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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 11 "GOD'S PLAN FOR SALVATION"
V. SEEKING AND FINDING
40 You will undertake a journey because you are not at home in this world. And you will search for your home whether you know where it is or not. If you believe it is outside yourself, the search will be futile, for you will be seeking it where it is not. You do not know how to look within yourself, for you do not believe your home is there. Yet the Holy Spirit knows it for you, and He will guide you to your home because that is His mission. As He fulfills His mission, He will teach you yours, for your mission is the same as His. By guiding your brothers home, you are but following Him.
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSONS
L e s s o n 124
Let me remember I am one with God.
*
IAMBIC PENTAMETER BEGINS*
<
AUDIO>
<VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Today we will again give thanks for our
identity in God. Our home is safe,
protection guaranteed in all we do,
power and strength available to us
in all our undertakings. We can fail
in nothing. Everything we touch takes on
a shining light which blesses and which heals.
At one with God and all the universe,
we go our way rejoicing, with the thought
that God Himself goes everywhere with us.|
How holy are our minds! And everything
we see reflects the holiness within
the mind at one with God and with itself.
How easily do errors disappear,
and death give place to everlasting life.
Our shining footprints point the way to truth,
for God is our companion as we walk
the world a little while. And those who come
to follow us will recognize the way,
because the light we carry stays behind,
yet still remains with us as we walk on.|
What we received is our eternal gift
to those who follow after, and to those
who went before, or stayed with us a while.
And God, Who loves us with the equal love
in which we were created, smiles on us
and offers us the happiness we gave.|
Today we will not doubt His Love for us,
nor question His protection and His care.
No meaningless anxieties can come
between our faith and our awareness of
His Presence. We are one with Him today
in recognition and remembrance.
We feel Him in our hearts. Our minds contain
His Thoughts, our eyes behold His loveliness
in all we look upon. Today we see
only the loving and the lovable.|
We see it in appearances of pain,
and pain gives way to peace. We see it in
the frantic, in the sad and the distressed,
the lonely and afraid, who are restored
to the tranquility and peace of mind
in which they were created. And we see
it in the dying and the dead as well,
restoring them to life. All this we see
because we saw it first within ourselves.|
No miracle can ever be denied
to those who know that they are one with God.
No thought of theirs but has the power to heal
all forms of suffering in anyone
in times gone by and times as yet to come
as easily as in the ones who walk
beside them now. Their thoughts are timeless, and
apart from distance as apart from time.|
We join in this awareness as we say
that we are one with God. For in these words
we say as well that we are saved and healed;
that we can save and heal accordingly.
We have accepted and we now would give,
for we would keep the gifts our Father gave.
Today we would experience ourselves
at one with Him, so that the world may share
our recognition of reality.
In our experience the world is freed.
As we deny our separation from
our Father, it is healed along with us.|
Peace be to you today. Secure your peace
by practicing awareness you are one
with your Creator, as He is with you.
Sometime today, whenever it seems best,
devote a half an hour to the thought
that you are one with God. This is our first
attempt at an extended period
for which we give no rules nor special words
to guide your meditation. We will trust
God's Voice to speak as He sees fit today,
certain He will not fail. Abide with Him
this half an hour. He will do the rest.|
Your benefit will not be less if you
believe that nothing happened. You may not
be ready to accept the gain today.
Yet sometime, somewhere it will come to you,
nor will you fail to recognize it when
it dawns with certainty upon your mind.
This half an hour will be framed in gold,
with every minute like a diamond, set
around the mirror that this exercise
will offer you. And you will see Christ's face
upon it, in reflection of your own.|
Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you
will see your own transfiguration in
the glass this holy half an hour will
hold out to you, to look upon yourself.
When you are ready, you will find it safe
within your mind and waiting to be found.
You will remember then the Thought to which
you gave this half an hour, thankfully
aware no time was ever better spent.|
Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you
will look into this glass, and understand
the sinless light you see belongs to you;
the loveliness you look on is your own.
Count this half hour as your gift to God,
in certainty that His return will be
a sense of love you cannot understand,
a joy too deep for you to comprehend,
a sight too holy for the body's eyes
to see. And yet you can be sure some day,
perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you
will understand and comprehend and see.|
Add further jewels to the golden frame
that holds the mirror offered you today
by hourly repeating to yourself:
Let me remember I am one with God,
at one with all my brothers and my Self,
in everlasting holiness and peace.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 124
Let me remember I am one with God.
