they come, inadvertently, to concentrate on the preparation process. That process, the Course insists, is simply not necessary. The Course is designed to save us time by bypassing this long process of preparation. So in my discussion I want to consider, first of all, the general error of preparing for the holy instant, and secondly, how, in the light of this, the Course sees itself in contrast to other spiritual paths. The Error of Preparing for the Holy Instant It is impossible to accept the holy instant without reservation unless, just for an instant, you are willing to see no past or future. You cannot prepare for it without placing it in the future. Release is given you the instant you desire it. [All attempts to prepare for the holy instant] look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy (4:1 3, 11). We ve already seen the general relationship between the holy instant and willingness to see no past or future. We ve seen how our normal view of time holds us bound to both the idea of sin and guilt, and to our identification with our bodies, and thus, in order to experience freedom from guilt and from bodily identity, we have to let go of our typical awareness of past and future. Now, the author makes a much more specific application of this principle. If, in any way, we are attempting to prepare ourselves for the holy instant, by the very decision to do so we have placed the holy instant in the future. If we are preparing for a thing, then that thing must be in the future; it cannot be now. Yet the holy instant can be experienced only now. Thus, by trying to prepare

2 Doing Nothing and Holy Instant, Page 2 for the holy instant we are really preventing ourselves from entering it right now! The only time we can experience the holy instant is right now. In fact, now is the only time we can experience anything, since it is the only aspect of time we ever experience. In reality, there is no time but now: What time but now can truth be recognized? The present is the only time there is (W-pI.164.1:1 2). The only interval in which I can be saved from time is now (W-pII.308.1:4). Anything that puts off the holy instant to some future moment, the Course teaches us, is nothing less than a delaying tactic of the ego. Any attempt to prepare ourselves for the holy instant does put it off to the future. If we need to prepare, there must be something about us as we are now that is incompatible with the holy instant; there must be some unworthiness or inadequacy in us that demands preliminary preparation before we can receive it. And yet, the release of the holy instant is given to us the instant we desire it (4:3). By attempting to prepare for it, we are denying our readiness to receive it now. Therefore, all attempts at preparation are really ways of avoiding the holy instant in the present. While they may look like ways of attaining the holy instant, they are really ways of postponing it indefinitely, if the ego has its way. The Course does advise us to practice the mechanics of the holy instant (T-15.II.5:4), and many of the Workbook exercises consist of holy instant practice. It is a mistake, however, to think of this practice as preparation for the holy instant; it is really the opposite. We are practicing not preparing. We are practicing setting aside all that we think we need to do to attain to the holy instant, and allowing ourselves to enter it now. Into His Presence would I enter now (W-pI.157). The idea that we do not need to prepare for the holy instant, and that attempting to do so actually blocks its coming, has been presented several times already in Chapter 18, Sections IV and V. There are a number of ways in which we make this same mistake. Let me briefly summarize them here, and how they are related to I need do nothing : 1. We are preparing for the holy instant and thus putting it off when we try to give it to ourselves. We need do nothing to make the holy instant happen.

