"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists.
Herein Lies the peace of God."
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A
Course in Miracles
TEXT
PAUSED FOR WEEKEND
CHAPTER 13
From Perception to Knowledge
III. The Shadow of Guilt
11
Guilt remains the only thing that hides the Father, for guilt is the attack upon His Son. The guilty
always
condemn, and having done so, they
will
condemn, linking the future to the past as is the ego's law. Fidelity unto this law lets no light in, for it
demands
fidelity to darkness and
forbids
awakening. The ego's laws are strict, and breaches are severely punished. Therefore give no obedience to its laws, for they are laws of punishment. And those who follow them believe that they are guilty, and so they
must
condemn. Between the future and the past, the laws of God must intervene if you would free yourselves. Atonement stands between them like a lamp that shines so brightly that the chain of darkness in which you bound yourselves will disappear.
12
Release from guilt is the ego's whole undoing.
Make no one fearful
, for his guilt is yours, and by obeying the ego's harsh commandments, you bring its condemnation of yourself, and you will not escape the punishment it offers those who obey it. The ego rewards fidelity to it with pain, for faith in it
is
pain. And faith can be rewarded only in terms of the belief in which the faith was placed. Faith
makes
the power of belief, and where it is invested determines its reward. For faith is
always
given what is treasured, and what is treasured
is
returned to you.
13
The world can give you only what you gave it, for being nothing but your own projection, it
has
no meaning apart from what you found in it and placed your faith in. Be faithful unto darkness and you will
not
see, because your faith will be rewarded as you
gave
it. You will accept your treasure, and if you place your faith in the past, the future
will
be like it. Whatever you hold as dear, you think is
yours.
The power of your
valuing
will make it so.
14
Atonement brings a re-evaluation of everything you cherish, for it is the means by which the Holy Spirit can separate the false and the true, which you have accepted into your minds
without distinction.
Therefore,
you
cannot value one without the other, and guilt has become as true
for you
as innocence. You do not believe the Son of God is guiltless because you see the past and see
him
not. When you condemn a brother, you are saying, "I who was guilty choose to
remain
so." You have denied
his
freedom, and by so doing you have denied the witness unto
yours.
You could as easily have
freed
him from the past and lifted from his mind the cloud of guilt that binds him to it. And in
his
freedom would have been your
own.
15
Lay not his guilt upon him, for his guilt lies in his secret that he thinks that he has done this unto
you
. Would you, then, teach him that he is
right
in his delusion? The idea that the guiltless Son of God can attack himself and
make
himself guilty is insane. In
any
form, in
anyone
,
believe this not
. For sin and condemnation are the same, and the belief in one is faith in the other, calling for punishment
instead
of love.
Nothing
can justify insanity, and to call for punishment upon yourself
must
be insane.
16
See no one, then, as guilty, and you will affirm the truth of guiltlessness unto
yourself
. In every condemnation that you offer the Son of God lies the conviction of your
own
guilt. If you would have the Holy Spirit make you free of it, accept His offer of Atonement for all your brothers. For so you learn that it is true for
you
. Remember always that it is impossible to condemn the Son of God
in part
. Those whom you see as guilty become the witnesses to guilt in
you
, and you will
see
it there, for it
is
there until it is undone. Guilt is
always
in your own mind, which has condemned
itself
. Project it not, for while you do, it cannot
be
undone. With everyone whom you release from guilt, great is the joy in Heaven, where the witnesses to your fatherhood rejoice.
17
Guilt makes you blind, for while you see one spot of guilt within you, you will
not
see the light. And by projecting it, the
world
seems dark and shrouded in your guilt. You throw a dark veil over it and cannot see it
because you cannot look within.
You are afraid of what you would see there, but it is
not
there.
The thing you fear is gone
. If you would look within, you would see only the Atonement, shining in quiet and in peace upon the altar to your Father.
18
Do not be afraid to look within. The ego tells you all is black with guilt within you and bids you
not
to look. Instead, it bids you look upon your brothers
and see the guilt in them.
Yet this you cannot do without remaining blind. For those who see their brothers in the dark, and guilty in the dark in which they shroud them, are too afraid to look upon the light within. Within you is not what
you
believe is there and what you put your faith in.
