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13. What is a Miracle?
Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 341 I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me safe.
Lesson 341 I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me safe. Father, Your Son is holy. I am he on whom You smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still the universe smiles back on You, and shares Your Holiness. How pure, how safe, how holy, then, are we, abiding in Your Smile, with all Your Love bestowed upon us, living one with You, in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete; in sinlessness so perfect that the Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son, a universe of Thought completing Him. Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of God to us. And in its kind reflection we are saved. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary on this lesson is by Kenneth Wapnick, from his books: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles." Book set may be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 341 "I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me safe." *Beginning with Lesson 341, the next ten lessons differ from what we have been accustomed to seeing in Part II. First, the lesson titles increase, beginning with two lines instead of one, and then shifting to three with Lesson 347. Second, each lesson begins with a prayer to God, the dominant part of the lesson. Thus, the number of words Jesus says to us decreases, while he increases what we say to God in our prayer. In this first lesson is an extension of Lesson 135, "If I defend myself I am attacked." If I see myself as vulnerable and needing defense, I must see myself as separated and sinful. Therefore, when I hold grievances against others, I attack not only their sinlessness but mine as well, since we are one.* (1) "Father, Your Son is holy. I am he on whom You smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still the universe smiles back on You, and shares Your Holiness. How pure, how safe, how holy, then, are we, abiding in Your Smile, with all Your Love bestowed upon us, living one with You, in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete; in sinlessness so perfect that the Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son, a universe of Thought completing Him." *This is a lovely rendering of the Oneness of the Sonship as Christ, and Its Oneness with God. God's smile -- a metaphor, of course -- tells us that nothing happened in the separation, for we are the ones who took the tiny mad idea seriously, making a world based upon the ego's mistaken correction. The gentle laughter of the Holy Spirit -- the expression of the Atonement principle -- reflects God's smile that undoes this foolishness, as we see in this important and familiar passage from the text: "In gentle laughter does the Holy Spirit perceive the cause, and looks not to effects. How else could He correct your error, who have overlooked the cause entirely? He bids you bring each terrible effect to Him that you may look together on its foolish cause and laugh with Him a while. You judge effects, but He has judged their cause. And by His judgment are effects removed. Perhaps you come in tears. But hear Him say, "My brother, holy Son of God, behold your idle dream, in which this could occur". And you will leave the holy instant with your laughter and your brother's joined with His." (T-27.VIII.9) * (2) "Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of God to us. And in its kind reflection we are saved." *We attack our sinlessness by attacking our brothers, which is why we attack them: to keep sin intact in our deluded minds, and therefore maintain the reality of the separation. Thus Jesus asks us, again, to choose what we want -- sin or sinlessness, imprisonment or freedom, blindness or vision: "Your question should not be, "How can I see my brother without the body?" Ask only, "Do I really wish to see him sinless?" And as you ask, forget not that his sinlessness is your escape from fear. Salvation is the Holy Spirit's goal. The means is vision. For what the seeing look upon is sinless. No one who loves can judge, and what he sees is free of condemnation. And what he sees he did not make, for it was given him to see, as was the vision that made his seeing possible." (T-20.VII.9) * Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 340. I can be free of suffering today.
Lesson 340. I can be free of suffering today. Father, I thank You for today, and for the freedom I am certain it will bring. This day is holy, for today Your Son will be redeemed. His suffering is done. For he will hear Your Voice directing him to find Christ's vision through forgiveness, and be free forever from all suffering. Thanks for today, my Father. I was born into this world but to achieve this day, and what it holds in joy and freedom for Your holy Son and for the world he made, which is released along with him today. Be glad today! Be glad! There is no room for anything but joy and thanks today. Our Father has redeemed His Son this day. Not one of us but will be saved today. Not one who will remain in fear, and none the Father will not gather to Himself, awake in Heaven in the Heart of Love. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 340. "I can be free of suffering today." *This lesson provides us with another clear statement of what our experience can be if we choose the Teacher of freedom instead of the teacher of suffering.* (1:1-2) "Father, I thank You for today, and for the freedom I am certain it will bring. This day is holy, for today Your Son will be redeemed." *Our gratitude is not for whatever pain we experience this day -- that would be masochism. We thank our Father for His Love, which, through the Holy Spirit's Presence in our hurtful dream, reminds us that we can choose again. Our suffering is the effect of the mind's mistaken choice for a teacher, but we can change the cause to the Cause that alone will free us from our prison house of pain. Forgiveness is the Holy Spirit's means to liberate us from hell, for it reflects the Will of Heaven, the only Source of joy.* (1:3-6) "His suffering is done. For he will hear Your Voice directing him to find Christ's vision through forgiveness, and be free forever from all suffering. Thanks for today, my Father. I was born into this world but to achieve this day, and what it holds in joy and freedom for Your holy Son and for the world he made, which is released along with him today." *Choosing the Voice of forgiveness instead of the voice of guilt marks the end of suffering. There is no other way to remember our pain-free Self than to recognize that suffering's end comes with the separation's end, expressed through not seeing another's interests as separate from our own -- the essence of forgiveness. As Jesus reminds us in Psychotherapy : "Hear a brother call for help and answer him ... There is no other way to hear His Voice. There is no other way to seek His Son. There is no other way to find your Self." (P-2.V.8:4,6-8)* (2) "Be glad today! Be glad! There is no room for anything but joy and thanks today. Our Father has redeemed His Son this day. Not one of us but will be saved today. Not one who will remain in fear, and none the Father will not gather to Himself, awake in Heaven in the Heart of Love." *The only right-minded purpose for being here is to learn that suffering comes from a wish that in turn gives rise to a thought. This, then, gives rise to a projected experience. Recall these important lines from the text: "Perception seems to teach you what you see. Yet it but witnesses to what you taught. It is the outward picture of a wish; an image that you wanted to be true." (T-24.VII.8.8-10). If I am not happy with my suffering, I can return to my mind's decision maker and say: "I no longer wish this." Yet to say I no longer wish this pain must also mean I no longer wish its cause -- the decision to be on my own and separate from the Love of God. Thus I joyfully allow myself to hear God's loving Judgment on me, His Son: "Holy are you, eternal, free and whole, at peace forever in the Heart of God." (M-15.1:11) * Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 339. I will receive whatever I request.
Lesson 339. I will receive whatever I request. No one desires pain. But he can think that pain is pleasure. No one would avoid his happiness. But he can think that joy is painful, threatening and dangerous. Everyone will receive what he requests. But he can be confused indeed about the things he wants; the state he would attain. What can he then request that he would want when he receives it? He has asked for what will frighten him, and bring him suffering. Let us resolve today to ask for what we really want, and only this, that we may spend this day in fearlessness, without confusing pain with joy, or fear with love. Father, this is Your day. It is a day in which I would do nothing by myself, but hear Your Voice in everything I do; requesting only what You offer me, accepting only Thoughts You share with me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 339. "I will receive whatever I request." *If I feel pain it is because I chose pain, and I chose it because of its value in keeping God away. The suffering will never cease, therefore, until I change my mind about its purpose.* (1:1-4) "No one desires pain. But he can think that pain is pleasure. No one would avoid his happiness. But he can think that joy is painful, threatening and dangerous." *Jesus discusses this idea at the end of the first and second obstacles to peace (T-19.IV.-A.17:10-12); T-19.IV-B.15). He explains that we really do not understand the difference between pleasure and pain, and that if we believe the body can give us one, it can also give us the other. We are confused because we have taken instruction from a teacher with a vested interest in what we learn -- that we stay in pain but blame someone else for it. This is the ego's insane method of freeing us from guilt. Thus we need a Teacher Who will help us realize that anything of the ego is ultimately painful, and that the only real pleasure is in doing God's Will (T-1.VII.1:4), which in this world entails learning to forgive. Therefore, our real joy is giving up of the ego, which means giving up our individuality and self-importance. To our egos, however, this can only be perceived as painful. Jesus reminds us that babies will cry when the scissors they are playing with are taken from them (T-4.II.5:2). To the caring adult, a baby's enjoyment is courting danger, and so it removes the potential source of harm. Jesus is the caring adult trying to do the same with us, except he does not have the same power to effect change that an adult has over a child. Thus he waits patiently until we change our minds sufficiently to realize that he knows better than we. He is trying to take away our specialness, not by force, but by gently reminding us it will not make us happy.* (1:5-9) "Everyone will receive what he requests. But he can be confused indeed about the things he wants; the state he would attain. What can he then request that he would want when he receives it? He has asked for what will frighten him, and bring him suffering. Let us resolve today to ask for what we really want, and only this, that we may spend this day in fearlessness, without confusing pain with joy, or fear with love." *Once again, we all receive what we want, and we want happiness; but we do not understand that what we think will make us happy brings us only suffering and pain. We need a different definition of happiness, which comes when we step with Jesus outside of the dream -- outside our personal identity, wishes, and specialness -- and let him teach us what alone will give us what we want: the perceptual shift of relationships that forgiveness brings about. Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, as joy replaces pain, and love takes the place of fear.* (2) "Father, this is Your day. It is a day in which I would do nothing by myself, but hear Your Voice in everything I do; requesting only what You offer me, accepting only Thoughts You share with me." *When our day is given to the Holy Spirit, our plan is to do nothing ourselves. We need only be aware of how quickly we forget our right-minded intention as we are overwhelmed by the pressures the day brings. It will seem as if these are the causes of forgetting our Teacher, but constant practice helps us to remember that it is we who give power to these pressures to push Him away. No one and nothing can take the Holy Spirit from us except our fear of His Atonement and Love. At last we choose to hear His Voice and welcome Him to our shared home in the mind.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 338. I am affected only by my thoughts.
