CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD'S TEACHERS
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CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD’S TEACHERS
Who is a teacher of God? Anyone who chooses to be, according to the Manual For Teachers in A Course In Miracles. However, this title also bears some characteristics that develop as each teacher advances in their own learning. What are these characteristics and what does it take to acquire them? In the end, only one thing: forgiveness. But not forgiveness as the world teaches, but as A Course In Miracles defines it. Forgiveness in its simplest ACIM explanation means, to overlook; to overlook the illusion of our separation and know instead our Oneness that lies beyond it.
And so, with this in mind, I would like to share with you how the Holy Spirit explained to me as clearly as possible how each of these ten characteristics of God is truly defined; not as the world defines these words, but as God does. For indeed, each of these traits are how God relates to each of us as well.
Unless otherwise specified, all quotes will be from the Manual For Teachers, section 4. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD’S TEACHERS.
I. TRUST:
“I trust my brothers, who are one with me. No one but is my brother. I am blessed with the oneness with the universe and God, my Father, one Creator of the whole that is my Self, forever One with me.” (ACIM W. Lesson 201)
“Trust. This is the foundation on which their (the teachers of God) ability to fulfill their function rests.”
And so it is, that the first characteristic of being a teacher of God, is trust. Not the trust of the world, but as God trusts. What is it we are trusting in?
The truth.
And what is the truth, the bedrock of our reality? That we are One in God. It is this truth we must come back to time and again as we walk through this illusion – that we trust in our Oneness above all else. We trust in it while we witness all that the body says and does, knowing that whether we agree with other bodies or not, what lies within the body is still at one with us. This Oneness is all-inclusive – no one is exempt from the Love of God. Trust this truth, even in the face of the most diabolic schemes we may witness here in this dream of bodies, and we will know the deep abiding peace that comes from true Trust. Such is the tranquility achieved by a teacher of God who trusts in the Love of God within all they see, feel, hear and touch, knowing this truth permeates all physical experience. Achievement of true total Trust envelops the teacher of God in a Heavenly state of contentment and peace of mind, knowing there is nothing they need do, but rest in God Who rests within each of us.
II. HONESTY
“All other traits of God’s teachers rest on trust. Once that has been achieved, the others cannot fail to follow. Only the trusting can afford honesty, for only they can see its value. Honesty does not apply only to what you say. The term actually means consistency. There is nothing you say that contradicts what you think or do; no thought opposes any other thought; no act belies your word; and no word lacks agreement with another. Such are the truly honest. At no level are they in conflict with themselves. Therefore, it is impossible for them to be in conflict with anyone or anything.
The peace of mind which the advanced teachers of God experience is largely due to their perfect honesty. It is only the wish to deceive that makes for war. No one at one with himself can even conceive of conflict. Conflict is the inevitable result of self-deception, and self-deception is dishonesty. There is no challenge to a teacher of God. Challenge implies doubt, and the trust on which God’s teachers rest secure makes doubt impossible. Therefore, they can only succeed. In this, as in all things, they are honest. They can only succeed, because they never do their will alone. They choose for all mankind; for all the world and all things in it; for the unchanging and unchangeable. Beyond appearances; and for the Son of God and his Creator. How could they not succeed? They choose in perfect honesty, sure of their choice as of themselves.”
As with each of the characteristics of God’s teachers, the definitions are not of the world. Honesty is no exception.
The world defines honesty simply as “telling the truth,” or to not intentionally deceive for your own gain; although once true honesty is learned, such practices will come automatically. A Course In Miracles takes this idea to its deepest level. Here we are asked to always look at the world through the eyes of truth, trusting (characteristic I.) in the unity that lies beyond the illusion of separation and never allowing yourself to be deceived by what you see. The ultimate lie is the great deception of our separation. The teacher of God is always honest when they uphold the ultimate truth: we are One; by seeing only Unity where there is physical separation. So be honest. Always honor our Unity above all else when interacting with the illusion of separation. Treat everyone as part of your One Self – with Tolerance, Gentleness, Joy, Defenselessness, Generosity, Patience, Faithfulness and Open-Mindedness, which are all also characteristics of God’s teachers.
