| A New Evaluation of Meditation
Through A Course in Miracles by Alden Hughes As a minister of a center that uses A Course in Miracles as a framework of thought for healing, I have had to teach a new approach to meditation. Outside the Christian establishment, America essentially has focused on Eastern meditation as its spiritual mechanism to contact God. While meditation will succeed, because its goal is true, an exciting new/old means of communing with God has been re-accorded us in the latter decades of the 20th century. A Course in Miracles, as an expression of the mind of Jesus, takes a radical view of meditation. It uses the form of meditation simply as a stepping-stone to a broader means, which will instantaneously transform our selves and our world. Meditation requires that a certain amount of time be devoted to it. This is the admission that you as the meditator are not in a spiritual condition now, but will be after the suggested time is spent in the spiritual practice. In other words, meditation offers the possibility of progress to higher realms of truth as the practice is continued. It is a practice that requires time. Or more particularly, meditation makes time real. A Course in Miracles, as a mind training to a transformed vision of this world and self, uses meditation but only briefly. The goal is to step beyond meditation as soon as possible. What is the new means? The miracle, or in the Course vernacular, a holy instant. As opposed to meditation, the miracle does not take time. It is never more than an instant. So while miracles have the same goal as meditation, time is used in a radical new way. This new framework of thought should make sense if the goal is to step beyond time and space to eternity. If time is illusion, then the means that a loving Father would provide to escape time would have the power to transcend time. That is the gift of the miracle. Let's look at what Jesus says about the miracle: "In the longitudinal or horizontal plane the recognition of the equality of the members of the Sonship appears to involve almost endless time. However, the miracle entails a sudden shift from horizontal to vertical perception. This introduces an interval from which the giver and the receiver both emerge farther along in time than they would otherwise have been. The miracle thus has the unique property of abolishing time to the extent that it renders the interval of time it spans unnecessary." [A Course in Miracles, chapter 1, page 2] We now have an entirely new way to look at time, not to mention healing. In a true sense, the miracle worker becomes a time traveler through the practice of healing. Ancient grievances are easily corrected to free the future from needing to be played out at all. That is no small point. The idea of true healing literally warps our present ideas and use of time and space. Every spiritual teacher in the last several thousand years has spoken of the need to let go of the attachments to this world. The miracle requires only this preparation: that you are willing to learn that this world (time and space) is not real. But to return to the idea of meditation, how does Jesus use meditation in the mind training? The lessons of A Course in Miracles often direct the mind to have a quiet time especially at the beginning or the end of the day. However, the time spent is not one of duration but is only to the point where there is a sufficient experience. An experience sufficient for what? To the point of preparing the mind for its real work, which is miracle working. This is the work of altering time and space -- and collapsing time. How is the power of miracles accessed? The power and love of God is very easily accessed. You simply have to ask. You simply have to want it. The power of God is already available to His perfectly created Son. Who is that? You. This is very much your power. So why haven't more people begun to heal through miracles? It is a practice that requires that you are not afraid to have time and space radically altered. This procedure actually brings us to the point where time and space disappear. That is not an easy point to come to. It requires an honest appraisal of each one's experience as a human being. If life ends in death, then human life can only be pointless. A wholly different reference is needed. This is another gift of the miracle. It is an experience of love between two brothers. Without the experience of love, which is joy without opposite and therefore not of this world, no one can be expected to proceed with this practice, and release the world. By simply asking for help, prayer, we can experience the ultimate power in the universe, now. "The miracle enables you to see your brother without his past, and so perceive him as born again. His errors are all past, and by perceiving him without them you are releasing him. And since his past is yours, you share in this release." [A Course in Miracles, chapter 1, page 3] Rev. Alden Hughes is on the staff of the Miracles Healing Center, Wisconsin Dells, WI. Visit www.miracleshealingcenter.com or call (608) 253-4325. Copyright © 2004 Rev. Alden Hughes |
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Aug 2004 |
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