Lesson 338. I am affected only by my thoughts. It needs but this to let salvation come to all the world. For in this single thought is everyone released at last from fear. Now has he learned that no one frightens him, and nothing can endanger him. He has no enemies, and he is safe from all external things. His thoughts can frighten him, but since these thoughts belong to him alone, he has the power to change them and exchange each fear thought for a happy thought of love. He crucified himself. Yet God has planned that His beloved Son will be redeemed. Your plan is sure, my Father,--only Yours. All other plans will fail. And I will have thoughts that will frighten me, until I learn that You have given me the only Thought that leads me to salvation. Mine alone will fail, and lead me nowhere. But the Thought You gave me promises to lead me home, because it holds Your promise to Your Son. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 338. "I am affected only by my thoughts." *In this lesson and the two that follow, Jesus reminds us how to be free of suffering. Since pain does not originate outside, release from it cannot be sought there. We think we are affected by everything but our thoughts -- weather, germs, insults, the body's deterioration, etc. Yet since this is our dream, we can be affected only by our thoughts. This realization marks the end of pain. As Jesus says in "The Dreamer of the Dream," the way to be free of all suffering is to see the problem as it is, not the way we set it up (T-27.VII.2). Our setup was to attribute the cause of our distress to something external. To see the problem as it is, however, is to accept the internal cause of suffering -- the mind's decision for guilt and unforgiveness.* (1:1-4) "It needs but this to let salvation come to all the world. For in this single thought is everyone released at last from fear. Now has he learned that no one frightens him, and nothing can endanger him. He has no enemies, and he is safe from all external things." *Salvation comes when I understand I am affected only by my thoughts. If the world is nothing but a projection of my thought, when this thought changes, my perception of the world changes, too. Within the dream our bodies are not safe; indeed, they were made to be vulnerable. However, we are not talking about the dream's bodily hero. Jesus' teachings can be understood only when we are able to step outside the dream and no longer see ourselves as figures within it. Being above the battleground with Jesus (T-23.IV), we understand we have brought this on ourselves, for our purpose was to prove we are innocent victims, not sinful victimizers. Thus do we see that we can be affected only by our victimizing thoughts, and nothing else, and therefore are made safe from all threat and released from fear.* (1:5-7) "His thoughts can frighten him, but since these thoughts belong to him alone, he has the power to change them and exchange each fear thought for a happy thought of love. He crucified himself. Yet God has planned that His beloved Son will be redeemed." *God's plan -- the Atonement -- undoes our misthoughts. Our first step is realizing that the problem is not outside, but our <thoughts> about what is outside. That is why A Course in Miracles gives us true hope, for we can do something about our thoughts. Since it is our dream, we can change it, but if we are the victim of another's dream, there is no hope for us -- except attack.* (2) "Your plan is sure, my Father,--only Yours. All other plans will fail. And I will have thoughts that will frighten me, until I learn that You have given me the only Thought that leads me to salvation. Mine alone will fail, and lead me nowhere. But the Thought You gave me promises to lead me home, because it holds Your promise to Your Son." *God's plan is to return the problem to the mind, because that is where it is undone. The world's plans -- religious, economic, political, educational -- are aimed at making the dream better. That is why they ultimately fail. The only plan that will work -- the Atonement -- leads us outside the body and wrong mind to the decision maker where the dream began, and where we choose to awaken from the dream. We humbly recognize that our plans to minimize pain and maximize pleasure will never work. In one way or another, that is everyone's plan when they awake each morning: How can I make myself better? We may get what we want during the day, but in the end the pleasure or happiness will never last. God's plan of Atonement is the only one that can fulfill His promise of eternal happiness for His Son.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 337. My sinlessness protects me from all harm.
Lesson 337. My sinlessness protects me from all harm. My sinlessness ensures me perfect peace, eternal safety, everlasting love, freedom forever from all thought of loss; complete deliverance from suffering. And only happiness can be my state, for only happiness is given me. What must I do to know all this is mine? I must accept Atonement for myself, and nothing more. God has already done all things that need be done. And I must learn I need do nothing of myself, for I need but accept my Self, my sinlessness, created for me, now already mine, to feel God's Love protecting me from harm, to understand my Father loves His Son; to know I am the Son my Father loves. You Who created me in sinlessness are not mistaken about what I am. I was mistaken when I thought I sinned, but I accept Atonement for myself. Father, my dream is ended now. Amen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 337. "My sinlessness protects me from all harm." *The belief that our sinful attack against God will be used against us causes us to walk the world in a state of vulnerability and fear. However, choosing to be sinless helps us to realize there is nothing to fear, because there is no projection of guilt that demands attack in return.* (1:1-4) "My sinlessness ensures me perfect peace, eternal safety, everlasting love, freedom forever from all thought of loss; complete deliverance from suffering. And only happiness can be my state, for only happiness is given me. What must I do to know all this is mine? I must accept Atonement for myself, and nothing more." *I find peace, safety, love, and happiness, not through the world changing or my manipulating others to meet my special needs, but rather by changing my mind's thought system or teacher. Accepting the Holy Spirit's Atonement for myself remains my one and only responsibility." (T-2.V.5:1).* (1:5-6) "God has already done all things that need be done. And I must learn I need do nothing of myself, for I need but accept my Self, my sinlessness, created for me, now already mine, to feel God's Love protecting me from harm, to understand my Father loves His Son; to know I am the Son my Father loves." *To cite the important section from the text: I need do nothing (T-18.VII). All I need do is <undo> what my ego has taught me, which I accepted instead of the Atonement's truth. Reversing my decision allows me to shift my identification from sin to sinlessness, guilt to innocence, and fear to love, for I have accepted Jesus' now-familiar words as truth: "Walk you in glory, with your head held high, and fear no evil. The innocent are safe because they share their innocence. Nothing they see is harmful, for their awareness of the truth releases everything from the illusion of harmfulness. And what seemed harmful now stands shining in their innocence, released from sin and fear and happily returned to love." (T-23.in.3:1-4).* (2:1) "You Who created me in sinlessness are not mistaken about what I am." *This calls to mind Jesus' reassuring statements in the text: "My trust in you is greater than yours in me at the moment ...You are asked to live so as to demonstrate that you are not an ego, and I do not choose God's channels wrongly. The Holy One shares my trust, and accepts my Atonement decisions because my will is never out of accord with His. I have said before that I am in charge of the Atonement. This is only because I completed my part in it as a man, and can now complete it through others. My chosen channels cannot fail, because I will lend them my strength as long as theirs is wanting." (T-4.VI.6:1,3-4) In Jesus' certainty we rest content -- safe from guilt, safe from attack, safe for love.* (2:2-4) "I was mistaken when I thought I sinned, but I accept Atonement for myself. Father, my dream is ended now. Amen." *Once more we see the crucial idea that we must recognize our mistakes -- we were wrong and God was right. Again and again throughout the workbook -- both explicitly and implicitly -- Jesus leads us to the realization that though we perceive, think, and understand incorrectly, there is Someone within us Who knows the truth. He is the one to Whom we go to awaken unto Heaven from the ego's dreams of hell.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Re: A "Timely" Article
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On Nov 30, 2024, at 10:43?PM, Natalie McNeil <nmcneil@...> wrote:
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Re: A "Timely" Article
开云体育Thanks Dave. There were a couple of things Ken points out that really went deep for me even though I have listened to this class many times before.Natalie? On Nov 25, 2024, at 12:08?PM, DK via groups.io <emaildk@...> wrote:
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Re: A "Timely" Article
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On Nov 24, 2024, at 6:42?AM, Marcy <marcybk@...> wrote:
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Lesson 336. Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined.
