The Ego is Not the Devil
Scribed by Regina Dawn Akers, February 13, 2005

The ego is not the devil. It isn’t a force outside of you that finds pleasure in deceiving you. It isn’t anything to struggle against or to fear, although it can feel as if it is.

The ego is a mistake that you believe in. The power of belief is undeniable. What you believe is real for you. Since you believe in separateness and attack, the world seems threatening to you. That is what you believe, that is what you experience, and that is what you fear. The experience of a threatening world seems real to you, and I don’t ask you to deny that seeming reality. I don’t ask you to step in front of a moving car and trust that it will not hit you, because it may. It would be dependent on the alertness and reaction of the driver behind the wheel. In this way, the world is real.

What I ask you to understand is that the “reality” comes from the belief. The belief is the cause of all that you experience. You make the world you experience.

Now you may ask, “If I change my belief about the world, will I see no more sickness, no more war and no more threat?” I’ve answered this for you before in many ways, but I will put the answers together for you now so you may see what seem to be pieces as a whole.

You are not an individual. Everyone that you experience in the world is a part of you. You are aspects of one mind. When I say that the world you experience is made by you, I am not referring to you as an individual. That would indicate that separateness is truth. When I say that the world you experience is made by you, I am referring to all aspects of the mind that believe in separateness. As one aspect of the mind lets go of the belief in separateness, more Light is brought into the whole mind. It helps to rouse the Sonship, but as the Sonship continues to sleep, nightmares of separateness continue in the world.

When I indicate that what you will see will change, the word “see” and the word “perceive” are synonymous. As long as you see a world, you perceive. I am not saying that a violent crime could occur around you and that others would see it and you would not. The body’s eyes will continue to show you the seeming actions within the world of illusion. When I say you will see differently, I mean that you will perceive differently, or to be even more clear, that you will feel differently about what you see. Your perspective will be different. Your feelings will be different and therefore, your action will be different. Remember the story of Jesus and the adulteress. Jesus saw the men that were preparing to stone this woman and he saw a woman who had seemingly broken the laws of Moses. His eyes did not show him anything different. But, Jesus did feel differently about what he saw. He saw the woman as innocent and he saw the men as innocent. So, he did not condemn the woman and he did not condemn the men. He acted in a way that was consistent with his perception and caused a change in events.

Peace Pilgrim also has many stories that demonstrate that her eyes showed seemingly dangerous situations, but her perception showed only a call for Love. Because she consistently reacted with Love, it caused a turn of events based on the introduction of Light into the situation.

On what seems to be a micro level, an introduction of Light into a seemingly dark situation can change the events as they were about to occur. This may appear to be a miracle of events, but it is not. It is Light within an aspect of the mind shining away darkness within the same mind, resulting in a change in form. The cause is in the mind. The results seem evidenced in form.

The same miracle can occur on what seems to be a macro level. This may look different in the world of form; it may seem that it takes involvement from more individuals in order to introduce lasting peace into the international situation, but if you remember that there are no individuals, you will see that it is the same cause and effect.

I’ve told you before that your only responsibility is to accept the atonement for yourself. Now, you must see how important it is that you let the Light come into awareness in your mind. You must also see how you do this on behalf of all of your brothers. Light within the mind is Light within the mind, and the entire mind benefits from the shining of that Light. There can be no exceptions.

I see that you are willing to do this for your brothers. I see that you are willing to let your perspective be changed from that of a seeming individual to Oneness, but you are finding it difficult. You are experiencing fear and you do not know what to believe. You aren’t certain what is truth and what is illusion. Even as you sit writing this with me, you wonder if you are making this up or if you are hearing the Voice for God, and you don’t know how to be sure.

I will tell you how to be sure. I’ve told you this before. Pay attention to how you feel. Let the feelings of Light guide you. Do what you are told to do while you feel those feelings. When the feelings of darkness are upon you, take no action. Spend that time giving the feelings over to me. If you act with the Light and refrain from acting with the darkness, you will be acting in accordance with Truth and Light, and you will be moving steadily along the path to enlightenment. Know also that the end of this path is certain and enlightenment is a reasonable goal since it is the only goal that can truly be obtained. However, don’t crave the goal so much that it becomes an individual desire. That will delay the result, since the cause of enlightenment can never be the desire to attain for the individual.

The ego is nothing but a belief in your mind. When the belief is gone, you will see that the ego was nothing.

Barbara Deurwaarder has transcribed Chris Celine’s Satsang, Letting Go of Blame.

Here is an excerpt from this Satsang:

Many people today are finding it ever more difficult to see the humorous and fun in every day life, besieged as we are by dire predictions and the sensational and emotionally driven content of our “news” sources. Thus, this is a perfect time to introduce Bill Thetford, co-scribe of A Course In Miracles, without doubt one of the funniest and wittiest human beings in my long experience.

