This morning, a bright, breezy day in late April, I was sitting on the couch, looking out the window, watching the birds come and go from the feeder laden with black sunflower seeds, and I became aware of my soft breathing. I became increasingly conscious of breathing in and breathing out.
Then I flashed on the brilliance of Michael Brown’s book, The Presence Process: A Healing Journey into Present Moment Awareness. His book engages his reader in a process that enables you to become increasingly aware of each moment. The central part of the process is sitting quietly and connecting your breathing for 15 minutes, twice each day, once just after arising, and once just before going to bed.
We connect our breathing naturally. In other words, we breathe in and out without pausing between our breaths. We breathe gently applying slight effort only to our in-breath. The out-breath is automatic and relaxed. It is useful to visualize a fountain: energy is only required to push the water into the air because gravity will automatically bring it down. Our in-breath is the water being pushed up and our out-breath is the water effortlessly returning to earth. Even though we apply slight effort to our in-breath and relax during our out-breath, it is important to make sure both our in-breath and out-breath are evenly lengthened in duration and that there are absolutely no pauses between them. We must intend to breathe with our inhale and our exhale being one continuous breath--one continual flow. We must not in any way breathe abnormally or attempt to exaggerate our breathing pattern. (Michael Brown, The Presence Process, Namaste Publishing, Vancouver, CA., 2005)
Now I was curious to give this breathing pattern a number, to quantify it. I grabbed a stopwatch and counted the number of times I connected my breathing during one minute: 11 times. At a bare minimum, then, during the course of, say, an 18 hour day, it's 18X60X11=11,880.
This is such a gift because by simply becoming aware of connecting my breathing from time to time as I walk through the day, I am reminded of my Inner Presence; I am reminded that I am the Christ; I am reminded that I am in the world but not of the world. I am of God, His perfect Son, and everything is reminding me of my holiness, my wholeness, my divinity. Here is Jesus expressing this in Lesson 267, My heart is beating in the peace of God.
Surrounding me is all the life that God
created in His Love. It calls to me
in every heartbeat and in every breath;
in every action and in every thought.
Peace fills my heart, and floods my body with
the purpose of forgiveness. Now my mind
is healed, and all I need to save the world
is given me. Each heartbeat brings me peace;
each breath infuses me with strength. I am
a messenger of God, directed by
His Voice, sustained by Him in love, and held
forever quiet and at peace within
His loving Arms. Each heartbeat calls His Name,
and every one is answered by His Voice,
assuring me I am at home in Him.
W-p.2.267.1
His Voice is the Holy Spirit. The root meaning of spirit comes from the Latin, spirare, meaning “to breathe.” The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. When you think about it, our voice is simply breath, exhaling from our lungs, passing through our “voice box,” and shaped into words by our throat, mouth, and lips. The words formed are simply hot air. In His Text, Jesus refers to this as a puff of madness. (T-20.lll.8:4) Are we going to listen to this puff, our feeble voice, or attend to the holy breath of God?
Amazing, this is from today's lesson.
Let my own feeble voice be still, and let
me hear the mighty Voice for Truth Itself
assure me that I am God's perfect Son.
W-p.1.118.2:2
The moment I become aware of my breathing, I slip into present moment awareness, receptive to the Holy Spirit, the Voice for God. In this state of awareness, all thoughts that have no source in reality fall away, and I experience forgiveness.
Peace fills my heart, and floods my body with
the purpose of forgiveness.
~~~Dear Reader, look up from this writing and breathe in, breathe out.
This opportunity awaits me each time I remember to connect my breathing, and this opportunity is available to me all during the day. How often do I avail myself of this chance to step out of time into eternity each minute, each hour of the day? Do I become aware once, twice, 15 times? 100? Yet, look at how simple it is to give myself this gift.
The little breath of eternity that runs through time like golden light is all the same; nothing before it, nothing afterwards.
T-20.lV.5:8
This Child in you does not ask for more than just a few
instants of respite; just an interval
in which He can return to breathe again
the holy air that fills His Father's house.
You are His home as well. He will return.
But give Him just a little time to be
Himself, within the peace that is His home,
resting in silence and in peace and love.
W-p.1.182.5:4-7
Lesson 97 declares I am spirit.
You are the spirit in whose mind abides
the miracle in which all time stands still;
the miracle in which a minute spent
in using these ideas becomes a time
that has no limit and that has no end.
Give, then, these minutes willingly, and count
on Him Who promised to lay timelessness
beside them. He will offer all His strength
to every little effort that you make.
Give him the minutes which He needs today,
to help you understand with Him you are
the spirit that abides in Him, and that
calls through His Voice to every living thing;
offers His sight to everyone who asks;
replaces error with the simple truth.
W-p1.97.4
Give Him the minutes. . .a minute spent. . .
This is a holy instant, but a holy instant is not simply an interval between the past and the future, for that would make it of time. The word interval derives from the Latin, inter, meaning "between," and vallum, meaning "wall." This is a temporal and spatial reference, whereas a holy instant takes you out of time and space, being the state of mind of the peace of God.