Lesson 336. Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined. Forgiveness is the means appointed for perception's ending. Knowledge is restored after perception first is changed, and then gives way entirely to what remains forever past its highest reach. For sights and sounds, at best, can serve but to recall the memory that lies beyond them all. Forgiveness sweeps away distortions, and opens the hidden altar to the truth. Its lilies shine into the mind, and call it to return and look within, to find what it has vainly sought without. For here, and only here, is peace of mind restored, for this the dwelling place of God Himself. In quiet may forgiveness wipe away my dreams of separation and of sin. Then let me, Father, look within, and find Your promise of my sinlessness is kept; Your Word remains unchanged within my mind, Your Love is still abiding in my heart. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 336. "Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined." *In A Course in Miracles, sin and separation are virtually synonymous. Sin is the belief that separation is real, and is deplorable because it was attained through vicious attack. Yet if minds are joined, there can be no separation or differences, and therefore no sin. Indeed, there is nothing but God and Christ. Their Oneness totally unaffected by what never happened. Asking for help in shifting our perception of the world -- the meaning of forgiveness -- allows us to understand we are truly one: in mind and in Mind.* (1:1-2) "Forgiveness is the means appointed for perception's ending. Knowledge is restored after perception first is changed, and then gives way entirely to what remains forever past its highest reach." *We first ask for help to shift from the ego's false perception to the Holy Spirit's true perception. When His vision has cleansed all mistaken thoughts held in our minds, all that remains is for God to take His final step. Thus perception ends, as the clarification of terms says, in a "blazing light," and what takes its place is the changeless knowledge of our Self (C-4.7.)* (1:3) "For sights and sounds, at best, can serve but to recall the memory that lies beyond them all." *The sights and sounds of the perceptual world can serve to help undo illusion. In itself, perception is not true, and when the body has served its function as an instrument of communication and classroom for learning, both disappear. The memory of God dawns on our forgiven minds, and we are at rest.* (1:4) "Forgiveness sweeps away distortions, and opens the hidden altar to the truth." *The hidden altar is within the mind, where the decision maker chooses truth instead of illusion. Forgiveness unveils the altar so we can present the gift of lilies to our self.* (1:5-6) "Its lilies shine into the mind, and call it to return and look within, to find what it has vainly sought without. For here, and only here, is peace of mind restored, for this the dwelling place of God Himself." *The call to return is the call for our decision maker to change its mind; another way of saying we are asked not to look without, but to allow what our eyes perceive to reflect what we have first chosen to see within. Only then can we change our minds about their false perceptions, and open the door to God and His peace.* (2) "In quiet may forgiveness wipe away my dreams of separation and of sin. Then let me, Father, look within, and find Your promise of my sinlessness is kept; Your Word remains unchanged within my mind, Your Love is still abiding in my heart." *God's Word is the Atonement, the acceptance of which undoes the ego thought system. We need first ask Jesus for help that we shift our perception of our brother, which allows our projected sin to be brought back to the mind where it originated. We then look within at the mind's wrong-minded decision for the ego, recognize our mistaken choice and choose correctly, returning home at last to the love in our hearts.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 335. I choose to see my brother's sinlessness.
Lesson 335. I choose to see my brother's sinlessness. Forgiveness is a choice. I never see my brother as he is, for that is far beyond perception. What I see in him is merely what I wish to see, because it stands for what I want to be the truth. It is to this alone that I respond, however much I seem to be impelled by outside happenings. I choose to see what I would look upon, and this I see, and only this. My brother's sinlessness shows me that I would look upon my own. And I will see it, having chosen to behold my brother in its holy light. What could restore Your memory to me, except to see my brother's sinlessness? His holiness reminds me that he was created one with me, and like myself. In him I find my Self, and in Your Son I find the memory of You as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary (an excerpt) on this lesson by Ken Wapnick, from his books: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles." Book set may be purchased at the following site: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 335. "I choose to see my brother's sinlessness." *This reaffirms what Jesus had us choose at the end of the previous lesson. We now choose the vision of our brother's sinlessness instead of sin, because we choose to see the innocence in ourselves.* (1:1-3) "Forgiveness is a choice. I never see my brother as he is, for that is far beyond perception. What I see in him is merely what I wish to see, because it stands for what I want to be the truth." *Beyond perception is my reality as Christ, yet within the dream I can perceive sin or sinlessness as the truth, depending on the teacher I choose and the lessons I wish to learn: those that reinforce my dream of individuality, or those that help me awaken from it. Thus the way I see you comes from the way I see myself -- <projection makes perception>. What I have judged real and important in my mind is what I will see as real and important outside of me in the body. If I judge my individuality to be valuable, that is what I will see in you; but I will see sin there as well, and not within. As we learned in Lesson 161, the ego had us make the world of specifics precisely so we could have persons onto whom we could project responsibility for our individual and separate existence.* (1:4) "It is to this alone that I respond, however much I seem to be impelled by outside happenings." *This is one of the seminal principles in A Course in Miracles. We seem to be affected by what is outside us; but in truth we are affected only by the mind's decision for the ego's specialness or the Holy Spirit's forgiveness.* (1:5-7) "I choose to see what I would look upon, and this I see, and only this. My brother's sinlessness shows me that I would look upon my own. And I will see it, having chosen to behold my brother in its holy light." *On a practical level, this does not mean we should feel guilty because we see murder, pain, death, and sickness all around us. Remember that perception is an interpretation. (e.g.,M-17.4:1-2). It is not what our eyes "objectively" see that is the issue, but the interpretation of what our eyes see. Thus we do not deny the ego's interpretation, which would be that sin is rampant, either in ourselves or others. The change we want to effect in our minds is to see in ourselves and others expressions of love or calls for love, not sin and evil.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 334. Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives.