19
Within you is the holy sign of perfect faith your Father has in you. He does not value you as you do. He knows Himself and knows the truth in
you.
He knows
there is no difference
, for He knows not of differences. Can
you
see guilt where God
knows
there is perfect innocence? You can
deny
His knowledge, but you cannot
change
it. Look, then, upon the light He placed within you and learn that what you feared was there
has been
replaced with love.
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A Course in Miracles
WORKBOOK
Part I
Review IV
1
Now we review again, this time aware we are preparing for the second part of learning how the truth can be applied. Today we will begin to concentrate on readiness for what will follow next. Such is our aim for this review and for the lessons following. Thus we review the recent lessons and their central thoughts in such a way as will facilitate the readiness which we would now achieve.
2
There is a central theme that unifies each step in the review we undertake, which can be simply stated in these words:
3
My mind holds only what I think with God.
4
This is a fact and represents the truth of what you are and what your Father is. It is this thought by which the Father gave creation to the Son, establishing the Son as co-creator with Himself. It is this thought which fully guarantees salvation to the Son. For in his mind no thoughts can dwell but those his Father shares. Lack of forgiveness blocks this thought from his awareness. Yet it is forever true.
5
Let us begin our preparation with some understanding of the many forms in which the lack of true forgiveness may be carefully concealed. Because they are illusions, they are not perceived to be but what they are—defenses which protect your unforgiving thoughts from being seen and recognized. Their purpose is to show you something else and hold correction off through self-deceptions made to take its place.
6
And yet your mind holds only what you think with God. Your self-deceptions cannot take the place of truth. No more than can a child who throws a stick into the ocean change the coming and the going of the tides, the warming of the water by the sun, the silver of the moon on it by night. So do we start each practice period in this review with readying our minds to understand the lessons that we read and see the meaning which they offer us.
7
Begin each day with time devoted to the preparation of your mind to learn what each idea you will review that day can offer you in freedom and in peace. Open your mind and clear it of all thoughts that would deceive, and let this thought alone engage it fully and remove the rest:
8
My mind holds only what I think with God.
9
Five minutes with this thought will be enough to set the day along the lines which God appointed and to place His Mind in charge of all the thoughts you will receive that day. They will not come from you alone, for they will all be shared with Him. And so each one will bring the message of His Love to you, returning messages of yours to Him. So will communion with the Lord of Hosts be yours, as He Himself has willed it be. And as His own completion joins with Him, so will He join with you who are complete as you unite with Him and He with you.
10
After your preparation, merely read each of the two ideas assigned to you to be reviewed that day. Then close your eyes and say them slowly to yourself. There is no hurry now, for you are using time for its intended purpose. Let each word shine with the meaning God has given it as it was given to you through His Voice. Let each idea that you review that day give you the gift which He has laid in it for you to have of Him. And we will use no format for our practicing but this:
11
Each hour of the day bring to your mind the thought with which the day began and spend a quiet moment with it. Then repeat the two ideas you practice for the day unhurriedly, with time enough to see the gifts which they contain for you, and let them be received where they were meant to be. We add no other thoughts, but let them be the messages they are. We need no more than this to give us happiness and rest and endless quiet, perfect certainty, and all our Father wills that we receive as the inheritance we have of Him.
12
Each day of practicing, as we review, we close as we began, repeating first the thought that made the day a special time of blessing and of happiness for us and through our faithfulness restored the world from darkness to the light, from grief to joy, from pain to peace, from sin to holiness. God offers thanks to you who practice thus the keeping of His Word. And as you give your mind to the ideas for the day again before you sleep, His gratitude surrounds you in the peace wherein He wills you be forever and are learning now to claim again as your inheritance.
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A Course in Miracles
WORKBOOK
Lesson 146
My Mind holds only what I think with God.
[131] No one can fail who asks to reach the truth.
[132] I loose the world from all I thought it was.
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ACIM Edmonton
Sarah's Reflections
Lesson 146
My mind holds only what I think with God.