In the holy instant nothing happens that has not always been. Only the veil that has been drawn across reality is lifted. Nothing has changed. Yet the awareness of changelessness comes swiftly as the veil of time is pushed aside.
T-15.Vl.6:1-4
God is with me. He is my Source of life,
the life within, the air I breathe, the food
by which I am sustained, the water which
renews and cleanses me.
W-pll.222.1:1-4
When you have learned how to decide with God, all decisions become as easy and as right as breathing. There is no effort, and you will be led as gently as if you were being carried down a quiet path in summer. Only your own volition seems to make deciding hard. The Holy Spirit will not delay in answering your every question what to do. He knows. And He will tell you, and then do it for you. You who are tired will find this is more restful than sleep.
T-14.IV.6:1-7
Breathe in and breathe out, Dear Reader, and connect with eternity.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Learning to make a choice between seeing through the body's eyes, or seeing through the eyes of Christ: The 20 Minute Book
Last night I dreamed that a close friend asked me to do something one morning, and I said, “Yes,” thinking it would just take a moment, but it turned out that the task went on and on and on. I became very frustrated because I had another task that I was focused on, in fact, the task was to take the entire morning to write this essay. When the frustration became too intense, I began to argue about it, and the argument went on and on, and I felt our friendship slipping away.
And then I woke up! Yes, it was a classic moment. I was so relieved that it was a dream, that it was not so.
What is so is that the dream serves as a perfect introduction to this essay, reminding us that this self we made in the waking dream is absolutely no different than the self projecting the sleeping dream. When I awaken to the truth of my True Self, the false self and its dream simply vanish.
Let’s start at the beginning, reminding ourselves that we are as God created us, not as we made ourselves. We are a Thought of God.
"God created man in his own image and likeness" is correct in meaning, but the words are open to considerable misinterpretation. This is avoided, however, if "image" is understood to mean "thought," and "likeness" is taken as "of a like quality." God DID create the Son in His own Thought, and of a quality like to His own. There IS nothing else.
The original name for "thought" and "word" was the same. The quotation should read "In the beginning was the thought, and the thought was with God, and the thought WAS God." How beautiful indeed are the thoughts of God, who live in His light. Your worth is beyond perception because it is beyond doubt. A Course in Miracles by Jesus Christ (Urtext), pp.72,73
While walking this earth in this body, my salvation depends on my recognition that my false self is making a dream, while all the time, I am in the world, but not of the world, being a Thought of God. This is the Thought that I AM before coming into this world, while I am in the world, and after I leave.
Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought;--you are as God created you, not what you made of yourself. Whatever evil you may think you did, you are as God created you. Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you is unchanged. Creation is eternal and unalterable. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. You are and will forever be exactly as you were created. Light and joy and peace abide in you because God put them there. W-p.1.93.7
Obviously, there is one problem and one solution. The problem is that I think I made my self.
The self you made is not the Son of God. Therefore, this self does not exist at all. And anything it seems to do and think means nothing. It is neither bad nor good. It is unreal, and nothing more than that. It does not battle with the Son of God. It does not hurt him, nor attack his peace. It has not changed creation, nor reduced eternal sinlessness to sin, and love to hate. What power can this self you made possess, when it would contradict the Will of God? W-p.1.93.5
My self in this waking dream is as unreal as my self in my sleeping dream. When I wake up to this fact, moment to moment, my self does not exist at all.
Since we are as God created us-- mind, Thought, word, our minds choose moment to moment what we experience, what our condition is. This is our awareness in each moment, our consciousness.
Consciousness is the state that induces action. You are free to believe what you choose, and what you do attets to what you believe. T-1.11.1:8,9
Your mind is the means by which you determine your own condition, because mind is the mechanism of decision. It is the power by which you separate or join, and experience pain or joy accordingly. T-8.1v.5:7,8
The word “decision” comes from the Latin, decidere, meaning “to cut off.” When you decide to ally with the false self, you cut off your awareness of your True Self; when you decide join with your True Self, you cut off your awareness of your false self.
Obviously, the first step is to learn that we even have a decision to make. All along we were conditioned to believe that we were victims of the events happening around us, and our only choice was how to react. When we looked to those teaching us how to be in this world, no one demonstrated to us that we could be responsive, not reactive, that seeing is not believing. That is why Jesus begins His Lessons where He does.
Nothing I see means anything.
Right in the beginning, Jesus takes away from us our habit of thinking that seeing is believing. In fact, just in case we do not get it the first time through, he reviews the first 50 lessons, beginning with Lesson 51.
Nothing I See Means Anything.
The reason this is so is that I see nothing, and nothing has no meaning. It is necessary that I recognize this, that I may learn to see. What I think I see now is taking the place of vision. I must let it go by realizing it has no meaning, so that vision may take its place.
I find it extremely helpful to read the review of the first fifty lessons, The 20 Minute Book, by taking a very hard look at the reference for each of the pronouns, I or You, serving as subjects. Here is an example:
The reason this is so is that I see nothing, and nothing has no meaning.
