THURSDAY JANUARY 14, 2016
Truth is True
Graphic by © Deposit Photos 

A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 2 "THE ILLUSION OF SEPARATION"
I. INTRODUCTION
 
 
In reality, you are perfectly unaffected by all expressions of lack of love. These can be either from yourself and others or from yourself to others or from others to you. Peace is an attribute in you. You cannot find it outside. All mental illness is some form of external searching. Mental health is inner peace. It enables you to remain unshaken by lack of love from without and capable through your own miracles of correcting the external conditions which proceed from lack of love in others.

A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK
INTRODUCTION
Introduction to Lesson 181-200
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
  
1 A theoretical foundation such as the text is necessary as a background to make these exercises meaningful. Yet it is the exercises which will make the goal possible. An untrained mind can accomplish nothing. It is the purpose of these exercises to train the mind to think along the lines which the course sets forth.
 
2 The exercises are very simple. They do not require more than a few minutes, and it does not matter where or when you do them. They need no preparation. They are numbered, running from 1 to 365. The training period is one year. Do not undertake more than one exercise a day.
 
3 The purpose of these exercises is to train the mind to a different perception of everything in the world. The workbook is divided into two sections, the first dealing with the undoing of what you see now and the second with the restoration of sight. It is recommended that each exercise be repeated several times a day, preferably in a different place each time and, if possible, in every situation in which you spend any long period of time. The purpose is to train the mind to generalize the lessons, so that you will understand that each of them is as applicable to one situation as it is to another.
 
4 Unless specified to the contrary, the exercise should be practiced with the eyes open, since the aim is to learn how to see. The only rule that should be followed throughout is to practice the exercises with great specificity. Each one applies to every situation in which you find yourself and to everything you see in it. Each day's exercises are planned around one central idea, the exercises themselves consisting of applying that idea to as many specifics as possible. Be sure that you do not decide that there are some things you see to which the idea for the day is inapplicable. The aim of the exercises will always be to increase the application of the idea to everything. This will not require effort. Only be sure that you make no exceptions in applying the idea.
 
5 Some of the ideas you will find hard to believe, and others will seem quite startling. It does not matter. You are merely asked to apply them to what you see. You are not asked to judge them, nor even to believe them. You are asked only to use them. It is their use which will give them meaning to you, and show you they are true. Remember only this-you need not believe them, you need not accept them, and you need not welcome them. Some of them you may actively resist. None of this will matter nor decrease their efficacy. But allow yourself to make no exceptions in applying the ideas the exercises contain. Whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more than this is required.
 
  ~ Original Hand Script of ACIM    

  
CIRCLE OF ATONEMENT ~ COMMENTARY
          
LESSON AUDIO RECORDINGS
Click this Heart and then click heart on SoundCloud page
to LIKE Us
   
DAILY LESSON
SonShip Workbook 
 L e s s o n 14
God did not create a meaningless world.
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio

1The idea for today is, of course, the reason why a meaningless world is impossible. What God did not create does not exist. And everything that does exist exists as He created it. The world you see has nothing to do with reality. It is of your own making, and it does not exist. 
 
2The exercises for today are to be practiced with eyes closed throughout. The mind searching period should be short, a minute at most. Do not have more than three practice periods with today's idea unless you find them comfortable. If you do, it will be because you really understand what they are for. 
 
3The idea for today is another step in learning to let go the thoughts which you have written on the world, and see the Word of God in their place. The early steps in this exchange, which can truly be called salvation, can be quite difficult and even quite painful. Some of them will lead you directly into fear. You will not be left there. You will go far beyond it. Our direction is toward perfect safety and perfect peace. 
 
4With eyes closed, think of all the horrors in the world that cross your mind. Name each one as it occurs to you, and then deny its reality. God did not create it, and so it is not real. Say, for example: 

5
God did not create that war, and so it is not real. 
God did not create that airplane crash, and so it is not real. 
God did not create that disaster [specify], and so it is not real.
 
