Someone wrote to the Presidency recently about MSIA’s teachings.  The person had leaned into MSIA a few years back, moved on, and then revisited the Movement again a couple of months ago.   They wrote:

“I decided to take a deep dive into it. My motivation was to find out whether or not there was a potential match between MSIA and me, and to research the difference between non-dual and dual teachings on Soul Transcendence. I was also interested in what a non-traditional church structure would look like.

I read three of John-Roger’s books and one of John Morton’s. I watched a dozen or so videos, watched “Blessings This Day” for several months and read dozens of articles on the MSIA blog. I was particularly interested in the Presidency reports, I went back several years and read them all.

In the end, I still could not get past the fact that MSIA teaches a dualistic approach to Soul Transcendence which I am just not compatible with. I have nothing but respect for the organization and what you have accomplished. I believe in the equality of being so while I may not agree with MSIA’s approach to Soul Transcendence, I respect it.”

“I recently asked the AI platform ChatGPT several questions about Soul Transcendence, MSIA, and its structure.”

The gentleman went on to say that he felt people in MSIA were using the teachings as a “spiritual bypass.” He mentioned that he had more of an affinity with A Course in Miracles (ACIM) which he considered non-dual in nature.

Paul Kaye wrote back with this response (Editor’s note: Advaita and Neo-advaita are non-dual teachings):

Thank you for being in touch. I don’t wish to enter into a back and forth, but I do want to give you the courtesy of a reply.

I admire your willingness to take a deep dive:

“I read three of John-Roger’s books and one of John Morton’s. I watched a dozen or so videos, watched ‘Blessings This Day’ for several months and read dozens of articles on the MSIA blog. I was particularly interested in the Presidency reports, I went back several years and read them all.”

You were definitely following one of John-Roger’s and MSIA’s key precepts: Check it out.

That you came to the conclusion that MSIA’s teachings are something that “I am just not compatible with”, is perfectly reasonable and makes sense given your approach.

John-Roger, on whose teachings MSIA is based, spoke to many levels of consciousness. Ultimately, MSIA is non-dual:

“The divine presence is exactly that thing that is present everywhere.  And I could take you to a radical point of view and tell you that there really is no Soul.  There really is only this presence that is omnipotent, omnipresent at all times. But we talk about the Soul as that individualized energy to give you a sense of well-being.  So that you can wave your dilemma away as you rise up in consciousness to find out you are what you have always been, and you are the one you’ve been looking for.”

– John-Roger, DSS

But that is a big jump for folks. Some people need the illusion of personal growth to get on the train before they let go. Some people need to reconcile the Manichaeism dialectic of good and evil. Some people need to have a Lucifer and Christ face-off. And all that can still miss the point.

Advaita and neo-Advaita can be very seductive as concepts. And despite some amazing teachers, for example, Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj, the very idea can be a bypass in itself. You speak of spiritual bypass as if it is an MSIA phenomenon. I would argue that bypassing, spiritual or otherwise, is a human phenomenon, present in all groups and in all strata of society, including ACIM. It is not hyperbolic to say that 99% of the people in this country are experiencing some level of bypass.

Oneness can be obtained through psychedelic substances and through hypnotic induction. One can reach amazing states of oneness and awareness through Buddhist, Sufi, Jewish, and Christian practices. We live in a fractal universe – there are worlds without end. Illusory? Of course. But they exist on some level, otherwise we would not be having this conversation. There is oneness without end. And as David Bader says in Zen Judaism, “If there is no Self, whose arthritis is this?”

So what is the point? People get stuck. When people realize this, and most don’t, there is a longing to return “home” and break the cycle of return. All is vibration and we need the vibratory keys to open the doors that not only take us “home” but establish ourselves there as a foundation for further expansion. There is nowhere to go, but to get “here” is an infinite game. The Sound Current of God brings us home. That is not separate from us. We are the Sound Current, we are the Mystical Traveler, we are the Christ, and we are the Beloved.

I am glad you have found fulfillment with ACIM, a teaching which apparently was revealed by Jesus Christ. And as soon as we have you and Jesus we have two. And yet Jesus said that he and the Father were one. So how do we reconcile Oneness and duality?

Well, it turns out that Oneness and duality are not opposites to be resolved but perspectives to be integrated. They are different lenses through which reality is perceived—one dissolves the illusion of separation, while the other allows for the dance of experience. Reconciliation happens, in a Jungian sort of way, in the space between – where Oneness is the vast, unbroken field of existence, and duality is the play of form within it. The wave and the ocean are not separate—one expresses movement, the other wholeness.

All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop.

– Kabir

****

The river and its waves are one surf: where is the difference between the river and its waves?

When the wave rises, it is the water; and when it falls, it is the same water again. Tell me, Sir, where is the distinction?

Because it has been named as wave, shall it no longer be considered as water?

– Kabir

In practical terms, Oneness is the ground of being, the Field of Unconditional Love, the silent Divine Presence that roars the name of God and that underlies and permeates all things. Duality is how Oneness appears when viewed through the mind, which categorizes, compares, differentiates, and makes right and wrong, good and bad, etc. The resolution is not found in denying duality but in seeing it as the dynamic unfolding of the One.

From a Spiritual Alchemy perspective, this reconciliation occurs in deep presence—where distinctions dissolve into direct knowing, into the Field. In this state, we live as both the limitless and the particular, aware that every “other” is a reflection of the One. The mind sees division; the heart knows Oneness. Integration happens when awareness rests in both simultaneously. And that can only truly happen in a consciousness of unconditional love.

So, I would argue (as I have above) with ChatGPT’s words that:
“Their concept of the Mystical Traveler (a spiritual guide) suggests a structured journey through various realms—this differs from non-dual traditions, where the realization is that there is nowhere to go because all is One.”

But I found this ChatGPT comment to be insightful:
“MSIA’s structure meets people where they are, allowing them to gradually awaken through a step-by-step process, rather than expecting an immediate realization.”

John-Roger was far more than any AI can categorize or contain. I wish you had met him. And perhaps through this discussion, you have.

All the best to you,

Paul Kaye
MSIA President