3 Doing Nothing and Holy Instant, Page 3 2. We are preparing for the holy instant, and thus postponing it, whenever we fail to trust in our willingness to receive it. We need do nothing to supplement our willingness for the holy instant We are preparing for the holy instant, and thus refusing to receive it, whenever we think we are not worthy of having it now. We need do nothing to make ourselves worthy of or ready for the holy instant. 4. We are trying to prepare ourselves for the holy instant, and thus blocking our experience of it now, whenever we feel that our minds are too soiled, sick or sinful to experience it. We need do nothing to remove fear, hatred, guilt or anger from our minds before we can approach the holy instant. 5. We are trying to prepare for the holy instant, and resisting it, when we think we have to understand it before we can experience it. We need do nothing to understand all that is necessary to enter the holy instant right now. 2 1 The Course teaches us that, in our right mind, our will is already one with God s, and that we do want His will for us. Our belief that our will differs from His is what causes us to think we need to do something to become more willing, but our different will is only an illusion. 2 I can t resist saying a few words about the view quite prevalent in Course circles that when the Course says we need understand nothing (T-18.IV.7:6) to enter the holy instant, it means that any pursuit of understanding is a mistaken attempt to do something. Some have taken this to mean that studying the Text is a waste of time, that the practice of watching our thoughts is unnecessary, and that there is no need to understand what our illusions are in order to be free of them. This view ignores all the blocks our egos have placed in the way. By ignoring or denying all the ego obstacles, and ignoring the mind s power that can free us from them, this no study approach only guarantees the ego s continuance. Study and careful thinking is necessary in order to become aware of the ego s defenses, to realize they are no longer wanted, and to use the power of decision that is ours to choose differently. As an illustration, suppose I am holding a ball in my hand. It is true that, to move this ball from my hand to the floor, I need do nothing. Gravity will carry the ball from my hand to the floor without any effort on my part. I do need, however, to release the ball. I need to recognize that my own hand is preventing the ball from following its natural tendency to fall to the floor. No understanding is needed to move the ball to the floor, but some understanding is needed in order to allow it to fall. We do not need understanding to enter the holy instant. We do not need to understand how it will accomplish what it will accomplish. We do need, however, understanding of what is preventing its natural occurrence. Our misguided doing is keeping us from the holy instant. What we must understand, then, is that I need do nothing. We must understand that our seeking is our disease, which must be relinquished before the holy instant can dawn upon us. Those who insist that all study and learning are unnecessary are like someone holding on to the ball and saying, I need do nothing to let it fall to the floor. Yet the ball remains clenched

4 Doing Nothing and Holy Instant, Page 4 6. We are caught in preparing for the holy instant, and thus delaying our awareness of it, whenever we believe experiencing the holy instant is difficult. The holy instant is easy and natural for us because of what we are; it is not difficult because we need do nothing to enter it. The Course and Other Spiritual Paths The middle of the fourth paragraph presents a fascinating discussion of how the Course views itself in regard to other spiritual paths. It says: Many have spent a lifetime in preparation, and have indeed achieved their instants of success. This course does not attempt to teach more than they learned in time, but it does aim at saving time. You may be attempting to follow a very long road to the goal you have accepted. It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement by fighting against sin. Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised. Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary. All such attempts will ultimately succeed because of their purpose. Yet the means are tedious and very time consuming, for all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy (4:4 11). The paragraph identifies two different spiritual approaches, which I feel typify the Western (4:7 8) and Eastern (4:9) approaches, and it makes comments about all such attempts in general, so let me divide my remarks into those three categories. Western Spirituality The first spiritual approach is an attempt to reach Atonement by fighting against sin. I believe this represents the Judeo-Christian traditions of the West. Western spirituality usually starts from a firm belief in the reality of in their hand. They may even insist that the ball must be on the floor since no effort is required to get it there. Yet the ball is still in their hand. Their unexamined egos can remain intact, something which is painfully evident to everyone except themselves, because they have refused to look at them. No effort is required to be what God created us to be; we are that. Yet we are engaged in a titanic effort to be something else. That effort must be recognized and stopped to allow the experience of our true Self to emerge from its covering.

5 Doing Nothing and Holy Instant, Page 5 sin and evil; enormous effort then must be expended in struggling against evil, both in ourselves and in the world, in order to attain holiness. This can take many forms. Self-denial is often involved. Some Christians are into strict discipline; they try to control the sinful tendencies of the body by abstinence, detailed rules and regulations, or fasting and prayer. Jews, also believing in the reality of sin, may become enmeshed in a lifelong struggle with guilt and attempting to live righteously. Other Christians throw all their effort in attempting to reform the wicked world. Of course, not all Christians or Jews can be lumped into such a single, broad description; this is a general statement, and does not necessarily include every individual. It merely identifies a common tendency of Western spirituality. True, there have been mystics and sages, both Christian and Jewish, who have avoided these traps and have risen to heights of non-dual awareness. By and large, however, the bulk of followers of the Western traditions can be characterized as being caught in a fight against sin, in one form or another. Eastern Spirituality The second spiritual approach is pictured with the phrase, a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body. With a little thought it is easy to see the religions of the East encapsulated under this umbrella description. Again, the Course s remarks are meant to describe a general tendency. Some individuals probably many more than in the Western traditions have risen above the crown and have become enlightened; some have done it without a lifelong struggle, in a short time. By and large, though, Eastern spirituality consists of a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation, a tedious and demanding struggle to free oneself of the body and its limitations in order to attain nirvana or samadhi. Notice that the Course s remarks very slightly favor the Eastern practices: extended periods of meditation are said to be merely not necessary, while the struggle against sin is labelled very difficult. The Course, in fact, although Christian in its terminology, differs from traditional Christian teaching profoundly in its insistence on sin s unreality, and favors a kind of meditation over struggling against sin; in these respects, its thought system and practice seem more akin to Eastern religions. This raises the issue of what part meditation plays in Course practice, and if it plays a part, how the Course can seem to be saying here that meditation is not necessary.