6Suitable subjects for the application of today's idea also include anything you are afraid might happen to you or to anyone about whom you are concerned. In each case, name the "disaster" quite specifically. Do not use general terms. For example, do not say, "God did not create illness," but, "God did not create cancer," or heart attacks, or whatever may arouse fear in you. 
 
7This is your personal repertory of horrors at which you are looking. These things are part of the world you see. Some of them are shared illusions, and others are part of your personal hell. It does not matter. What God did not create can only be in your own mind apart from His. Therefore, it has no meaning. In recognition of this fact, conclude the practice periods by repeating today's idea: 
 
8 God did not create a meaningless world. 
 
9The idea for today can, of course, be applied to anything that disturbs you during the day, aside from the practice periods. Be very specific in applying it. Say: 

10
God did not create a meaningless world. 
He did not create [specify the situation 
which is disturbing you], and so it is not real.
     
    ~ Original Hand Script of ACIM       
  
  
LESSON AUDIO RECORDINGS
Hope you will click Heart to LIKE Us 
ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections 
ACIM Edmonton, CA
Lesson 14
God did not create a meaningless world.  
 
Sarah's Commentary:

Yesterday, we read in the Lesson, "Nothing without meaning exists." (W.13.1.3) A meaningless world cannot exist because the only thing that is real is the eternal, the formless, that which has no limits and is perfect. Therefore, the world of time, space, bodies, or anything of this world, cannot be real because the world is a place of limitation, always changing and forever imperfect. Thus, God would not have created any of it. It is all our own making. Everything but what God created as eternal is an illusion. None of it is anything but a projection of our meaningless thoughts. While this is very hard for us to accept, because this world seems very real and solid and our identities seem to be who we are, to me it is a relief that I do not have to try to reconcile the death, destruction and injustices of this world with God's Love.
 
If God is not responsible for the pain and suffering in the world, who is? We are. We are told in the Course; it is all made up. The source is our own thoughts. It is all a dream of our own making. It is a projection of our thought system of sin, guilt and fear. It is an experience of duality, which can't exist because Oneness is all there is. God is perfect Oneness and perfect Love. Nothing outside of that perfection exists, and that is precisely the Thought we are so defended against. Our defenses protect what we have made and give value to. Our only way back to the truth of who we are is to negate that which is not the truth. It is removing that which blocks the love we are, and those blocks can only be removed when we bring awareness to them and when we put them on the altar to light. What we hide from Love cannot be healed.

The idea that we are somehow responsible for all of this can be hard to take and can make us feel very guilty. But, if we truly are responsible for the events of this world, we have the power to change our minds. We can make new choices. We can heal our minds by recognizing our defenses and thus exposing the ego. As the ego is exposed, we see what it is up to and we can then choose to bring our mistaken perceptions to the light of truth. We are not helpless victims. I find that to be an empowering thought. I am also relieved to think of God as only love, only eternal, and never responsible for the messes of this world. Our unhealed minds have made it all up, and now we are taking small steps as we progress through these Lessons so our minds can be healed of our mistaken perceptions.

Think about it. If God is only love, His nature cannot bring about destruction. However, if we try to figure out God's nature from what we see as the wars and disasters in the world, we need to reconcile a loving God with a wrathful God, which is what most religions have tried to do. Thus, God's nature is not being determined by what He actually is as all loving, but by what we try to impose on Him from what we see around us. This is actually the god of the ego and reflects the third law of chaos. In that law, we tell God what He is. "For if God cannot be mistaken, He must accept His Son's belief in what he is, and hate him for it," (T.23.II.6.5)(ACIM OE T.23.III.24) meaning we tell God who He is and He must accept our definition of Him.
 
