God's Judgment. Believing in Truth is easy, I do not have to do anything and there is no effort involved at all. Truth is All There Is and nothing else exists.
To believe in illusions is complicated and difficult on a soul level. I expend a lot of effort and energy making illusions real for me, which then, blinds me to Truth.
I cannot be an ego/body, but I can think I am, and ego always interprets in favor of illusions, not Truth. My emotions will always fluctuate when ego is my guide.
God's Assistance requires no effort at all on my part and only His Interpretations make any sense: Every Loving thought is True and everything else is a call for help. Can I ever be justified in responding with anger to a brother's plea for help? If I offer anything but Love, I deny Reality. I will not judge what I do not understand. And I can be sure there is nothing is this world that I understand.
Appreciation is the only appropriate response to my brother. Be grateful to him for both his Loving Thoughts (which may be hidden from me) and his cries for help. Both are capable of bringing Love into my Awareness. God's Plan for salvation is very simple. There is one response to Reality (Love). There is one Teacher of Reality (God). My interpretations of Reality are meaningless in my insanity. My interpretations of my brother's needs are my interpretation of my own. But I will not attempt to "help" my brother, for I cannot even help myself. God understands the Changelessness and Consistency of Reality. He also is aware that I think I am "apart from" Him. He sees the untrue, but knows only of Truth. I will ask Him to be my Guide.
Accept only Loving Thoughts in others and regard everything else as an appeal for help. Attack (physical or mental) produces fear, and fear is an appeal for help. If I feel fearful, I need to look right at this fear. Heaven will translate fear into Truth. A crucial step in undoing ego, is recognizing fear as a call for help.
Fear and Love are the only emotions of which I am capable. One is false, for it was made out of the denial of God and His Kingdom. Fear is a symptom of my own deep sense of loss. When I see fear for what it is, I will render it useless because I have denied its power to conceal Love. Concealing Love is fear's only purpose. My Reality is Love. Everything that is not Love is an appeal for Love.
Remembering God. God is not remembered alone. When I perceive sickness in another, recognize that sickness is a call for Love. There is ONE remedy for ALL sickness. See hatred, sickness and fear only as a call for Love. Answer my brother's call for Love and mine is answered.
I will open my eyes and look right at what I am afraid of. Then ask the One Who Knows and He will translate it into Truth. In my dreams of illusions, fear and hatred, He will not leave me without Help. Help is here! Learn to be quiet in the midst of turmoil, for ACIM is a journey to Peace. Look straight at every image that rises to delay my return Home and give it over to Truth.
I am embarking on an organized, well-structured, carefully planned program (ACIM) aimed at learning how to set aside dreams to make room for Truth.
Investment in Reality. "....If you would be perfect....sell what you possess, give to the poor......and follow me." Matthew 19:21. In other words, have no investment in anything in this world, it is all illusion. Even poverty is illusion, for poverty is lack. There is only ONE lack (my separation from God) and there is only one need (my return to God). Those who attack are poor in Spirit. Their poverty asks for Love, not for further impoverishment. Poverty is of ego and never of God. Salvation is for the mind and it is attained through Peace.
Everyone who identifies with ego feels deprived in some way or another; deprived of money, love, respect, companionship, status, etc. Depression or anger will always follow. I always perceive the world as "outside" myself. I do not realize that I made this world. There is NO ONE outside me.
The only Reality in this world are my Loving Thoughts, but my mind also contains thoughts of illusions (or insane thoughts) creating an internal conflict of a magnitude I cannot comprehend. Everything I perceive as the "outside" world, is only my attempt to maintain separation from God. I suffer consequences from these conflicting thoughts: I have become at odds with the world as I perceive it because I think the "world" is out to get me. I have projected outward what is going on in my mind.
Hatred is in my mind, not outside of it. I must realize this before I can get rid of it. It seems to be that horrible neighbor, my irritating mother, a mass murderer, al-Qaida, the slow driver in the fast lane, cancer or death. But it is all in my mind. My "world" is the symbol of separation and death. I believe death will give me relief from all my problems. Yet the only thing that will give me relief from this world is: Awakening to Truth.
The world I made is totally chaotic, governed by arbitrary and senseless "laws," and without meaning of any kind. It is made out of what I do not want, projected from my mind because of fear. Yet this world is only in my mind. All attack is in my mind and nowhere else......but so is my salvation.
Salvation is NOT outside me. I will never find Peace or salvation in any "form" in the world. The Kingdom of God is within me. Give everything that is not Peace or Love to Truth and Iet it lead me Home.
Seeking and Finding. Ego is certain that Love is dangerous. When I identify with ego, I am intensely engaged in the search for what I think is "love." Ego encourages a very active search for Love, but it makes one stipulation: do NOT find It. Seek but do NOT find is the one promise ego will keep.
Ego cannot Love. In its frantic search for Love, it seeks what it is afraid to find. For if it finds Love, ego will cease to exist and the world it created will disappear. My True Self wants this, but the part of my mind which identifies as ego does not. Ego, therefore, distorts Love.......making me search for It, but incapable of recognizing It. Ego sends me on a useless journey which leads only to futility and depression.
The world I created causes me to take a journey to search for what I have denied: God and His Kingdom. I will search for Home whether I realize it or not. If I believe It is "outside" me, the search will be futile. And I have forgotten how to look within. Yet Truth will guide me Home because that is Its mission. Truth will bring me back to Eternal Life and I will come, hand in hand, with my brother. Death is not God's Will nor mine. If death (or any illusion in this world) is my treasure, I will sell everything else to purchase it. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found It sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he sold everything he had and bought it." Matthew 13: 44-46. In other words, whatever I value, that is where I will put all my effort and investment. Will I invest in God or illusions?
As the Son of God my Inheritance cannot be bought nor sold. God gives It freely and for Always. What I chose to "sell" (forget, deny) has been kept for me. My Inheritance waits only for my recognition. Truth guides me to Eternal Life, but I must relinquish my investment in the world of illusions and all it contains, or I will not see Life.
The Sane Curriculum. I am Invulnerable. I must realize the importance of This to restore my Sanity. If I recognize that I am Invulnerable I will see that "attack" has no effect.
I cannot learn of Perfect Love with a split mind. I have learning handicaps in a very literal sense. There are areas in my learning skills that are so impaired that I can progress only under constant, clear-cut direction provided by a Teacher Who has Unlimited Resources.
I do not know the meaning of Love, and that is my handicap. I will not try to teach myself what I do not understand. Ego's learning goal has been to NOT learn. Would I ask someone who has failed to learn, what learning is all about? They do not know.
Ego's rules are "seek and do NOT find," and "try to learn but do NOT succeed." This attempt at "learning" has weakened my mind. The curriculum I have chosen with ego is against Truth and amounts to a curriculum on how to attack myself. This is depressing, indeed.
RESIGN as my own teacher. This resignation is an honest appraisal of ego's teaching and its learning outcomes. Under the proper learning conditions I will become an excellent learner. But this will not be so until my whole way of thinking is reversed.
My learning with Heaven will lead me directly to God. I will teach and learn at the same time. His curriculum is clear because there is ONE goal: offer my "small willingness" and everything else will be given me.
Christ-Vision. Ego is trying to teach me how to gain the whole world and lose my soul in the process. Truth teaches me that I cannot lose my soul and there is nothing to gain in the world, because the world does not exist. I have invested in ego and have received no profit. I have invested without profit, the cost of overhead was high, and I have impoverished myself. This investment cost me Reality and has given me nothing in return.
I cannot sell my Soul, but I can "sell" my Awareness of It. I will not even recognize my Soul while I perceive something else (ego and the world I created) as more valuable.
God is my Strength. He knows me as Spirit and nothing else. He is Perfectly Aware that I do not know myself, but He knows how to teach me to remember. I may forget my worth, but He remembers it for me. I chose to forget my Father, but I can choose otherwise. I do not want to forget God and I do not want the world of insanity. But I have forgotten this as well. God remembers it all for me.
The only thing of value in my world is the part I have looked on with Love. This gives it the only Reality it will ever have. I will learn self-value by self-extension; when I give away Love and forgiveness, it all comes back to me.
Truth's mission is to open the eyes of the blind. It knows I am not really blind, but only "sleeping." His job is to Awaken me from the sleep of forgetting, to the Remembrance of God. Accept His Vision as mine and He will look on whatever I see with Love for me. Learn the cost of sleeping and refuse to pay it; only then will I chose to Awaken.
ACIM talks about seeing the "real world." This is not Heaven, but a state of mind of total forgiveness ~ the world of insanity released from all my fearful projections. The "real world" is the end of the Atonement (the process of the forgiveness of the world), undoing my thoughts of separation and allowing God to take the final step.
I will gradually perceive common elements in ALL situations. I learn to apply my lessons and will be able to apply it to everyone and everything, for its application is universal. Truth will lead me to God's Altar, where Christ (my brothers and myself as One) is waiting for me. Perception naturally extends and fuses into Knowledge, and there will only be Love....with no interference.
The only good use of denial is to deny my separation from God, and welcome the restoration of Knowledge. Very Gently God shines on the Loving Extension of Himself that is His Son. The world has no purpose as it blends into the Purpose of God, for the world forgiven has slipped quietly into Heaven.