Seeing through the eyes of my false self is a condition my mind chose for a moment. That part of the mind is represented by an italicized I, a shaky construct.
It is necessary that I recognize this, that I may learn to see.
This is another part of the mind that can choose, represented by a regular I, a regulatory mechanism, the mechanism of decision. In the first two sentences of His first Lesson, Jesus demonstrates that we have choice. This I is not the false self, or the True Self, it is consciousness in the act of recognition.
What I think I see now is taking the place of vision.
The regular I ( I think) recognizes it made a choice (I see now) to see through the body’s eyes.
I must let it go by realizing it has no meaning, so that vision may take its place.
This part of the mind, (I must) the mechanism of decision, cuts away meaninglessness, so that it can be replaced by vision.
This teaches me sentence after sentence, lesson after lesson, that I seem to have choice. Of course, we only seem to have choice, in fact, we are as God created us, and Thank God, we have no real choice in the matter. But overcoming the seeming, the dreaming, is a big step in the recognition of our True Selves, and overcoming the seeming is the purpose of the Workbook.
It is almost as if the mechanism of decision can be personified as looking through either the body’s eyes, or the eyes of Christ.
When he looks through the body’s eyes, he is allied with his false self, unaware of another way of seeing. When he looks through the eyes of Christ, he is joined, aligned, with his True Self, unaware of another way of seeing.
In Lesson 94, I am as God created me, it’s as if Jesus is giving you, the mechanism of decision, a pep talk to decide for Self.
Now try to reach the Son of God in you. This is the Self that never sinned, nor made an image to replace reality. This is the Self that never left Its home in God to walk the world uncertainly. This is the Self that knows no fear, nor could conceive of loss or suffering or death.
Nothing is required of you to reach this goal except to lay all idols and self-images aside; go past the list of attributes, both good and bad, you have ascribed to yourself; and wait in silent expectancy for the truth. God has Himself promised that it will be revealed to all who ask for it. You are asking now. You cannot fail because He cannot fail. W-p1. 94.5,6
Here is a description of the you looking through the ego’s eyes, allying with the ego.
You see yourself as a ridiculous parody on God's creation; weak, vicious, ugly and sinful, miserable and beset with pain. Such is your version of yourself; a self divided into many warring parts, separate from God, and tenuously held together by its erratic and capricious maker, to which you pray. It does not hear your prayers, for it is deaf. It does not see the oneness in you, for it is blind. It does not understand you are the Son of God, for it is senseless and understands nothing. W-p1.95.2
The following is a description of you looking through the eyes of Christ, joining with your True Self, represented by a bold you.
You are one Self, in perfect harmony with all there is, and all that there will be. You are one Self, the holy Son of God, united with your brothers in that Self; united with your Father in His Will. Feel this one Self in you, and let It shine away all your illusions and your doubts. This is your Self, the Son of God Himself, sinless as Its Creator, with His strength within you and His Love forever yours. You are one Self, and it is given you to feel this Self within you, and to cast all your illusions out of the one Mind that is this Self, the holy truth in you. W-p1.95.13
Here is a graphic representation of the three I’s:
The regular I represents the mechanism of decision, the recognition that we have choice.
The italicized I represents the alliance with the false self.
The bold I represents the alignment, the joining, with the True Self.
In his book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle also refers to these different parts of the mind, describing his awakening experience.
One night not long after my twenty-ninth birthday, I woke up in the early hours with a feeling of absolute dread. I had woken up with such a feeling many times before, but this time it was more intense than it had ever been. The silence of the night, the vague outlines of the furniture in the dark room, the distant noise of a passing train-- everything felt so alien, so hostile, and so utterly meaningless that it created in me a deep loathing of the world. "I cannot live with myself any longer." This was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind. Then suddenly I became aware of what a peculiar thought it was. " Am I one or two? If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the 'I' and the 'self' that 'I cannot live with." "Maybe," I thought, "only one of them is real." (Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, Namaste Press, Vancourver, CA., 1999) pp. 3,4
In the context of this post, Tolle is positing the three parts of the mind I have been referring to.
" Am I (the mechanism of decision) one or two? If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the 'I' (the ego) and the 'self' (the True Self) that 'I' cannot live with." "Maybe," I thought, "only one of them is real." And the I joins with the True Self, becoming I.
And now we can read through the review of the first 50 lessons, becoming increasingly aware that we have choice by carefully verifying the reference points for each pronoun serving as subject.
I Have Given What I See All The Meaning It Has For Me.
I have judged everything I look upon, and it is this and only this I see. This is not vision. It is merely an illusion of reality, because my judgments have been made quite apart from reality. I am willing to recognize the lack of validity in my judgments, because I want to see. My judgments have hurt me, and I do not want to see according to them.
LESSON 2
This identification of the references for the pronouns empowers me to realize that I have choice: I have judged, I am willing, I want to see, and so forth.
I Do Not Understand Anything I See.