The Lesson denies that anything not of God can have any reality or be of His making. We think of denial as a negative thing, yet in Chapter 2 Jesus talks of the positive use of denial. He tells us we have been using defenses against the Atonement, meaning we have been setting up defenses against the truth by investing belief in the reality of the body and the world. He now urges us to use denial as a way of affirming anything not of God cannot have any affect on us. Thus, the disasters of this world or of our lives really can't have any real affect on us, because they are just part of this dream. Clearly, they can affect us in the dream, but we are not in the dream. The mind is outside of the dream, and not affected by what seems to be happening in the dream, not unlike what our sleeping dreams show us.

We are learning to allow our minds to be opened to what lies beyond the concrete world of bodies, form, time and space. We are opening our minds to the truth of who we are as eternal beings, who are and always have been innocent. We do this by letting go of the thoughts we have written on this world. "The idea for today is another step in learning to let go the thoughts that you have written on the world, and see the Word of God in their place." (W.14.3.1) Jesus understands this can bring up a lot of fear for us, but he assures us we will not be left in fear. We just need to transition through the fear and doubt thoughts by acknowledging and releasing them. It is a journey through the darkness to the light.
 
There is no way around the darkness. Trying to do a spiritual bypass will not work. We have to look at our judgments, our grievances, our anger, our control, our worry thoughts, our shame and guilt, and all the ways we try to protect and defend ourselves. "Some of them will lead you directly into fear. You will not be left there. You will go far beyond it. Our direction is toward perfect safety and perfect peace." (W.14.3.3-6) We need to trust that there is a way out of this cycle of sin, guilt, and fear we live in daily. The way out is not through affirmations, not through manifestations, but by being willing to look at how our ego shows up in the world. What do I value more than love? How do I try to win at someone's expense? How do I see myself as different than, and better than, my brother? How much do I want to justify my positions? How much do I want to hold onto past grievances? What is the payoff for me for withholding forgiveness? What does my salvation (happiness) depend on? What am I invested in having my way?
 
It is not helpful to our awakening to deny and resist the fear, but see in it the way to rediscover the truth of ourselves as the love we are. We have made up images of a world of separation that is not real. We feel separate and alone and in competition with each other, and none of it is the truth. It is just a mind that has gone to sleep and is now dreaming of exile from its Source, but it is nevertheless a dream.

We are all here doing these Lessons because we have the willingness to undertake this journey back to our Selves. Yes, resistance to the ideas will come up, but don't let that stop you. Jesus is very gentle with us. He does not make demands of us, which is why he asks us to be gentle with ourselves. Notice that your ego is the tyrant. Its voice makes demands of you. Jesus is gentle with us because he knows these Lessons challenge us. Our minds have been conditioned to cover our fears and anxieties and be strong in the face of adversity. We are reluctant to expose our hate and our murderous thoughts. We cover them by pretending they are small irritations, slight impatience, occasional anger, little annoyances. We justify these feelings in the face of what we think others have done to us. I told Don this morning that a broadcaster's voice irritated me as I was watching TV, but I immediately recognized the irritation was in me already. It was simply being exposed. A peaceful mind, which is what we are, can't be irritated. This is what makes the Course so difficult. We don't want to take responsibility for everything, believing instead that our reactions are triggered by outside events. We want to put the guilt for how we feel on others, when in fact it is our own guilt projected out. If I can see others responsible, I can feel innocent, but this is a false innocence.

The Lesson today asks us to think of all of the horrors of the world, name each one, and then deny its reality, because God did not create it, so it is not real. Closer to home, we are also asked to look at what we are afraid might happen to us specifically, and to anyone we are concerned about, and affirm God did not create any of it. This is "part of your personal hell." (W.14.6.3) Other disasters are a reflection of our "shared illusions." (W.14.6.3) This is what we all uphold as true. The wars, death and destruction all are part of our shared illusion, while my fears about my health, my future, and my ability to share this message all become part of my personal thought system, none of which is real. Just because a billion people share in these beliefs, does not make them true.
 
