Projection makes perception. What my mind creates is projected out onto the dream-world. In other words, I first thought of a world separated from God, then I projected it "outward," and my body's eyes seemed to see it. Now the world reflects back to me my own thoughts. That is all this is. The dream-world is a witness to my state of mind; the outside picture of an inward condition. "As a man thinketh, so doth he perceiveth." Seek not to change the world, but choose to change my mind about the world.
Anything perceived without Vision means nothing. Where there is no meaning, there is chaos. My dream-world is perceived without Vision. Damnation is the judgment placed on myself by myself. This I project upon the world, and it is reflected back to me. If I see the world as damned, I will see "sin." If I see disaster and catastrophe, it is because I believe I am apart from God.
Everything looked upon with Vision is healed and Holy. If I see Holiness and Hope, I can be sure I have joined with the Will of God.
There is only this one choice: Heaven or hell, salvation or damnation, illusion or Reality. I see evidence of my choice in the dream-world. Seeing the evidence will enable me to recognize which one was chosen.
The Forgotten Song. In the dream-world the blind see only in their imagination, for what anything looks like is unknown to them. They must judge from indirect evidence. They adjust to their information as they stumble and fall because of things they did not recognize, or walk unharmed through open doorways that they thought were closed. So it is with me. I do not Truly See. My cues for judgment are wrong, so I stumble and fall over stones I do not recognize, or fail to see that I can go through doors I thought were closed but, in fact, stand open waiting to welcome me. Judgment will always give false directions, but Vision shows me Truth. There is no need for me to guess. There is no need for me to learn through pain. Gentle lessons are learned Joyously and remembered gladly. I am not a Happy learner yet, because I am still uncertain that Vision gives me more than judgment. I cannot have both.
The blind become accustomed to the world by their adjustments to it. They learn, not through Joyous lessons, but through the stern necessity of limits they believed they could not overcome. I hold the lessons of the world dear, clinging to them because I cannot See. I do not understand that my lessons keep me blind. Everything I learn in the dream-world is learned through pain, and everything in it serves to remind me that I am incomplete and bitterly deprived.
I adjust to life as I think I must, afraid of losing the little I have. So it is when I see myself as a body. I try to reach my brother, but I fail again and again. I adjust to loneliness, believing that only the body can give me what little I have.
Heaven calls to me constantly and I have chosen not to hear. Perhaps I have felt a hint of an Ancient State not quite forgotten; dim, but not altogether unfamiliar, like a song whose lyrics are long forgotten and the circumstances in which I heard it completely unremembered. A little wisp of melody has stayed with me though, not attached to a person, place or anything in particular. But I remember, from just this little part, how lovely it was, how wonderful the setting where I heard it, and how I loved those who were there and listened with me. Listen and see if I remember the Ancient Song I knew so long ago, and held more dear than any melody I taught myself since.
Beyond the body, beyond the sun and stars, past everything I seem to see in the dream-world there is something familiar: an Arc of Golden Light that stretches into a Great, Shining Circle. The Circle fills with Light before my eyes, then the edges of the Circle disappear. What was in It is no longer contained at all. The Light expands and covers everything, extending to Infinity, Forever Shining, with no break or limit anywhere. Within It, Everything is joined in Perfect Continuity. It is impossible to imagine anything "outside" of It, for there is nowhere that this Light is not: This is the Vision of the Son of God, whom I know well. Here is the Memory of What I Am. Accept the Vision, not what the body's eyes show me which is nothing and shows me nothing. I know the Ancient Song, and I know It well. Nothing will ever be as dear to me as this Ancient Hymn.
Now the blind can See, for that same Song they sing in honor of their Creator gives praise to them as well. The blindness that I made will not withstand the Memory of Heaven. I will look upon the Vision of the Son of God and remember Him. What is a miracle but this remembering? The Light in one will Awaken the Light in all. When I see the Light in my brother, I remember It for everyone.
The Responsibility for Sight. God asks very little of me. Just a small willingness is all I need to transform all my relationships to Joy. This little gift I offer to God in exchange for Everything; this tiny change of mind in exchange for Eternal Peace; my small willingness is all my Creator needs.
I will not deceive myself any longer that I am helpless in the face of what is "done" to me. Acknowledge that I have been mistaken and all the effects of my mistakes will disappear. It is impossible that the Son of God be tossed around carelessly by events "outside" him. It is impossible that situations and events in my life are not my choice. I have the Power to decide every situation in which I seem to find myself by chance or "accident." Accident and chance are impossible within God's Domain. Suffering is possible only in dreams. Suffer, and I have decided that separation from God is my goal. Be Happy and give the Power of decision to God. This is the little gift I offer Him and even this, He gives back to me to give to myself.