How could I understand what I see when I have judged it amiss? What I see is the projection of my own errors of thought. I do not understand what I see because it is not understandable. There is no sense in trying to understand it. But there is every reason to let it go, and make room for what can be seen and understood and loved. I can exchange what I see now for this merely by being willing to do so. Is not this a better choice than the one I made before?
LESSON 3
These Thoughts Do Not Mean Anything.
The thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything because I am trying to think without God. What I call “my” thoughts are not my real thoughts. My real thoughts are the thoughts I think with God.
This (I think with God) is the joining of the mechanism of decision with the True Self, represented by the bold I.
I am not aware of them because I have made my thoughts to take their place. I am willing to recognize that my thoughts do not mean anything, and to let them go. I choose to have them be replaced by what they were intended to replace. My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God.
LESSON 4
I Am Never Upset For The Reason I Think.
I am never upset for the reason I think because I am constantly trying to justify my thoughts. I am constantly trying to make them true. I make all things my enemies, so that my anger is justified and my attacks are warranted. I have not realized how much I have misused everything I see by assigning this role to it. I have done this to defend a thought system that has hurt me, and that I no longer want. I am willing to let it go.
LESSON 5
I Am Upset Because I See What Is Not There.
Reality is never frightening. It is impossible that it could upset me. Reality brings only perfect peace. When I am upset, it is always because I have replaced reality with illusions I made up. The illusions are upsetting because I have given them reality, and thus regard reality as an illusion. Nothing in God’s creation is affected in any way by this confusion of mine. I am always upset by nothing.
LESSON 6
I See Only The Past.
As I look about, I condemn the world I look upon. I call this seeing. I hold the past against everyone and everything, making them my enemies. When I have forgiven myself and remembered Who I am, I will bless everyone and everything I see. There will be no past, and therefore no enemies. And I will look with love on all that I failed to see before.
LESSON 7
Here we are, only in Lesson 7, and already Jesus has us sinking into the peace of joining with our True Self. Only Oneness is in our experience, as we boldly unite with all things, seeing through the eyes of Christ.
My Mind Is Preoccupied With Past Thoughts.
I see only my own thoughts, and my mind is preoccupied with the past. What, then, can I see as it is? Let me remember that I look on the past to prevent the present from dawning on my mind. Let me understand that I am trying to use time against God. Let me learn to give the past away, realizing that in so doing I am giving up nothing.
LESSON 8
I See Nothing As It Is Now. If I see nothing as it is now, it can truly be said that I see nothing. I can see only what is now.
This is a statement of fact. Seeing through the eyes of Christ, I can see only what is now. Now is not an interval between the past and the future; now is the state of mind of the peace of God.
The choice is not whether to see the past or the present; the choice is merely whether to see or not. What I have chosen to see has cost me vision. Now I would choose again, that I may see.
LESSON 9
My Thoughts Do Not Mean Anything.
I have no private thoughts. Yet it is only private thoughts of which I am aware. What can these thoughts mean? They do not exist, and so they mean nothing. Yet my mind is part of creation and part of its Creator. Would I not rather join the thinking of the universe than to obscure all that is really mine with my pitiful and meaningless “private” thoughts?
LESSON 10
My Meaningless Thoughts Are Showing Me A Meaningless World.
Since the thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything, the world that pictures them can have no meaning. What is producing this world is insane, and so is what it produces. Reality is not insane, and I have real thoughts as well as insane ones. I can therefore see a real world, if I look to my real thoughts as my guide for seeing.
LESSON 11
I Am Upset Because I See A Meaningless World.
Insane thoughts are upsetting. They produce a world in which there is no order anywhere. Only chaos rules a world that represents chaotic thinking, and chaos has no laws. I cannot live in peace in such a world. I am grateful that this world is not real, and that I need not see it at all unless I choose to value it. And I do not choose to value what is totally insane and has no meaning.
LESSON 12
This is Lesson 12, and already the I, mind, consciousness, awareness, is making a strong declaration of standing up for itself.
A Meaningless World Engenders Fear.
The totally insane engenders fear because it is completely undependable, and offers no grounds for trust. Nothing in madness is dependable. It holds out no safety and no hope. But such a world is not real. I have given it the illusion of reality, and have suffered from my belief in it. Now I choose to withdraw this belief, and place my trust in reality. In choosing this, I will escape all the effects of the world of fear, because I am acknowledging that it does not exist.
LESSON 13
God Did Not Create A Meaningless World.
How can a meaningless world exist if God did not create it? He is the Source of all meaning, and everything that is real is in His Mind. It is in my mind too, because He created it with me. Why should I continue to suffer from the effects of my own insane thoughts, when the perfection of creation is my home? Let me remember the power of my decision, and recognize where I really abide.
LESSON 14
As the mechanism of decision, I am determined or recognize my Home, yes I will.
My Thoughts Are Images That I Have Made.
Whatever I see reflects my thoughts. It is my thoughts that tell me where I am and what I am. The fact that I see a world in which there is suffering and loss and death shows me that I am seeing only the representation of my insane thoughts, and am not allowing my real thoughts to cast their beneficent light on what I see. Yet God’s way is sure. The images I have made cannot prevail against Him because it is not my will that they do so. My will is His, and I will place no other gods before Him.