Looking Within. Miracles demonstrate that right learning has occurred. Learning is invisible and can only be recognized by its results. Heaven's learning is general and can be used in all situations.
Truth is invisible, but I can see the result of Its Presence. What It enables me to do is clearly not of this world. Through the miracle, every law of time, space, magnitude and mass is transcended. Miracles violate every law of "reality" as the world knows it. My function in Heaven is being God's Son, my function on earth is forgiveness. As long as I believe I have any other function here on earth, I will need correction. Let Truth manifest Itself though me with my invitation.
I have two ways of looking at the world in my mind. My perception of the world will reflect the guidance I have chosen (ego or Truth). What I see in the world comes directly from my state of mind. Think only with Truth.
Because my Reality is only Spirit, to seek and to find are one and the same. In the bible, Jesus even said, “You have heard it said, ‘Do not commit adultery. But I tell you anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery....." Matthew 5:27-28. He knew that thought was the only Reality. In my world what I desire I will look for, and what I look for, I will find. In Reality, the delay between desire and finding does not exist.
I must look within before I look out. Look within to choose my guide for seeing. Then look without to behold my witnesses. I find what I seek. What I want in myself I will make manifest and I will accept it from the world because I put it there by wanting it. This makes perfect sense if I first accept that I am doing this all to myself, including creating this world. When I see things in the world I do not want and think, 'how can I be projecting this?', it is because I still do want to experience "separation from" God, but have dissociated this from myself. This crazy ego-game leads directly to dissociation.
When I want only Love, I will see nothing else. The contradictory nature of the witnesses I perceive is merely the reflection of my conflicting invitations. Invite only Love, I will see nothing else.
The Power of decision is my one remaining freedom as a prisoner of this world. I can decide to see the world bathed in Love and forgiveness. The world's only reality is the reality I give it. I cannot give or receive anything but Love, but that I think I can do otherwise is undeniable.
The Reality of my Mind is the Loveliest of God's Creations. Its Power and Grandeur can only bring me Peace if I Truly look at It. If I am afraid, it is because I saw something that was not there.
When I accept my mission to extend Love and Peace, I will find Love and Peace. All that I see will be witness to my decision. Everything I perceive "outside" myself is a judgment of what I perceive within.
Whenever I look outside myself and react unfavorably to what I see, I have judged myself unworthy and have condemned myself to death. The death penalty is ego's ultimate goal, for ego fully believes I am a criminal deserving of death; just as God knows I am deserving only of Life. The death penalty never leaves ego's mind, for death is what ego always reserves for me in the end; wanting to kill me as the final expression of its feeling for me. It will torment me while I live, but its hatred is not satisfied until I die.
As long as I feel guilty, I am listening to the voice of ego. When I am tempted to yield to the desire for death (thinking death will relieve me of my earthly problems), remember, "Jesus" did NOT die and there is no death.
The Attraction of Love for Love. Love is sharing. Love attracts Love. Offer It and It will come back to me because Love is drawn to Itself. Offer It in my thoughts in place of judgment.
When I made visible what is not true, what IS True became invisible to me. I can deny Reality, but I cannot lose It. God has not abandoned me in my distress. He is waiting patiently, and I am waiting for Him but do not know it. The Memory of God can dawn only in a mind that chooses to remember. Relinquish the insane desire to be "separated from" God. The world I created does not exist; it is nothing. Son of God, do not be content with nothing.
I was saved the instant I thought I had deserted God. Everything I made has never been. By making "nothing" real, I see "nothing." But it is not there. And my Sonship is invisible to me. Yet it does not matter how much distance I have tried to put between myself and God. He will not abandon me.
By seeking the unreal, I have found despair. A world without God is a thing of despair, for it can never be. What God did not give me has no power over me. Love is like a magnet, It draws all Love unto Itself.
God gives me salvation in exchange for the world I made. The world forgiven and seen only in Love will show me many miracles. As I look on it I will remember that it was always so. Nothingness will become invisible when I see Truly. Redeemed perception is easily translated into Knowledge. Perception is capable only of error and perception has never been. Being corrected, perception gives way to Knowledge, which is forever the only Reality. The Atonement is the way back to What Was Never Lost.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Chapter 11 ~ God vs Ego
"What's your name? Who's your Daddy?....." Time of The Season, the Zombies
Either God is insane or ego is. Which would I bet on? "Ego" is the part of me who believes it is separate from God and has seemingly created a world to prove it. But it is impossible to create anything Real that is not Whole, Eternal, Loving and Joyful, so this world exists only in my dreams. I can experience only one world at a time: God's or ego's. Ego is nothing more than a delusional system. Ego creates by projection (projecting a world without God) and God Creates by extension (extending His Love to all His Creation). The more I approach the center of God's Thought system, the clearer His Light becomes. The closer I come to ego's thought system, the way becomes darker and more obscure.
God is like the sun and I am a Spark of His Light. Though I have forgotten Him, I can never lose the Spark of Light that is my Self. When I hold this Spark up to the foundation of ego's thought system, and am willing to judge it with perfect honesty, I will see ego's foundation was made of sand ~~ "Everyone who hears these messages of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand" Matthew 7:26 ~~ I will see that everything I feared was based on nothing.
God's Foundation is the one I seek, “Therefore he who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock," Matthew 7:24-25. The woman who received the inspiration for ACIM, believed Jesus inspired the message. He tells me in this chapter, "My brother, you are part of God and part of me. I come to you from our Father to offer you everything again. I give you the lamp and I will go with you. You do not take this journey alone. I will lead you to the Father." He does not tell me to take up his cross, he does not speak of atoning for "sin," he does not ask me to evangelize. He asks me to lay aside this world with love and forgiveness.
One does not have to believe in Jesus to appreciate the message. In fact if there is nothing and no one "outside" me, "Jesus" does not exist. Yet God will use everything I seemingly created for His Own Purposes.
The Gifts of Fatherhood. I know I need healing of some sort, there is no question.
ACIM is laying the foundation for my return to God. Mind and Thought are the only Reality. When my thought system becomes more like God's, I "will realize God is my only Father, and His Name will be above all names, and everyday will be a Holy day" (1st-4th Commandments), "I will honor all other beings," and "nothing the world seems to offer will have any value to me" (5th-10th Commandments). Are these "commandments" or are they a template on which to base my progress?
I am not separate from God and I am not a limited by a body. Eternity has no end, and I am Unlimited as God's Son. God's Kingdom is Eternal and Everywhere, without limitation. There are no beginnings or endings in God. God's Universe is Himself, and there is no way I can exclude myself from His Being. He Created me and I am One with Him.
God's Universe extends. His extension cannot be blocked; It has no voids and It continues forever ~ however much I deny It. My denial of It's Reality may arrest It in "time," but not in Eternity. So much is waiting for my return to God. Yet even "waiting" is possible only in time. Time has no meaning in Reality. I believe I am absent from God, living apart from Him in this world with a possible return to Him after "death." The Universe of Love does not stop because I have closed my eyes to It. I am like a child who thinks he is invisible just because he closes his eyes. God has given me a place in His Mind (or Kingdom) that is mine Forever. I keep it only by giving it (extension is the Law of Creation), as it was given to me. Everything God creates is endowed with all of His Characteristics.
To "deny" is to "not know." By denying God's Will for me, I am denying my own will. While I believe I exist "apart from" Him, to find my way back, I must ask what His Will is in everything. God's Holy Spirit remembers it for me.
Ego tells me God's Will is not a part of me. It tells me God demands of me what I do not want to give and He deprives me of what I do want and desire. This is so far from Truth. I cannot be Truly Happy unless I am doing God's Will. I search this world in vain, but nothing ever makes me Completely Whole and Happy.
I am asked to trust God. He does not force His Will on me, He shares it with me when I ask for It. I am truly Blessed when I learn that the Will of my Father is also my own. I will begin to recognize that my will is His and healing will begin.
Invitation to Healing. Sickness is separation from God, no matter what form it takes. Any sickness that manifests in the body is directly related to the sickness of my mind caused by my self-imposed separation from God. Every attack (physical or mental) on myself or "others" reinforces the separation. Yet, every healing thought brings me closer to Awakening. The more I practice forgiveness and healing thoughts, the better teacher and learner I become. Every healing thought teaches me that I am God's Son. Every hurtful thought keeps God from my Awareness. Denial is as total as Love.
Beside my small willingness to practice healing thoughts, God will lay His Own Complete Will and make mine Whole. Who will be the guest I invite to reside in my mind, God or ego? God's Voice will not be heard if I do not welcome Him. When I think with Him ever so slightly, the little Spark in me becomes a Blazing Light filling my mind so that God becomes my only Guest. When I allow ego to enter, I lessen the God's welcome. He will always remain with me, but I have blocked myself from Him by being consumed with things of ego. Whatever journey I choose to take (God or ego), Heaven goes with me, awaiting my invitation. I can trust God's patience. He will not leave me forsaken.
I will never find rest in this world until I know my function (forgiveness) and fulfill it. I will invite God's Knowledge back into my mind. My willingness does not need to be perfect, because God's Is. Just offer Him a small place in my mind.
Will I be hostage to ego, or host to God? My mind will accept only whom I consciously invite. I am free to choose my guest and free to decide how long he will stay. God cannot help me without my consent and invitation. Of my guests, only He is Real. I refuse to be satisfied with imaginary comforters, for the Comforter of God is in me. He awaits my invitation.
