July 2, 2009
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Autism and Forgiveness…
Pursuant to my recent reflections on autism, a friend reminded me of how Dr. Helen Schucman, who was the scribe of A Course in Miracles, was so often able to be helpful to children with mental handicaps. At some point during her particularly lively interactions with the voice of Jesus as she experienced him at that time, he appears to have said to her that people would choose lives in that type of a form, where their mental development appears to be blocked, out of extreme fear of the power of the mind. Thus to break down the analysis which Jesus proposed to Helen even more precisely:
- The first order mental retardation is to choose the ego, and to believe we are an individual, with a private (small) mind, living a life in this dreamworld of time and space, which is a substitute for, and a denial of the life which is our true inheritance as the Son of God.
- The second order mental retardation is to choose a life within this dream world in which ones’ mental development is impaired, so that not only are we in denial of the full power of the mind of the Son of God, but also we choose a situation in which the development of the individual mind seems impaired, as a protection against taking responsibility for even that life.
To be reminded of this particular issue made it clearer yet again for me, that these people are in our lives as a reminder of our own fear of the development of the mind, the power of the mind, and thus by forgiving them for the limitations they chose, we are indeed forgiving ourselves for the limitations we chose. The initial choice for the ego, the tiny mad idea, is a choice for differences, in which we do not have the full power of the whole mind, for the purpose of the ego thought system is to deny who and what we are in truth, and the belief in differences is one fundamental aspect of that defense system. It is the belief that the Son of God is not one and the same, broken into a gazillion pieces, which are all different. And within that realm of differences then, being “abnormal” is a way of being more different than the “normal” animals. And as always, healing is only possible by realizing that the whole thing is grounded in the choice of fear over love, but that this is ultimately always a choice the mind makes, albeit at a subconscious level, that is not within the normal reach of the daytime consciousness of who we think we are in this dream, except that through the forgiveness process, this choice ultimately becomes uncovered, so that the Course process leads to making the unconscious conscious, and thereby empowers us to to make the other choice.
The secret of salvation is but this: that you are doing this unto yourself. No matter what the form of the attack, this still is true. Whoever takes the role of enemy and of attacker, still is this the truth. Whatever seems to be the cause of any pain and suffering you feel, this is still true. For you would not react at all to figures in a dream you knew that you were dreaming. Let them be as hateful and as vicious as they may, they could have no effect on you unless you failed to recognize it is your dream. (ACIM:T-27.VIII.10)and our role in all this is clarified here:
The Holy Spirit needs your special function, that His may be fulfilled. Think not you lack a special value here. You wanted it, and it is given you. All that you made can serve salvation easily and well. The Son of God can make no choice the Holy Spirit cannot employ on his behalf, and not against himself. Only in darkness does your specialness appear to be attack. In light, you see it as your special function in the plan to save the Son of God from all attack, and let him understand that he is safe, as he has always been, and will remain in time and in eternity alike. This is the function given you for your brother. Take it gently, then, from your brother’s hand, and let salvation be perfectly fulfilled in you. Do this one thing, that everything be given you. (ACIM:T25.VI.7)The gift that our brother gives us here is the opportunity to choose love, not fear. And that speeds us on our way home with our brother, so it is a great gift indeed.
Comments (3)
Rogier, Thank You for the intimate glimpse into your family reference your ‘ Thoughts of Autism ‘ prior post. It reminds me of the many varied experiences that we all may be witness to in our own personal family matters.
I was fortunate to attend a conference this past weekend and listen to Ken Wapnick speak at The Edgar Cayce Center in Virginia. One of the statements he made that I understand and feel is so appropriate when looking at our life experiences( if I may paraphrase ). The Miracle looks at the devastation and reminds the Decision Making Mind that it is all made up.
@papaflo - indeed indeed, and someone from my class here in NY was there too. I almost came but things did not work out that way this time. Anyway, thanks for the comment.
Rogier, what an absolutely beautiful, loving, and eye-opening post, with your very helpful expanded analysis (from A Course in Miracles perspective) of “mental retardation” (the term I’m more familiar with than “autism”) in particular, including the Course’s theme of purpose in our lives as well as our sole function of forgiveness in general.
Among the many physical, mental, and emotional limitations we all place upon ourselves (God only knows I have my own favorite complaints), this particular form of limitation—mental retardation or other mental deficiency or aberration—seems to me to be the Course’s “face of innocence” (ACIM T-31.V) par excellence. I’ve heard Ken Wapnick say that it’s the face of one who, upon his seeming entrance/birth into the world, seems to proclaim (I am paraphrasing heavily): “Here I am, and it’s not my fault—I didn’t do it!” More to the point here: if I heard and understand him correctly, KW has also said that one who is seemingly born mentally retarded is in effect making the statement to the world: “I would never be able to do anything as terrible as [this or that]—just look at me!—how impaired and helpless I am!” in defense of his/her fear of the power of his/her mind to abuse it.
I really appreciate your sharing your insight that our so-called “retarded” brothers are in fact a gift to us in that (to state a little differently what you are saying here) they serve to reflect back to us our own choice for “retardation” in the sense that, as you say, all who appear to come into the world have chosen the ego’s individuality (with its inherent fear) instead of oneness—pure and perfect Love—or, again, as KW often refers to it: the choice for mindlessness instead of mindfulness, whereby we literally lose our minds to insanity. I suppose they also reflect our own fear of the power of our minds to miscreate.
Your more thorough analysis of the situation with mental retardation made it clearer to me, too, that (again, as I’ve heard KW say, if I am understanding properly) these people whom we call “retarded” indeed have the very same powerful—and split—mind as has everyone else, with the same power to choose rightmindedness, however masked it may be behind that face of innocence! And they, along with ALL our brothers (excuding nary a one, of course), are, through the Course’s process of forgiveness, our ticket home, as you say. What a wonderful thought!!!
Thank you, as always—and apologies for being repetitious of your explanations (I am thinking about it out loud). In any event, I will be sharing your article with a friend of mine whose family includes one who is mentallty retarded, and I am sure it will help put the situation in perspective for my friend, too, in the process of caring for and working with this individual.
“Do not despair, then, because of limitations. It is your function to escape from them, but not to be without them.” (ACIM M-26.4:1-2)
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