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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 16 "THE FORGIVENESS OF ILLUSIONS"
VII. THE BRIDGE TO THE REAL WORLD
64
The bridge itself is nothing more than a transition in your perspective of reality. On this side, everything you see is grossly distorted and completely out of perspective. What is little and insignificant is magnified, and what is strong and powerful cut down to littleness. In the transition there is a period of confusion in which a sense of actual disorientation seems to occur. But fear it not, for it means nothing more than that you have been willing to let go your hold on the distorted frame of reference which seemed to hold your world together. This frame of reference is built around the special relationship. Without this illusion, there can be no meaning you would still seek here.
ON LINE: ACIM.OE.TX.CH 16.VII
AUDIO: TEXT CH 16, VII
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK Part I
INTRODUCTION to LESSONS 181-200
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Our next few lessons make a special point
of firming up your willingness to make
your weak commitment strong, your scattered goals
blend into one intent. You are not asked
for total dedication all the time,
as yet. But you are asked to practice now
in order to attain the sense of peace
such unified commitment will bestow,
if only intermittently. It is
experiencing this which makes it sure
that you will give your total willingness
to following the way the course sets forth.
Our lessons now are geared specifically
to widening horizons and direct
approaches to the special blocks which keep
your vision narrow and too limited
to let you see the value of our goal.
We are attempting now to lift these blocks,
however briefly. Words alone can not
convey the sense of liberation which
their lifting brings. But the experience
of freedom and of peace that comes as you
give up your tight control of what you see
speaks for itself. Your motivation will
be so intensified that words become
of little consequence. You will be sure
of what you want and what is valueless.
And so we start our journey beyond words
by concentrating first on what impedes
our progress still. Experience of what
exists beyond defensiveness remains
beyond achievement while it is denied.
It may be there, but you cannot accept
its presence. So we now attempt to go
past all defenses for a little while
each day. No more than this is asked because
no more than this is needed. It will be
enough to guarantee the rest will come.
~ The Original Handscript Notes
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSONS
L e s s o n 183
I call upon God's Name and on my own.
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
God's Name is holy, but no holier
than yours. To call upon His Name is but
to call upon your own. A father gives
his son his name, and thus identifies
the son with him. His brothers share his name,
and thus are they united in a bond
to which they turn for their identity.
Your Father's Name reminds you who you are
even within a world which does not know;
even though you have not remembered it.
God's Name can not be heard without response,
nor said without an echo in the mind
which calls you to remember. Say His Name,
and you invite the angels to surround
the ground on which you stand, and sing to you
as they spread out their wings to keep you safe,
and shelter you from every worldly thought
that would intrude upon your holiness.
Repeat God's Name, and all the world responds
by laying down illusions. Every dream
the world holds dear has suddenly gone by,
and where it seemed to stand you find a star;
a miracle of grace. The sick arise,
healed of their sickly thoughts. The blind can see;
the deaf can hear. The sorrowful cast off
their mourning, and the tears of pain are dried
as happy laughter comes to bless the world.
Repeat the Name of God, and little names
have lost their meaning. No temptation but
becomes a nameless and unwanted thing
before God's Name. Repeat His Name and see
how easily you will forget the names
of all the gods you valued. They have lost
the name of god you gave them. They become
anonymous and valueless to you,
although before you let the Name of God
replace their little names, you stood before
them worshipfully, naming them as gods.
Repeat the Name of God and call upon
your Self, Whose Name is His. Repeat His Name,
and all the tiny, nameless things on earth
slip into right perspective. Those who call
upon the Name of God can not mistake
the nameless for the Name, nor sin for grace,
nor bodies for the holy Son of God.
And should you join a brother as you sit
with him in silence, and repeat God's Name
along with him within your quiet minds,
you have established there an altar which
reaches to God Himself, and to His Son.
Practice but this today; repeat God's Name
slowly again and still again. Become
oblivious of every name but His.
Hear nothing else. Let all your thoughts become
anchored on This. No other words we use
except at the beginning, when we say
today's idea but once. And then God's Name
becomes our only thought, our only word,
the only thing that occupies our minds,
the only wish we have, the only sound
with any meaning, and the only name
of everything that we desire to see;
of everything that we would call our own.
Thus do you give an invitation which
could never be refused. And God will come,
and answer it Himself. Think not He hears
the little prayers of those who call on Him
with names of idols cherished by the world.
They cannot reach Him thus. He cannot hear
requests that He be not Himself, or that
His Son receive another name than His.
Repeat His Name and you acknowledge Him
as sole Creator of reality.
And you acknowledge also that His Son
is part of Him, creating in His Name.
