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.
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