Review IV ~ Lesson 131 - 132
These two thoughts in Lessons 131 and 132 go together because to seek the truth is to stop looking to the world for what we seem to be seeking: love, safety, immortality, permanence, and satisfaction. I thought that the world was a place for me to achieve goals, which would bring me a great deal of satisfaction and a strong sense of purpose for what I considered to be important. My theme song when I was a young professional was, "Dream the Impossible Dream." I loved what that song conveyed about the world being my oyster. Later, I came to realize how impossible it really was with regard to the achievement of the things I thought would bring me satisfaction and achieve my dreams. It isn't that I didn't achieve goals I had for my life because in many ways I did. It is just that, ultimately, I did not achieve that deep experience of happiness and peace I thought would come with each achievement. Any euphoria I felt was short lived. Instead, in the end, I was left with the feeling that there had to be more.
As Jesus reminds us,
"You do not really want the world you see, for it has disappointed you since time began. The homes you built have never sheltered you. The roads you made have led you nowhere, and no city that you built has withstood the crumbling assault of time."
(T.13.VII.3.1-3) (ACIM OE T.12.VII.61) Later in this chapter, he says,
"Everything the ego tells you that you need will hurt you. For although the ego urges you again and again to get, it leaves you nothing, for what you get it will demand of you."
(T.13.VII.11.1-2) (ACIM OE T.12.VII.69) He tells us,
"Leave, then, your needs to Him. He will supply them with no emphasis at all upon them."
(T.13.VII.13.1-2) (ACIM OE T.12.VII.71)
This reminds me of the teaching in the Bible that says, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added unto you." The point of the Lesson is that we will seek because that is what we came here to do, but if we seek the things of this world, we will become disenchanted and left disappointed. However, when we seek for the Kingdom, everything will be given us. To seek for the Kingdom is to seek for what can never be found in the world as it is already given us. It is the truth that is in us. We can’t know it until we stop looking outside of ourselves. Either we seek for nothing of value in what the world has to offer, or we seek for what we have already been given, which is our innocence and the peace and joy within.
When we follow the dictates of the ego, our time is spent on always seeking but never finding. Regardless of what we seem to be doing in the world, in terms of our jobs or the roles or activities in the world, the only really important use of time is for our awakening---for recognizing the truth of who we are and why we are here. When we come to that realization, we will no longer wish to seek for what has no value, but instead, we will seek for truth. It is the only purpose here and the only one that will bring us what we really desire. The irony is that what we are seeking is what we already have and what we already are.
Does this mean we have to give up on our dreams? Does this mean we can't have any goals in the world? Does this mean we shouldn't make money? Does this mean we can't pursue a special relationship? Jesus does not lay down any rules or dictates about what to do. The Course does not provide rules for how we should behave. It only helps us to look at what we are thinking. Jesus is simply showing us, in a very gentle loving manner, the results of our endeavors in the world and helping us to see where our real happiness lies.
This teaching is not about what we do but what is in our minds, as we go about our day. As we undertake our pursuits in the world, we are encouraged to increasingly recognize these things are substitutes for our real search. What is under all our searching is our desire for peace and for joy. We all want to be happy, and we think we know where our happiness lies, but we are deceived. Jesus reminds us that we don't know our own best interests. Yes, we can still do everything we choose to do in the world as long as we still feel there is value here. We are not asked to sacrifice anything. Eventually, we will come to the place where we realize that there is nothing of value here. Then there is no sacrifice because the things we thought we valued simply drop away. They no longer hold our interest. In the end, we are only sacrificing our fear, guilt, anger and belief in lack, and how can that be a sacrifice?
If our deep desire is to awaken from this dream and remember who we are, we must undertake the mind training to bring about the deep peace we seek. We must question what everything is for. Purpose is such a big part of this teaching. The purpose of our worldly goals is to keep us invested in the world. The Holy Spirit's purpose is to teach us that there nothing we seek in the world that has value because nothing here is eternal. In fact, the world is illusory and thus has no reality. Yet he shows us that everything here can be used for a different purpose when given to the Holy Spirit for His interpretation and for His use.
