Setting the Goal
Chapter 17 VI
As many of us have learned in the world of duality, setting and articulating our goals is often a prerequisite to success. The Course informs us that to experience success on our spiritual journey, is no different. In the Buddhist tradition this is expressed has having the Right Intention – the first of the Eightfold Path. As we are of one mind and are on the path to Atonement, Oneness, Enlightenment; we really have one overarching goal. However, as we are currently living in the world of duality, we are experiencing issues with having a body, having relationships, having financial concerns, having career concerns, having health concerns, etc. The key is to align our sub goals with our overarching goals to enable our ‘worldly’ efforts to be consistent with our overarching goal. To enable this, we should articulate our goals in a written goal statement and update it every year. This is not in violation to the principle of non-duality; it is a recognition that we must take our current situation of living in this world of duality into account, gradually climb the latter to the Happy Dream and then ‘God will take the last step.’
T-17.VI.3 “Without a clear-cut, positive goal, set at the outset, a situation just seems to happen, and makes no sense until it has already happened. Then you look back at it, and try to piece together what it must have meant. And you will be wrong. Not only is your judgment in the past, but you have no idea of what should happen. No goal was set with which to bring the means in line. And now the only judgment to make is whether or not you like it; is it acceptable, or does it call for criticism? The absence of criterion for outcome, set in advance, makes understanding doubtful and evaluation impossible. “
T-17.VI.4 “The value of deciding in advance what you want to happen is simply that you will perceive the situation as a means to make it happen. You will therefore make every effort to overlook what interferes with the accomplishment of your objective, and concentrate on everything that helps you meet it. It is quite noticeable that this approach has brought you closer to sorting out what works from what does not work. The true becomes what can be used to meet the goal. The false becomes the useless from this point of view. The situation now has meaning, but only because the goal has made it meaningful.”
T-17.VI.5 “The goal of truth has further practical advantages. If the situation is used for truth and sanity, its outcome must be peace. And this is quite apart from what the outcome is. If peace is the condition of truth and sanity, and cannot be without them, where peace is they must be. Truth comes of itself. If you experience peace, it is because the truth has come to you and you will see the outcome truly, for deception cannot prevail against you. You will recognize the outcome because you are at peace. Here again you see the opposite of the ego’s way of looking, for the ego believes the situation brings the experience. The Holy Spirit knows that the situation is as the goal determines it, and is experienced according to the goal.”