A question every course student has asked, and one we often still ponder, is this: How did it happen?
Or variants of that basic question such as: why did it happen?, how am I here?, what’s it all for? and so forth.
When we’ve chosen the ego mind, our identity is tied up with this body or some imbuing aspect of the body we might call soul. There’s a “me” that experiences a state of existence and wants to know where it came from.
The challenge with questions like these is that they are so compelling. Like watching a magician deftly defy reality, our mind is hooked and demands an answer: how was it done?
But what we all miss — the ego’s sleight of hand if you will — is that there is a hidden purpose behind our questions. This passage from A Course in Miracles gives us the key:
“All questioning within the world [is] a form of propaganda for itself.” (T-27.IV.5)
In other words, all our questions are essentially veiled statements saying: I exist, I am lacking, and someone or something is responsible. By asking the question, we continue to assert the veracity of our being-ness.
But that’s not all. Hidden even deeper lies our terror of looking at the truth.
“Loudly the ego tells you not to look inward, for if you do your eyes will light on sin, and God will strike you blind. This you believe, and so you do not look.” (T-21.IV.2)
And so we mire our attention in the drama of the world: politics, relationships, health, finances, and the origin of our existence solely for the purpose of keeping us distracted and rooted in the world. And it works so well.
Yet there is a way out.
Ken Wapnick related a thought by the spiritual teacher Kirpal Singh: “When caught in a burning building, you do not worry about how the fire began; you simply get out as quickly as possible.”
The way out of the “burning building” — the world — is by returning to the mind (looking inward) and asking the only meaningful question there is: “What if you looked within and saw no sin?” (T-21.IV.3). This is the invitation to the right mind of spirit that restores our awareness to the wondrous experience of true peace and infinite love.
Join me in Thursday’s Zoom session where we’ll discuss how we can move beyond our limiting questions and find the certain way out. I look forward to seeing you then.