Darkness to Light. When I feel weary, anxious, afraid or isolated, remember....I have hurt myself. When I make a judgment about someone else, it affects ME and how I see myself. I cannot find rest, I do not know how. If I did know how, I would not have grown weary, anxious, afraid or isolated. All the anguish and judgment I throw out into the world, stays with me. All I have to do to feel better, is make a different choice. I can choose to judge and point fingers........or I can choose to forgive and love. Whatever I give, I keep for myself.
Pain is not of God. He gives only Peace. God is very Quiet, for there is no conflict in Him. Evil does not exist in Reality, but if it did, I could say that conflict is the root of all evil. Conflict is blind and being blind it does not see or care who it attacks. It thinks it attacks people "out there" in the world, but it attacks ONLY itself. It attacks the Son of God, and the Son of God is ME.
God's Son is in need of comfort, for he does not know what he does......“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34. I would add one thing; God does not need to forgive me, for He knows me as His Son, Whole and Complete; but I need to forgive the world, my thoughts and all "others," to create a space in my mind unclouded by illusions, allowing Truth to enter.
God gives me His Kingdom, yet I choose to wander homeless. I am at Home in God, yet I choose to be lonely. Amidst all my "brothers," I choose to be friendless.
Would God let this be Real, when He did not Will even Himself to be alone? If I knew what God Wills for me, my Joy would be Complete. What He Wills has happened, for It was always True. When Light comes and I have said "God's Will is mine," I will see such Beauty! Out of my Joy I will also create Beauty in His Name; for my Joy could no more be contained than His. My bleak little world of illusions will vanish into nothingness, and my heart will be so filled with Joy that it will leap into Heaven, into the Presence of God. What God Wills for Himself He Wills for me, and what He Wills is mine now.
The way is not hard, ".....my yoke is easy and my burden is light," Matthew 11:30, but it is very different. Mine is the way of pain. God knows nothing of pain. My way is hard and lonely. Fear and grief are my guests and they follow me on my lonely road. This dark journey does not belong to the Son of God. Walk in Light and do not see the dark companions (illusions) for they are not fit companions for the Son of God. The Great Light always surrounds me, why do I choose to see dark companions over such a Light as this? If I see darkness, it is only because I deny Light. The only good use of denial is to deny illusions.
God hides nothing from me, even though I hide from Him. I cannot hide my Glory, for God Wills me to be Glorious. I will never lose my way, for God Himself leads me. When I wander, I take a journey that is not real. Turn toward the Light. The little Spark in me is part of a Light so Great that it will sweep me out of all darkness forever. My Father is my Creator and I am like Him. There is no place for illusions in God's Temple. "There will be no gods before Him" because there ARE no other gods.
God awaits my invitation to give the Peace that is mine. Then I will give His Peace, so I will have It. Extension is the rule in God's Kingdom. To have Truth, I must give It. I cannot enter God's Presence when I am lost in illusions. Not because He will not let me, but because I will not allow myself. I never enter alone, because all my "brothers" must enter with me. I must forgive and accept them as Sons of God, or I will block the way from myself. Even though there is no one "out there," I think there is and I believe it, so I perceive it. And while I perceive it, it is "true" for me. When I forgive everyone everything, I will learn there was never anyone or anything to forgive and I will experience my Oneness.
It is not my will to be alone and limited in a body, but this is the experience my mind has chosen. I can choose differently now. Even "time" cannot separate me from God if I use time on behalf of Eternity. Use time to forgive (time's only useful purpose).
My Inheritance. The Sonship is my Inheritance, the Sonship is Who I am, the Sonship is my Self.
My Self does not need salvation, but my mind needs to lay aside illusions and remember Reality. I am not saved from anything, but I am saved for God's Glory.
If I "hate" or judge any part of my Self (another body or situation that seems to be in the world), I will not understand my Inheritance. Practice looking on the world with Love and forgiveness, because in Reality, what I am looking at is my Self.
God's Laws are only for my protection. Any limitation on me, anything other than complete Love and Happiness, are not God's Will for me. My Peace lies in my Limitlessness. If I withhold Peace and Happiness from "others," through judgment or hate, it will be lost to me. Would I cut off a brother from the Light that Unites us? I would not do it if I realized that I darken only my own mind. Offer forgiveness and Love to my brothers to return to the Kingdom together.
Only I can deprive myself of anything. God deprives me of NOTHING.
The beginning phases of the thought reversal taught by ACIM can be quite painful. For as I withdraw blame from "outside" myself, there is a strong tendency to harbor it within. But whether the blame is outside or inside me, there is no difference. My brothers are part of me and if I blame them for my own deprivation, I am still blaming MYSELF. Blame must be undone completely ~ self-blame or other-blame (self-blame is as much an ego defense as blaming others). I cannot enter God's Presence if I attack the Sonship (myself or others), not because God will not allow it, but because I am choosing ego over Spirit. Learn to undo blame in any form by sharing forgiveness and Love with myself and others. I return Home hand in hand with my brother. Christ is at God's Altar waiting to welcome me, but I must come completely without condemnation, for otherwise I will perceive the door barred. God does not close the door to me, I am holding it shut by judgment and condemnation.
Love myself with the Love of Christ, for this is how my Father loves me. The Son of God waits for my acceptance of Him as my Self. I am the Son of God. The Son of God is the extension of the Love, Glory and Peace of the Father. God does not condemn me and I must stop condemning myself and others. Learn to offer only forgiveness and Love to myself and others. Christ is the Sonship healed and Whole.
The "Dynamics" of Ego. There is no need to analyze or understand illusion, but I must look at it for what it is (the way that I separate myself from God), in order to escape from it. I will not be afraid, illusions are not dangerous, they are nothing and do not exist. I have God's Light in me and even if it is only a Spark, it has more Power than any illusion. I must face illusions head on to look beyond them.
What is healing but the removal of all that stands in the way of Truth? How else can I dispel illusions except by looking directly at them, without protecting them? Illusions are the source of all my fear. I learn that the effects of illusions will disappear simply by denying their reality. Reality is recognized by Its extension, what extends to nothing is not real.
All Power is of God. What is not of God, has no power to do anything.
When I look at ego truly I see only delusions. My ego and the many egos I seem to perceive do not exist and have no effects at all. Ego's purpose is to be separate, self-sufficient and independent of any power except its own. This is what I seemed to create when I perceived myself to be separate from God. Ego is the symbol of this separation; but only a symbol not a Reality.
Any will contrary to God's is wishful thinking and not Reality. The real conflict I experience is between ego's dreams and the Will of God Can this be a real conflict?
My whole function lies in my complete dependence on God. God does not lord His Power over me, He shares It with me. My dependence on God is my Freedom. Ego sees dependence as threatening. Ego always works on behalf of separation, because that is what it was created by me to do. Ego allows me to regard myself as emotionally shallow, callous, uninvolved, ugly, desperate and lonely. I have to examine ego as a separate being. It seems to be almost a devil-like character. It is only the part of me who is asleep, dreaming of separation and of a world apart from God. But I learn to look at it as distinct and separate only to be able to look beyond it.
What seems to separate me from God is fear, whatever form it seems to take. Very simply, I have become afraid of my Self. Only by looking directly at ego and at fear, can I finally learn to distinguish the Possible from the impossible and the false from the True.
God's Will is mine and I can never find Happiness apart from Him. Only God's Will can be accomplished and It is accomplished already. When my eyes are open, I will Know this. It is as if I am lost in a dream; insane really, for only the insane would choose fear in the place of Love. Only the insane could believe that Love can be gained by attack and control.
Ego analyzes; Truth accepts. To analyze means to break down or separate out. The attempt to understand something by breaking it down is the approach of ego to everything. Ego attacks everything it perceives by breaking it into small, disconnected parts with no meaningful relationships. Ego will always substitute chaos for Meaning, for if its foundation is "separation," Harmony is a threat. Ego focuses on error and overlooks Truth. It makes "real" every mistake it perceives. Ego looks straight at the Father and does not see Him. The case for insanity is strong to the insane.
Accept myself as God's Son and I will remember Him. Where the Son is, the Father must be.
Every brother I meet becomes a witness for Christ or for ego, depending on how I choose to perceive him. Everyone will give me evidence of my choice. If I want to see hatred and condemnation, my brother will give me that. If I want to see the Son of God, my brother will witness to that as well. Only one is True. I choose my teacher: ego or God. Everything I perceive is a witness to the thought system I choose. Every brother has the power to release me, if I choose for Truth. If he does not speak of Truth to me, it is because I did not speak of Truth to him. I hear only my own voice. If I let Truth speak through me, I will hear Heaven reflected in my brother.
Waking to Redemption. The world of dreams is all about perception, not Truth or Knowledge. Perceptions are built on the basis of dream-world experiences, and experience leads to beliefs. It is not until beliefs are fixed that perceptions stabilize. What I believe, I will see. Not the other way around. "Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe," for those who believe in Truth will see It.
ACIM is simple and perfectly clear, but ego will attempt to make it difficult.
ACIM is leading me to a new kind of experience that I will be less and less willing to deny. The distortions and illusions of the dream-world will begin to tire me.