We are asked to be honest and trusting in the truth of our Oneness in God and each other. There is no conflict in the heart of a teacher of God who looks on all things with perfect honesty – with perfect understanding that what is done to one is done to the All in One. And peace descends upon such a heart, for it is filled with total trust in our Unity and is therefore being totally honest in their truth.
III. TOLERANCE
“God’s teachers do not judge. To judge is to be dishonest, for to judge is to assume a position you do not have. Judgment without self-deception is impossible. Judgement implies that you have been deceived in your brothers. How, then, could you not have been deceived in yourself? Judgment implies a lack of trust, and trust remains the bedrock of the teacher of God’s whole thought system. Let this be lost, and all his learning goes. Without judgement are all things equally acceptable, for who could judge otherwise? Without judgment are all men brothers, for who is there who stands apart? Judgment destroys honesty and shatters trust. No teacher of God can judge and hope to learn.”
Tolerance, here, refers to our ability to remain honest, which again is seeing only Unity, and therefore remaining in a state of peace, or tolerance of the illusion of separation our bodily eyes see all around us. If we lose our peace, we have been deceived and have fallen into believing in the illusion of separation. For only those who believe they are separate suffer for what they see. And so it is, the traits are connected as the teacher of God rests in their Trust (I.) of their Oneness, being perfectly Honest (II.) by having divine Tolerance (III.) of any separation or fear-based thoughts, resting in the peace of understanding we are One.
IV. GENTLENESS
“Harm is impossible for God’s teachers.” Why is this? Because we understand that we are not bodies, we are One with the awesome power of All That Is and do not fall for the illusion we can be destroyed in any way.
“They can neither harm nor be harmed.” This is because we believe this same truth, is true for everyone else as well.
“No teacher of God but must learn, - and fairly early in his training – that harmfulness completely obliterates his function from his awareness. It will make him confused, fearful, angry and suspicious. It will make the Holy Spirit’s lessons impossible to learn.”
Why is this? Because if you believe you have been harmed, or that you can harm another, you have lost sight of Who You Are in Truth. You have lost sight of your Oneness with Creation and all of humanity, the earth and all things contained therein. It is our one job – our only function according to ACIM – to overlook or forgive all forms of separation and remember the truth of our Oneness. Harm implies we have forgotten, for what is One cannot harm Itself, for it is not divided, it is One.
“The might of God’s teachers lies in their gentleness, for they have understood their evil thoughts came neither from God’s Son nor his Creator. Thus, did they join their thoughts with Him Who is their Source.”
And we are each one of God’s Thoughts, in numbers untold, united as One in God. Let us be gentle with one another then, for what we do to another, we do to our One Self. It is in gentleness that we remember, live and interact with the illusion all around us.
V. JOY
“Joy is the inevitable result of gentleness. Gentleness means that fear is now impossible, and what could come to interfere with joy?” For we now understand and accept our Eternal Life at One in God.
“The gentle have no pain. They cannot suffer. Why would they not be joyous? They are sure they are beloved and must be safe.”
“And they are sure His Teacher goes before them, making sure no harm can come to them.” And though a body can be harmed indeed, it is the inner knowing that our indomitable spirit within goes undamaged by anything that may happen externally that gives us unshakeable joy.
VI. DEFENSELESSNESS
“God’s teachers… Have no dreams that need defense against the truth.” We defend the illusion by reacting to it with fear, hatred and judgment.
“(God’s teachers’) joy comes from their understanding Who created them.”
“No one can become an advanced teacher of God until he fully understands that defenses are but foolish guardians of mad illusions.”
“Yet when the teacher of God finally agrees to look past (forgive) them, he finds that nothing was there.” Because this world is indeed an illusion.
But the teacher of God learns faster as their trust increases – divine trust, which means we are trusting in our Oneness with All That Is and one another. Nothing else is true. And so it is, we drop all our defenses that anything this world throws at us is real, with real effects. We become utterly defenseless on its behalf, making no case for its show of separation, for we know the truth of our Oneness beyond all doubt.
VII. GENEROSITY
“The term generosity has special meaning to the teacher of God. It is not the usual meaning of the word; in fact, it is a meaning that must be learned and learned very carefully. Like all other attributes of God’s teachers this one rests ultimately on trust, for without trust no one can be generous in the true sense.” And let us remember that trust means our trust in our Oneness with All Creation, with no exclusions. Our Love is all-encompassing as God’s Love, because we are One with It.