LESSON 15
I Have No Neutral Thoughts.
Neutral thoughts are impossible because all thoughts have power. They will either make a false world or lead me to the real one. But thoughts cannot be without effects. As the world I see arises from my thinking errors, so will the real world rise before my eyes as I let my errors be corrected. My thoughts cannot be neither true nor false. They must be one or the other. What I see shows me which they are.
LESSON 16
I See No Neutral Things.
What I see witnesses to what I think. If I did not think I would not exist, because life is thought. Let me look on the world I see as the representation of my own state of mind. I know that my state of mind can change. And so I also know the world I see can change as well.
LESSON 17
This is the awareness of the mechanism of decision poised in the middle of choosing to see through the eyes of either the false self, or the True Self, knowing that he will see outside what is first inside.
I Am Not Alone In Experiencing The Effects Of My Seeing.
If I have no private thoughts, I cannot see a private world. Even the mad idea of separation had to be shared before it could form the basis of the world I see. Yet that sharing was a sharing of nothing. I can also call upon my real thoughts, which share everything with everyone. As my thoughts of separation call to the separation thoughts of others, so my real thoughts awaken the real thoughts in them. And the world my real thoughts show me will dawn on their sight as well as mine.
LESSON 18
I Am Not Alone In Experiencing The Effects Of My Thoughts.
I am alone in nothing. Everything I think or say or do teaches all the universe. A Son of God cannot think or speak or act in vain. He cannot be alone in anything. It is therefore in my power to change every mind along with mine, for mine is the power of God.
LESSON 19
I Am Determined To See.
Recognizing the shared nature of my thoughts, I am determined to see. I would look upon the witnesses that show me the thinking of the world has been changed. I would behold the proof that what has been done through me has enabled love to replace fear, laughter to replace tears, and abundance to replace loss. I would look upon the real world, and let it teach me that my will and the Will of God are one.
LESSON 20
I would demonstrates the intention of my mind to join with my True Self.
I Am Determined To See Things Differently.
What I see now are but signs of disease, disaster and death. This cannot be what God created for His beloved Son. The very fact that I see such things is proof that I do not understand God. Therefore I also do not understand His Son. What I see tells me that I do not know who I am. I am determined to see the witnesses to the truth in me, rather than those which show me an illusion of myself.
LESSON 21
What I See Is A Form Of Vengeance.
The world I see is hardly the representation of loving thoughts. It is a picture of attack on everything by everything. It is anything but a reflection of the Love of God and the love of His Son. It is my own attack thoughts that give rise to this picture. My loving thoughts will save me from this perception of the world, and give me the peace God intended me to have.
LESSON 22
I Can Escape From This World By Giving Up Attack Thoughts.
Herein lies salvation, and nowhere else. Without attack thoughts I could not see a world of attack. As forgiveness allows love to return to my awareness, I will see a world of peace and safety and joy. And it is this I choose to see, in place of what I look on now.
LESSON 23
I Do Not Perceive My Own Best Interests.
How could I recognize my own best interests when I do not know who I am? What I think are my best interests would merely bind me closer to the world of illusions. I am willing to follow the Guide God has given me to find out what my own best interests are, recognizing that I cannot perceive them by myself.
LESSON 24
I Do Not Know What Anything Is For.
To me, the purpose of everything is to prove that my illusions about myself are real. It is for this purpose that I attempt to use everyone and everything. It is for this that I believe the world is for. Therefore I do not recognize its real purpose. The purpose I have given the world has led to a frightening picture of it. Let me open my mind to the world’s real purpose by withdrawing the one I have given it, and learning the truth about it.
LESSON 25
My Attack Thoughts Are Attacking My Invulnerability.
How can I know who I am when I see myself as under constant attack? Pain, illness, loss, age and death seem to threaten me. All my hopes and wishes and plans appear to be at the mercy of a world I cannot control. Yet perfect security and complete fulfillment are my inheritance. I have tried to give my inheritance away in exchange for the world I see. But God has kept my inheritance safe for me. My own real thoughts will teach me what it is.
LESSON 26
Above All Else I Want To See.
Recognizing that what I see reflects what I think I am, I realize that vision is my greatest need. The world I see attests to the fearful nature of the self image I have made. If I would remember who I am, it is essential that I let this image of myself go. As it is replaced by truth, vision will surely be given me. And with this vision, I will look upon the world and on myself with charity and love.
LESSON 27
The bold I, the Self, will look upon the world.
Above All Else I Want To See Differently.
The world I see holds my fearful self-image in place, and guarantees its continuance. While I see the world as I see it now, truth cannot enter my awareness. I would let the door behind this world be opened for me, that I may look past it to the world that reflects the Love of God.
LESSON 28
God Is In Everything I See.