Jesus urges us to ask in everything, what is it for? When we entrust our happiness to the Holy Spirit, He will use everything in our lives to benefit our awakening. In other words, when we give over to Him our special relationships, our jobs, our talents, and our bodies, they can serve a mighty purpose. Whatever we do in the world can become a backdrop for that purpose. For example, our special relationships can now be used by the Holy Spirit for the undoing of the guilt in our minds. We do this by taking responsibility for the guilt we project onto others and place it on the inner altar for healing.
Yesterday, I was thinking of a friend who is estranged from me. It has been painful for me to lose this friendship. Over the years I have made several attempts to connect, but all to no avail. I recognized that our falling out was as a result of my giving her feedback about what I saw as her issues. I had at one time been very open and honest with her, and she was offended by my comments. She became angry, defensive and ended the relationship. It was painful for me, as we had been exceedingly close for many years. On reflection, I saw that what I hated about her were her self-pity and weakness. She had a lot of fear about her future and complained and worried excessively about money. I admired her for her strength and her abilities, as she had a very senior position and was very capable in that role. In many ways, she was my mentor and my role model. Clearly, her fears reflected my own. I was not aware, at that time, of my own self-attacking thoughts, and instead, I projected them onto her. I did not want to experience my own fears and thought I could fix them in her. What I saw as helpful feedback was all my own self-attacking thoughts that I projected onto her. I had rationalized that I was being helpful to her, but it was not the truth. I had not been willing to look at my own mind and take responsibility for my own thoughts. I find it takes great courage and honesty to look within, but our safety lies in our defencelessness. Only then can we know our own invulnerability.
The Holy Spirit clearly brought to my mind that what I judged in her was what I was afraid of in me. All He needed from me was my willingness to look. I hated my own weakness, my own fears, and my own victimhood. This is where the healing needed to be. All the time I spent trying to re-establish a relationship with her, I had never looked within. Forgiveness requires the willingness to take responsibility for our own guilt. There is no one outside our own minds. In spite of all the awareness that is brought to me through this Course, I had hidden from myself what the real problem was. The guilt must be seen for what it is if healing is to occur. No, the relationship may never be established again in form, but the real cause of the problem must be seen for what it is and not the way the ego has set it up. Whatever the situation, it all starts in our own minds.
"I am responsible for what I see. I choose the feelings I experience, and I decide upon the goal I would achieve. And everything that seems to happen to me I ask for, and receive as I have asked."
(T.21.II.2.3) (ACIM OE T.21.III.15)
Jesus recognizes that we are seekers.
"For this you came, and you will surely do the thing you came for,"
(W.131.3.2) but we have a choice. The choice is to search in the world for our happiness or to pursue the goal of seeking truth. We cannot fail. No one can fail. The end for all of us is certain. It is our ultimate awakening to what we truly are. Why does he tell us that it is certain? He tells us this because it has already been accomplished. All that is required is our acceptance. In the meantime, Jesus says we should be glad that we are searchers. It is this restless desire to know the truth that keeps us seeking for the answers to our questions. In each of us is the echo of a forgotten song, no matter how hidden it may seem to be. When we tune in to it, we will want the whole melody. It is the Call in our minds to remember our magnificence.
Yes, we all dilly-dally on this journey. We get off track. We deceive ourselves. We continue to believe there is something in the world that we still want. We delay. We think the next job will make us happier. We believe more money will do it, or a new car, or a new relationship. Each of these choices that we make can be the impetus for correction of our misperceptions when we realize the answers to our lives are not in the things of this world. For some of us, it may take longer, but time is irrelevant. We all reach a turning point in our lives. Some call out to God in the depths of despair. Others call out when nothing in the world seems to be working for them. Some call out as a result of a crisis, and for others, it is just a lifelong longing for a deeper, fuller understanding of who we are and why we are here. In other words, it is a deep search for meaning. That is what it has been for me. It was not that things weren't working in the world, or that I wasn't achieving my goals, but I was lacking in the deep peace that comes from the surrender of my own way. I valued my independence, my street-smarts, my ability to survive all manner of setbacks, my achievements, and my certainty that I was right in how I saw things, but it was always at the cost of the deep peace that only surrender could bring. We must become as little children and be willing to be taught. It means coming with totally empty hands unto our God, asking to be shown the way. It means giving up the "I know" mind.