Sit silently and let His Name become
the all-encompassing idea which holds
your mind completely. Let all thoughts be still
except this One. And to all other thoughts
respond with This, and watch God's Name replace
the thousand little names you gave your thoughts,
not realizing that there is One Name
for all there is and all that there will be.
You can achieve today a state in which
you will experience the gifts of grace.
You can escape all bondage of the world,
and give the world the same release you found.
You can remember what the world forgot,
and offer it your own remembering.
You can accept today the part you play
in its salvation, and your own as well,
and both can be accomplished perfectly.
Turn to the Name of God for your release,
and it is given you. No prayer but this
is necessary, for it holds them all
within it. Words are insignificant
and all requests unneeded when God's Son
calls on his Father's Name. His Father's Thoughts
become his own. He makes his claim to all
his Father gave, is giving still, and will
forever give. He calls on Him to let
all things he thought he made be nameless now,
and in their place the holy Name of God
becomes his judgment of their worthlessness.
All little things are silent. Little sounds
are soundless now. The little things of earth
have disappeared. The universe consists
of nothing but the Son of God, who calls
upon his Father. And his Father's Voice
gives answer in his Father's holy Name.
In this eternal, still relationship
in which communication far transcends
all words, and yet exceeds in depth and height
whatever words could possibly convey,
is peace eternal. In our Father's Name,
we would experience this peace today.
And in His Name it shall be given us.
~ The Original Handscript Notes
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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 183
I call upon God's Name and on my own.
I spent the year 2000 in Sedona where I studied the Course at the Circle of Atonement with Robert Perry. While I was there, Robert took some time off to go to a Catholic retreat center. When he returned, he spoke about his time at the retreat with this Lesson. It was very helpful to hear of his experience, as it allowed me to get a deeper appreciation of the message contained in this Lesson. Prior to this, I must admit, this Lesson did not really grab me. As I was repeating the name of God over and over as instructed, "slowly again and still again," (W.183.6.1) it felt empty and ritualistic. It never elicited much in the way of a connection and seemed more like a mantra or magical incantation. Now I have come to see that by calling on God's Name, I am being called to detach from listening to the ego and to shift from the specifics of this world where we name everything and to realize that God's Love is all there is and the only thing I want. Everything in this world is named and thus it is separate and different from everything else. We give value to these things we name, but then we "Repeat the Name of God, and little names have lost their meaning." (W.183.4.1)
When Robert returned from his retreat, he talked about the similarity of this Lesson with the centering prayer that is described in a written work called The Cloud of Unknowing. It is an ancient prayer practice that comes from a contemplative heritage of the Catholic Church. It is a method of prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of God's presence by quieting our minds.
The book speaks about the soul's attainment of the Absolute, but it is contingent on one central necessity: The perfect and passionate setting of the will upon the Divine, since "Thy love and thy meaning, the choice and point of thine heart," and "that intent stretching to God," which "if wholly set on Him, cannot fail to reach its goal."I love that!This book goes on to describe the motivation for God as"the sharp dart of longing love." It speaks of the happiness of those who have had the experience of this love.
There is a recognition by this author, as well, of the struggle with distracting thoughts and the confusion and bewilderment of the beginner in the early stages of contemplation. He also talks about the importance of recognizing the futility of study in a theoretical way without the benefit of release by grace. There is much that is beautiful in this writing. It speaks of the one necessity to connect with God, which is all about the will and the heart, rather than a focus on ascetic practices or intellectual striving. It is more about actively loving and choosing to apply the teachings in one's life. It is the synthesis of "love and will" seen as essential in order to achieve the goal of peace. "For silence is not God," he says in the Epistle of Discretion, "nor speaking is not God; fasting is not God, nor eating is not God; loneliness is not God, nor company is not God; nor yet any of all the other two such contraries. He is hid between them, and may not be found by any work of thy soul, but only by love of thine heart. He may not be known by reason, He may not be gotten by thought, nor concluded by understanding; but He may be loved and chosen with the true lovely will of thine heart."
We traditionally think of prayer as an active process of mentally or verbally communicating with God, whereas this form of centering prayer is one of receptivity or resting in God. It is an opening up of our minds, our hearts, and our whole being to God, beyond thoughts, words, and emotions. It takes us from the intellectual understanding to the heart so that we fully embody the experience of resting in God.
We are calling upon the truth in our right minds. The Holy Spirit reflects that truth. Calling on the truth requires detachment from the thought system of the ego mind. (wrong mind). I choose to identify with God's Name so I can know I am God's Son and not the son of the ego. The way to this recognition is to look at our thoughts, be willing to see our way of seeing everything as wrong, and be willing to use the events and circumstances of this world as a classroom for undoing the thought system of the ego. It means that our lives are the path.
