Site Meter Reflections on Playboy: It’s even more hedonistic than <i>Playboy</i>. It’s called <i>A Course in Miracles</i>.

April 23, 2008

It’s even more hedonistic than Playboy. It’s called A Course in Miracles.

I don’t worry myself whether Jesus Christ “actually” dictated the bizarre set of writings known as A Course in Miracles (“the Course” or “ACIM” for short) to Columbia University psychology professor Helen Schucman from 1965 to 1972—or she “lied” about this out of false modesty. The question may interest some, but I’ll pragmatically ignore it. Either way, I’m impressed enough by the Course to study it for at least the next year. On March 26, I started the 365-lesson, one-per-day “Workbook” of the Course. I’ll finish on March 25, 2009. For well-timed moral support, I announce it on my blog today, the day I turn 36. Happy birthday to me!

I am a hedonist, in that I see hedonism as an ethical tautology. Pairs of morally charged ideas like reward and punishment or kindness and cruelty can make no sense without reference to pleasure and pain. In this sense, are we not all hedonists? In 2008, I’ve been losing my patience with the old grudges and fears that keep me unhappy so much of the time. The Course is more hedonistic than Playboy because it promises a sense of unassailable well-being far less dependent on external circumstances than anything in the magazine—a pleasure so immediately dependable that I can hope to learn to throw away the cheap psychological masochism of my past. I originally attempted the Workbook in January 1997, but I gave up somewhere between Lessons 100 and 150*. I won’t chicken out this time.

In an earlier post here, I argued that the philosophical problem of sentience—a real problem no matter what anybody ever learns about the human brain—compels the conclusion that sentience somehow characterizes the entire universe all at once. In other words, there is a God. I’m wagering that the Course can function psychotherapeutically by helping a meat-puppet brain identify with the invulnerability of subjective “I Am” consciousness in every moment. A Course in Miracles won’t suit everyone’s taste, which is perfectly fine, but every mind will eventually be gladdened to find reunion with its Creator somehow.

The Course’s terminology of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is ostensibly Christian, but its tone of mystical world-denial is relatively foreign to western Christianity and more familiar to, say, Hinduism or Buddhism. The body is not evil; the body is morally neutral, though psychologically dangerous to overidentify with. Some women resent the constant use of patriarchal language (Father, Son, brothers), yet the message has always been understood to apply to men and women equally.

In any case, I’ve made myself its guinea pig. To show you how I’m letting it mess with my head, I give you the complete text of Workbook Lesson 1:
LESSON 1

Nothing I see in this room (on this street, from this window, in this place) means anything.

Now look slowly around you, and practice applying this idea very specifically to whatever you see:

This table does not mean anything.
This chair does not mean anything.
This hand does not mean anything.
This foot does not mean anything.
This pen does not mean anything.

Then look farther away from your immediate area, and apply the idea to a wider range:

That door does not mean anything.
That body does not mean anything.
That lamp does not mean anything.
That sign does not mean anything.
That shadow does not mean anything.

Notice that these statements are not arranged in any order, and make no allowance for differences in the kinds of things to which they are applied. That is the purpose of the exercise. The statement should merely be applied to anything you see. As you practice the idea for the day, use it totally indiscriminately. Do not attempt to apply it to everything you see, for these exercises should not become ritualistic. Only be sure that nothing you see is specifically excluded. One thing is like another as far as the application of the idea is concerned.

Each of the first three lessons should not be done more than twice a day each, preferably morning and evening. Nor should they be attempted for more than a minute or so, unless that entails a sense of hurry. A comfortable sense of leisure is essential.
From there, it only gets weirder. Wish me luck!

*Update, June 24, 2008, 9:49 p.m.: Embarrassingly, I flattered myself about 100% in that estimate. On the day I read Lesson 76, I recognized where I had left off in early 1997.

As promised:
Donning my metaphysical cap and gown

Posted by Brian Sorgatz at 3:22 PM

  • Blogger SHANTRA left this comment at April 25, 2008 5:26 PM  
    Brian,

    I've been interested in doing the Course in Miracles myself. Glad to hear you're impressed enough to give it serious effort.

    And Happy Birthday!!

  • Blogger UnitedStatesAirForceAuxiliaryMember left this comment at April 26, 2008 7:55 AM  
    Very interesting site!

  • Blogger Brian Sorgatz left this comment at April 26, 2008 9:19 AM  
    Thanks for being a fan and for serving the country.

  • Anonymous mkb32 left this comment at June 3, 2008 9:53 PM  
    Happy Birthday, Good Luck and God Bless!

    I won't hold it against you if you quit the workbook half way through.
    Personally, I would probably loose the damn thing for months at a time.

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