6 Doing Nothing and Holy Instant, Page 6 How Course Meditation Differs from Eastern Meditation It seems quite clear to me that the Workbook actually teaches meditation, and recommends it as a continuing practice after the Workbook is completed. In fact, in the original dictation of the Text given to Helen and Bill, during a time when Jesus was encouraging Helen and Bill to learn to meditate, the sentence Salvation is a collaborative venture read Meditation is a collaborative venture. Yet here, at first glance, it seems that meditation is spoken of in a disparaging way; it seems to be saying meditation is not necessary. If we look a bit more carefully, though, we will see that it is describing the duration of meditation and the purpose for which it is undertaken. It says that meditation for long periods, done for the purpose of achieving detachment from the body, is not necessary. This does not rule out meditation entirely. It is not meditation that is unnecessary, but long periods with a goal of attaining future release from a present state. This very section on doing nothing seems to be advocating the practice of a kind of meditation: stilling the mind, withdrawing awareness from the body. What is the difference between this and typical Eastern meditation? Eastern religions often enlist their followers in very long meditation practices; many Eastern-style meditators make a great point of continuing long past the point of difficulty. The point of the long time is an attempt to attain a higher state; it is a kind of doing or preparation for the holy instant. When it comes to meditation, the Course emphasizes frequency rather than duration. Duration is not the major concern (M-16.4:4). The purpose of the long duration in Eastern meditation is, for most if not all meditators, a form of the attempt to make oneself holy. So even if you are doing nothing physically and mentally if the reason you are doing nothing is to make yourself holy, then you are doing something. For the Course, the purpose of pausing and becoming quiet is not making the holy instant happen, but simply reminding myself that it can be now. That does not require a long time. My mind is too occupied with the trivial goals of the world; I forget about the holy instant. But by pausing, I can remember. In contrast to meditation aimed at achieving some future state, this meditation is aimed at remembering a present state, one with immanent accessibility and immediate availability. This leads us to the common failing in both Eastern and Western spiritualities.

7 Doing Nothing and Holy Instant, Page 7 The Common Factor The common factor between what I am calling the Western and Eastern spiritual approaches is this: all of them look to the future for release from a state of present unworthiness and inadequacy (T-18.VII.4:11). Whether it is fighting against sin, or a lifetime of meditation, the common assumption is that right now, I do not have it, and some day long in the future, I will have it. Now, I am lacking. Now, I am unworthy. Now, I am inadequate. As we have seen in our discussion in the first half of this chapter, we cannot prepare for the holy instant without placing it into the future, yet the holy instant can be experienced only now, in the present. The typical approach of both Eastern and Western religion is an attempt to prepare for the holy instant. These efforts to prepare ourselves for it are part of what keeps us from it. No wonder the Course calls these approaches extremely difficult and unnecessary. Preparing for the holy instant is actually a subtle way of putting it off to the future. If the Course is our spiritual path, then adopting its attitude towards other spiritual paths seems appropriate. To sum up the way the Course seems to view most other spiritual paths: It honors them to some degree and regards them as sharing its own purpose, but it urges us not to spend unnecessary time trying to use their means of achieving the goal. The next paragraph of our section makes much clearer just what the alternative means given by the Course are.