If I perceive unworthiness in a brother, I will perceive it in myself. If I perceive it in myself, I will perceive it in God, Who then becomes "vengeful" and "jealous" ~~ the god of wrath ~~ to ego.
Do not underestimate the power the gods I worship have over me. I place myself at the altar of my gods, whether it be the god I made or the God Who Created me. Slavery is as complete as Freedom. My ego-god demands that I crucify. It demands sacrifice and pain. The God of Truth demands nothing. He does not require obedience, for obedience implies submission. God would only have me learn my will (which is His) and follow it, not in the spirit of sacrifice and submission, but in the Spirit of Joy.
I have nailed myself to a cross and placed a crown of thorns upon my own head. Yet, God offers to remove the nails and thorns from my flesh and offer me only my Freedom. All Things are possible with God.
Reality. God created only the Eternal, yet everything in the dream-world is perishable, therefore, there must be another world that I do not see. The Bible speaks of a new Heaven and new earth, but this cannot literally be True for the Eternal is not re-created, the Eternal simply Is.
Every Loving Thought the Son of God ever had is Eternal. The Loving Thoughts in my mind are this world's only Reality.
The Real world can actually be perceived. All that is necessary is a willingness to perceive nothing else. If I perceive both good and evil, I am accepting both. Ego may see some good, but never only good. Ego does not reject Goodness entirely, for that my mind would not accept. But ego always adds something that is not real to the Real, confusing illusion and Reality. When I choose to see only Truth, it will lead to my Awakening.
Opposites do not exist. There is only Love, Peace, Joy, Wholeness and Happiness. If I experience anything other than these, I am dreaming. I have made many ideas that I have placed between me and my Creator. These ideas are the dream-world as I perceive it. Truth is not absent here, but It is obscure.
The Problem and the Answer. In the end, ACIM teaches that only Reality is True. When I finally perceive this, perception will be swiftly be translated into Knowledge and all the dreams will be forgotten. The end of the world is not its destruction, but its translation into Heaven.
The Bible tells me to become as a little child. Little children do not understand, and realizing they do not understand, they ask. While I think I "know," I will see no need to ask. Do not make the mistake of believing that I do not need God's Help. I do not know the meaning of anything I perceive. Not one thought I hold is wholly True. The recognition of this is my firm beginning. The workbook starts out with the thought that "nothing I see is what I think I see ~~ this (chair) is not what I think it is, this (tree) is not what I think it is," etc. This workbook lesson asks me to question everything I think is real. My willingness to learn depends on my willingness to question everything I think I know. I should not be my own teacher. Ask God to be my Guide. He will not refuse.
ACIM is a curriculum not just of ideas, but about practical application of these ideas. What could be more specific that to be told to ask and receive. Problems seems to manifest in many forms: troubled relationships, lack of money, unhappy children, etc. However, there is really only one problem: that I think I am separated from God. There is one answer: Awaken to God.
God demands nothing of me, He only gives (the law of extension). He does not take. God willingly and Joyfully shares ALL He has with me. God gives me only what is mine and takes nothing in return. What is mine is Everything and I share It with God. THAT is Reality. Nothing of God will EVER hurt me. The Kingdom of Heaven is within me.
There is no sickness, no separation and no division. I will practice seeing this in my world. Recognize only Loving Thoughts. The Help of God goes with me everywhere. Ask for His Help and accept It. I will keep It by giving It away. All problems disappear in the presence of God's Answer.
If I perceive "sin" in my brother, I need to pluck the "sin" from my own mind. "How can I say to my brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the speck in your own eye? First take the speck out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye......Luke 6:42". ACIM is trying to tell me the thought of "sin" is only in my own mind, projected "out" onto my brother. Perceive nothing and no one without God's Guidance.
Children perceive frightening ghosts, monsters and dragons, and they are terrified. But if they confide their fear in someone they trust, and are willing to let their own interpretations go in favor of reality, their fear goes as well. When a child is helped to translate his "ghost" into a curtain, his "monster" into a shadow, and his "dragon" into a dream, he is no longer afraid and laughs happily at his own fear. I will too laugh at my own fears and replace them with Joy, Happiness and Peace. Fear does not exist in Reality. When I learn to perceive Truly, I am not afraid. Learn to ask for Truth when I am frightened. I can learn the Truth about myself but I must ask. God will not force Himself upon me.
Accept a world of forgiveness and Love for myself and my brother. See the world of dreams only in the Light of Truth. Allow a world of Love and forgiveness to replace the one I made. My Father will then lean down to me and raise me unto Himself.
God is in me and I am in God. The Father and the Son are One. If the Father is without guilt and sin, then so is His Son. I am the Son of God, made in Love, Joy and Perfect Happiness.....now is the time to Awaken to Reality.
Either God is insane or ego is. Which would I bet on? "Ego" is the part of me who believes it is separate from God and has seemingly created a world to prove it. But it is impossible to create anything Real that is not Whole, Eternal, Loving and Joyful, so this world exists only in my dreams. I can experience only one world at a time: God's or ego's. Ego is nothing more than a delusional system. Ego creates by projection (projecting a world without God) and God Creates by extension (extending His Love to all His Creation). The more I approach the center of God's Thought system, the clearer His Light becomes. The closer I come to ego's thought system, the way becomes darker and more obscure.
God is like the sun and I am a Spark of His Light. Though I have forgotten Him, I can never lose the Spark of Light that is my Self. When I hold this Spark up to the foundation of ego's thought system, and am willing to judge it with perfect honesty, I will see ego's foundation was made of sand ~~ "Everyone who hears these messages of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand" Matthew 7:26 ~~ I will see that everything I feared was based on nothing.
God's Foundation is the one I seek, “Therefore he who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock," Matthew 7:24-25. The woman who received the inspiration for ACIM, believed Jesus inspired the message. He tells me in this chapter, "My brother, you are part of God and part of me. I come to you from our Father to offer you everything again. I give you the lamp and I will go with you. You do not take this journey alone. I will lead you to the Father." He does not tell me to take up his cross, he does not speak of atoning for "sin," he does not ask me to evangelize. He asks me to lay aside this world with love and forgiveness.
One does not have to believe in Jesus to appreciate the message. In fact if there is nothing and no one "outside" me, "Jesus" does not exist. Yet God will use everything I seemingly created for His Own Purposes.
The Gifts of Fatherhood. I know I need healing of some sort, there is no question.
ACIM is laying the foundation for my return to God. Mind and Thought are the only Reality. When my thought system becomes more like God's, I "will realize God is my only Father, and His Name will be above all names, and everyday will be a Holy day" (1st-4th Commandments), "I will honor all other beings," and "nothing the world seems to offer will have any value to me" (5th-10th Commandments). Are these "commandments" or are they a template on which to base my progress?
I am not separate from God and I am not a limited by a body. Eternity has no end, and I am Unlimited as God's Son. God's Kingdom is Eternal and Everywhere, without limitation. There are no beginnings or endings in God. God's Universe is Himself, and there is no way I can exclude myself from His Being. He Created me and I am One with Him.
God's Universe extends. His extension cannot be blocked; It has no voids and It continues forever ~ however much I deny It. My denial of It's Reality may arrest It in "time," but not in Eternity. So much is waiting for my return to God. Yet even "waiting" is possible only in time. Time has no meaning in Reality. I believe I am absent from God, living apart from Him in this world with a possible return to Him after "death." The Universe of Love does not stop because I have closed my eyes to It. I am like a child who thinks he is invisible just because he closes his eyes. God has given me a place in His Mind (or Kingdom) that is mine Forever. I keep it only by giving it (extension is the Law of Creation), as it was given to me. Everything God creates is endowed with all of His Characteristics.
To "deny" is to "not know." By denying God's Will for me, I am denying my own will. While I believe I exist "apart from" Him, to find my way back, I must ask what His Will is in everything. God's Holy Spirit remembers it for me.
Ego tells me God's Will is not a part of me. It tells me God demands of me what I do not want to give and He deprives me of what I do want and desire. This is so far from Truth. I cannot be Truly Happy unless I am doing God's Will. I search this world in vain, but nothing ever makes me Completely Whole and Happy.
I am asked to trust God. He does not force His Will on me, He shares it with me when I ask for It. I am truly Blessed when I learn that the Will of my Father is also my own. I will begin to recognize that my will is His and healing will begin.
Invitation to Healing. Sickness is separation from God, no matter what form it takes. Any sickness that manifests in the body is directly related to the sickness of my mind caused by my self-imposed separation from God. Every attack (physical or mental) on myself or "others" reinforces the separation. Yet, every healing thought brings me closer to Awakening. The more I practice forgiveness and healing thoughts, the better teacher and learner I become. Every healing thought teaches me that I am God's Son. Every hurtful thought keeps God from my Awareness. Denial is as total as Love.
Beside my small willingness to practice healing thoughts, God will lay His Own Complete Will and make mine Whole. Who will be the guest I invite to reside in my mind, God or ego? God's Voice will not be heard if I do not welcome Him. When I think with Him ever so slightly, the little Spark in me becomes a Blazing Light filling my mind so that God becomes my only Guest. When I allow ego to enter, I lessen the God's welcome. He will always remain with me, but I have blocked myself from Him by being consumed with things of ego. Whatever journey I choose to take (God or ego), Heaven goes with me, awaiting my invitation. I can trust God's patience. He will not leave me forsaken.