Calling upon God's name is a symbol of the Correction (Atonement) of how we currently see. It is to recognize that we are wrong about how we perceive everything, which is truly humbling. Jesus invites us to "Remember nothing that you taught yourself, for you were badly taught." (T.28.I.7.1) (ACIM OE T.7.II.7)
This requires a willingness to become aware of my current perspectives so I can choose against what is false. I choose against the valueless, and I do this by not attending to my thoughts since they keep me invested in the world. This was so clearly illustrated in a movie I watched recently, called Shutter Island, in which I judged who was right and who was wrong, only to be shown at the end that all my perceptions were wrong. In the process of watching this movie, the Holy Spirit showed me how I was taken in by a convincing set-up, and I was absolutely wrong in my interpretations. The movie illustrated how we can be so absolutely certain of our perceptions in life that we are convinced this world is real. The apparatus for seeing and hearing are the ego's tools for bringing evidence to us that convince us of the reality of this world. The thought system of the ego is insane, but it is as consistent and logical as that of the Holy Spirit.
"The ingeniousness of the ego to preserve itself is enormous, but it stems from the very power of the mind the ego denies. This means that the ego attacks what is preserving it, which must result in extreme anxiety. That is why the ego never recognizes what it is doing. It is perfectly logical but clearly insane."
(T.7.VI.3.1-4) (ACIM OE T.7.VII.56)
This Lesson starts with the idea that we are actually calling upon our own true identity when we call on God's Name. While we are One with Him, He is the Cause and the Source. We share His name, not because we are Him, but because He is our Creator, and we share His nature. He has given us His Name, just as a father gives his name to his son. Thus, we have a deep, abiding bond with Him. In this deep connection with the divine within, we are reminded that we are not these characters in the dream that we know ourselves to be with our given names. "Your Father's Name reminds you who you are, even within a world that does not know; even though you have not remembered it." (W.183.1.5) When we say His Name, an echo is heard in the mind, and this calls us to remember who we really are. "God's Name can not be heard without response, nor said without an echo in the mind that calls you to remember." (W.183.2.1) We are called to remember our true identity in that deep communion with the Christ Self within.
The Atonement Principle is our assurance that we have never changed ourselves. To be aware of the changeless Self requires deep desire and devotion to the truth. We are magnificent beings of light and love. This awareness brings recognition of the immense angelic power that protects us. "Say His Name, and you invite the angels to surround the ground on which you stand, and sing to you as they spread out their wings to keep you safe, and shelter you from every worldly thought that would intrude upon your holiness." (W.183.2.2) We are releasing our worldly thoughts that are the idols we hold up as our gods. They are the things of this world we put value on, but they are actually valueless and deliver nothing. When we enter into deep communion with God, it brings healing to the sick and lifts the suffering of the world. When the mind is healed, it contributes to the One Mind like an inflated balloon that now has more air to lift it higher. That is quite a premise and points to the ministry we have in the world simply by remembering who we are.
This power is enhanced when we join with a brother. "And should you join a brother as you sit with him in silence, and repeat God's Name along with him within your quiet mind, you have established there an altar which reaches to God Himself and to His Son." (W.183.5.4) We can only truly join with a brother when we release our judgments and recognize the Christ in him. This may not mean that we literally sit together and repeat God's Name. What is symbolized here is the Oneness we share with everyone in which we join in truth and let go of the needs and judgments inherent in our special relationships. "If you unite with anyone in prayer, you make him part of you." (Song of Prayer.1.II.6.2)
"You have taught yourself to believe that you are not what you are."
(T.6.III.1.8) (ACIM OE T.6.IV.40) This demonstrates the immense power of our minds since we have taught ourselves that we are something we are not. It is about recognizing that, ultimately, in undoing what we have taught ourselves, we will see there is no room for the separate me, for my individual identity, nor separation from my brother. We are all one Son, in the unity of the family of God.
In our invitation to God, Jesus tells us, "Thus do we give an invitation which can never be refused. And God will come, and answer it Himself." (W.183.7.1-2) Then he says, "Think not He hears the little prayers of those who call on Him with names of idols cherished by the world. They cannot reach Him thus. He cannot hear requests that He be not Himself, or that His Son receive another name than His." (W.183.7.3-5) How are we to understand this? Does God answer our prayers, or does He really not hear our prayers? In order to get more clarity on this question, I turned to The Song of Prayer that accompanies the Course. Jesus explains that there are different levels of prayer, depending on which rung of the ladder we are on, ascending back to the self.
