Approaching A Course in Miracles with Children and Struggling Adults
CURIOUS YOUNG MINDS
Children ask the most interesting questions, don’t they? Their curious minds are at work immediately. Do you remember that in yourself, being the curious questioner? Some kids go right into the depth too! When young children tell their parents the most intimate details about a past life it’s incredibly fascinating. Depending on the parents, some will encourage the child to share more, and others will chalk it up to imagination or imaginary friends. Some children get shot down immediately closing the door to what seems to be a very open in tune mind.
Does your child ask you questions about the meaning of life? What about God? Do they ask you where God is? Who he is? Why can’t you see him? These questions and more can catch you off guard. You may not even know how to answer these questions. Do any of us really know where God is? It’s truly an existential insight and more so when it comes from your four-year-old!
If you are a practicing student of A Course in Miracles or you are attracted to what it is saying, you might wonder how you can teach your own kids the concepts of the text. The metaphysical principles are hard enough for adults to grasp, let alone young children. Instead, of focusing on metaphysics, sharing the simpler practices and concepts with children might be a great solution. Then in time, as they get older and show an interest in learning more, they will have that opportunity.
CONCEPTS TO SHARE WITH KIDS
You can teach kids in a very simple way the key concepts of A Course in Miracles without ever talking about the book itself. Here’s a list of ideas that may help you with your own children.
EXTENDING UNCONDITIONAL LOVE to your children and others around you will help them learn that everyone is equal underneath the surface. Sharing with them to be kind and respectful to all people because we all have challenges in life.
SPIRIT IS HERE TO GUIDE YOU. You can learn to go within yourself to feel peaceful and calm and ask for guidance whenever you need it. Teaching your kids to breathe deeply and relax allows them to create more stillness within themselves for awareness to grow.
FORGIVENESS, perhaps the most fundamental tool the Course uses to wake us up from the dream, is a wonderful thing to teach kids. Recognizing that everyone makes errors and learning to be compassionate and using forgiveness will also bring them closer to peace within themselves. Teaching them to forgive themselves when they make mistakes will also go a long way in their spiritual development.
For older kids, teaching them to QUESTION their own mind is an extremely valuable tool. Allowing them to question everything they are curious about will eventually lead them to questioning their own thinking. Then as they are mature enough, you can introduce the ego mind and how it operates.
Show them they can see themselves and the world around them with the OBSERVER. This will teach them to be in a place of non-judgment, which is exactly what the Course is guiding us to do. They might shift their perception naturally by taking a step back to watch what is happening instead of reacting to what is happening.
When difficult moments hit home for them, when they face their own challenges, remind them that there is always a CHOICE in how to see any given situation. Something that appears bad on the surface might be an opportunity to see differently. It might open new doors in their life that they least expect.
Remind them LIFE IS A CLASSROOM where they will discover new things about themselves every day. Expressing to them that some days will be great, while others might feel terrible will prepare them for the reality of the dual world.
When the time is right talk about the BODY being a temporary form we live in while we are here, but it is not who we really are. Discuss death openly when they ask and are ready for the topic. By teaching them to get in touch with their spiritual essence, you are showing them they are not a body.
Reinforce they are on their own UNIQUE SPIRITUAL PATH, and that path is an individual inward journey that is private and personal to them. No one else can take that away. They will discover the peace of God in their own way. There is no right or wrong way to experience it.
It’s okay to make MISTAKES. Teaching your kids to lighten up and not be so hard on themselves reiterates A Course in Miracles them that we are all equally insane for choosing the ego mind. Seeing this, looking at it, and understanding this is what the mind does, makes it easier for them to admit when they are wrong and prepares them to choose another teacher, such as Spirit.
Implementing all or some of these ideas with your kids will make a world of difference. Especially if you use them throughout their childhood. You may not see any significant change right away, but eventually you will. Even if it isn’t until they are much older.
ADULTS STRUGGLING WITH THE ILLUSION AND THE CONCEPT OF SPECIALNESS
Adults interested in A Course in Miracles can have a very difficult time getting past some key concepts. Understanding the metaphysics of the illusion is one thing, but as you get deeper into the study of the Course, your ego mind will start to fear what it actually says. In the beginning, you might find you are incredibly interested in the workbook, the text, or other authors writing on the Course. You are cruising along loving every moment of it, right? You absorb everything you can about love, forgiveness, and choosing spirit in your life.
This is all fabulous until you start reading a little closer. Your magnifying glass is now zeroing in on what the Course is really saying. Your identity as a special, unique, individual self is ultimately made up by the ego thought system. Wait, what? My special individual self is not part of reality? You mean to say, I don’t really exist in truth? Now, that’s too much for me to handle right now. I’m going to slam the blue book closed for now, put it in a locked cabinet, throw away the key, and carry on without thinking about any of that!
If this has happened to you, it is very normal. The ego will not want to learn about its own irrelevance. It can be devastating to say the least. However, can you still practice the main concepts of the Course even if you are resistant to the metaphysical premise about the world being an illusion?
5 THINGS TO THINK ABOUT IF ACIM BEGINS TO FRIGHTEN YOU
LEARN ABOUT THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE EGO. Know that the ego is reacting as it naturally would. If you are resistant to the concepts of the unreal world we are living in, it’s a great opportunity to see the ego more clearly. When you are ready it is a good time to analyze the ego from a general psychological perspective instead of a personal perspective. Taking the “I” out of it and recognizing all ego’s act the same way will take the stress out of it. You can learn a lot about how the ego operates, how it manipulates, and how it projects before you dive into your own ego mind.
BECOME THE OBSERVER. After looking into the structure of the ego itself, take time to observe life as it unfolds. Stepping into the background can be a huge relief! Watch how quickly your stress will melt away when you watch with a non-judgmental awareness.
SPECIALNESS. This concept is used throughout the text when referring to the ego. The ego has created a separate special individual self apart from God. It created an entire world to play God, instead of staying in God’s oneness. From the religious point of view, God created the world, and he created you as a separate special soul. These are very different theories. If you are religious, or have been brought up religious, the concept of specialness being a negative in the Course might be very challenging. Although specialness is an illusion, which can be devastating to your mind, you can relieve this unsettling period by choosing spirit to guide you and extend love and compassion to others. When you see that you are a vessel to extend Truth, your life and perception will shift tremendously.
FORGIVENESS. Practice forgiving others and yourself as a means to your own awakening. Recognizing that everyone makes mistakes, including you, keeps your mind focused on what we all share, instead of separating from others. The Course uses forgiveness to dissolve the belief of separation in your mind, which is where the original error lies.
SLOW AND STEADY. A Course in Miracles is a slow individual study to inner peace. It is waking you up gently. It is not teaching that you will be catapulted into Reality from where you currently are. There is a process of undoing the ego, bit by bit, layer by layer, so when you do return to God, you will be ready, but not until that time.
When you become fearful of the concepts in the Course, but you don’t want to give up, stay focused on the above items that take the fear away. Practicing the workbook is also a great way to wake you up very slowly so you don’t jump too far into the darkness too quickly. Trust that spirit will guide you exactly where you need to be when you need to be there.