Lesson 334. Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives. I will not wait another day to find the treasures that my Father offers me. Illusions are all vain, and dreams are gone even while they are woven out of thoughts that rest on false perceptions. Let me not accept such meager gifts again today. God's Voice is offering the peace of God to all who hear and choose to follow Him. This is my choice today. And so I go to find the treasures God has given me. I seek but the eternal. For Your Son can be content with nothing less than this. What, then, can be his solace but what You are offering to his bewildered mind and frightened heart, to give him certainty and bring him peace? Today I would behold my brother sinless. This Your Will for me, for so will I behold my sinlessness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary on this lesson by Ken Wapnick, from his books: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles." Book set may be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 334. "Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives." *Lessons 334 through 337 center on the theme of perceiving sinlessness in our brothers, which allows us to realize we are sinless, too. They roughly parallel the two sections that end Chapter 20, "The Consistency of Means and End" and "The Vision of Sinlessness" (T-20.VII,VIII). Forgiveness' gift awakens in us the memory of our innocence, for by undoing the belief in the sin we perceive in others, we give ourselves the opportunity to choose the sinlessness the Holy Spirit offers over the ego's gift of sinfulness.* (1:1) "I will not wait another day to find the treasures that my Father offers me." *Here again, Jesus appeals to us to recognize how unhappy we are living under the ego's guidance, and how happy we would be if we let him be our teacher instead.* (1:2) "Illusions are all vain, and dreams are gone even while they are woven out of thoughts that rest on false perceptions." *In other words, the world is already over. The Atonement principle has never ceased to be, and everything we have ever dreamt, thought, or experienced is an illusion that never happened -- "This world was over long ago" (T-28.1.1:6).* (1:3-6) "Let me not accept such meager gifts again today. God's Voice is offering the peace of God to all who hear and choose to follow Him. This is my choice today. And so I go to find the treasures God has given me." *We saw the importance of choosing the second place, that we may remember that we -- an aspect of God's Son -- are part of the first. If we are unhappy with the ego's gifts of anger, depression, or pain, we need but remember these were our choice, and thus we can choose again.* (2:1) "I seek but the eternal." *The ego will always have us seek after the ephemeral: the world's gifts of specialness. Jesus reminds us that what we truly want, and want alone, is the love that never ends: "Let, then, your dedication be to the eternal, and learn not to interfere with it and make it slave to time." (T-19.1.16:1)* (2:2-5) "For Your Son can be content with nothing less than this. What, then, can be his solace but what You are offering to his bewildered mind and frightened heart, to give him certainty and bring him peace? Today I would behold my brother sinless. This Your Will for me, for so will I behold my sinlessness." *The way we find the eternal in ourselves is to forgive. Jesus, as we have seen repeatedly, has us work backwards. We begin where we think we are -- in special relationships fraught with neediness and grievances. We learn to use these as classrooms under the guidance of our new teacher, in which we come to understand that the sin we perceive around us, or even in our own bodies, is a projection of the mind's belief in sin. Once we return to the source of the error, we can, as the decision maker, choose differently. We begin by asking for help to shift our perception of someone perceived external to us, and gently move to our bewildered mind and frightened heart, there to accept our inherent sinlessness as God's true Son.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 333. Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict here.
Lesson 333. Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict here. (1) Conflict must be resolved. It cannot be evaded, set aside, denied, disguised, seen somewhere else, called by another name, or hidden by deceit of any kind, if it would be escaped. It must be seen exactly as it is, where it is thought to be, in the reality which has been given it, and with the purpose that the mind accorded it. For only then are its defenses lifted, and the truth can shine upon it as it disappears. (2) Father, forgiveness is the light You chose to shine away all conflict and all doubt, and light the way for our return to You. No light but this can end our evil dream. No light but this can save the world. For this alone will never fail in anything, being Your gift to Your beloved Son. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary on this lesson is by Kenneth Wapnick, from his books: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles." Book set may be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 333. "Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict here." This world originated with the thought of fear, the source of the conflict that is the root of all dreams. Thus, for example, I fear someone or something outside of me, their will being to attack, clearly in conflict with my will, which I perceive to be loving and peaceful. Yet it is impossible to be in this world as a body without conflicts of this nature, for the essence of physical life is rooted in the wrong mind's principle of <one or the other> -- an aspect of Darwin's notion of survival of the fittest. It is only when, through forgiveness, we step outside the dream with Jesus that we realize the illusory nature of the ego's thought system of separation and conflict. This lesson is especially important because of its emphasis on resolving the problem of ego conflict in the mind, not in the world or body. (1:1-3) "Conflict must be resolved. It cannot be evaded, set aside, denied, disguised, seen somewhere else, called by another name, or hidden by deceit of any kind, if it would be escaped. It must be seen exactly as it is, where it is thought to be, in the reality which has been given it, and with the purpose that the mind accorded it." Psychodynamic psychologists have focused on what they term <basic conflict>, and every theorist has had a different definition. Jesus, too, has a theory, and defines basic conflict as between illusion and truth. This conflict of the ego with God underlies everything in this world, and Jesus emphasizes that we cannot resolve it outside, but only at its source -- the mind's decision to be right rather than happy, aligning with the ego instead of the Holy Spirit. Thus no conflict is truly resolved in the world, and there will never be a lasting peace here, only hatred, because we are not in touch with its source that lies within the ego thought system shared by parties of every conflict -- past, present, and future. We therefore need to see conflict where it is: in the mind. Once chosen, conflict is dissociated and then -- projected -- is seen in the world. There is then no hope of undoing it. As our teacher, Jesus asks us to let his eyes be ours, that we may learn the true source of conflict; never outside -- between people, governments, religions, and races -- but in the mind that believes it can exist only through conflict, rooted in the belief it has waged war with God, defeated Him, and now must avoid His inevitable retaliation. The process of healing begins with our external perceptions, and, Jesus helps us see that these are but "the outside picture of an inward condition" (T-21.in.1:5) (1:4) "For only then are its defenses lifted, and the truth can shine upon it as it disappears." Conflict ends when we bring its darkness to the light of forgiveness -- <in the mind>. Asking Jesus for help means looking at the situation through his eyes, learning that what we perceive as conflict outside is a projection of conflict inside: our war with God. Only when we look at that thought can we realize its insanity, allowing the light of truth to shine it away. (2) "Father, forgiveness is the light You chose to shine away all conflict and all doubt, and light the way for our return to You. No light but this can end our evil dream. No light but this can save the world. For this alone will never fail in anything, being Your gift to Your beloved Son." Jesus is saying no problem will ever be solved in this world without our first bringing it to its source, and then changing the mind's decision for the ego. Only then will the light return. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12. What Is The Ego? (1) The ego is idolatry; the sign of limited and separated self, born in a body, doomed to suffer and to end its life in death. It is the "will" that sees the Will of God as enemy, and takes a form in which it is denied. The ego is the "proof" that strength is weak and love is fearful, life is really death, and what opposes God alone is true. (2) The ego is insane. In fear it stands beyond the Everywhere, apart from All, in separation from the Infinite. In its insanity it thinks it has become a victor over God Himself. And in its terrible autonomy it "sees" the Will of God has been destroyed. It dreams of punishment, and trembles at the figures in its dreams; its enemies, who seek to murder it before it can ensure its safety by attacking them. (3) The Son of God is egoless. What can he know of madness and the death of God, when he abides in Him? What can he know of sorrow and of suffering, when he lives in eternal joy? What can he know of fear and punishment, of sin and guilt, of hatred and attack, when all there is surrounding him is everlasting peace, forever conflict-free and undisturbed, in deepest silence and tranquility? (4) To know reality is not to see the ego and its thoughts, its works, its acts, its laws and its beliefs, its dreams, its hopes, its plans for its salvation, and the cost belief in it entails. In suffering, the price for faith in it is so immense that crucifixion of the Son of God is offered daily at its darkened shrine, and blood must flow before the altar where its sickly followers prepare to die. (5) Yet will one lily of forgiveness change the darkness into light; the altar to illusions to the shrine of Life Itself. And peace will be restored forever to the holy minds which God created as His Son, His dwelling place, His joy, His love, completely His, completely one with Him. Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 332. Fear binds the world. Forgiveness sets it free.