Your mind might be rebelling at this point with, "What do you mean 'None of this is real?'" You may be experiencing a very painful illness or a painful divorce, which certainly feels real. The news of disasters feels real. The death of someone dear to us feels real. Personally, I find it reassuring that none of God's creation is of our own making, and thus we can let the Holy Spirit give His interpretation to everything. He can bring new perspective to what we think we are seeing and believing. I love this story, which is all about perspective, as it shows us there is always another way to see everything, and as we do, our perspective changes.

Here it is:

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to a farm with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son,


"How was the trip?"
 
"It was great, Dad."


"Did you see how poor people live?" his father asked.


"Oh yeah," said the son.


"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" his father asked.


The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all were able to be in a state of gratitude. Should I be grateful for the difficulties in my life? Increasingly I find that I see them as opportunities to look at my responses and recognize I can choose again.

Today, as well as practicing this Lesson as described, we are also reminded we can use this thought anytime during the day when we feel a loss of peace or are disturbed by anything that happens in the day. I am disturbed by a huge increase in my tax assessment on my property. I can apply this Lesson today to my disturbance by reminding myself God did not create a meaningless world. He did not create this disturbing tax situation. God has nothing to do with any of it. Notice how often, when difficulties arise, we ask God how He could allow this to happen? Why would we turn to such a God for comfort? Isn't it more assuring to know He is not responsible for anything but the Love that is always available, regardless of our perceived problems? We undertake this Lesson to help us see that the interpretations we put on this world, on ourselves, and as well as on God, are wrong.
 
Love and blessings, Sarah

I. Introduction

1 This section deals with a fundamental misuse of knowledge, referred to in the Bible as the cause of the "fall," or separation. There are some definitions which I asked you to take from the dictionary which will be helpful here. They are somewhat unusual since they are not the first definitions which are given. Nevertheless, the fact that each of them does appear in the dictionary should be reassuring.
 
2 Project (verb): to extend forward or out.
  Project (noun): a plan in the mind.
  World: a natural grand division.
 
3 We will refer later to projection as related to both mental health and mental illness. We have already observed that man can create an empty shell, but he cannot create nothing at all. This emptiness provides the screen for the misuse of projection.
 
4 The Garden of Eden, which is described as a literal garden in the Bible, was not an actual garden at all. It was merely a mental state of complete need-lack. Even in the literal account, it is noteworthy that the pre-separation state was essentially one in which man needed nothing. The "tree of knowledge" is also an overly literal figure. These concepts need to be clarified before the real meaning of the separation, or the "detour into fear," can be fully understood.
 
5 To "project," as defined above, is a fundamental attribute of God which He gave to His Son. In the creation, God projected His creative ability from Himself to the Souls He created, and He also imbued them with the same loving will to create. The Soul has not only been fully created but has also been created perfect. There is no emptiness in it. Because of its likeness to its Creator, it is creative. No Child of God can lose this ability because it is inherent in what he is, but he can use it inappropriately. Whenever projection is used inappropriately, it always implies that some emptiness or lack exists and that it is in man's ability to put his own ideas there instead of truth.
 
6 If you consider carefully what this entails, the following will become quite apparent:
 
7 First, the assumption is implicit that what God created can be changed by the mind of man.
 
8 Second, the concept that what is perfect can be rendered imperfect or wanting is accepted.
 
9 Third, the belief that man can distort the creations of God, including himself, is accepted.
 
10 Fourth, the idea that since man can create himself, the direction of his own creation is up to him is implied.
 
11 These related distortions represent a picture of what actually occurred in the separation. None of this existed before, nor does it actually exist now. The world was made as "a natural grand division," or a projecting outward of God. That is why everything that He created is like Him. Projection, as undertaken by God, is very similar to the kind of inner radiance which the Children of the Father inherit from Him. It is important to note that the term "project outward" necessarily implies that the real source of projection is internal. This is as true of the Son as of the Father.
 