What keeps us in the world and seeking for our happiness "out there" is our fear of God, which is the final obstacle to peace. All our defenses are established to keep us from the love we are. Our fear is based on the belief that we will be punished by God for leaving our home. The reality is that our minds hold only what we think with God.
"Lack of forgiveness blocks this thought from his awareness,"
(W.RIV.IN.2.7) (ACIM OE W.RIV.4) but we have the power of choice. While we can and do rebel, delay, and uphold the belief that our happiness is in the world, we all have the freedom and, eventually, the desire to change our minds. With our change of mind, all our thoughts change. This is a process. Because of our fear of God, we seemingly need to take time to undo the guilt in the mind until we recognize that God is only love and there is nothing to fear. In the meantime, we will not be hurled into Heaven. The process is under our control. Jesus tells us,
"Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there
must
be a better way. As this recognition becomes more firmly established, it becomes a turning point. This ultimately reawakens spiritual vision, simultaneously weakening the investment in physical sight."
(T.2.III.3.5-8) (ACIM OE T.2.II.48)
He goes on to say,
"The alternating investment in the two levels of perception is usually experienced as conflict, which can become very acute."
(T.2.III.3.9) (ACIM OE T.2.II.48) You may be noticing this in your own life. As my friend Nouk Sanchez describes it, you can't have one foot in one boat and the other foot in the other boat without eventually falling on your face. When we make a commitment to truth, our conflict in trying to live in two worlds is diminished.
"Until they achieve this, they waste themselves and their true creative powers on useless attempts to make themselves more comfortable by inappropriate means."
(T.2.III.5.2) (ACIM OE T.2.II.50) The means to reach the real world are constantly being offered to us. All that is required is our decision. He needs our willingness and our dedication to the truth. We can't fail because the truth is already in our minds. There is nothing to seek. We can't fail because we haven't lost anything. We just need to realize this fact. In other words, there is nothing we can do to change what we are. That is what the Atonement Principle is about. We can only be unaware of our reality. Now we are learning to release all that is not true that we have deceived ourselves about.
I was driving to an appointment yesterday. I had started out late and was hoping that all the traffic lights would be green and I would have no obstacles to delay me further. On the contrary, not only was I hitting every red light, but then I made the wrong turn off the freeway and was going in the opposite direction of my appointment. The stress was increasing as I berated myself. Then I remembered,
"My mind holds only what I think with God."
(W.RIV.2.2) (ACIM OE W.RIV.3) Would God be concerned about time? Would God give value to the valueless? Would God have thoughts of unworthiness and self-judgment? Did getting there on time really matter? John Mark Stroud calls these "wonder" questions. They are helpful in releasing the mind from the grip of the ego. In my questioning, I realized how I was giving meaning to the meaningless and with that came the release of the grip that the ego had on my mind. Ah. . .
"My mind holds only what I think with God."
(W.RIV.2.2) (ACIM OE W.RIV.3)
The funny thing was that my appointment was for a massage in order to help me relax and de-stress! Ultimately, only the mind can lead us to deep relaxation.
To open to the truth, we need to bring our mistaken thoughts for correction. As we release the blocks to love in our minds, the awareness of our true Self, as the love we are, reveals itself to us. Everything is then flooded by divine love that comes through us. We are conduits for that love. There is no limit to it. Time and space are irrelevant to it. When the misperceptions in our minds are corrected, the power available to us is absolutely immense and beyond our ability to understand. There are no limitations on it. That is why order of difficulty in miracles doesn’t exist. There is nothing too big or too small for a miracle to address. All problems are equal in magnitude when it comes to the miracle. There is no problem bigger than any other problem because it is not about the outside condition. It is only about a change of mind. The miracle is internal. Yes, it can be reflected in the world, but it all starts with an inner shift.
The beauty of it is that salvation is very simple. It comes right down to a decision we make right now. We do not have to look far. Our brothers are all around us. We forgive what is within by forgiving what appears to be without, which is just our hidden hates and secret sins. As we do so, we clear the channel of the mind so it truly can be a beautiful conduit of God's Love. What a glorious thing it is!
Love and blessings, Sarah
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