Lesson 332. Fear binds the world. Forgiveness sets it free. (1) The ego makes illusions. Truth undoes its evil dreams by shining them away. Truth never makes attack. It merely is. And by its presence is the mind recalled from fantasies, awaking to the real. Forgiveness bids this presence enter in, and take its rightful place within the mind. Without forgiveness is the mind in chains, believing in its own futility. Yet with forgiveness does the light shine through the dream of darkness, offering it hope, and giving it the means to realize the freedom that is its inheritance. (2) We would not bind the world again today. Fear holds it prisoner. And yet Your Love has given us the means to set it free. Father, we would release it now. For as we offer freedom, it is given us. And we would not remain as prisoners, while You are holding freedom out to us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary on this lesson is by Ken Wapnick, from his books: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles." Book set may be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 332. "Fear binds the world. Forgiveness sets it free." The world is bound by my fear because the world is my thought. If my mind chooses fear, I will look out on a fear-based world, seeing imprisonment all around me. If it chooses forgiveness, I will look out on a world in which everyone is free and unbound. I may see people having the illusion of being imprisoned, but I will no longer participate in their dream by feeling the effects of their pain. As we practice A Course in Miracles, we are not asked to deny what goes on in the world, but simply asked not to participate in its thought system by giving it power over our minds. To others, we may appear to be participating in illusion, but our minds remain at peace. What thus governs our behavior is peace and forgiveness, not conflict or fear. (1:1-4) "The ego makes illusions. Truth undoes its evil dreams by shining them away. Truth never makes attack. It merely is." Forgiveness does nothing; it merely is. Love does nothing; it merely is. When Jesus was here, he did nothing; he merely was. One who is in the real world and appears to be here does nothing, too, in the sense of actively correcting the ego's mistakes. The love within simply shines away the mistaken thoughts in the mind of God's one Son. (1:5) "And by its presence is the mind recalled from fantasies, awaking to the real." The "mind" here is the decision maker recognizing its mistake. It had identified with fantasies, and now realizes these will not lead to happiness. (1:6-8) "Forgiveness bids this presence enter in, and take its rightful place within the mind. Without forgiveness is the mind in chains, believing in its own futility. Yet with forgiveness does the light shine through the dream of darkness, offering it hope, and giving it the means to realize the freedom that is its inheritance." When we choose to identify with the ego, we choose to be in the imprisoning state of sin, guilt, and fear. When we correct our mistake and choose forgiveness, we undo the ego's thought system by looking at it without judgment. Gone, then is the darkened dream in which we are chained to guilt, its place now taken by freedom's light that is our true inheritance, unaffected by the ego's fantasies of rejection and hate: "Peace is a natural heritage of spirit. Everyone is free to accept his inheritance, but he is not free to establish what his inheritance is." (T-3.VI.10:1-2) (2) "We would not bind the world again today. Fear holds it prisoner. And yet Your Love has given us the means to set it free. Father, we would release it now. For as we offer freedom, it is given us. And we would not remain as prisoners, while You are holding freedom out to us." We realize that what binds the world is not what goes on externally, but what we make real in our minds. We change our imprisoned state by changing teachers, and our world changes accordingly. Enemies become friends, and prison doors seemingly locked forever swing open wide as we emerge in joyful gratitude from the bonds of guilt and hate. Yet we do not emerge alone, for all our brothers walk with us from darkness to light, imprisonment to freedom, and fear to love. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12. What Is The Ego? (1) The ego is idolatry; the sign of limited and separated self, born in a body, doomed to suffer and to end its life in death. It is the "will" that sees the Will of God as enemy, and takes a form in which it is denied. The ego is the "proof" that strength is weak and love is fearful, life is really death, and what opposes God alone is true. (2) The ego is insane. In fear it stands beyond the Everywhere, apart from All, in separation from the Infinite. In its insanity it thinks it has become a victor over God Himself. And in its terrible autonomy it "sees" the Will of God has been destroyed. It dreams of punishment, and trembles at the figures in its dreams; its enemies, who seek to murder it before it can ensure its safety by attacking them. (3) The Son of God is egoless. What can he know of madness and the death of God, when he abides in Him? What can he know of sorrow and of suffering, when he lives in eternal joy? What can he know of fear and punishment, of sin and guilt, of hatred and attack, when all there is surrounding him is everlasting peace, forever conflict-free and undisturbed, in deepest silence and tranquility? (4) To know reality is not to see the ego and its thoughts, its works, its acts, its laws and its beliefs, its dreams, its hopes, its plans for its salvation, and the cost belief in it entails. In suffering, the price for faith in it is so immense that crucifixion of the Son of God is offered daily at its darkened shrine, and blood must flow before the altar where its sickly followers prepare to die. (5) Yet will one lily of forgiveness change the darkness into light; the altar to illusions to the shrine of Life Itself. And peace will be restored forever to the holy minds which God created as His Son, His dwelling place, His joy, His love, completely His, completely one with Him. Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 331. There is no conflict, for my will is Yours.
Lesson 331. There is no conflict, for my will is Yours. How foolish, Father, to believe Your Son could cause himself to suffer! Could he make a plan for his damnation, and be left without a certain way to his release? You love me, Father. You could never leave me desolate, to die within a world of pain and cruelty. How could I think that Love has left Itself? There is no will except the Will of Love. Fear is a dream, and has no will that can conflict with Yours. Conflict is sleep, and peace awakening. Death is illusion; life, eternal truth. There is no opposition to Your Will. There is no conflict, for my will is Yours. Forgiveness shows us that God's Will is One, and that we share it. Let us look upon the holy sights forgiveness shows today, that we may find the peace of God. Amen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary on this lesson is by Kenneth Wapnick, from his book set, called: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," and may be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 331. "There is no conflict, for my will is Yours." *In this lesson Jesus focuses on the prominent role conflict plays in the ego thought system. The ego believes it has defied God's Will and remains in opposition to It. That is the basis of all conflict, manifest in the split mind between the ego and the Holy Spirit. This of course is not how He thinks, but is at the core of the ego's thought system that established our identities through conflict, opposition, defiance, and murder -- reflected in a world that thrives on conflict, opposition, defiance, and murder. The ego thus proclaims that conflict is alive and well -- we took from God, Who now will take it back from us -- witnessed to by its worldly shadow of conflict and war. This necessitates our doing something about the imminent threat to our existence, and the end product of this "doing" is the world of attack.* (1:1-5) "How foolish, Father, to believe Your Son could cause himself to suffer! Could he make a plan for his damnation, and be left without a certain way to his release? You love me, Father. You could never leave me desolate, to die within a world of pain and cruelty. How could I think that Love has left Itself?" *The ego tells us that God abandoned us. He created us in bodies and then left us in this world to fend for ourselves, suffer, and finally die. It never tells us that <we> abandoned God, nor the ultimate truth -- there was no abandonment at all, for how could Love leave Itself?* (1:6-9) "There is no will except the Will of Love. Fear is a dream, and has no will that can conflict with Yours. Conflict is sleep, and peace awakening. Death is illusion; life, eternal truth." *You may remember that Lesson 190, "I choose the joy of God instead of pain," concludes with a similar rhythm. The words are different, but the meaning and presentation are the same: "This is the day when it is given you to realize the lesson that contains all of salvation's power. It is this: Pain is illusion; joy, reality. Pain is but sleep; joy is awakening. Pain is deception; joy alone is truth." (W-pI.190.10:3-6) * (1:10-11) "There is no opposition to Your Will. There is no conflict, for my will is Yours." *Our lives as physical, psychological beings -- shadows of the authority problem with God -- are based on opposition and conflict. If we do not defend ourselves, others will attack us and end our existence, and thus we always need to be engaged in self-protection. Finally, however, we realize there is something wrong with this life of attack-defense, and we can choose again, as Jesus now tells us:* (2) "Forgiveness shows us that God's Will is One, and that we share it. Let us look upon the holy sights forgiveness shows today, that we may find the peace of God. Amen." *Forgiveness undoes the false perception of conflict by ending the dream that you and I are separate, kept apart by thoughts of guilt and judgment, pain and sorrow. True perception reveals a world washed clean of sin, as we remember our shared interest of finding the peace of God and returning home: "A vision of a different world, so new and clean and fresh you will forget the pain and sorrow that you saw before." (T-31.VIII.8:4) * Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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12. What Is The Ego?