“The teacher of God is generous out of Self-interest.” Meaning, the teacher of God is aware that the only true giving is that of awareness of our One Self – this awareness is the only true gift because it is the only Truth. And to be aware of our Oneness, is to be truly generous with our Love, for it is an all-inclusive love of one’s One Self. Only this can truly be given or extended to all creation. And thus, will it be reflected back to God’s teacher and such generosity can only be reflected with abundance in all ways, for it is the awareness of having all by including All That Is as part of your existence.
VIII. PATIENCE
“Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety.” We have nothing to worry about in this world of separation and physicality, because all things will become aware of their oneness in God in time, at some time. “Patience is natural to the teacher of God.” This is because of our trust in the truth of our Oneness that surpasses all other evidence to the contrary. We are patient for our total awareness of such Oneness, as well as for such awareness to come to those here with us in the dream of separation. And we hold nothing against no one for what they did in this dream. “The time will be as right as is the answer. And this is true for everything that happens now or in the future. The past as well held no mistakes; nothing that did not serve to benefit the world, as well as him to whom it seemed to happen. Perhaps it was not understood at the time.” But nevertheless, everything that comes to us is some form of answer to our prayer to be free of this illusion. And the teacher of God is ever patient, knowing we are already free, but yet lack complete awareness, and thus the experience of such freedom as only God can offer.
IX. FAITHFULNESS
“The extent of the teacher of God’s faithfulness is the measure of his advancement in the curriculum.” Again, as with each of the traits of God’s teachers, they are here to teach one thing, and one thing only: to awaken to the awareness of our Oneness with God and each other. This takes faith in the unseen, unfelt and un-remembered, for we have forgotten the sublime experience of Unity. What we see here in the illusion is exactly opposite to the truth, and so our faith must be strong indeed! We are tempted at every turn to believe what our eyes show us – to become hurt, forlorn and fearful. When these times come, we must remember to have faith in the truth – to trust in it, as trust in the truth is the bedrock belief of the teacher of God.
When our faith is consistent, we are honest – we are not deceived by the false reality of separation all around us. We do not defend the illusion through supporting it by our reactions to it through our ego; we are utterly defenseless. We have let the world go. And because our trust in the truth is filled with faith as well, we are fearless and filled with joy as we walk through this existence.
X. OPEN-MINDEDNESS
“The centrality of open-mindedness, perhaps the last of the attributes the teacher of God acquires, is easily understood when its relation to forgiveness is recognized.” For what is forgiveness, but the willingness to overlook what is illusion and remember instead our Oneness? Forgiveness means we judge nothing as we see it, but rather as we know it to be in truth, with emphasis on our Trust in the truth of our Unity above all else. “Open-mindedness comes with a lack of judgment. As judgment shuts the mind against God’s Teacher, so open-mindedness invites Him to come in.” To judge is to think we know, yet true knowing means that we understand and feel our Unity. If we are truly feeling such a degree of Oneness, then we will be incapable of judging anything except as part of our One Self. This will fill us with such great love as to be wholly Trusting in this truth. We will not be deceived by illusions of separation and with total Honesty, see the truth, that there is no separation between ourselves and another. We then become supremely Tolerant to all illusions, knowing our Love for one another, despite what our egos may say and do. This causes a great Gentleness to overtake all of our own words and actions, for we know so many are asleep to their own Unity with us and know not what they do. We are filled with Joy because there is nothing that can occur that is not of benefit to our achieving awareness of our Oneness in God. We have ceased to defend this world, supporting it as real, by reacting to it through our ego. We have become utterly Defenseless – we no longer “defend against the truth” through engaging our mind and heart in the dramas of the illusion surrounding us. Instead, we display great Generosity with our all-inclusive Love, being supremely Patient with the world around us, knowing all will awaken to our Oneness in time. In this truth, we have placed our unwavering Faith. And so it is, our Open-Mindedness to the Unity that lies beyond this world of illusion is unsurpassed, unshakable and unending. Our belief and Trust in the truth has become solidified and we have become an advanced teacher of God.
“The curriculum makes no effort to exceed its legitimate goal. Forgiveness is its single aim, at which all learning ultimately converges.”
“It is given to the teachers of God to bring the glad tiding of complete forgiveness to the world. Blessed indeed are they, for they are the bringers of salvation.”