Behind every image I have made, the truth remains unchanged. Behind every veil I have drawn across the face of love, its light remains undimmed. Beyond all my insane wishes is my will, united with the Will of my Father. God is still everywhere and in every-thing forever. And we who are part of Him will yet look past all appearances, and recognize the truth beyond them all.
LESSON 29
God Is In Everything I See Because God Is In My Mind.
In my own mind, behind all my insane thoughts of separation and attack, is the knowledge that all is one forever. I have not lost the knowledge of Who I am because I have forgotten it. It has been kept for me in the Mind of God, Who has not left His Thoughts. And I, who am among them, am one with them and one with Him.
LESSON 30
I Am Not The Victim Of The World I See.
How can I be the victim of a world that can be completely undone if I so choose? My chains are loosened. I can drop them off merely by desiring to do so. The prison door is open. I can leave simply by walking out. Nothing holds me in this world. Only my wish to stay keeps me a prisoner. I would give up my insane wishes and walk into the sunlight at last.
LESSON 31
I Have Invented The World I See.
I made up the prison in which I see myself. All I need do is recognize this and I am free. I have deluded myself into believing it is possible to imprison the Son of God. I was bitterly mistaken in this belief, which I no longer want. The Son of God must be forever free. He is as God created him, and not what I would make of him. He is where God would have him be, and not where I thought to hold him prisoner.
LESSON 32
There Is Another Way Of Looking At The World.
Since the purpose of the world is not the one I ascribed to it, there must be another way of looking at it. I see everything upside down, and my thoughts are the opposite of truth. I see the world as a prison for God’s Son. It must be, then, that the world is really a place where he can be set free. I would look upon the world as it is, and see it as a place where the Son of God finds his freedom.
LESSON 33
I Could See Peace Instead Of This.
When I see the world as a place of freedom, I realize that it reflects the laws of God instead of the rules I made up for it to obey. I will understand that peace, not war, abides in it. And I will perceive that peace also abides in the hearts of all who share this place with me.
LESSON 34
I will perceive and I will understand. . .the future tense indicates a condition when the regular I can choose for peace.
My Mind Is Part Of God’s. I Am Very Holy.
The bold I is now, in this moment of recognition, very Holy. As I share the peace of the world with my brothers, I begin to understand that this peace comes from deep within myself. The world I look upon has taken on the light of my forgiveness, and shines forgiveness back at me. In this light I begin to see what my illusions about myself kept hidden. I begin to understand the holiness of all living things, including myself, and their oneness with me.
LESSON 35
The regular I is beginning to join with the True Self.
My Holiness Envelops Everything I See. From my holiness does the perception of the real world come. Having forgiven, I no longer see myself as guilty. I can accept the innocence that is the truth about me. Seen through understanding eyes, the holiness of the world is all I see, for I can picture only the thoughts I hold about myself.
LESSON 36
I boldly see now; the regular I can picture, meaning I have choice.
My Holiness Blesses The World.
The perception of my holiness does not bless me alone. Everyone and everything I see in its light shares in the joy it brings to me. There is nothing that is apart from this joy, because there is nothing that does not share my holiness. As I recognize my holiness, so does the holiness of the world shine forth for everyone to see.
LESSON 37
There Is Nothing My Holiness Cannot Do.
My holiness is unlimited in its power to heal, because it is unlimited in its power to save. What is there to be saved from except illusions? And what are all illusions except false ideas about myself? My holiness undoes them all by asserting the truth about me. In the presence of my holiness, which I share with God Himself, all idols vanish.
LESSON 38
My Holiness Is My Salvation.
Since my holiness saves me from all guilt, recognizing my holiness is recognizing my salvation. It is also recognizing the salvation of the world. Once I have accepted my holiness, nothing can make me afraid. And because I am unafraid, everyone must share in my understanding, which is the gift of God to me and to the world.
LESSON 39
I Am Blessed As A Son Of God.
Herein lies my claim to all good and only good. I am blessed as a Son of God. All good things are mine, because God intended them for me. I cannot suffer any loss or deprivation or pain because of Who I am. My Father supports me, protects me, and directs me in all things. His care for me is infinite, and is with me forever. I am eternally blessed as His
Son.
LESSON 40
God Goes With Me Wherever I Go.
How can I be alone when God always goes with me? How can I be doubtful and unsure of myself when perfect certainty abides in Him? How can I be disturbed by anything when He rests in me in absolute peace? How can I suffer when love and joy surround me through Him? Let me not cherish illusions about myself. I am perfect because God goes with me wherever I go.
LESSON 41
The first four questions starting with "How" indicate that the regular I is asking himself a question. The bold I indicates joining in pefection.
God Is My Strength. Vision Is His Gift.
Let me not look to my own eyes to see today. Let me be willing to exchange my pitiful illusion of seeing for the vision that is given by God. Christ’s vision is His gift, and He has given it to me. Let me call upon this gift today, so that this day may help me to understand eternity.
LESSON 42
God Is My Source. I Cannot See Apart From Him.