On the beginning rungs, we ask for things we think we need. These requests come from our belief that we are in the world and are in a state of need and lack. "To you who are in time a little while, prayer takes the form that best will suit your need." (Song of Prayer.1.IN.2.1) "At these levels prayer is merely wanting, out of a sense of scarcity and lack." (S.1.II.1.5) "These forms of prayer, or asking-out-of-need, always involve feelings of weakness and inadequacy, and could never be made by a Son of God who knows Who he is." (S-1.II.2.1) Do these prayers get answered? Apparently, they do but only as long as they do not set us back on our journey.
When we request that the idols of the world make us happy, we are making meaningless things into gods. Yet to ask for what we think we need is not wrong. It is just that this will not advance our journey to God because getting what we want in the illusion will tempt us to stay asleep. Any answer we get to our prayers comes from the Holy Spirit in our minds, as God does not know of our dream. Asking for specifics comes from our belief that we are bodies, living in the world. When we progress on our journey, our prayer becomes less specific. "It is possible at this level to continue to ask for things of this world in various forms, and it is also possible to ask for gifts such as honesty or goodness, and particularly for forgiveness for the many sources of guilt that inevitably underlie any prayer of need." (S.1.II.3.4) Until we reach the higher levels of the ladder, "Prayer now must be the means by which God's Son leaves separate goals and separate interests by, and turns in holy gladness to the truth of union in his Father and himself." (S.1.IN.2.4)
Thus, he tells us that "You can escape all bondage of the world, and give the world the same release you found." (W.183.9.2) We are refocusing the mind away from what intrudes on it when we focus on God's Name. What intrudes on our minds are the things we think we want that do not serve our best interests. What we think we need are meaningless idols of the world that we believe will make us happy. They include our goals and plans, money, food, prestige, power, sex, cars, and special relationships. Everything we value in the world is essentially valueless. "In true prayer you hear only the song." (S.1.I.3.4) "Prayer is an offering; a giving up of yourself to be at one with Love." (S.1.I.5.5) "The secret of true prayer is to forget the things you think you need." (S.1.I.4.1) "Prayer is a stepping aside; a letting go, a quiet time of listening and loving." (S.1.I.5.1) "This is not a level of prayer that everyone can attain as yet." (S.1.I.6.1)
Today, we are invited to experience the peace of God. "Turn to the Name of God for your release, and it is given you. No prayer but this is necessary, for it holds them all within it." (W.183.10.1-2) All that is real is in our relationship with our Father. Now we come to know eternal peace, if only for a moment, as we enter the holy instant. "And in His Name, it shall be given us." (W.183.11.8) In the holy instant, all is quiet and still, and our holy minds can rest in the presence of the eternal! Here, "communication far transcends all words." (W.183.11.6)
Today, we are asked to "Become oblivious to every name but His. Hear nothing else. Let all your thoughts become anchored on This. No other word we use except at the beginning, when we say today's idea but once." (W.183.6.2-5) When we return to the world, we will remember what the world forgot. It takes strength to be in the world but not of the world, yet we are called to be the example of peace so others may see that this is the same choice they could make. Our part is to offer forgiveness in every situation. That is what he invites us to do when he says, "It would indeed be strange if you were asked to go beyond all symbols of the world, forgetting them forever; yet were asked to take a teaching function. You have need to use the symbols of the world a while. But be you not deceived by them as well." (W.184.9.1-3)
Only love is real. Everything else is just part of the dream, broken into small parts with different names. "In this eternal still relationship in which communication far transcends all words, and yet exceeds in depth and height whatever words could possibly convey is peace eternal." (W.183.11.6) So let us join in the experience of this peace today, as much as possible, and trust it will be given us, as we lay aside our own ideas.
Love and blessings, Sarah
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PAUSED FOR WEEKEND
A Course in Miracles
TEXT
Chapter Sixteen
The Forgiveness of Illusions
Voice and Music by Martin Weber, CIMS SonShip Radio
VII. The Bridge to the Real World
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The search for the special relationship is the sign that you equate yourself with the ego and not with God. For the special relationship has value only to the ego. To the ego unless a relationship has special value, it has no meaning, and it perceives all love as special. Yet this cannot be natural, for it is unlike the relationship of God and His Son, and all relationships that are unlike this one must be unnatural. For God created love as He would have it be and gave it as it is. Love has no meaning except as its Creator defined it by His Will. It is impossible to define it otherwise and understand it.