Withhold the gift and I keep the world as I see it now. Give it to God and everything I see disappears. Never was so much given for so little. Here the world I do not want is brought to the One I do. My desire for Heaven must first be recognized. I must understand that what was strong enough to seemingly create a world, is strong enough to let it go.
The world I "see," witnesses to my separation from God. The dream-world is insane. It is possible only in dreams to be separated from God. I did this to myself. If I judge anyone or anything outside myself, the judgment will be reflected back to me. If I forgive what I see "outside" myself, I will have forgiveness reflected back to me.
Perhaps I do not see the need to give God my small willingness for the exchange of the idea of separation for the idea of salvation. Ego is an idea that it is possible to be separated from God. It is not possible to have a Will "apart from" God. My will is the Creator's Will, for we are One.
All that is asked of me is to make room for Truth. I am not asked to do anything that lies beyond my understanding. All I am asked to do is stop my interference and allow Truth to enter. Truth will happen on Its Own and of Itself when I Truly desire It. I thought I gave away my Relationship with my Father. Truth allows me to recognize that It is still there.
The Holy Instant is an Experience of Heaven in "time." Recognition of this comes of Vision and suspended judgment. When I give my small willingness to God, He will brush aside the clouds of sin and judgment, and I will see Truth in plain Sight. The Holy Instant is given me, but It is beyond time and space. God will accomplish everything for me, but it is up to me to welcome Him.
Faith and desire go hand in hand. I believe in what I desire. If I want to make it to the Olympics, I will do everything in my power to make it possible. When I have faith, I adjust "reality" to fit my goal. This is very evident even in my world of illusions. What I desire unequivocally, I will make a reality. I may not perceive that I want a world of illusions ~ I have hidden this from myself ~ but my world of chaos is evidence of it. "Apart from" God, all is meaningless. Anything of the Father is Eternally Whole, Loving and Peaceful.......anything other than This does not exist.
I was created by a Loving Father. The instant of release has come to me. The effects of the world I created are gone, because I have learned that I am the source of this dream world. My denial of it has kept me separated from my brother and from God. I have been "separated" only in dreams.
Faith, Belief, and Vision. Faith can move mountains. Yet it is obvious that misdirected faith can keep the Son of God in chains. When he is released from the chains, it is simply because he no longer puts his faith in them. Withdraw my faith from chains and place it in God's Goal of Freedom.
Faith, Vision and belief are meaningful in the dream-world. In Heaven
they are unknown, yet Heaven is reached through them. Through them, God leads me to a dream-world seen happy and awash in forgiveness, which is the last step before God welcomes me Home. My faith is currently wrapped up in illusions. Yet, I can put my faith in Truth with God's Help
It is impossible that I am lacking in faith. Faith is always present, but I choose to place it in a world of illusions. Faith given to illusions does not lack Power, it just seems to render me powerless because I choose to experience powerlessness. This madness was my choice and by faith in it, I have reinforced it.
When
the mind sets a goal, nothing else will be so cherished and
protected. The mind will follows its goal, grimly or Happily, but always with faith and persistence. The power of faith in "sin," is recognized only in dreams. In Reality, the Power of faith is recognized only if it is placed in Love.
God has a Holy use for everything I made, but His use leads away from illusions. I made "perception" (my way of "seeing" in the dream-world) to reinforce the separation from God. I seemingly choose among my brothers to continue to indulge in the separation. One brother I will "love," another brother I will "hate;" this one is "worthy," that one is "unworthy." God sees perception as a means to teach me to see a Happy world, where all are Blessed and forgiven. When faith and belief become attached to Vision, the means which once served the separation, are now used for Holiness. When I refuse to forgive a brother, I essentially condemn him ~ and myself ~ to illusions. Holiness sets us both Free.
Those who would forgive and bless their brothers can have no fear. When I look on my brothers in Holiness, the Power of my belief and faith support Vision. All those who chose to look away from sin, judgment and separation are given Vision which leads to Holiness. God will adjust time and space to accommodate my small willingness to make a better choice.