I will never find rest in this world until I know my function (forgiveness) and fulfill it. I will invite God's Knowledge back into my mind. My willingness does not need to be perfect, because God's Is. Just offer Him a small place in my mind.
Will I be hostage to ego, or host to God? My mind will accept only whom I consciously invite. I am free to choose my guest and free to decide how long he will stay. God cannot help me without my consent and invitation. Of my guests, only He is Real. I refuse to be satisfied with imaginary comforters, for the Comforter of God is in me. He awaits my invitation.
Darkness to Light. When I feel weary, anxious, afraid or isolated, remember....I have hurt myself. When I make a judgment about someone else, it affects ME and how I see myself. I cannot find rest, I do not know how. If I did know how, I would not have grown weary, anxious, afraid or isolated. All the anguish and judgment I throw out into the world, stays with me. All I have to do to feel better, is make a different choice. I can choose to judge and point fingers........or I can choose to forgive and love. Whatever I give, I keep for myself.
Pain is not of God. He gives only Peace. God is very Quiet, for there is no conflict in Him. Evil does not exist in Reality, but if it did, I could say that conflict is the root of all evil. Conflict is blind and being blind it does not see or care who it attacks. It thinks it attacks people "out there" in the world, but it attacks ONLY itself. It attacks the Son of God, and the Son of God is ME.
God's Son is in need of comfort, for he does not know what he does......“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34. I would add one thing; God does not need to forgive me, for He knows me as His Son, Whole and Complete; but I need to forgive the world, my thoughts and all "others," to create a space in my mind unclouded by illusions, allowing Truth to enter.
God gives me His Kingdom, yet I choose to wander homeless. I am at Home in God, yet I choose to be lonely. Amidst all my "brothers," I choose to be friendless.
Would God let this be Real, when He did not Will even Himself to be alone? If I knew what God Wills for me, my Joy would be Complete. What He Wills has happened, for It was always True. When Light comes and I have said "God's Will is mine," I will see such Beauty! Out of my Joy I will also create Beauty in His Name; for my Joy could no more be contained than His. My bleak little world of illusions will vanish into nothingness, and my heart will be so filled with Joy that it will leap into Heaven, into the Presence of God. What God Wills for Himself He Wills for me, and what He Wills is mine now.
The way is not hard, ".....my yoke is easy and my burden is light," Matthew 11:30, but it is very different. Mine is the way of pain. God knows nothing of pain. My way is hard and lonely. Fear and grief are my guests and they follow me on my lonely road. This dark journey does not belong to the Son of God. Walk in Light and do not see the dark companions (illusions) for they are not fit companions for the Son of God. The Great Light always surrounds me, why do I choose to see dark companions over such a Light as this? If I see darkness, it is only because I deny Light. The only good use of denial is to deny illusions.
God hides nothing from me, even though I hide from Him. I cannot hide my Glory, for God Wills me to be Glorious. I will never lose my way, for God Himself leads me. When I wander, I take a journey that is not real. Turn toward the Light. The little Spark in me is part of a Light so Great that it will sweep me out of all darkness forever. My Father is my Creator and I am like Him. There is no place for illusions in God's Temple. "There will be no gods before Him" because there ARE no other gods.
God awaits my invitation to give the Peace that is mine. Then I will give His Peace, so I will have It. Extension is the rule in God's Kingdom. To have Truth, I must give It. I cannot enter God's Presence when I am lost in illusions. Not because He will not let me, but because I will not allow myself. I never enter alone, because all my "brothers" must enter with me. I must forgive and accept them as Sons of God, or I will block the way from myself. Even though there is no one "out there," I think there is and I believe it, so I perceive it. And while I perceive it, it is "true" for me. When I forgive everyone everything, I will learn there was never anyone or anything to forgive and I will experience my Oneness.
It is not my will to be alone and limited in a body, but this is the experience my mind has chosen. I can choose differently now. Even "time" cannot separate me from God if I use time on behalf of Eternity. Use time to forgive (time's only useful purpose).
My Inheritance. The Sonship is my Inheritance, the Sonship is Who I am, the Sonship is my Self.
My Self does not need salvation, but my mind needs to lay aside illusions and remember Reality. I am not saved from anything, but I am saved for God's Glory.
If I "hate" or judge any part of my Self (another body or situation that seems to be in the world), I will not understand my Inheritance. Practice looking on the world with Love and forgiveness, because in Reality, what I am looking at is my Self.
God's Laws are only for my protection. Any limitation on me, anything other than complete Love and Happiness, are not God's Will for me. My Peace lies in my Limitlessness. If I withhold Peace and Happiness from "others," through judgment or hate, it will be lost to me. Would I cut off a brother from the Light that Unites us? I would not do it if I realized that I darken only my own mind. Offer forgiveness and Love to my brothers to return to the Kingdom together.
Only I can deprive myself of anything. God deprives me of NOTHING.
The beginning phases of the thought reversal taught by ACIM can be quite painful. For as I withdraw blame from "outside" myself, there is a strong tendency to harbor it within. But whether the blame is outside or inside me, there is no difference. My brothers are part of me and if I blame them for my own deprivation, I am still blaming MYSELF. Blame must be undone completely ~ self-blame or other-blame (self-blame is as much an ego defense as blaming others). I cannot enter God's Presence if I attack the Sonship (myself or others), not because God will not allow it, but because I am choosing ego over Spirit. Learn to undo blame in any form by sharing forgiveness and Love with myself and others. I return Home hand in hand with my brother. Christ is at God's Altar waiting to welcome me, but I must come completely without condemnation, for otherwise I will perceive the door barred. God does not close the door to me, I am holding it shut by judgment and condemnation.
Love myself with the Love of Christ, for this is how my Father loves me. The Son of God waits for my acceptance of Him as my Self. I am the Son of God. The Son of God is the extension of the Love, Glory and Peace of the Father. God does not condemn me and I must stop condemning myself and others. Learn to offer only forgiveness and Love to myself and others. Christ is the Sonship healed and Whole.
The "Dynamics" of Ego. There is no need to analyze or understand illusion, but I must look at it for what it is (the way that I separate myself from God), in order to escape from it. I will not be afraid, illusions are not dangerous, they are nothing and do not exist. I have God's Light in me and even if it is only a Spark, it has more Power than any illusion. I must face illusions head on to look beyond them.
What is healing but the removal of all that stands in the way of Truth? How else can I dispel illusions except by looking directly at them, without protecting them? Illusions are the source of all my fear. I learn that the effects of illusions will disappear simply by denying their reality. Reality is recognized by Its extension, what extends to nothing is not real.
All Power is of God. What is not of God, has no power to do anything.
When I look at ego truly I see only delusions. My ego and the many egos I seem to perceive do not exist and have no effects at all. Ego's purpose is to be separate, self-sufficient and independent of any power except its own. This is what I seemed to create when I perceived myself to be separate from God. Ego is the symbol of this separation; but only a symbol not a Reality.
Any will contrary to God's is wishful thinking and not Reality. The real conflict I experience is between ego's dreams and the Will of God Can this be a real conflict?
My whole function lies in my complete dependence on God. God does not lord His Power over me, He shares It with me. My dependence on God is my Freedom. Ego sees dependence as threatening. Ego always works on behalf of separation, because that is what it was created by me to do. Ego allows me to regard myself as emotionally shallow, callous, uninvolved, ugly, desperate and lonely. I have to examine ego as a separate being. It seems to be almost a devil-like character. It is only the part of me who is asleep, dreaming of separation and of a world apart from God. But I learn to look at it as distinct and separate only to be able to look beyond it.
What seems to separate me from God is fear, whatever form it seems to take. Very simply, I have become afraid of my Self. Only by looking directly at ego and at fear, can I finally learn to distinguish the Possible from the impossible and the false from the True.
God's Will is mine and I can never find Happiness apart from Him. Only God's Will can be accomplished and It is accomplished already. When my eyes are open, I will Know this. It is as if I am lost in a dream; insane really, for only the insane would choose fear in the place of Love. Only the insane could believe that Love can be gained by attack and control.
Ego analyzes; Truth accepts. To analyze means to break down or separate out. The attempt to understand something by breaking it down is the approach of ego to everything. Ego attacks everything it perceives by breaking it into small, disconnected parts with no meaningful relationships. Ego will always substitute chaos for Meaning, for if its foundation is "separation," Harmony is a threat. Ego focuses on error and overlooks Truth. It makes "real" every mistake it perceives. Ego looks straight at the Father and does not see Him. The case for insanity is strong to the insane.
Accept myself as God's Son and I will remember Him. Where the Son is, the Father must be.
Every brother I meet becomes a witness for Christ or for ego, depending on how I choose to perceive him. Everyone will give me evidence of my choice. If I want to see hatred and condemnation, my brother will give me that. If I want to see the Son of God, my brother will witness to that as well. Only one is True. I choose my teacher: ego or God. Everything I perceive is a witness to the thought system I choose. Every brother has the power to release me, if I choose for Truth. If he does not speak of Truth to me, it is because I did not speak of Truth to him. I hear only my own voice. If I let Truth speak through me, I will hear Heaven reflected in my brother.
Waking to Redemption. The world of dreams is all about perception, not Truth or Knowledge. Perceptions are built on the basis of dream-world experiences, and experience leads to beliefs. It is not until beliefs are fixed that perceptions stabilize. What I believe, I will see. Not the other way around. "Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe," for those who believe in Truth will see It.