for those who are doing the Workbook lessons, this special discussion is to be read each day for the next ten lessons: 12. What Is The Ego? (1) The ego is idolatry; the sign of limited and separated self, born in a body, doomed to suffer and to end its life in death. It is the "will" that sees the Will of God as enemy, and takes a form in which it is denied. The ego is the "proof" that strength is weak and love is fearful, life is really death, and what opposes God alone is true. (2) The ego is insane. In fear it stands beyond the Everywhere, apart from All, in separation from the Infinite. In its insanity it thinks it has become a victor over God Himself. And in its terrible autonomy it "sees" the Will of God has been destroyed. It dreams of punishment, and trembles at the figures in its dreams; its enemies, who seek to murder it before it can ensure its safety by attacking them. (3) The Son of God is egoless. What can he know of madness and the death of God, when he abides in Him? What can he know of sorrow and of suffering, when he lives in eternal joy? What can he know of fear and punishment, of sin and guilt, of hatred and attack, when all there is surrounding him is everlasting peace, forever conflict-free and undisturbed, in deepest silence and tranquility? (4) To know reality is not to see the ego and its thoughts, its works, its acts, its laws and its beliefs, its dreams, its hopes, its plans for its salvation, and the cost belief in it entails. In suffering, the price for faith in it is so immense that crucifixion of the Son of God is offered daily at its darkened shrine, and blood must flow before the altar where its sickly followers prepare to die. (5) Yet will one lily of forgiveness change the darkness into light; the altar to illusions to the shrine of Life Itself. And peace will be restored forever to the holy minds which God created as His Son, His dwelling place, His joy, His love, completely His, completely one with Him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries from his book set called: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12. What is the ego? (1:1) "The ego is idolatry; the sign of limited and separated self, born in a body, doomed to suffer and to end its life in death." Yet this self is what we continually choose to idolize. An idol is meant to substitute for the true God, with images that take the form of our Creator, Who is abstract and formless. We then worship the idols, taking their <form> as truth, all the while we lose truth's <content> of love. Likewise, we worship the ego in the form of the body, substituting its self for the Self of Christ. The body thus becomes reality for us, the "hero" of the ego's dream, as Jesus tells us in the text: "The body is the central figure in the dreaming of the world. There is no dream without it, nor does it exist without the dream in which it acts as if it were a person to be seen and be believed. It takes the central place in every dream, which tells the story of how it was made by other bodies, born into the world outside the body, lives a little while and dies, to be united in the dust with other bodies dying like itself." (T-27.VIII.1.1-3). In our insanity we actually believe that this moribund body, Hamlet's "mortal coil," is our identity. (1:2) "It is the "will" that sees the Will of God as enemy, and takes a form in which it is denied." The ego's unholy trinity of sin, guilt, and fear leaves us terrified of God, Who has become our mortal enemy -- at war with us because we are secretly at war with Him. Clearly, this has nothing to do with the true God, but with the vengeful deity of the ego's dream. This passage from the manual for teachers dramatically describes the ego's thought system of magic, vengeance, and murder: "A magic thought, by its mere presence, acknowledges a separation from God. It states, in the clearest form possible, that the mind which believes it has a separate will that can oppose the Will of God, also believes it can succeed. That this can hardly be a fact is obvious. Yet that it can be believed as fact is equally obvious. And herein lies the birthplace of guilt. Who usurps the place of God and takes it for himself now has a deadly "enemy." And he must stand alone in his protection, and make himself a shield to keep him safe from fury that can never be abated, and vengeance that can never be satisfied." (M-17.7.5.3-9) (1:3) "The ego is the "proof" that strength is weak and love is fearful, life is really death, and what opposes God alone is true." The strength of Christ is weakness to the ego, because it is the power of perfect Oneness. The ego's strength -- truly weakness -- is the seeming power of separation, to which the world attests. We believe we are strong, because if we are here -- and we certainly believe we are -- it was due to our defeat of God. We then defeat everyone else through the indulgence of our specialness -- our twisted idea of strength. Yet we are asked to consider if this is really the strength we want, as in Helen's poem "Alternatives": "A fantasy of pain, a dream of death, A cry of agony, a shallow breath, Such is the world you see. Is this your choice To be the substitution for God's Voice?" (The Gifts of God, p.11) In lines already familiar to us, Jesus asks us directly at the end of the text if is our wish to succumb to the ego's temptation to identify with the weak, powerless, and attacking body: "Temptation has one lesson it would teach, in all its forms, wherever it occurs. It would persuade the holy Son of God he is a body, born in what must die, unable to escape its frailty, and bound by what it orders him to feel. It sets the limits on what he can do; its power is the only strength he has; his grasp cannot exceed its tiny reach. Would you be this, if Christ appeared to you in all His glory, asking you but this: Choose once again if you would take your place among the saviors of the world, or would remain in hell, and hold your brothers there. For He has come, and He is asking this. How do you make the choice? How easily is this explained! You always choose between your weakness and the strength of Christ in you. And what you choose is what you think is real." (T-31.VIII.1:1--2:4). (2:1-4) "The ego is insane. In fear it stands beyond the Everywhere, apart from All, in separation from the Infinite. In its insanity it thinks it has become a victor over God Himself. And in its terrible autonomy it "sees" the Will of God has been destroyed." "Sees" is in quotes because the Will of God has not been destroyed. Yet underlying our belief that we exist as individuals is the thought we have indeed destroyed Him -- the bedrock of the ego's insane thought system: "All that the ego is, is an idea that it is possible that things could happen to the Son of God without his will; and thus without the Will of his Creator, Whose Will cannot be separate from his own. This is the Son of God's replacement for his will, a mad revolt against what must forever be. This is the statement that he has the power to make God powerless and so to take it for himself, and leave himself without what God has willed for him. This is the mad idea you have enshrined upon your altars, and which you worship." (T-21.II.6.4-7). (2:5) "It dreams of punishment, and trembles at the figures in its dreams; its enemies, who seek to murder it before it can ensure its safety by attacking them." This is the world's prevailing thought system and basis for its behavior: dog eat dog, kill or kill be killed, <one or the other> -- the shadowy projection of the original thought that we exist by having destroyed God. Our guilt screams that He will seek to get back His life by destroying us in return. Recall the text's succinct and telling passage of the two dreams we consciously think to be reality -- victim and victimizer respectively: "A brother separated from yourself, an ancient enemy, a murderer who stalks you in the night and plots your death, yet plans that it be lingering and slow; of this you dream. Yet underneath this dream is yet another, in which you become the murderer, the secret enemy, the scavenger and the destroyer of your brother and the world alike." (T-27.VII.12.1-2) The truth however, lies safely beyond these dreams, for "God thinks otherwise" (T-23.1.2:7): (3) "The Son of God is egoless. What can he know of madness and the death of God, when he abides in Him? What can he know of sorrow and of suffering, when he lives in eternal joy? What can he know of fear and punishment, of sin and guilt, of hatred and attack, when all there is surrounding him is everlasting peace, forever conflict-free and undisturbed, in deepest silence and tranquility?" In other words, when we are in our right minds, outside of the dream and remembering our Identity as Christ, we no longer know of the madness or the death of God. Having returned to sanity, we realize this madness was a dream that has now disappeared. The above tells us once again that God cannot know of anything in this world, for how can He know of sin, guilt, fear, or separation, none of which has happened. The clarification of terms provides this contrast of the ego and the miracle, and Jesus once again asks us to choose between insanity and sanity, illusion and truth: "This was the ego-all the cruel hate, the need for vengeance and the cries of pain, the fear of dying and the urge to kill, the brotherless illusion and the self that seemed alone in all the universe. This terrible mistake about yourself the miracle corrects as gently as a loving mother sings her child to rest. Is not a song like this what you would hear? Would it not answer all you thought to ask, and even make the question meaningless?" (C-2.8) The next paragraph begins with the same thought. (4:1) "To know reality is not to see the ego and its thoughts, its works, its acts, its laws and its beliefs, its dreams, its hopes, its plans for its salvation, and the cost belief in it entails." When you are in the presence of reality you do not see the ego, its thoughts, or anything else, which is the point of Jesus telling us that when we awaken from the dream we will no longer remember it, because there is nothing there to remember (T-19.IV.D.6). That is why, from the non-dualistic perspective of A Course in Miracles, spirit can have nothing to do with the dream, for it does not know of the ego or its world (e.g.,T-4.II.8:6). Reality -- and the Son of God as part of reality -- is literally egoless and apart from the ego's insanity. How, then, can the ego be seen, let alone reacted to, when it is literally not there? "What is the ego? But a dream of what you really are. A thought you are apart from your Creator and a wish to be what He created not. It is a thing of madness, not reality at all. A name for namelessness is all it is. A symbol of impossibility; a choice for options that do not exist.... What is