I can see what God wants me to see. I cannot see anything else. Beyond His Will lie only illusions. It is these I choose when I think I can see apart from Him. It is these I choose when I try to see through the body’s eyes. Yet the vision of Christ has been given me to replace them. It is through this vision that I choose to see.
LESSON 43
God Is The Light In Which I See.
I cannot see in darkness. God is the only light. Therefore, if I am to see, it must be through Him. I have tried to define what seeing is, and I have been wrong. Now it is given me to understand that God is the light in which I see. Let me welcome vision and the happy world it will show me.
LESSON 44
God Is The Mind With Which I Think.
I have no thoughts I do not share with God. I have no thoughts apart from Him, because I have no mind apart from His. As part of His Mind, my thoughts are His and His Thoughts are mine.
LESSON 45
God Is The Love In Which I Forgive.
God does not forgive because He has never condemned. The blameless cannot blame, and those who have accepted their innocence see nothing to forgive. Yet forgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence. It is the reflection of God’s Love on earth. It will bring me near enough to Heaven that the Love of God can reach down to me and raise me up to Him.
LESSON 46
God Is The Strength In Which I Trust.
It is not my own strength through which I forgive. It is through the strength of God in me, which I am remembering as I forgive. As I begin to see, I recognize His reflection on earth. I forgive all things because I feel the stirring of His strength in me. And I begin to remember the Love I chose to forget, but Which has not forgotten me.
LESSON 47
Forgiving is joining.
There Is Nothing To Fear.
How safe the world will look to me when I can see it! It will not look anything like what I imagine I see now. Everyone and everything I see will lean toward me to bless me. I will recognize in everyone my dearest Friend. What could there be to fear in a world that I have forgiven, and that has forgiven me?
LESSON 48
God’s Voice Speaks To Me All Through The Day.
There is not a moment in which God’s Voice ceases to call on my forgiveness to save me. There is not a moment in which His Voice fails to direct my thoughts, guide my actions and lead my feet. I am walking steadily on toward truth. There is nowhere else I can go, because God’s Voice is the only voice and the only guide that has been given to His Son.
LESSON 49
I Am Sustained By The Love Of God.
As I listen to God’s Voice, I am sustained by His Love. As I open my eyes, His Love lights up the world for me to see. As I forgive, His Love reminds me that His Son is sinless. And as I look upon the world with the vision He has given me, I remember that I am His Son.
LESSON 50
Finally, here is Eckhart Tolle again.
I understood that the intense pressure of suffering that night must have forced my consciousness to withdraw from its identification with the unhappy and deeply fearful self, which is ultimately a fiction of the mind. This withdrawal must have been so complete that this false, suffering self immediately collapsed, just as if a plug had been pulled out of an inflatable toy. What was left then was my true nature as the ever-present I am: consciousness in its pure state prior to identification with form. (Tolle, p. 5)
Master Teacher in his video, The Power of Now In The Resurrection and Teleportation of Your Body, refers often to Tolle. To see a ten-minute preview of this video, please click here.
And then I woke up! Yes, it was a classic moment. I was so relieved that it was a dream, that it was not so.
What is so is that the dream serves as a perfect introduction to this essay, reminding us that this self we made in the waking dream is absolutely no different than the self projecting the sleeping dream. When I awaken to the truth of my True Self, the false self and its dream simply vanish.
Let’s start at the beginning, reminding ourselves that we are as God created us, not as we made ourselves. We are a Thought of God.
"God created man in his own image and likeness" is correct in meaning, but the words are open to considerable misinterpretation. This is avoided, however, if "image" is understood to mean "thought," and "likeness" is taken as "of a like quality." God DID create the Son in His own Thought, and of a quality like to His own. There IS nothing else.
The original name for "thought" and "word" was the same. The quotation should read "In the beginning was the thought, and the thought was with God, and the thought WAS God." How beautiful indeed are the thoughts of God, who live in His light. Your worth is beyond perception because it is beyond doubt. A Course in Miracles by Jesus Christ (Urtext), pp.72,73
While walking this earth in this body, my salvation depends on my recognition that my false self is making a dream, while all the time, I am in the world, but not of the world, being a Thought of God. This is the Thought that I AM before coming into this world, while I am in the world, and after I leave.
Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought;--you are as God created you, not what you made of yourself. Whatever evil you may think you did, you are as God created you. Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you is unchanged. Creation is eternal and unalterable. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. You are and will forever be exactly as you were created. Light and joy and peace abide in you because God put them there. W-p.1.93.7
Obviously, there is one problem and one solution. The problem is that I think I made my self.
The self you made is not the Son of God. Therefore, this self does not exist at all. And anything it seems to do and think means nothing. It is neither bad nor good. It is unreal, and nothing more than that. It does not battle with the Son of God. It does not hurt him, nor attack his peace. It has not changed creation, nor reduced eternal sinlessness to sin, and love to hate. What power can this self you made possess, when it would contradict the Will of God? W-p.1.93.5
My self in this waking dream is as unreal as my self in my sleeping dream. When I wake up to this fact, moment to moment, my self does not exist at all.