We have heard from many sources that laughter is the best medicine, but that clearly depends. Some laughter is a defense against situations that might require our “getting real,” or an inappropriate response to a difficult situation, or a thinly-disguised cover for a put-down.   Since egos want to be taken seriously, nothing is so humiliating as being the brunt of a joke, of having our words or actions worthy only of demeaning laughter.

On the other hand, Bill Thetford, co-scribe of A Course In Miracles, with sparkling wit and a bit of the mischief-maker, was masterful at using laughter in the most effective, kindly, and healing way, both for himself and everyone around. If ever there was one who learned to joke about the absurdity of the human condition, it was Bill. He was graced with a superb sense of humor, delighting in the antics, large and small, of both himself and his fellow human beings. A prayer in the liturgy of the Episcopal Church begins, “Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, . . .” Bill was a mortal version of that omniscience; for him his fellow man was deeply transparent, an open book – and often a comic book. Nothing was too sacred or ominous for his lighthearted touch, his hallmark as he saw the comedy in the ego’s serious postures. He laughed not at people, however, but at our treasured notions, beliefs, and practiced self-deceptions.

Bill was brilliant and famous in his field of research psychology even before the Course became the centerpiece of his life. He carried out his myriad duties with prodigious industry and careful attention to detail, but no matter how diligently he approached his work at Columbia University, he also found it amusing. Without exception, all who knew him commented on his marvelous sense of humor and its profound effect; it was one of his ways of loving.

He had his own issues, of course, times that seemed depressing or fraught with difficulty, but sooner or later, his emotional equilibrium would be restored, the twinkle returning to his eye as he told his hilarious stories. When we can laugh at the dramas, the formerly unhappy circumstances in our lives, we know they are healed. With a rigid, humorless approach to any aspect of our lives, we still have work to do. Bill’s droll sense of humor pervaded his life and is the single characteristic I believe he would most want remembered.

Those of us who knew Bill can remember hilarious times with him, where we all laughed until we cried. One of his favorite early Course stories, told with kindhearted laughter, was about a gentleman who discovered his address in Manhattan and came knocking on his door. When Bill answered, the man earnestly announced that he was a new ACIM student and that the Holy Spirit told him to find Bill and ask him for $10,000. Without missing a beat, Bill responded that the Holy Spirit had already alerted him to this request and indicated he was not to give it to him. I can still see Bill’s delighted smile as he recounted such entertaining tales about humankind in general and Course-related drama in particular.   He often said he thought he should write a book entitled A Course In Miracles Follies about the craziness that occurred while bringing this material into the world, as well as some of the strange ideas and misperceptions that have been perpetuated in its name. To his credit, he found these occurrences amusing rather than alarming, and we would all benefit from emulating his open-hearted approach.

Bill also recounted endless funny stories from his Columbia University days. For instance, he delighted to talk about being co-editor of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology from 1965-1971, the years of Course dictation. He periodically rejected articles that were “not sufficiently scientific,” and, of course, found this situation ridiculous and very humorous, given the teachings of non-duality in which he was secretly involved!

To experience life with richness and delight requires witnessing our circumstances as well as participating in them – in effect, not taking ourselves so seriously. Egos want to be important and see lightheartedness as a threat. Bill modeled that perfect balance between levity and honoring one’s worldly commitments to the fullest. He ended many a conversation with a twinkle in his eye, saying “I know it’s hopeless, just not serious.” He could see the agony and the glory of the human experience and smile at it all. He did not laugh at those who came to him for help, but was always able to offer those even in greatest distress a way to see their situation with a lighter heart.

Bill came to an awakened state by the end of his life. His joy and sense of humor increased exponentially until he could hardly keep his feet on the ground, quite literally. And how might we find that, despite the ways things look now, they can always resolve into a surprisingly satisfactory state? Like Bill, we can practice letting go of the judgments that weigh us down, that cause a clouded, limited, and somber experience of life. One day at at time, Bill chose to let go of grievances and asked for help in so doing. We automatically become more lighthearted and friendly, and life becomes richer and more fun, when our minds are cleared of the debris of fear and all that we hold against ourselves and others.

How dearly we would love to have Bill with us today (actually, I’m sure he’s right here!), leading the way in seeing the craziness of our current times as worthy of a huge smile, and not despair. Though it may seem a daunting task, we too can treat ourselves and others with more compassion, and following in Bill’s steady footsteps, find ourselves in the glorious state of being awake to the truth of our being – the single most fun and most helpful offering we bring to the world.

Written By Carol Howe

Carol Howe is one of the original and most experienced teachers of A Course In Miracles. A personal friend of co-scribe Bill Thetford, she wrote his biography, Never Forget To Laugh, and is also the author of Healing The Hurt Behind Addictions. Throughout her 40 year career with ACIM, she has helped many thousands on their journey to inner peace. 

Carol will lead a Common Ground Mini-Series in the online Awakening Together Sanctuary each Sunday during April 2017 at 9pm ET.

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