60
Love is freedom. To look for it by placing yourself in bondage is to separate yourself from it. For the love of God, no longer seek for union in separation nor for freedom in bondage! As you release, so will you be released. Forget this not, or love will be unable to find you and comfort you. There is a way in which the Holy Spirit asks your help if you would have His. The holy instant is His most helpful tool in protecting you from the attraction of guilt, the real lure in the special relationship. You do not recognize that this is its real appeal, for the ego has taught you that freedom lies in it. Yet the closer you look at the special relationship, the more apparent it becomes that it must foster guilt and therefore must imprison.
61
The special relationship is totally without meaning without a body. And if you value it, you must also value the body. And what you value, you will keep. The special relationship is a device for limiting your self to a body and for limiting your perception of others to theirs. The Great Rays would establish the total lack of value of the special relationship if they were seen. For in seeing them, the body would disappear because its value would be lost. And so your whole investment in seeing it would be withdrawn from it. You see the world you value.
62
On this side of the bridge, you see the world of separate bodies seeking to join each other in separate unions and to become one by losing. When two individuals seek to become one, they are trying to decrease their magnitude. Each would deny his power, for the separate union excludes the universe. Far more is left outside than would be taken in. For God is left without and nothing taken in. If one such union were made in perfect faith, the universe would enter into it. Yet the special relationship which the ego seeks does not include even one whole individual. For the ego wants but part of him and sees only this part and nothing else.
63
Across the bridge, it is so different! For a time the body is still seen but not exclusively, as it is seen here. For the little spark which holds the Great Rays within it is also visible, and this spark cannot be limited long to littleness. Once you have crossed the bridge, the value of the body is so diminished in your sight that you will see no need at all to magnify it. For you will realize that the only value which the body has is to enable you to bring your brothers to the bridge with you and to be released together there.
64
The bridge itself is nothing more than a transition in your perspective of reality. On this side, everything you see is grossly distorted and completely out of perspective. What is little and insignificant is magnified, and what is strong and powerful cut down to littleness. In the transition there is a period of confusion in which a sense of actual disorientation seems to occur. But fear it not, for it means nothing more than that you have been willing to let go your hold on the distorted frame of reference which seemed to hold your world together. This frame of reference is built around the special relationship. Without this illusion, there can be no meaning you would still seek here.
65
Fear not that you will be abruptly lifted up and hurled into reality. Time is kind, and if you use it for reality, it will keep gentle pace with you in your transition. The urgency is only in dislodging your minds from their fixed position here. This will not leave you homeless and without a frame of reference. The period of disorientation which precedes the actual transition is far shorter than the time it took to fix your minds so firmly on illusions. Delay will hurt you now more than before only because you realize it is delay and that escape from pain is really possible. Find hope and comfort rather than despair in this: You could no longer find even the illusion of love in any special relationship here. For you are no longer wholly insane, and you would recognize the guilt of self-betrayal for what it is.
66
Nothing you seek to strengthen in the special relationship is really part of you. And you cannot keep part of the thought system which taught you it was real and understand the Thought that really knows what you are. You have allowed the Thought of your reality to enter your minds, and because you invited it, it will abide with you. Your love for it will not allow you to betray yourself, and you could not enter into a relationship where it could not go with you, for you would not be apart from it.
67
Be glad you have escaped the mockery of salvation which the ego offered you and look not back with longing on the travesty it made of your relationships. Now no one need suffer, for you have come too far to yield to the illusion of the beauty and holiness of guilt. Only the wholly insane could look on death and suffering, sickness and despair and see it thus. What guilt has wrought is ugly, fearful, and very dangerous. See no illusion of truth and beauty there. And be you thankful that there is a place where truth and beauty wait for you. Go on to meet them gladly, and learn how much awaits you for the simple willingness to give up nothing because it is nothing.
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The new perspective you will gain from crossing over will be the understanding of where Heaven is. From here it seems to be outside and across the bridge. Yet as you cross to join it, it will join with you and become one with you. And you will think in glad astonishment that for all this you gave up nothing! The joy of Heaven, which has no limit, is increased with each light that returns to take its rightful place within it. Wait no longer, for the love of God and you. And may the holy instant speed you on the way, as it will surely do if you but let it come to you.
69
The Holy Spirit asks only this little help of you. Whenever your thoughts wander to a special relationship which still attracts you, enter with Him into a holy instant and there let Him release you. He needs only your willingness to share His perspective to give it to you completely. And your willingness need not be complete because His is perfect. It is His task to atone for your unwillingness by His perfect faith, and it is His faith you share with Him there. Out of your recognition of your unwillingness for your release, His perfect willingness is given you. Call upon Him, for Heaven is at His call. And let Him call on Heaven for you.
~ The Original Handscript Notes
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