the ego? Nothingness, but in a form that seems like something. In a world of form the ego cannot be denied for it alone seems real. Yet could God's Son as He created him abide in form or in a world of form? (C-2.1:4-9;2:1-4) (4:2) "In suffering, the price for faith in it is so immense that crucifixion of the Son of God is offered daily at its darkened shrine, and blood must flow before the altar where its sickly followers prepare to die." The term <altar> in A Course in Miracles is used as a symbol for the decision maker, as we learned previously. It is the part of our minds that can choose to identify with the ego or the Holy Spirit. The above passage describes our choice to worship at the ego's shrine -- its thought system of sin, guilt, and fear; of suffering, murder, and death -- while the following passage from the text fleshes out for us the ego's altar as manifest in our special relationships: "Suffering and sacrifice are the gifts with which the ego would "bless" all unions. And those who are united at its altar accept suffering and sacrifice as the price of union. In their angry alliances, born of the fear of loneliness and yet dedicated to the continuance of loneliness, each seeks relief from guilt by increasing it in the other. For each believes that this decreases guilt in him. The other seems always to be attacking and wounding him, perhaps in little ways, perhaps "unconsciously", yet never without demand of sacrifice. The fury of those joined at the ego's altar far exceeds your awareness of it. For what the ego really wants you do not realize." (T-15.VII.9). Blood flows freely at this shrine of specialness, for it represents the crucifixion of God's Son. Thus when Jesus appeared in the world, people made him part of their dream of crucifixion, idolizing their crucified savior. Yet the invulnerable truth of God's innocent Son -- reflected in the form of Jesus -- rested within the Son's right mind, awaiting his return to sanity. (5:1) "Yet will one lily of forgiveness change the darkness into light; the altar to illusions to the shrine of Life Itself." Our decision maker now realizes its mistake, changes its mind and turns to the Holy Spirit's light. The bloodied altar is cleansed of hate and forgiveness, which sees no sin as love has replaced fear, peace war, and joy pain. The light of truth has come to shine away the darkness of illusion: "Everyone here has entered darkness, yet no one has entered it alone. Nor need he stay more than an instant. For he has come with Heaven's Help within him, ready to lead him out of darkness into light at any time. The time he chooses can be any time, for help is there, awaiting but his choice. And when he chooses to avail himself of what is given him, then will he see each situation that he thought before was means to justify his anger turned to an event which justifies his love. He will hear plainly that the calls to war he heard before are really calls to peace. He will perceive that where he gave attack is but another altar where he can, with equal ease and far more happiness, bestow forgiveness. And he will reinterpret all temptation as just another chance to bring him joy." (T-25.III.6.) (5:2) "And peace will be restored forever to the holy minds which God created as His Son, His dwelling place, His joy, His love, completely His, completely one with Him." We have returned to our right minds, realizing there is no place we would rather be, the prerequisite for being in the real world in which the wrong mind disappears, as does the world of separation and sin. All that remains is the memory of Who we are as God's one and unified Son, as holy as his Creator, Holiness Itself: "How lovely does the world become in just that single instant when you see the truth about yourself reflected there. Now you are sinless and behold your sinlessness. Now you are holy and perceive it so. And now the mind returns to its Creator; the joining of the Father and the Son, the Unity of unities that stands behind all joining but beyond them all. God is not seen but only understood. His Son is not attacked but recognized." (C-3:8) Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Re: A "Timely" Article
Marcy thanks for that. I read the linked article. It really ties into what I have been looking at lately too. I had been listening to the audio class “Above all Else: Be Not Afraid.” Ken emphasized this Course quote near the end: “He loves you both, equally and as one.” This short line has become so penetrating in and of itself, to wash away all else that says otherwise, to expose my unconscious reasoning meant to covertly affirm otherwise—saying something else is true, separation is justified… in “this case.”? ? Ken’s point was that if we keep this idea in mind, we won’t separate from others… knowing that Jesus is imploring us to love others as he loves, always without exception and as one. If we are secure in knowing we are loved, and are love, we would easily recognize love and calls for love as unthreatening, being absolutely secure and knowing… in that knowing.? ? In the meantime we get to see where our thinking needs the light of love to shine on it as we willingly bring our thoughts to it in this way. Recognizing our resistance related to our fear of love and wholeness. Each time we forget always being an opportunity and not a sin, to reach the goal of complete forgiveness and the Atonement. Atonement or bust! And since the Atonement is inevitable, “bust” isn’t an option! Giving up my delay and suffering apparently is! But eventually we are busted wide open from this seemingly closed, separate, imprisoned and non-existent self… as we embrace with gratitude and love our Self without exception!? ? --Dave ? ? This is the complete ACIM quote: ? “In you there is no separation, and no substitute can keep you from your brother. Your reality was God’s creation, and has no substitute. You are so firmly joined in truth that only God is there. And He would never accept something else instead of you. He loves you both, equally and as one. And as He loves you, so you are. You are not joined together in illusions, but in the Thought so holy and so perfect that illusions cannot remain to darken the holy place in which you stand together. God is with you, my brother. Let us join in Him in peace and gratitude, and accept His gift as our most holy and perfect reality, which we share in Him.” (ACIM, T-18.I.10:1-9) ? Here are some of Ken’s comments on this, I found to be exceedingly helpful: ? “In you there is no separation and no substitute can keep you from your brother.” That means in your right mind this is the truth. “Your reality was God's creation and has no substitute.” Remember God created one Son, and we are all part of that one Son. “You are so firmly joined in truth that only God is there.” Meaning there's no room for your ego. “And he would never accept something else instead of you. He loves you both equally and as one.”? ? So what if you carried this thought around with you, to censor all the time whenever you had an unkind thought. What if you really did that? And each and every time you had an unkind thought about a stranger or a friend or a family member, or colleague at work, or a public official, and each and every time you had an unkind thought, an angry thought, an insensitive thought you said: “God loves us both equally and as one.”? ? That would be a wonderful example of bringing the illusion to the Truth. And then ask yourself why won't I do that? Why won't I ask myself, how does Jesus look at this person? Is he making fun of our president? Is he making fun of this person that I'm hating and badmouthing? Well, then why am I doing it? Because clearly I'm separating myself from Him and from the love of God.? ? That's obvious. So that must be my secret wish. To separate myself from this perfect love. At least now I know what I am doing. It has nothing do with you, or what this person did or said. It has to do with—I want to put a distance between myself and perfect love. “Because God loves us both, equally and as one. And as he loves you, so you are.”? ? “You are not joined together in illusions, but in the Thought, so holy and so perfect that illusions cannot remain to darken the holy place in which you stand together.”? ? “The holiest spot in all the earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love.” Why won't I let this relationship, whatever it is, become that “holiest spot on all the Earth?”? ? In that same section, Jesus talks about how the bloodied earth is cleansed. Why don't I want to cleanse the bloodied Earth of my relationships? Why do I keep pouring more and more blood??What stops me? At least be aware of that. That would help because it cuts through all the complexity of the lies that the World tells you. ? It's not worth it. Why give up this experience of this incredible love that would last forever? For the seeming thrill of a little hate or a grievance justified, or fear indulged. That's the question you should ask, “why, why am I doing this?” “Why am I calling this person sinful?” Engendering guilt in them and making them and myself fearful? Why am I doing that?? ? It's very helpful to see what you're doing. You don't have to change it right away if you don't want to, but at least see what you're doing. And see it in the specific context of your everyday living. Not so called abstract metaphysical thinking, but very specific, what my body is doing with itself, what it's doing with other bodies. What it's thinking about, what it's feeling, how it's behaving. And why do I act in a way that's directly antithetical to the way that Jesus loves?? ? “God loves you both equally and as one, and as he loves you, so you are.” ? “God is with you, my brother. Let us join in Him in peace and gratitude, and accept His gift as our most holy and perfect reality, which we share in Him.” So each and every time you find yourself being angry, and again, holding on to grievances say, read these lines:? ? “God is with you, my brother. Let us join in Him in peace and gratitude, and accept His gift as our most holy and perfect reality, which we share in Him.”? ? But this means I have to bring everyone with me. I always quote the line right at the end of the text with Jesus talking about his glorious vision for us. He says: “Yet this a vision is which you must share with everyone you see, for otherwise you will behold it not.” And the vision really is the sameness of God's Son. And if we're the same, there can be no attack, no loss, no hurt, no judgment. And if I want that, then I must share it with everyone. And then when I find myself withholding that love and substituting judgment instead, it's because I'm not ready to go home yet. And that's not a sin. It's an honest statement. ? ? ? ? |
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Lesson 330. I will not hurt myself again today.