ACIM is simple and perfectly clear, but ego will attempt to make it difficult.
ACIM is leading me to a new kind of experience that I will be less and less willing to deny. The distortions and illusions of the dream-world will begin to tire me.
If I perceive unworthiness in a brother, I will perceive it in myself. If I perceive it in myself, I will perceive it in God, Who then becomes "vengeful" and "jealous" ~~ the god of wrath ~~ to ego.
Do not underestimate the power the gods I worship have over me. I place myself at the altar of my gods, whether it be the god I made or the God Who Created me. Slavery is as complete as Freedom. My ego-god demands that I crucify. It demands sacrifice and pain. The God of Truth demands nothing. He does not require obedience, for obedience implies submission. God would only have me learn my will (which is His) and follow it, not in the spirit of sacrifice and submission, but in the Spirit of Joy.
I have nailed myself to a cross and placed a crown of thorns upon my own head. Yet, God offers to remove the nails and thorns from my flesh and offer me only my Freedom. All Things are possible with God.
Reality. God created only the Eternal, yet everything in the dream-world is perishable, therefore, there must be another world that I do not see. The Bible speaks of a new Heaven and new earth, but this cannot literally be True for the Eternal is not re-created, the Eternal simply Is.
Every Loving Thought the Son of God ever had is Eternal. The Loving Thoughts in my mind are this world's only Reality.
The Real world can actually be perceived. All that is necessary is a willingness to perceive nothing else. If I perceive both good and evil, I am accepting both. Ego may see some good, but never only good. Ego does not reject Goodness entirely, for that my mind would not accept. But ego always adds something that is not real to the Real, confusing illusion and Reality. When I choose to see only Truth, it will lead to my Awakening.
Opposites do not exist. There is only Love, Peace, Joy, Wholeness and Happiness. If I experience anything other than these, I am dreaming. I have made many ideas that I have placed between me and my Creator. These ideas are the dream-world as I perceive it. Truth is not absent here, but It is obscure.
The Problem and the Answer. In the end, ACIM teaches that only Reality is True. When I finally perceive this, perception will be swiftly be translated into Knowledge and all the dreams will be forgotten. The end of the world is not its destruction, but its translation into Heaven.
The Bible tells me to become as a little child. Little children do not understand, and realizing they do not understand, they ask. While I think I "know," I will see no need to ask. Do not make the mistake of believing that I do not need God's Help. I do not know the meaning of anything I perceive. Not one thought I hold is wholly True. The recognition of this is my firm beginning. The workbook starts out with the thought that "nothing I see is what I think I see ~~ this (chair) is not what I think it is, this (tree) is not what I think it is," etc. This workbook lesson asks me to question everything I think is real. My willingness to learn depends on my willingness to question everything I think I know. I should not be my own teacher. Ask God to be my Guide. He will not refuse.
ACIM is a curriculum not just of ideas, but about practical application of these ideas. What could be more specific that to be told to ask and receive. Problems seems to manifest in many forms: troubled relationships, lack of money, unhappy children, etc. However, there is really only one problem: that I think I am separated from God. There is one answer: Awaken to God.
God demands nothing of me, He only gives (the law of extension). He does not take. God willingly and Joyfully shares ALL He has with me. God gives me only what is mine and takes nothing in return. What is mine is Everything and I share It with God. THAT is Reality. Nothing of God will EVER hurt me. The Kingdom of Heaven is within me.
There is no sickness, no separation and no division. I will practice seeing this in my world. Recognize only Loving Thoughts. The Help of God goes with me everywhere. Ask for His Help and accept It. I will keep It by giving It away. All problems disappear in the presence of God's Answer.
If I perceive "sin" in my brother, I need to pluck the "sin" from my own mind. "How can I say to my brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the speck in your own eye? First take the speck out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye......Luke 6:42". ACIM is trying to tell me the thought of "sin" is only in my own mind, projected "out" onto my brother. Perceive nothing and no one without God's Guidance.
Children perceive frightening ghosts, monsters and dragons, and they are terrified. But if they confide their fear in someone they trust, and are willing to let their own interpretations go in favor of reality, their fear goes as well. When a child is helped to translate his "ghost" into a curtain, his "monster" into a shadow, and his "dragon" into a dream, he is no longer afraid and laughs happily at his own fear. I will too laugh at my own fears and replace them with Joy, Happiness and Peace. Fear does not exist in Reality. When I learn to perceive Truly, I am not afraid. Learn to ask for Truth when I am frightened. I can learn the Truth about myself but I must ask. God will not force Himself upon me.
Accept a world of forgiveness and Love for myself and my brother. See the world of dreams only in the Light of Truth. Allow a world of Love and forgiveness to replace the one I made. My Father will then lean down to me and raise me unto Himself.
God is in me and I am in God. The Father and the Son are One. If the Father is without guilt and sin, then so is His Son. I am the Son of God, made in Love, Joy and Perfect Happiness.....now is the time to Awaken to Reality.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Chapter 9 ~ Atonement
Accepting Reality. The mind is profoundly split. One part of it believes it exists in a world "apart from" God, the other part exists in Heaven, Untouched and Undisturbed.
I am the Son of God in Heaven with my Father. Yet, it is as if I am asleep, dreaming of exile to a world with choices, opposites, judgments, perceptions, and death. It is a nightmare because it is not Natural for the Son of God to exist in anything but Perfect Love and Perfect Peace. But here I am, split into many bodies, born only to exist a little while and eventually die. There are many "others" besides myself. Some of them are enemies. In fact, there is not even one who can offer me lasting Joy and Happiness. Am I doomed to wander this world, searching for meaning in the meaningless, searching for signs of Life in death, alone and imprisoned within a body? How can I be anything but fearful? How can I move or "be" when death and destruction is around every corner? It is impossible to learn anything in a state of panic.
I have set up this strange situation so that it is impossible to escape. I have imprisoned my will beyond my own Awareness.
A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum , it helps me remember Who I am. It introduces me to Love, Which does know my Reality. An opposing will is not forced upon me. Love merely makes every effort, within the limits I created, to Awaken me to my True Home; to sort out the True from the false in my mind. Heaven is my will. Heaven is what I want.....I have merely forgotten.
My will is the same as God's. The "separation" is nothing more than a belief that God's Will and mine are different.
The "world" asks for sacrifice, but God will never ask for sacrifice. I may insist that He does not answer my calls for help, but consider what kind of questions I am asking. I do not even ask for what I Truly want, because I am afraid I might receive it.....and I would. If I ask for love, I will get Love; not in the form of a "special" person, but in the only Real way Love Exists. When I ask for things of the world, I am asking for nothing, because the "world" does not exist. What does exist? Eternal, Unending Love, Joy, Peace, Comfort, and Bliss.
Ultimately, I will remember the Will of God. In the presence of Truth, there are no unbelievers and no sacrifices. In the Security of Reality, fear is meaningless. Fear cannot be Real without a cause, and God is the only Cause. God is Love and I do want Him. To be with God is my will. Ask for this and I will be Answered because I am only asking for What Belongs To Me.
When I ask God for what would hurt me, He cannot answer because nothing can hurt me, and so I am asking for nothing. Any wish that comes from ego desiring anything of the world is a wish for nothing, and to ask for nothing is not a request, it is a denial (denying my Reality as God's Son) in the form of a request.
I do not recognize the enormous amount of energy I waste in looking for answers in the dream-world. What would I say about someone who persists in pursuing the impossible, believing that to achieve it is to succeed? The belief that I must have the impossible in order to be happy is at odds with Creation. God Willed me Happiness and Joy, but I insist on finding it in a world that can never provide It.
The fact that God is Love does not require belief, it requires acceptance. I can deny the facts, but I cannot change them. God's World is True and nothing else is True. I cannot distort Reality (by creating illusions) and still know what Reality is. By distorting Reality, I will experience anxiety, depression, and panic because I am making myself unreal. I am the Son of God, not a body. When I feel anxious, I will not look to the world for relief, I will look within for Truth.
The Answer to Prayer. Everyone who has ever tried to use prayer to ask for something has experienced what appears to be failure. The Bible emphasizes that all prayer is answered, and this is True. The very fact that God has been asked for something will ensure a response. It is possible that I have not heard His Answer. There are many Answers I have already received but have not yet heard. Be assured, They are waiting for me.
My decision about my "brother" will determine the message I receive. Is my "brother" the Son of God (as am I) or is he my enemy? If I feel the slightest bit judgmental or annoyed with another, I can be sure I have decided he is enemy. I created the world of "others" to experience separation. God can use everything I created for His Own Holy Purposes and He placed my salvation in my "brother." Every opportunity and every encounter with "another" is a chance to offer forgiveness, laying aside the negative and restoring Peace to my mind. What if my brother says something unkind or something hurtful? I am doing it to myself and projecting it out into the world to be reflected back to me through my "brother." Ego is speaking to me, and ego is insane. Ego is always wrong no matter what it says or does.
I will find my salvation in forgiving my brother. It is impossible to pray for myself alone, nor can I find Joy alone. I am One with God and my "brother." I cannot ask for a blessing without first blessing my brother. There is a price to pay for judging my brother, because judgment sets a price. As I set it so will I pay, per the "laws" of my dream-world.