In the dream-world, "sacrifice" seems to be required. Sacrifice is required of one body by another body. My mind uses bodies to carry out the means for reinforcing the separation. That is what I created bodies to do. Yet Reality requires no sacrifice only my small willingness to choose differently. God knows that sacrifice brings nothing. When I forgive my brother his "sins," I place my faith in his Innocence and through Vision I see a Happy world.....a world with no spot of sin. I taught myself "separation" from God, Truth teaches me the way Home.
In the world of illusions, I think God deprives me for "my own good." But Good and deprivation can never coexist in Reality. I made the body to be a sacrifice to "sin;" a witness to my separation from God and My Sonship. In darkness, this is so. But in the Light of Vision, the body is looked on only as a means to communicate salvation.
Fear of Looking Within. I am afraid to look within because I think I will be confronted with evil, sinful thoughts. Ego believes fear related to sin is very appropriate. It smiles approvingly and takes satisfaction in my shame. Ego encourages my belief in sin. My faith that sin is real witnesses to my desire that it be so. Ego shouts loudly, constantly and frantically that if I look inward, I will find terrible sin and God will strike me dead. I believe what it tells me, so I do not look. But what if I did look.......and saw no sin?
God will never teach me that I am sinful, but only
mistaken. Errors He will correct, and His correction makes no one
fearful. Right now my Freedom is partial, limited and incomplete.....yet It is there, within me. Not entirely insane anymore, I have been willing to look on much of my insanity and recognize its madness. My faith is moving inward, past insanity on to Reason. And what Reason would tell me, ego could not bear to hear. God's Purpose was accepted by a part of my mind unknown to ego; the part which knows no sin. Otherwise how could it recognize Truth? God left a Spark of Heaven in me, and it is this Spark to which Heaven appeals.
I now realize that it was not ego who recognized God's Call, so there must be something else...........the Spark of the Son of God in me. This Spark has seen my brother Truly and recognized him Perfectly since time began. It has desired nothing except to Unite
with him and be Free again, as It once was. It has been waiting for the
birth of my Freedom.
There is no inconsistency in what God teaches. This is Reasoning of the Sane. I have now perceived ego's madness and am not afraid because I no longer choose to share in it. At times it still deceives me. Yet in my saner moments, its ranting does not terrify me. I have realized that all "gifts" ego would give me, I do not want. A few remaining trinkets still seem to shine and catch my eye, but I will no longer "sell" Heaven to have them. Now ego is fearful. Ego hears terror, but the small Spark of Light in me hears the Sweetest Music. The Spark of the Sonship in me hears the Song of Freedom, bringing the hope of Peace; it remembers Heaven and sees that Heaven has come to earth at last.
Look gently on my brother. In him is my salvation. Little child, Innocent of sin, follow the Way to Certainty in gladness. This Quiet Way is open. Follow it Happily.
Function of Reason. Perception makes the world I see. It literally creates as the mind directs. Perception is a choice, not a fact. But this choice is more significant than I realize, for the voice I choose to hear (ego or Truth) and the sights I choose to see, depend entirely on what I believe I am. I am either an ego in a body in a world separated from God, or I am the Son of God. What I see before me in my perception witnesses to the choice I made. Perception is not a reality, but it can show me that an Awareness of Reality is possible.
If I listen to ego, I am sure to see myself as tiny, vulnerable and afraid. As ego, I will experience depression, a sense of worthlessness and feelings of impermanence and unreality. I will believe that I am helplessly floundering and tossed about by forces beyond my control. I will think the world directs my destiny. And my faith ~ my belief that I am separated from God ~ makes it "real" for me.
There is another Vision and another Voice in Which my Freedom lies, just waiting for me to choose It. As I place my belief and faith in God's Gift, I will perceive another Self in me. To this other Self, miracles are as simple and natural as breathing is to the body. The Still, small Voice of God is not drowned out by ego's raucous screams and senseless rantings to those who want to hear
It. Reality needs no cooperation from me to be Itself. But my Awareness of It does require that I choose to be Aware of It.
Miracles seem unnatural to ego because it does not understand how "separate" minds can influence each other. Despite what ego tells me, minds cannot be separate. My Self is perfectly Aware of this. It recognizes that miracles do not affect "other" minds for there is no "other." There is only One.
The idea of separation has interfered with Reason. Reason is beyond ego's capabilities. Reason lies in the other Self which I have cut off from my Awareness. Nothing I have allowed to stay in my Awareness (illusion) is capable of Reason. How can the part of my mind devoid of Reason (ego) understand Reason, or grasp the information that Reason would give?