Sarah's Commentary:
This Lesson attempts to describe the experience of being one with God. It is an experience of awakening or enlightenment. It is a mystical experience. Until we have a full blown experience or even glimpses of it, these are just words. Most people have difficulty describing them, finding it difficult to put such an experience into words, as it is an experience beyond words. Yet this Lesson attempts to give us a picture of what it might be like to have such an experience. It is an experience of revelation where there is a feeling of total protection and safety. Everything we touch is blessed and healed even when we look on ". . . appearances of pain." (W.124.5.1) "We see it in the frantic, in the sad and the distressed, the lonely and afraid, who are restored . . . " (W.124.5.2) We see loveliness. Why? "All this we see because we saw it first within ourselves." (W.124.5.4) In other words, we look past appearances and see with Christ's vision.
Jon Mundy wrote in Miracles Magazine, May/June 2008 issue, an excerpt from his book, What is Mysticism? He asked the question, "What is enlightenment?" Then he went on to ask, "What would it be like to have no worries, no anxiety, no problems, no major concerns? What would it be like to hold no grievance, no hurt feelings, no unforgiveness or condemnation? What would it be like to be forever calm, patient, and serene? What would it be like to be free of judgment? What would it be like to experience the love of God, flowing from the heart, to everyone you meet every day? What if there were no fear of death, no sense of limitation? What if you knew you were not a body? What would it be like to know eternity? What would it be like to know God?"
There are many reflections of those who seem to live consistently in this state in the world today. I recently read Byron Katie's book, called A Thousand Names for Joy. I found this book deeply inspiring as she is someone who reflects for me this state of awakened mind. The important thing to remember is that we can make the same choice, as the truth is already in our own minds. It would be a mistake to try to emulate these beings, thinking that spirituality looks and acts a certain way. We must be honest with ourselves so we don't take ourselves beyond where we are with some kind of spiritual bypass, thinking that because we understand something it is enough. It is not about quoting spiritual truths, dressing a certain way, wearing amulets, or eating certain foods. There is no salvation in form, only of the mind.
In this Lesson, Jesus gives us a sense of the effects of joining with God, reminding us that our home is safe, our protection is guaranteed, and His power and strength are available to us in all our undertakings. When we move in Him, we can fail at nothing. "Everything we touch takes on a shining light that blesses and that heals." (W.124.1.4) Our minds are holy and indeed very powerful. When we know this as a result of our experience of joining with the truth within, everything we see reflects holiness. We know then that we are never alone. "Our shining footprints point the way to truth, for God is our companion as we walk the world a little while." (W.124.2.4)
It is an experience where doubt is gone, we don't question His protection and care, and we have perfect certainty in everything we do. Even if there seem to be appearances of pain, sadness, distress, loneliness, or fear, when the mind is healed, vision sees past it all to the loving and the lovable. As our misperceptions, based on our senses, are healed, the miracle can work through us, for "No miracle can ever be denied to those who know that they are one with God. No thought of theirs but has the power to heal all forms of suffering in anyone, in times gone by and times as yet to come, as easily as in the ones who walk beside them now." (W.124.6.1-2) Such healing is not limited by time or space. We are reminded of the first principle of miracles---There is no order of difficulty among them.
Jesus tells us, "Miracles enable you to heal the sick and raise the dead because you made sickness and death yourself, and can therefore abolish both." (T.1.I.24) (ACIM OE T.1.I.27) The problem is always the thoughts of doubt in the mind based on lack and limitation. The solution is always to remember the truth of who we are. All pain, suffering, specialness, and anxiety are equally illusory.
Most of us feel that we are a long way from the constancy of such an experience. Yet Jesus reminds us, "The peace of God is shining in me now," (W.188) and "Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all." (W.188.1.4) Therefore, we are already the Christ Self. We are the ocean, thinking we are a wave, separate from other waves, and separate from the ocean. The truth is already in the right mind but unrecognized when it is blocked by our egoic thoughts. When we defend the illusory self, we are choosing to believe in our guilt and, with it, our independent selves---limited, lacking, and victims of the world. When guilt is our choice, we see a world of pain, suffering, and death. We have made it all real because we think the guilt in our mind is real. With forgiveness, this state of separation is undone. When we come to accept the love we are, there can then be no guilt, no pain, no loneliness, and no death.