God has given me Everything as His Son. It is impossible to lack anything, but it is possible to be unaware of what I have. When I recognize that I have Everything, out of my abundance I am able to give and in giving, I reinforce that I "have." Everything of God's is Extended and Shared......Always. This is the Natural State of Heaven, and my Natural State. Anything negative cannot be shared, because it does not exist.
The Correction of Error. In the dream-world I am on high alert to the error of "others." To ego, it is kind and right and good to point out and correct errors. When I correct a brother, I am in essence telling him he is wrong. In Reality there is no error. Error is of ego and of the world, and neither exist because they are not True. Ego is always wrong no matter what it says or does. But the Son of God is always Right and Good. I must practice seeing my brother as Son of God. The way I see my brother is the way I will see myself. If I point out the error of my brother's ego, it is because error fills my own mind. Ego makes no sense, and Love does not try to understand it. Nor does Love judge it, because Love knows that nothing ego says or does means anything.
When I react in any way to error ~ mine or my brother's ~ I am not listening to Truth. Truth will merely disregard error and so should I. When a brother behaves insanely, the only good response is to perceive the Sanity in him. If I perceive his errors I only reinforce my own. If any error bothers me or upsets my peace of mind, I will give it to Truth. This is the only way to handle error.
My brother is as right as I am and if I think he is wrong, I condemn myself. I do not even know how to correct myself, how can it be possible to correct a brother? It is not up to me to worry about or try to change my brother, but merely accept him as he is. I have only to work on myself. Errors have no effect on the Truth in me or my brother. To perceive errors in anyone and react to them as if they were Real, is to make them "real" for me. I will not escape paying a price for this, not because I am being punished, but because I am following the wrong guide (ego) and will therefore lose my way.
Any attempt to correct a brother means that I believe correction by me is possible, and this can only be arrogance of ego. Correction is of God. I will not try to undertake His function, nor I will forget my own (forgiveness). The only good use of "time" is for forgiveness and healing. God will show me how to see myself and my brother without condemnation, by learning to look on everyone with Love and forgiveness.
Love's Plan of Forgiveness. The Atonement was created to Awaken me to Reality. My function in the Atonement is forgiveness. To forgive is to overlook, or to look beyond, error. I will not dwell on error, for if I do it will fill my mind allowing room for nothing else. My identity as Son of God is shared with my brother. To know myself as Son of God, I must also see my brother as Son of God, instead of attacking or judging. Forgive instead.
Ego has a plan of forgiveness as well, but by following its plan I will merely make problems "real." If a problem is "real" to me, I cannot overlook it. This is where ego is forced to appeal to "mysteries," insisting that I must accept the meaningless to save myself. Ego is unpredictable in its responses. It is a particularly dangerous combination of grandiosity and confusion that makes it likely to attack anyone and anything for no reason at all.
Forgiveness simply looks beyond error. I do not have to sacrifice, do penance or undo error to be forgiven. Sin does not exist and has no effect at all.
The Second Coming is merely the return of Awareness to God's Son. Can this be fearful? What seems fearful can only be fantasy. I will never find satisfaction or Reality in fantasy. Fairy tales can be pleasant or fearful, but no one calls them True. Children may believe them, so for a while the tales are "true" for them, until they outgrow and lay fantasy aside. The Second Coming is the Awareness of Reality, not its return.
Miracles result from my forgiveness. Miracles are natural and when they do not occur something has gone wrong. Miracles are merely the sign that I am following the plan of Atonement (waking up to Heaven).
Heaven and Reality are all around me, yet I am unaware.
Accepting My Brother. God has One Son. There are not "many" sons, but One. Neither God's Light nor mine is dimmed because I do not see Light. Wholeness is Indivisible but I cannot learn of my Wholeness in the world of dreams, until I see It "outside" myself in "others." The only "self" that is True is the Self that God knows as His Son. Anything less does not exist.
Miracles have no place in Eternity because they only help repair my split mind. Once my mind is Whole, there is no need for miracles.
Giving and Receiving are simultaneous in Eternity. Eternity is "Now," its only dimension being "Always."
The Two Evaluations. God Wills that I have salvation and He has made it possible and easy to obtain. I do not have far to look for forgiveness opportunities which will result in my salvation. Opportunities for forgiveness are everywhere. Every minute and every second gives me a chance for salvation. Do not lose these chances! NOT because once lost, they are lost forever, only because delay of Joy is not necessary. God Wills me Perfect Happiness NOW. I will abide in Peace when I make the decision to do so.
God looks on me with Love. His evaluation of me is based on His Knowledge of what I am (His Son), so He evaluates Truly. Ego is also in my mind, but only because I have accepted it there. Ego is the self I created as part of a world "opposite" God. It does not know that I am Son of God, because I created ego to convince myself that I am "apart from" God. Ego is mistrustful of everything it perceives because its perceptions shift from minute to minute. Ego is capable only of suspiciousness at best and viciousness at worst. This is ego's range.
I have two conflicting evaluations of myself in my mind and only One is True. Love is not deceived by anything I "do," because Love never forgets who I am (Son of God). Ego is particularly likely to attack me when I react Lovingly, because ego distrusts my motives.
If I choose to see myself through the vision of ego (unloving), I will not be Happy. In seeing myself through ego, I condemn myself as "not of God" and must regard myself as inadequate. I cannot evaluate an insane belief system from within it. I can only go beyond it, look back from a Safe, Sane distance and see the contrast. Only by seeing Sanity can I judge insanity to be insane. I have the Grandeur of God in me, but I have chosen to be "less-than" and then to lament my "littleness." If I never question this littleness, I will keep ego's entire thought system intact and will have no access to Knowledge.
Judge every belief I hold in terms of where it comes from. If it comes from God, It is True. If it does not, it is meaningless.
Grandeur versus Grandiosity. Grandeur is of God and only of Him, therefore It is in me as well. Self-inflation of ego ~ grandiosity ~ is its alternative to the Grandeur of God. Grandiosity is always a cover for despair. It is an attempt to counteract my inadequacy based on the belief that inadequacy is "real." Otherwise grandiosity is meaningless. Grandiosity is competitive and always involves attack. Ego's profound sense of vulnerability makes it incapable of judgment except in terms of attack. When ego experiences threat, its only decision is whether to attack now or later. Ego will make every effort to oppose my Awakening. It will tell me that I am insane and argue that I cannot possibly be God's Son because I am so "unworthy."
Remember always, that I cannot be anywhere except in the Mind of God. When I forget this I will despair, and from despair I will attack. My Grandeur is God's Answer to ego. Littleness and Grandeur cannot coexist, but littleness and grandiosity can and must alternate, since both are untrue and on the same level, and are experienced as shifting. Extremes are its essential characteristics in the world of dreams. Truth does not shift and change, It is always True. My Grandeur will never deceive me, but my illusions always will. Grandiosity is delusional and used to replace Grandeur. But like all illusions it is false and cannot possibly replace what God has Created. God's Grandeur is Total and I cannot be missing from It.
I am Irreplaceable in the Mind of God. My value is determined by God, not me. To accept myself as God created me cannot be arrogance. To accept my littleness is arrogant because it means I believe my evaluation of myself is truer than God's. I did not establish my Value and It needs no defense.
I am the Son of God in Heaven with my Father. Yet, it is as if I am asleep, dreaming of exile to a world with choices, opposites, judgments, perceptions, and death. It is a nightmare because it is not Natural for the Son of God to exist in anything but Perfect Love and Perfect Peace. But here I am, split into many bodies, born only to exist a little while and eventually die. There are many "others" besides myself. Some of them are enemies. In fact, there is not even one who can offer me lasting Joy and Happiness. Am I doomed to wander this world, searching for meaning in the meaningless, searching for signs of Life in death, alone and imprisoned within a body? How can I be anything but fearful? How can I move or "be" when death and destruction is around every corner? It is impossible to learn anything in a state of panic.
I have set up this strange situation so that it is impossible to escape. I have imprisoned my will beyond my own Awareness.
A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum , it helps me remember Who I am. It introduces me to Love, Which does know my Reality. An opposing will is not forced upon me. Love merely makes every effort, within the limits I created, to Awaken me to my True Home; to sort out the True from the false in my mind. Heaven is my will. Heaven is what I want.....I have merely forgotten.
My will is the same as God's. The "separation" is nothing more than a belief that God's Will and mine are different.
The "world" asks for sacrifice, but God will never ask for sacrifice. I may insist that He does not answer my calls for help, but consider what kind of questions I am asking. I do not even ask for what I Truly want, because I am afraid I might receive it.....and I would. If I ask for love, I will get Love; not in the form of a "special" person, but in the only Real way Love Exists. When I ask for things of the world, I am asking for nothing, because the "world" does not exist. What does exist? Eternal, Unending Love, Joy, Peace, Comfort, and Bliss.
Ultimately, I will remember the Will of God. In the presence of Truth, there are no unbelievers and no sacrifices. In the Security of Reality, fear is meaningless. Fear cannot be Real without a cause, and God is the only Cause. God is Love and I do want Him. To be with God is my will. Ask for this and I will be Answered because I am only asking for What Belongs To Me.