God's Plan for salvation has not been established without my will and consent. It has been accepted by the Son of God. What God Wills for His Son, the Son receives. The Father's Will is the Son's Will, and the Son's Will is the Father's. The Father's Will is accomplished irrespective of time and space. Despite the seeming creation of a world separated from God, there is a Part of Heaven remaining in me. This is where Heaven abides Quiet and Unobstructed. Salvation was there the instant the need for it arose. My Reason would tell me this if I listened.
God's Plan is simple and Certain and there is part of me which knows and shares His Will. How can this be so, I might ask? It would be more meaningful to ask, why am I unaware that this is so? This must be answered for the Plan of God to be complete. And it is Complete, for God knows no incompletion.
God is my Source, and it is impossible that I am not with Him. Where could I be, but with my Source? My Identity and His are together and the same. The Witnesses to this are Clear. Only the totally insane can disregard these Witnesses.........and I am no longer totally insane.
Faith, perception and belief can be misdirected, serving ego as well as Truth. But Reason has no place in madness, nor can It be adjusted to madness. Faith and belief are just as strong in madness, and Reason cannot enter madness. If Reason were applied to madness, illusions would disappear. Insanity depends entirely on Reason's absence; the insane have access to Reason and only they have need of It. Knowledge is of Heaven and Heaven needs no Reasoning. Ego is insane and its insanity keeps Reason out. The part of my mind where Reason lies is dedicated to the undoing of insanity. Here is God's Purpose both accepted and accomplished at once. I do not need to attain Knowledge. Knowledge is beyond the scope of this Course, but Reason can open Its doors.
My faith and belief have shifted, and I have asked the question that ego will never ask: why am I unaware that I am God's Son? Does Reason now make it clear that this question came from a part of myself that is not of this world? Faith and belief, upheld by Reason cannot fail to lead to a changed perception of all I seem to see. In this change has room been made for Vision
Reason versus Madness. Reason sees no "sin," only error, and It leads to their correction. Reason will tell me that when I see "sin," I can call on God for help. When I call for and accept help, it will be mine to give to my brother; but it must be accepted by me first.
If I believe I am an alcoholic (not the Son of God), I will be an alcoholic. All my faith and belief will be invested in the belief of what I am. Now this does not mean saying to myself, "ACIM tells me I am not an alcoholic, I am the Son of God, so I should be able to drink alcohol without problems." This is foolish, for if I have to "prove" anything in the dream-world, it is obvious my belief in dreams is still strong and its power to affect me still prevails. Do what I need to do (such as stop drinking) while I continue to exist in world of dreams.
It is impossible to see a sinful world and believe I am Innocent. "Sin" witnesses to the separation. If I see sin, I will believe in the world of separation ~ me from my brother, me from God, me from everything else.
Reason tells me there is no separation; I have no "private" thoughts. That I am joined to my brother is a fact, not an interpretation. Bodies are the home of ego and the home of madness. The body does not separate me from my brother and if I think it does, I am insane. Madness cannot be the home of Reason. I do not leave insanity by going somewhere else. I leave it simply by accepting Reason in place of madness. Madness and Reason see the same things, but they certainly look upon them differently. Madness attacks Reason. Reason does not attack, but only replaces madness quietly and completely.
The instant I choose to let myself be healed, is my brother's healing and salvation as well. That my brother and I are joined is my salvation. Reason assures me that Heaven is what I want and all I want. I am my brother's savior and he is mine. Reason tells me this. The Son of God is Blessed as One. My Father is as close to me as is my brother. When I choose to condemn, I am condemned; when I choose to be merciful, I am Free.
The Last Unanswered Question. All my misery comes from the strange belief that I am separated from God and powerless. If it were possible to be separated from God, I definitely would be powerless. When I feel powerless and helpless, I will attack.
Helplessness is the condition of sin and separation. When I see myself as helpless and powerless, I believe I am not God's Son. If I believe I am not God's Son, then I must believe I am his enemy. So what can I do except envy and fear His Power, believing He can strike me dead? So I join the army of the powerless to wage a war of vengeance, bitterness and spite. Because I do not know I am One with God and I do not realize who I hate (myself). The powerless are indeed a sorry army, each one as likely to attack a brother or turn upon himself. Frantic, loud and strong the dark ones seem to be. They know nothing about their "enemy" except that they hate him. So in hatred they come together, though never Truly unite with each other. For if uniting were achieved, hatred would be impossible.
