Have you ever been disillusioned? Of course, you have. Everyone has. Disillusionment occurs in those life moments when something we had previously believed to be true is revealed to be an illusion, a lie. We had placed our faith in the world being a certain way, only to learn it is not that way at all. Everything upon which we had built our worldview suddenly comes crashing down, potentially sending our lives spiraling out of control into a vortex of cognitive dissonance, psychic trauma and emotional turbulence.
In such moments, it almost always feels like our world has been destroyed. And, in reality, the world as we’ve known it up to that point has indeed been reduced to rubble. However, it is not the end of the world. In truth, to be disillusioned is to be disconnected from the illusion under which we had previously been living. As the illusion crumbles, we are presented an opportunity for truth to be reestablished in our lives.
Only Reality Is True
In A Course In Miracles, in the chapter “God or the Ego,” it states that “only reality is true”. Our work is to allow our perception of the world to be translated into knowledge of the real world. In the “real world,” there is no room for illusion. We will never truly see the “real world,” unless we become willing to recognize its reality is established only in truth, never illusion.
“The end of the world is not its destruction, but its translation into Heaven.” – ACIM
At the end of the world, the illusion disappears into the nothingness upon which it was founded. Living under an illusion is an attempt to substitute what is not true, and therefore not real, for Truth. However, when the illusion ends, truth appears and establishes Heaven, or the real world, in our lives. This is a cause for celebration, rather than grief. This is the miracle of disillusionment.
Play the Victim, Or Seek The Miracle
Disillusionment comes in many forms. A lie is exposed. We are betrayed. Someone we love suddenly dies in an accident, or diagnosed with an incurable disease. Something or someone we have believed in is revealed to be a fraud. These are just some of the more extreme ways that disillusionment may arrive in our lives. There are countless forms and ways we may become disillusioned.
In my own life, I have been disillusioned on numerous occasions by love, family, friends, business partners, political corruption and religious leaders. Perhaps, some of these have occurred in your own life. Each disillusioning circumstance presents an opportunity for us to either play the victim, or to seek the miracle.
Resistance To Truth Creates Spiritual Crisis
Saying no to the illusion is saying yes to truth. Saying yes to truth is saying yes to allowing the experience of disillusionment to transform your life into Heaven. However, the vast majority of the time, we experience disillusionment as a maelstrom of emotional anguish. We still wish to hold to the illusion, believing it is the truth, or at least desiring it to be so. However, only reality is true.
Resistance to truth creates spiritual crisis. In such moments, it is helpful to remember that the Chinese use the same word for crisis and opportunity. In Western terms, we refer to the silver lining in the dark cloud. Both are reminders to look for the opportunity in the midst of the crisis. There is always a miracle available to us in the midst of disillusionment. If we allow it, our lives may be transformed into a greater expression of truth.
