The Radical Equality of Sameness: A Course in Miracles and the End of Hierarchy
There is no order of difficulty among miracles. One is not “harder” or “bigger” than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal.
One of the central and powerful ideas within A Course in Miracles (ACIM) involves a deep-seated practice of "making it all the same." This concept, often highlighted in the Workbook for Students and explored throughout the text, aims to undo the ego's constant emphasis on differences and specialness, which are seen as the root of separation and conflict.
This essay explores the concept of "sameness" and equality as used in ACIM. The essay moves from explaining the concept to practical application, ending with an invitation that acknowledges this is a gradual process of transformation rather than an overnight change.
“Everyone in this world seems to have his own special problems. Yet they are all the same and must be recognized as one if the one solution which solves them all is to be accepted. Who can see that a problem has been solved if he thinks the problem is something else? Even if he is given the answer, he cannot see its relevance.” Lesson 79
Beyond the World of OppositesThe Democracy of ForgivenessThe End of SpecialnessPractical Sameness: Living the TeachingThe Vision That Makes All Things NewLiving in the Flow of Sameness
The Invitation
One of the most challenging and transformative concepts in A Course in Miracles is the idea of "sameness"—a teaching that asks us to radically reimagine how we perceive and respond to our world. At first glance, this might seem absurd. How can a paper cut be the same as a broken heart? How can a stranger be the same as a beloved family member? Yet the Course's teaching on sameness isn't about denying obvious differences in form, but about discovering a profound equality that exists beneath all appearances.
Beyond the World of Opposites
We live in a world that seems built on distinctions. Good and bad, important and trivial, sacred and mundane, friend and enemy—our entire experience appears to be organized around these differences. The Course suggests, however, that this endless categorizing is actually the source of our suffering. When we make some things more important than others, some people more worthy of love than others, some experiences more meaningful than others, we create what the Course calls "the hierarchy of illusions."
The teaching of sameness offers a way out of this exhausting mental sorting. As the Course puts it, "There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind." This isn't suggesting that losing your car keys should devastate you as much as losing a loved one. Rather, it's pointing to something deeper: all upsets, regardless of their apparent magnitude, share the same fundamental characteristic—they disturb your peace. And more importantly, they all stem from the same mistaken belief that something outside of you can determine your inner state.
The Democracy of Forgiveness
Perhaps nowhere is the principle of sameness more revolutionary than in the realm of forgiveness. Traditional thinking tells us that some wrongs are worse than others, that some people deserve forgiveness while others don't, that some mistakes are minor while others are unforgivable. The Course turns this entire framework upside down.
In the Course's understanding, forgiveness doesn't discriminate. A moment of irritation with a slow cashier and a deep betrayal by a trusted friend are both seen as the same fundamental error—a forgetting of love. This doesn't minimize genuine hurt or suggest we should be doormats. Instead, it recognizes that all ego-based actions, whether large or small, spring from the same source: the belief in separation from love.
Consider how this might change your daily experience. Instead of carrying a mental ledger of who owes you what kind of forgiveness, you could meet each upset with the same response: a willingness to see beyond the error to the call for love beneath it. The Course teaches that "the miracle compares what you have made with creation, accepting what is in accord with it as true and rejecting what is out of accord as false." Every mistake, every unkindness, every moment of fear is equally false—and equally deserving of the miracle's healing response.
The End of Specialness
One of the ego's favorite games is specialness. We want to be special, to have special relationships, special problems, even special spiritual insights. The Course's teaching on sameness dismantles this entire edifice. "The Holy Spirit does not make distinctions among dreams. He merely shines them all away."
This can initially feel threatening. If everyone is equally holy, equally deserving of love, equally innocent, then what makes me special? What makes my story important? What makes my achievements meaningful? The Course gently suggests that our specialness was always an illusion—a poor substitute for our true identity as expressions of infinite love.
When we truly grasp sameness, we discover something remarkable: we don't lose anything real by giving up specialness. Instead, we gain everything. We no longer need to compete for love because love is infinite. We no longer need to defend our worth because our worth is inherent. We no longer need to prove our importance because we are already complete.
Practical Sameness: Living the Teaching
So how do we actually live this radical equality in our daily lives? The Course offers practical guidance that begins with small steps and gradually transforms our entire way of being.
Start with your reactions. Notice when you're having a strong emotional response to something—whether it's road rage, disappointment over a cancelled plan, or frustration with a family member. Instead of immediately judging the situation as big or small, important or trivial, ask yourself: "How is this disturbing my peace?" This simple question begins to train your mind to see the sameness beneath different forms of upset.
Practice responding to different situations with the same fundamental approach. Whether someone cuts you off in traffic or delivers devastating news, see if you can find the same centered, loving response within yourself. This doesn't mean having the same emotional reaction—that would be inhuman and inappropriate. Rather, it means accessing the same inner resource of peace and extending the same fundamental respect for everyone's inherent worth.
Work with the concept of equal forgiveness. When you notice yourself thinking that someone's behavior is "unforgivable" or that your own mistakes are "too big" to be forgiven, remember that the Course sees all errors as equally false and equally healed by love. This isn't about condoning harmful behavior, but about refusing to let anything block your return to peace.
The Vision That Makes All Things New
The Course speaks of "Christ's vision"—a way of seeing that perceives only holiness and unity. Through this vision, "the world becomes a place of mercy, kindness, and love." This isn't about putting on rose-colored glasses or denying genuine suffering. Rather, it's about developing the ability to see beyond appearances to the unchanging truth that lies beneath them.
In Christ's vision, there truly are no distinctions. The homeless person on the street corner and the CEO in the penthouse are equally the sinless Son of God. The person who has hurt you deeply and the person who has loved you well are equally deserving of respect and compassion. This vision doesn't ignore differences in behavior or circumstances, but it refuses to let these differences obscure the fundamental sameness of our true nature.
Living in the Flow of Sameness
As this understanding deepens, something beautiful begins to happen. Instead of exhausting yourself with constant judgments about who deserves what and which situations require which responses, you begin to flow from a single source of wisdom and love. You discover that the same loving response that works for small irritations also works for major crises. The same compassion that heals minor hurts also heals deep wounds. The same peace that handles everyday stress also remains steady in the face of life's biggest challenges.
This is the gift of sameness: it simplifies everything. Instead of needing a different strategy for every person and situation, you need only to remember one thing—that love is real and everything else is illusion. Instead of carrying the burden of endless distinctions and hierarchies, you can rest in the knowledge that there is only one problem and one solution.
The Invitation
The teaching of sameness is ultimately an invitation to freedom—freedom from the tyranny of constant judgment, from the exhaustion of maintaining hierarchies, from the loneliness of believing we are separate and special. It's an invitation to discover that beneath all the apparent differences in our world lies a fundamental unity that cannot be broken.
This doesn't happen overnight, and it's not about perfection. It's about gradually training your mind to see with the eyes of love rather than the eyes of fear. Each time you choose to respond to a situation with the same fundamental kindness, each time you refuse to make someone's error bigger or smaller than it is, each time you remember that all healing comes from the same source, you take another step into the freedom that sameness offers.
As the Course reminds us, we are not asked to sacrifice anything real. We are only asked to let go of what was never true to begin with. In the radical equality of sameness, we discover not the loss of what makes us special, but the recognition of what makes us whole.
August 1, 2025
Thomas Fox, J.D.
Lake Cumberland, Kentucky
Freelance legal research, editing
ghostwriting, copywriting & marketing
tomwfox@gmail.com
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