2012: The End of the World?

Apocalyptic wars. tsunamis, and plagues? The end of the world on December 21, 2012? An era of prolonged peace following the War of Armageddon?

Prophecies and predictions abound regarding the year 2012. What does the spiritual teaching of A Course in Miracles have to say about it?

Nothing. 2012 is not mentioned. A Course in Miracles concerns itself only with the mind that is outside of time and space, and 2012 is a year in linear time.

What is this mind outside of time and space? It’s our mind. It’s what we are. A Course in Miracles tells us that we are mind that’s dreaming up a world of form. We’re asleep, dreaming a nightmare of an earth filled with terror, much like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. The lions and tigers and bears along the yellow brick road are the dire predictions of doom, death and destruction. We’ve been dreaming up the end of the world for millennia, long before 2012 arrived.

The world we are dreaming appears as a place of scarcity through violent wars and more subtle wars of unfair trade. Countries grab land and resources from other locales, because we believe there’s not enough to go around. We believe in separation instead of the oneness of humanity, and are afraid that if we don’t steal what we want, we’ll never get it.

The good news is that the mind that dreams of terror can also dream of peace. There is a part of our mind, called the right mind, which is pure Love. This part is connected to all living beings and knows our togetherness. It’s the part of us that aspires to world peace, kindness and goodness.

When we access our right mind, the world of terror can indeed cease to exist. A Course in Miracles tells us once we see we’re dreaming up the world, we can choose what type of world we want to dream. But first we have to recognize we’re the dreamers. We have to admit we’re just like Dorothy.

When Dorothy awoke from her coma, she insisted that Oz was a real place. It felt real because the wicked witch and the wizard evoked intense emotions. Feelings make us believe the world outside of our mind is real.

So will the world end in 2012? Yes, the world of hatred, lack and ugliness will end if we choose love over fear. And that can happen in any holy instant, not just in 2012. How do we choose love? We make a mental decision to forgive the dream: “I choose to see love instead of fear. I choose a new perception of the world. I choose to awaken from the dream I made up.” Your right mind then takes over and you dream what A Course in Miracles calls “the happy dream.”

I write more about A Course in Miracles in my book, Breaking Free: How Forgiveness and A Course in Miracles Can Set You Free. It’s available on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and my website, www.lorricoburn.com.

Happy New Year and sweet dreams in 2012.