12 The world, in the original connotation of the term, included both the proper creation of man by God and the proper creation by man in his right mind. The latter required the endowment of man by God with free will because all loving creation is freely given. Nothing in these statements implies any sort of level involvement or in fact anything except one continuous line of creation in which all aspects are of the same order.
 
13 When the "lies of the serpent" were introduced, they were specifically called "lies" because they are not true. When man listened, all he heard was untruth. He does not have to continue to believe what is not true unless he chooses to do so. All of his miscreations can literally disappear in "the twinkling of an eye" because they are merely visual misperceptions. Man's Spiritual eye can sleep, but a sleeping eye can still see. What is seen in dreams seems to be very real. The Bible mentions that "a deep sleep fell upon Adam," and nowhere is there any reference to his waking up.
 
14 The history of man in the world as he sees it has not yet been marked by any genuine or comprehensive reawakening or rebirth. This is impossible as long as man projects in the spirit of miscreation. It still remains within him, however, to project as God projected His own Spirit to him. In reality, this is his only choice because his free will was given him for his own joy in creating the perfect.
 
15 All fear is ultimately reducible to the basic misperception that man has the ability to usurp the power of God. It can only be emphasized that he neither can nor has been able to do this. In this fact lies the real justification for his escape from fear. The escape is brought about by his acceptance of the Atonement, which places him in a position to realize that his own errors never really occurred. When the "deep sleep" fell upon Adam, he was in a condition to experience nightmares because he was asleep. If a light is suddenly turned on while someone is dreaming a fearful dream, he may initially interpret the light itself as a part of his own dream and be afraid of it. However, when he awakens the light is correctly perceived as the release from the dream, which is no longer accorded reality.
 
16 It is quite apparent that this release does not depend on the kind of "knowledge" which is nothing more than deceiving lies. The knowledge which illuminates rather than obscures is the knowledge which not only sets you free, but which also shows you clearly that you are free. Whatever lies you may believe are of no concern to the miracle, which can heal any of them with equal ease. It makes no distinctions among misperceptions. Its sole concern is to distinguish between truth on the one hand and all kinds of errors on the other. Some miracles may seem to be of greater magnitude than others. But remember the first point in this course-that there is no order of difficulty in miracles.
 
17 In reality, you are perfectly unaffected by all expressions of lack of love. These can be either from yourself and others or from yourself to others or from others to you. Peace is an attribute in you. You cannot find it outside. All mental illness is some form of external searching. Mental health is inner peace. It enables you to remain unshaken by lack of love from without and capable through your own miracles of correcting the external conditions which proceed from lack of love in others.
 
  ON LINE SEARCHABLE Original Edition
 2016 Schedule of Lessons & Text Readings   
 
   Hope you will click Heart to LIKE Us
Click this Heart and then click heart on SoundCloud page
to LIKE Us

To make a tax-deductible donation in support of the Daily Lessons or other CIMS Projects, just click the "DONATION" button below.
 
LOVE OFFERING
In Support of Daily Lesson Mailing
[Tax-Deductible]
or other CIMS Projects

Donation to CIMS


To GIVE and to RECEIVE are One in Truth.  Lesson 108
  
Presently all CIMS projects are wholly supported by free will gifts of time, talent, and money. If you would like to support any of the activities of the Society in any way, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Because of the international character of CIMS, the internet is our primary means of communicating and collaborating.
  
CIMS is a section 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, and donations are tax deductible.
  
ALSO, by means of your will or other estate plan, you can name "Course in Miracles Society" as the beneficiary of a portion of your estate, or of particular assets in your estate.

In this way, you are honoring your loved ones while also providing critical support to the extension of LOVE.
 
Namaste and Thank You!
 
____________________________ 
COURSE IN MIRACLES SOCIETY
7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200
Omaha, NE 68114 USA
Voice: 800-771-5056
Fax: 402-391-0343

Course in Miracles Society |800-771-5056| cims@jcim.net | http://jcim.net