How do we know when we have chosen the ego rather than the Holy Spirit? Jesus asks us, "Does pain seem real in the perception? If it does, be sure the lesson is not learned. And there remains an unforgiveness hiding in the mind that sees the pain through eyes the mind directs." (W.193.7.4) This means we have made guilt real in our minds. Thus, whether we feel the suffering within ourselves or we see it in someone else, we are making it real and identifying with it. I had an opportunity to see this in the presence of a dear friend, Tomas Vieira, a gifted Course teacher, who had cancer that ultimately brought him to make his transition. He kept reminding those who were experiencing grief and suffering in his presence to heal their minds of their perception that he could be sick. In other words, if we were not seeing the wholeness of the Christ in him, then we were the ones needing to heal our own minds. Attempting to join in suffering with anyone is what Jesus describes as false empathy. It is not about what we are seeing with our eyes but the interpretation we give to what we see. When we are not seeing the Christ in our brother, we are forgetting who we are and who our brother is.
As Jesus reminds us, "No miracle can ever be denied to those who know that they are one with God." (W.124.6.1) How does the miracle get revealed? It comes naturally when any thought of sin, guilt, and fear is healed. These are the thoughts in the mind that gave rise to the world of separation. The miracle shows up when we remember the truth and experience our reality as One with God. In that remembrance, thoughts of sin, guilt, and fear must disappear, just as there can be no darkness when the light is turned on. Light and darkness cannot coexist. To recognize the truth, we must see the unreality of all we currently think is real. When we turn to the ego as our guide to seeing, we see a world of competition, reciprocity, and giving to get. When we recognize that we are wrong in the way we see, we become willing to accept what Jesus is telling us. We can then smile at the silliness of believing that anything here could be real. The problem we have is that we remembered not to laugh at the tiny mad idea that we could separate from love. Now, in any situation where we feel distressed, we can learn to look with gentle eyes and smile at the unreality of what we are seeing. "It [the miracle] merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false." (W.PII.Q13.What is the Miracle.1.3)
To know that we are One Self, we must be willing to clear the channel of everything that interferes with it. It is the undoing of our investment in our special, separate selves and the guilt in the mind. Everything we see with the body's eyes and all our investment in the separation is a reflection of how much we don't believe God walks with us, protects and supports us. We doubt His love. We experience anxieties and worries, but these experiences need not keep us from our peace and joy unless we give them the power to do so. With the choice for the ego, suffering, pain, and death seem like our immutable reality. It is not because they are real, but we made the sin and guilt real in our minds.
If all our pain and suffering come from the guilt within our own minds, then the answer must also be available within ourselves. It is good news to know that we need not correct the problem. The only thing we need to do is to accept the correction (Atonement) for our wrong-minded thoughts. When we let the interfering thoughts go, only then is it possible to see the loving and the lovable. It is all about connecting to the truth within ourselves first. In the mind of Christ, there is no anxiety, pain, and suffering. When we change our mind, and change our teacher, we are no longer interested in what the ego has to offer. We choose instead the Holy Spirit whose guidance leads us in all we do.
We may get discouraged on this path when we don't see progress. In some instances, when we get on this journey, things may even seem to get worse. Jesus lovingly assures us that we should not let this bother us. The thoughts we are now noticing in our minds were always there. When we start noticing them, we may be initially horrified at their presence. The good news is that they are simply coming to our attention for healing. These thoughts have always been in the subconscious mind, affecting our state of mind without our awareness. He assures us we will see progress ". . . perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow . . ." (W.124.10.1) "When you are ready you will find it there, within your mind and waiting to be found." (W.124.10.2) Doing this Lesson every hour will "Add further jewels to the golden frame that holds the mirror offered you today." (W.124.12.1) It truly is an unfolding process.
When we put the ego in charge of our awakening, we will only become more frustrated. As Mariana Caplan reminds us in Halfway Up the Mountain - The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment, "One is more likely to awaken through surrender than through seeking to awaken. The effort to awaken is the effort of ego, whereas to surrender is to give up all efforts and to place oneself in the hands of a vast force that is more powerful than any realization of non-duality. When one finally gives up one's futile attempts to make reality conform to one's own wishes, and allows it to unfold on its own terms, all the energy that was tied up in foolish attempts to manipulate the universe is freed up."
Let's not beat up on ourselves today for lack of progress. This is just the ego talking and we need not listen. The ego is not our friend and is not who we are. Beating up on ourselves is the ego's game. We will reconnect with this beautiful light in our minds when we are ready, and then it will radiate healing through us. The full benefits will be revealed to us when the time is ripe. The day will come when this will totally be the truth for us. We will never be thrust into enlightenment, which would be a terrifying experience for us. Instead, we are being gently guided by the Holy Spirit in our day to day activities. He takes us only as far and as fast as our willingness and determination to be released from fear will allow.
