Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Dear J,

I am more than happy to explain why I, among many students, have a strong
objection to Dr Wapnick's Course-alien "non-dualism" reductionism.

Let us start at the center of his conclusion. From Lighthouse Article, June
2006:

"This means that though we speak of one God and His one Son, in truth there
is only the One. Even the Trinity-Father, Son (Christ), and Holy Spirit-is a
set of symbols, for there is no differentiation or distinction within the
Godhead of truth." ~Ken Wapnick

Which is completely and 180 degree opposed to Jesus' teaching in every
version of the Course.

1. The Godhead is Trinitarian, and describes a irreducible relationship of
Cause/Effect/Expansion

2. Without the necessary distinction of Creator and Sonship, and while
reducing everything to "only God", the Atonement principle is rendered
impotent (in theory of course).

3. The necessary distinction between Creator, Creation and reciprocal
Communication is central in the Course. Without it, you end up with a
sleeping, crazy God, Who dreams of separation and must awake Himself through
non-existing dream shadows, who will eventually vanish into the nothingness
they came from.

Wapnick, in his redaction, ie. erased approx. 130 instances of "Soul" as a
so-called ' controversial term', which is emblematic for his denial of the
Sonship as a collective. Clearly and without a doubt, Jesus describes the
Sonship as the transcended sum of all God-created minds/Souls, in which
every part contains the Whole, while the Whole transcends the sum of its
parts.

Jesus' Oneness is by all means a "Oneness of irreducible Relationship", and
not a " oneness of a thing", like a number 1 without any form of
relationship. What Wapnick and other "non-dualists" attempt to do is solve
the dilemma, which their egos cannot understand, by reducing everything to
"only God." This brings along a variety of problems, and is in fact the
declaration of total separation from Source - the dream of every ego.

On a personal level, I owe Ken only gratitude and friendship, as he was
instrumental in introducing me to Jesus, who is as real and as alive as you
and I. Although this is a matter of faith, I have collected evidence and
experience of his presence, authorship and literal, personal guidance, as
the instructor of the Course, and as someone who is not deceiving us in his
many statements about his indisputable Identity.

IOW, Wapnick's Course-alien non-dualism opposes every basic principle that
underlies the metaphysical and philosophical superior thoughtsystem of
Christ Jesus in the Course. In non-dualism, there is no place at all for
Holiness, and also not for sharing, expansion, and irreducible Cause-Effect
relationship. That is why students can become very confused and are
misguided by such reductionist monism forced upon the authentic teachings of
Jesus. Moreover, with Christ and Holy Spirit, and the Trinity as "merely a
set of symbols" the authority problem is actually not solved, but
reinforced.

Here are some relevant quotes (from the 2nd Edition):

T-4.VII.5. "God, Who encompasses all being, created beings who have
everything individually, but who want to share it to increase their joy. 2
Nothing real can be increased except by sharing. 3 That is why God created
you. 4 Divine Abstraction takes joy in sharing. 5 That is what creation
means."

T-4.VII.3. In contrast, [the Soul] reacts in the same way to everything it
knows is true, and does not respond at all to anything else. 2 Nor does it
make any attempt to establish what is true. 3 It knows that what is true is
everything that God created. 4 It is in complete and direct communication
with every aspect of creation, because it is in complete and direct
communication with its Creator. 5 This communication is the Will of God. 6
Creation and communication are synonymous. 7 God created every mind by
communicating His Mind to it, thus establishing it forever as a channel for
the reception of His Mind and Will. 8 Since only beings of a like order can
truly communicate, His creations naturally communicate with Him and like
Him.

Please also see this essential description of the "holographic" nature (in lack of better words) of the "part as whole, and of the whole in every part" <emphasis mine>

ACIM 2nd edition:

T-16.II.3. To you the miracle cannot seem natural, because what you have done to hurt your mind has made it so unnatural that it does not remember what is natural to it. 2 And when you are told what is natural, you cannot understand it. 3 The recognition of the part as whole, and of the whole in every part is perfectly natural, for it is the way God thinks, and what is natural to Him is natural to you. 4 Wholly natural perception would show you instantly that order of difficulty in miracles is quite impossible, for it involves a contradiction of what miracles mean. 5 And if you could understand their meaning, their attributes could hardly cause you perplexity.

 T-16.II.4. You have done miracles, but it is quite apparent that you have not done them alone. 2 You have succeeded whenever you have reached another mind and joined with it. 3 When two minds join as one and share one idea equally, the first link in the awareness of the Sonship as One has been made. 4 When you have made this joining as the Holy Spirit bids you, and have offered it to Him to use as He sees fit, His natural perception of your gift enables Him to understand it, and you to use His understanding on your behalf. 5 It is impossible to convince you of the reality of what has clearly been accomplished through your willingness while you believe that you must understand it or else it is not real. T-16.II.5. How can faith in reality be yours while you are bent on making it unreal?

>>... as I was on discovering there was no hundredth monkey. <<

Now, I surely trust and have faith that Jesus' teaching in the Course, and
the future he predicts for us, will prove you wrong on this point, dear.
IMO, the hundredth monkey effect is described in the early text as a
"sufficient number":

Original Edition, The Meaning of the Last Judgment: [...] Just as the separation occurred over many millions of years, the Last Judgment will extend over a similarly long period, and perhaps an even longer one. Its length depends, however, on the effectiveness of the present speed-up. We have frequently noted that the miracle is a device for shortening but not abolishing time. If a sufficient number of people become truly miracle-minded quickly, the shortening process can be almost immeasurable. It is essential, however, that these individuals free themselves from fear sooner than would ordinarily be the case, because they must emerge from the conflict if they are to bring peace to other minds."

peace

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