Those who are Truly Strong are never treacherous, they have no need to "dream" of power and then act out their dream. How would an army act in dreams? Any way at all, attacking anyone with anything. Dreams have no rhyme nor reason: a flower turns into a poisoned spear; a child becomes a giant; a mouse roars like a lion.....and "love" just as easily turns to hate. This is no army, but a madhouse. What seemed to be a planned strategy is bedlam.
The army of the powerless is weak indeed. It has no weapons, it has no enemy. Yes, it can inhabit a "world" and seek an "enemy." But it can never find what is not there. Yes, it can dream it found an enemy, but being a dream, it will shift and change even as it attacks; fighting one "enemy," then running at once to find another, never resting in victory. And as it runs, it turns against itself, thinking it caught a glimpse of the great enemy who always eludes its murderous attack by turning into something else. A shape shifter! How treacherous this enemy appears, who changes so often it is impossible to recognize him.
Hate must have a target. I will have no faith in sin without an enemy. Could I ever admit to myself that no one made me powerless? If I did, Reason would tell me to stop looking for an "enemy" who is not there.
Be willing to perceive a different world......a forgiven world.....a happy world. For in order to remember my True Home, I must gently Awaken from the dream. For instance, God will take a fearful dream and introduce the thought that it just may be a dream; He encourages me to forgive all that I think I see allowing Love and Happiness to rush in. Once I see a forgiven and happy dream, I will be ready for God to take the final step.
Ask myself: do I desire a world I rule, instead of one that rules me? Do I desire a world where I am Powerful instead of helpless? Do I desire a world where sin is impossible and I have no enemies? Do I want to see Truth? The decision is only this: the choice to see through the body's eyes, or True Vision with my Creator.
ACIM is a Course in cause, not effect. I am the cause (the source) of what I seem to see. Its effects do not exist. Anything "created" to be separated from God, cannot possibly exist except in dreams. The teachings of ACIM aim to change the cause (my mind), so the "effects" will follow naturally. When I look on "sin" in any form all I need to do is simply ask myself: Do I want this? Is this what I want to see?
There is one decision for the many different forms of upset ("sin") I see: the decision to choose with Truth. I make the decision and God adjusts time and space to accommodate my new choice. Choose to see a world without an "enemy" and the means will be given me.
No one decides against his own Happiness, except if he does not know what will Truly make him Happy. If what seems to make him Happy changes from day to day, he will not trust True Happiness when it is right in front of him. Happiness that shifts and changes with time and place is an illusion that has no meaning. True Happiness is Constant and it is attained by giving up the dream of separation.
Desire what I want (separation or salvation) and I will look on it and think it real. Desire comes first. Every thought has the Power to release or imprison. No thought can leave my mind unaffected.
The Inner Shift. Are some thoughts dangerous? To the body, yes! Thoughts that seem to kill are the same thoughts that teach the thinker he can be killed. I "die" because I taught myself that death is possible. I seem to live in a world moving from "life" to "death;" death ~ the final proof that the separation is "real."
Constant Joy is a condition foreign to my understanding. True Happiness is Constant; it is as Stable and Unchanging as the Love of God for His Creation. Happiness looks on everything and sees it is all the same; nothing has the power to change Its Constancy. Love seeks and desires only that which is like Itself. I am Love, but I must remember that before I will accept Its Reality.
I cannot ask for Happiness inconsistently. ACIM tells me that what I desire I will receive. If Happiness is a constant, then I only need to ask for It once to have It Always. If I do not have It Always ~ being what It is ~ then I did not ask for It. No one fails to ask for what he desires. He may be wrong in what he asks, yet he will ask, because desire is a request and when I request something of God, He never fails to Answer.
I am still uncertain of what I want. Illusions sparkle and glimmer ~ maybe illusions are what I want. They seem solid and certain. Yet I have received illusions before and the happiness of what I receive never lasts. I get bored after a while and need a new trinket to interest me. This seems "normal," "that is just the way life is," no?
God has given me Everything. Yet I have not yet accepted It. I am God's Son, I share His Will and His Happiness. My Will is as Powerful as His; a Power that is not lost in my illusions. I need only recognize God's Gift to me. The Constant Peace I could experience Forever, the Happiness that could be mine Always.....These are waiting for me to recognize Them. There is no future or past, there is only now. God's Gifts wait for me now. Nothing stands between the Holy and Happy Relationship of the Son and the Father, except for my denial of It.
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