Lesson 330. I will not hurt myself again today. Let us this day accept forgiveness as our only function. Why should we attack our minds, and give them images of pain? Why should we teach them they are powerless, when God holds out His power and His Love, and bids them take what is already theirs? The mind that is made willing to accept God's gifts has been restored to spirit, and extends its freedom and its joy, as is the Will of God united with its own. The Self which God created cannot sin, and therefore cannot suffer. Let us choose today that He be our Identity, and thus escape forever from all things the dream of fear appears to offer us. Father, Your Son can not be hurt. And if we think we suffer, we but fail to know our one Identity we share with You. We would return to It today, to be made free forever from all our mistakes, and to be saved from what we thought we were. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 330. "I will not hurt myself again today. *This is another significant lesson that reminds us of our need to recognize how we continually hurt ourselves by holding on to thoughts of specialness. Persistently engaging in thoughts and behavior we know will hurt us -- despite the ego's lies that they will give us pleasure -- it is a way of saying: "I want to hurt myself, because that establishes my existence without being responsible for it." We thus need to do to be aware how we are the cause of our own suffering.* (1:1-3) "Let us this day accept forgiveness as our only function. Why should we attack our minds, and give them images of pain? Why should we teach them they are powerless, when God holds out His power and His Love, and bids them take what is already theirs?" *The images of pain are what we experience as bodies, but they are only shadows of the pain of the mind's guilt. Jesus asks us to question our having made the mind powerless, which we do whenever we identify with the body's suffering. If the body suffers and we blame it on another, we deny the mind's power to choose pain. We thus make the dream figure real, for we wish to conceal the mind's role as dreamer. Recognizing our mistake, we no longer want to teach our powerlessness, but rather that our suffering comes from the mind's choice -- the world can never hurt us, but we hurt ourselves by our mistaken decisions.* (1:4) "The mind that is made willing to accept God's gifts has been restored to spirit, and extends its freedom and its joy, as is the Will of God united with its own." *Jesus helps us bring the image of pain, which is experienced in the world and body, back to the mind that is the seat of all power. Thus we can choose again to accept God's gifts instead of the ego's -- freedom and joy instead of imprisonment and pain.* (1:5-6) "The Self which God created cannot sin, and therefore cannot suffer. Let us choose today that He be our Identity, and thus escape forever from all things the dream of fear appears to offer us." *Recall this lovely line depicting the turning from fear to God's Love, which is our Self: "Do not think that anything the gifts of fear hold out is worth an instant's hesitation, when the gate of Heaven stands before you and the Christ of God is waiting your return." (The Gifts of God, pp.121-22).* (2) "Father, Your Son can not be hurt. And if we think we suffer, we but fail to know our one Identity we share with You. We would return to It today, to be made free forever from all our mistakes, and to be saved from what we thought we were." *Implicit in this statement is the purpose of all suffering -- perceived in ourselves and others -- preventing us from knowing our Identity. When we remember who we are as God's one Son, we are no longer the ego -- a special, unique, and individual self. Therefore, to ensure that we do not remember, we need only suffer, and then blame it on someone or something else. Thus our focus should be on learning the purpose inherent in pain. What makes A Course in Miracles unique among spiritual systems is that Jesus helps us understand <why> we choose to suffer, and <why> we choose to remain here in such a painful state. There is thus a method in the ego's madness -- to keep the memory of God forever buried in the mind, beyond our ability as mindless bodies to accept it.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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A "Timely" Article
This article is very much worth reading, though the focus of this specific article is not on taking back ones projections specifically (which is a key piece in observing our ego concepts, while we believe? A=B+C).There's much much more in the guidebook.which includes many articles, including the theme of projection and looking at ones own hateful thoughts. Very cool resource. J always offers his hand whenever I think I've fallen and can't get up, Marcy? ;-) |
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Lesson 329. I have already chosen what You will.
Lesson 329. I have already chosen what You will. Father, I thought I wandered from Your Will, defied it, broke its laws, and interposed a second will more powerful than Yours. Yet what I am in truth is but Your Will, extended and extending. This am I, and this will never change. As You are One, so am I one with You. And this I chose in my creation, where my will became forever one with Yours. That choice was made for all eternity. It cannot change, and be in opposition to itself. Father, my will is Yours. And I am safe, untroubled and serene, in endless joy, because it is Your Will that it be so. Today we will accept our union with each other and our Source. We have no will apart from His, and all of us are one because His Will is shared by all of us. Through it we recognize that we are one. Through it we find our way at last to God. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from his book set: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 329. "I have already chosen what You will." *We come to another lesson on the theme of oneness -- the unity of our will and God's. Our Creator has willed we forever be a part of Him, not separate, and what He wills can never not be so.* (1:1-4) "Father, I thought I wandered from Your Will, defied it, broke its laws, and interposed a second will more powerful than Yours. Yet what I am in truth is but Your Will, extended and extending. This am I, and this will never change. As You are One, so am I one with You." *We believed we accomplished the impossible in the separation, having wandered into the ego's far country of separate wills. Our guilt, born of the thought we had sinned against our Father, caused us to become its children instead of Love's. The truth, however, is that is that as an extension of God's Will we never left our Source, and so we gladly recognize the mistake of having believed in illusions, happily accepting the truth of our creation in their place.* (1:5) "And this I chose in my creation, where my will became forever one with Yours." *I earlier referred to the important section "The Secret Vows," where Jesus speaks of God's promise to us that we would forever be His Son, always one with His Love. The Son forgot "he replied 'I will," though in that promise he was born (T-28.VI.6:4-6). In that lovely passage, Jesus poetically expresses what happened at our creation, and he refers to it here as well -- we, as God's Son, are eternally at one with His Will.* (1:6-7) "That choice was made for all eternity. It cannot change, and be in opposition to itself." *We can dream we are in opposition to God and His Will, but in truth nothing happened to disturb our dwelling place in Heaven: "Think not that you can change Their [God and His Son's] dwelling place. For your Identity abides in Them, and where They are, forever must you be. The changelessness of Heaven is in you, so deep within that nothing in this world but passes by, unnoticed and unseen." (T-29.V.2.1-3) * (1:8-9) "Father, my will is Yours. And I am safe, untroubled and serene, in endless joy, because it is Your Will that it be so." *What greater joy can there be in our world of separation than learning we are perfectly safe -- anywhere and everywhere -- because our will and God's are one.* (2) "Today we will accept our union with each other and our Source. We have no will apart from His, and all of us are one because His Will is shared by all of us. Through it we recognize that we are one. Through it we find our way at last to God." *If we are sincere in our desire to return home and awaken to our Identity as God's Son, we cannot see ourselves as separate from anyone else. The Sonship of God is one, on earth as it is in Heaven, and remembering this happy fact <is> the way to reach our Father's house.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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