When I ask God for what would hurt me, He cannot answer because nothing can hurt me, and so I am asking for nothing. Any wish that comes from ego desiring anything of the world is a wish for nothing, and to ask for nothing is not a request, it is a denial (denying my Reality as God's Son) in the form of a request.
I do not recognize the enormous amount of energy I waste in looking for answers in the dream-world. What would I say about someone who persists in pursuing the impossible, believing that to achieve it is to succeed? The belief that I must have the impossible in order to be happy is at odds with Creation. God Willed me Happiness and Joy, but I insist on finding it in a world that can never provide It.
The fact that God is Love does not require belief, it requires acceptance. I can deny the facts, but I cannot change them. God's World is True and nothing else is True. I cannot distort Reality (by creating illusions) and still know what Reality is. By distorting Reality, I will experience anxiety, depression, and panic because I am making myself unreal. I am the Son of God, not a body. When I feel anxious, I will not look to the world for relief, I will look within for Truth.
The Answer to Prayer. Everyone who has ever tried to use prayer to ask for something has experienced what appears to be failure. The Bible emphasizes that all prayer is answered, and this is True. The very fact that God has been asked for something will ensure a response. It is possible that I have not heard His Answer. There are many Answers I have already received but have not yet heard. Be assured, They are waiting for me.
My decision about my "brother" will determine the message I receive. Is my "brother" the Son of God (as am I) or is he my enemy? If I feel the slightest bit judgmental or annoyed with another, I can be sure I have decided he is enemy. I created the world of "others" to experience separation. God can use everything I created for His Own Holy Purposes and He placed my salvation in my "brother." Every opportunity and every encounter with "another" is a chance to offer forgiveness, laying aside the negative and restoring Peace to my mind. What if my brother says something unkind or something hurtful? I am doing it to myself and projecting it out into the world to be reflected back to me through my "brother." Ego is speaking to me, and ego is insane. Ego is always wrong no matter what it says or does.
I will find my salvation in forgiving my brother. It is impossible to pray for myself alone, nor can I find Joy alone. I am One with God and my "brother." I cannot ask for a blessing without first blessing my brother. There is a price to pay for judging my brother, because judgment sets a price. As I set it so will I pay, per the "laws" of my dream-world.
God has given me Everything as His Son. It is impossible to lack anything, but it is possible to be unaware of what I have. When I recognize that I have Everything, out of my abundance I am able to give and in giving, I reinforce that I "have." Everything of God's is Extended and Shared......Always. This is the Natural State of Heaven, and my Natural State. Anything negative cannot be shared, because it does not exist.
The Correction of Error. In the dream-world I am on high alert to the error of "others." To ego, it is kind and right and good to point out and correct errors. When I correct a brother, I am in essence telling him he is wrong. In Reality there is no error. Error is of ego and of the world, and neither exist because they are not True. Ego is always wrong no matter what it says or does. But the Son of God is always Right and Good. I must practice seeing my brother as Son of God. The way I see my brother is the way I will see myself. If I point out the error of my brother's ego, it is because error fills my own mind. Ego makes no sense, and Love does not try to understand it. Nor does Love judge it, because Love knows that nothing ego says or does means anything.
When I react in any way to error ~ mine or my brother's ~ I am not listening to Truth. Truth will merely disregard error and so should I. When a brother behaves insanely, the only good response is to perceive the Sanity in him. If I perceive his errors I only reinforce my own. If any error bothers me or upsets my peace of mind, I will give it to Truth. This is the only way to handle error.
My brother is as right as I am and if I think he is wrong, I condemn myself. I do not even know how to correct myself, how can it be possible to correct a brother? It is not up to me to worry about or try to change my brother, but merely accept him as he is. I have only to work on myself. Errors have no effect on the Truth in me or my brother. To perceive errors in anyone and react to them as if they were Real, is to make them "real" for me. I will not escape paying a price for this, not because I am being punished, but because I am following the wrong guide (ego) and will therefore lose my way.
Any attempt to correct a brother means that I believe correction by me is possible, and this can only be arrogance of ego. Correction is of God. I will not try to undertake His function, nor I will forget my own (forgiveness). The only good use of "time" is for forgiveness and healing. God will show me how to see myself and my brother without condemnation, by learning to look on everyone with Love and forgiveness.
Love's Plan of Forgiveness. The Atonement was created to Awaken me to Reality. My function in the Atonement is forgiveness. To forgive is to overlook, or to look beyond, error. I will not dwell on error, for if I do it will fill my mind allowing room for nothing else. My identity as Son of God is shared with my brother. To know myself as Son of God, I must also see my brother as Son of God, instead of attacking or judging. Forgive instead.
Ego has a plan of forgiveness as well, but by following its plan I will merely make problems "real." If a problem is "real" to me, I cannot overlook it. This is where ego is forced to appeal to "mysteries," insisting that I must accept the meaningless to save myself. Ego is unpredictable in its responses. It is a particularly dangerous combination of grandiosity and confusion that makes it likely to attack anyone and anything for no reason at all.
Forgiveness simply looks beyond error. I do not have to sacrifice, do penance or undo error to be forgiven. Sin does not exist and has no effect at all.
The Second Coming is merely the return of Awareness to God's Son. Can this be fearful? What seems fearful can only be fantasy. I will never find satisfaction or Reality in fantasy. Fairy tales can be pleasant or fearful, but no one calls them True. Children may believe them, so for a while the tales are "true" for them, until they outgrow and lay fantasy aside. The Second Coming is the Awareness of Reality, not its return.
Miracles result from my forgiveness. Miracles are natural and when they do not occur something has gone wrong. Miracles are merely the sign that I am following the plan of Atonement (waking up to Heaven).
Heaven and Reality are all around me, yet I am unaware.
Accepting My Brother. God has One Son. There are not "many" sons, but One. Neither God's Light nor mine is dimmed because I do not see Light. Wholeness is Indivisible but I cannot learn of my Wholeness in the world of dreams, until I see It "outside" myself in "others." The only "self" that is True is the Self that God knows as His Son. Anything less does not exist.
Miracles have no place in Eternity because they only help repair my split mind. Once my mind is Whole, there is no need for miracles.
Giving and Receiving are simultaneous in Eternity. Eternity is "Now," its only dimension being "Always."
The Two Evaluations. God Wills that I have salvation and He has made it possible and easy to obtain. I do not have far to look for forgiveness opportunities which will result in my salvation. Opportunities for forgiveness are everywhere. Every minute and every second gives me a chance for salvation. Do not lose these chances! NOT because once lost, they are lost forever, only because delay of Joy is not necessary. God Wills me Perfect Happiness NOW. I will abide in Peace when I make the decision to do so.
God looks on me with Love. His evaluation of me is based on His Knowledge of what I am (His Son), so He evaluates Truly. Ego is also in my mind, but only because I have accepted it there. Ego is the self I created as part of a world "opposite" God. It does not know that I am Son of God, because I created ego to convince myself that I am "apart from" God. Ego is mistrustful of everything it perceives because its perceptions shift from minute to minute. Ego is capable only of suspiciousness at best and viciousness at worst. This is ego's range.
I have two conflicting evaluations of myself in my mind and only One is True. Love is not deceived by anything I "do," because Love never forgets who I am (Son of God). Ego is particularly likely to attack me when I react Lovingly, because ego distrusts my motives.
If I choose to see myself through the vision of ego (unloving), I will not be Happy. In seeing myself through ego, I condemn myself as "not of God" and must regard myself as inadequate. I cannot evaluate an insane belief system from within it. I can only go beyond it, look back from a Safe, Sane distance and see the contrast. Only by seeing Sanity can I judge insanity to be insane. I have the Grandeur of God in me, but I have chosen to be "less-than" and then to lament my "littleness." If I never question this littleness, I will keep ego's entire thought system intact and will have no access to Knowledge.
Judge every belief I hold in terms of where it comes from. If it comes from God, It is True. If it does not, it is meaningless.
Grandeur versus Grandiosity. Grandeur is of God and only of Him, therefore It is in me as well. Self-inflation of ego ~ grandiosity ~ is its alternative to the Grandeur of God. Grandiosity is always a cover for despair. It is an attempt to counteract my inadequacy based on the belief that inadequacy is "real." Otherwise grandiosity is meaningless. Grandiosity is competitive and always involves attack. Ego's profound sense of vulnerability makes it incapable of judgment except in terms of attack. When ego experiences threat, its only decision is whether to attack now or later. Ego will make every effort to oppose my Awakening. It will tell me that I am insane and argue that I cannot possibly be God's Son because I am so "unworthy."
Remember always, that I cannot be anywhere except in the Mind of God. When I forget this I will despair, and from despair I will attack. My Grandeur is God's Answer to ego. Littleness and Grandeur cannot coexist, but littleness and grandiosity can and must alternate, since both are untrue and on the same level, and are experienced as shifting. Extremes are its essential characteristics in the world of dreams. Truth does not shift and change, It is always True. My Grandeur will never deceive me, but my illusions always will. Grandiosity is delusional and used to replace Grandeur. But like all illusions it is false and cannot possibly replace what God has Created. God's Grandeur is Total and I cannot be missing from It.
I am Irreplaceable in the Mind of God. My value is determined by God, not me. To accept myself as God created me cannot be arrogance. To accept my littleness is arrogant because it means I believe my evaluation of myself is truer than God's. I did not establish my Value and It needs no defense.
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