The words and thoughts he gives us here are very encouraging, reminding us that we may have this experience, "Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow. . .," (W.124.10.1) but whenever it is, he says it will come when we are ready. "When you are ready you will find it there, within your mind and waiting to be found." (W.124.10.2) When that day comes, ". . . you will look into this glass, and understand the sinless light you see belongs to you; the loveliness you look on is your own." (W.124.11.1) The reflection we look on will be the Christ Self we are.
Whenever we choose to deny the power of the ego over us, we are making progress in healing the belief in separation. We will then bring this healing to the world, not by anything we need to do, but simply by reflecting God's Love in the world. You now become an example for others as you ". . . take your place, so long left unfulfilled, in the Great Awakening." (T. 15.XI.10.10) (ACIM OE T.15.XI.112)
Love and blessings, Sarah
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Chapter Eleven
God's Plan for Salvation
Voice and Music by Martin Weber, CIMS SonShip Radio
V. Seeking and Finding
36 The ego is certain that love is dangerous, and this is always its central teaching. It never
puts it this way; on the contrary, everyone who believes that the ego is salvation is intensely engaged in the search for love. Yet the ego, though encouraging the search very actively, makes one proviso-do not
find it. Its dictates, then, can be summed up simply as, "Seek and do
not find." This is the one promise the ego holds out to you and the one promise it will
keep. For the ego pursues its goal with fanatic insistence, and its reality testing, though severely impaired, is completely consistent.
37 The search which the ego undertakes is therefore bound to be defeated. And since it also teaches that it is
your identification, its guidance leads you to a journey which must end in perceived
self-defeat. For the ego
cannot love, and in its frantic search for love, it is seeking what it is
afraid to find. The search is inevitable because the ego is part of your mind, and because of its source, the ego is not wholly split off, or it could not be believed at all. For it is
your mind that believes in it and gives existence to it. Yet it is also your mind that has the power to
deny the ego's existence, and you will surely do so when you realize exactly what the journey is on which the ego sets you.
38 It is surely obvious that no one wants to find what would
utterly defeat him. Being unable to love, the ego would be totally inadequate in love's presence, for it could not respond at all. You would
have to abandon the ego's guidance, for it would be quite apparent that it had not taught you the response pattern you
need. The ego will therefore
distort love and teach you that love calls forth the responses which the ego
can teach. Follow its teaching, then, and you will
search for love but will not
recognize it.
39 Do you realize that the ego must set you on a journey which cannot
but lead to a sense of futility and depression? To seek and
not to find is hardly joyous. Is this the promise
you would keep? The Holy Spirit offers you another promise, and one that will lead to joy. For
His promise is always, "Seek and you will
find," and under His guidance you cannot
be defeated. His is the journey to
accomplishment, and the goal He sets before you He will
give you. For He will never deceive God's Son, whom He loves with the love of the Father.
40 You
will undertake a journey because you are
not at home in this world. And you
will search for your home whether you know where it is or not. If you believe it is outside yourself, the search will be futile, for you will be seeking it where it is not. You do not know how to look within yourself, for you do not
believe your home is there. Yet the Holy Spirit knows it
for you, and He will guide you
to your home because that is His mission. As He fulfills
His mission, He will teach you
yours, for your mission is the same as His. By guiding your
brothers home, you are but following Him.
41 Behold the Guide your Father gave you that you might learn you have eternal life. For death is not your Father's Will nor yours, and whatever is true
is the Will of the Father. You pay no price for life, for that was given you, but you
do pay a price for death, and a very heavy one. If death is your treasure, you will sell everything else to purchase it. And you will believe that you
have purchased it
because you have sold everything else. Yet you
cannot sell the Kingdom of Heaven. Your inheritance can neither be bought
nor sold. There can
be no disinherited parts of the Sonship, for God is whole, and all His extensions are like Him.
42 The Atonement was not the price of our wholeness, but it
was the price of your
awareness of your wholeness. For what you chose to "sell" had to be kept for you since you could not "buy" it back. Yet
you must invest in it, not with money but
with your spirit. For Spirit is will, and will
is the "price" of the Kingdom. Your inheritance awaits only the recognition that you have
been redeemed. The Holy Spirit guides you into life eternal, but
you must relinquish your investment in death, or you will not
see life though it is all around you.
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