Since we are as God created us-- mind, Thought, word, our minds choose moment to moment what we experience, what our condition is. This is our awareness in each moment, our consciousness.
Consciousness is the state that induces action. You are free to believe what you choose, and what you do attets to what you believe. T-1.11.1:8,9
Your mind is the means by which you determine your own condition, because mind is the mechanism of decision. It is the power by which you separate or join, and experience pain or joy accordingly. T-8.1v.5:7,8
The word “decision” comes from the Latin, decidere, meaning “to cut off.” When you decide to ally with the false self, you cut off your awareness of your True Self; when you decide join with your True Self, you cut off your awareness of your false self.
Obviously, the first step is to learn that we even have a decision to make. All along we were conditioned to believe that we were victims of the events happening around us, and our only choice was how to react. When we looked to those teaching us how to be in this world, no one demonstrated to us that we could be responsive, not reactive, that seeing is not believing. That is why Jesus begins His Lessons where He does.
Nothing I see means anything.
Right in the beginning, Jesus takes away from us our habit of thinking that seeing is believing. In fact, just in case we do not get it the first time through, he reviews the first 50 lessons, beginning with Lesson 51.
Nothing I See Means Anything.
The reason this is so is that I see nothing, and nothing has no meaning. It is necessary that I recognize this, that I may learn to see. What I think I see now is taking the place of vision. I must let it go by realizing it has no meaning, so that vision may take its place.
I find it extremely helpful to read the review of the first fifty lessons, The 20 Minute Book, by taking a very hard look at the reference for each of the pronouns, I or You, serving as subjects. Here is an example:
The reason this is so is that I see nothing, and nothing has no meaning.
Seeing through the eyes of my false self is a condition my mind chose for a moment. That part of the mind is represented by an italicized I, a shaky construct.
It is necessary that I recognize this, that I may learn to see.
This is another part of the mind that can choose, represented by a regular I, a regulatory mechanism, the mechanism of decision. In the first two sentences of His first Lesson, Jesus demonstrates that we have choice. This I is not the false self, or the True Self, it is consciousness in the act of recognition.
What I think I see now is taking the place of vision.
The regular I ( I think) recognizes it made a choice (I see now) to see through the body’s eyes.
I must let it go by realizing it has no meaning, so that vision may take its place.
This part of the mind, (I must) the mechanism of decision, cuts away meaninglessness, so that it can be replaced by vision.
This teaches me sentence after sentence, lesson after lesson, that I seem to have choice. Of course, we only seem to have choice, in fact, we are as God created us, and Thank God, we have no real choice in the matter. But overcoming the seeming, the dreaming, is a big step in the recognition of our True Selves, and overcoming the seeming is the purpose of the Workbook.
It is almost as if the mechanism of decision can be personified as looking through either the body’s eyes, or the eyes of Christ.
When he looks through the body’s eyes, he is allied with his false self, unaware of another way of seeing. When he looks through the eyes of Christ, he is joined, aligned, with his True Self, unaware of another way of seeing.
In Lesson 94, I am as God created me, it’s as if Jesus is giving you, the mechanism of decision, a pep talk to decide for Self.
Now try to reach the Son of God in you. This is the Self that never sinned, nor made an image to replace reality. This is the Self that never left Its home in God to walk the world uncertainly. This is the Self that knows no fear, nor could conceive of loss or suffering or death.
Nothing is required of you to reach this goal except to lay all idols and self-images aside; go past the list of attributes, both good and bad, you have ascribed to yourself; and wait in silent expectancy for the truth. God has Himself promised that it will be revealed to all who ask for it. You are asking now. You cannot fail because He cannot fail. W-p1. 94.5,6
Here is a description of the you looking through the ego’s eyes, allying with the ego.
You see yourself as a ridiculous parody on God's creation; weak, vicious, ugly and sinful, miserable and beset with pain. Such is your version of yourself; a self divided into many warring parts, separate from God, and tenuously held together by its erratic and capricious maker, to which you pray. It does not hear your prayers, for it is deaf. It does not see the oneness in you, for it is blind. It does not understand you are the Son of God, for it is senseless and understands nothing. W-p1.95.2
The following is a description of you looking through the eyes of Christ, joining with your True Self, represented by a bold you.
You are one Self, in perfect harmony with all there is, and all that there will be. You are one Self, the holy Son of God, united with your brothers in that Self; united with your Father in His Will. Feel this one Self in you, and let It shine away all your illusions and your doubts. This is your Self, the Son of God Himself, sinless as Its Creator, with His strength within you and His Love forever yours. You are one Self, and it is given you to feel this Self within you, and to cast all your illusions out of the one Mind that is this Self, the holy truth in you. W-p1.95.13
Here is a graphic representation of the three I’s:
I, The mechanism of decision
I,The False Self I, The True Self
I,The False Self I, The True Self
The regular I represents the mechanism of decision, the recognition that we have choice.
The italicized I represents the alliance with the false self.
The bold I represents the alignment, the joining, with the True Self.
In his book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle also refers to these different parts of the mind, describing his awakening experience.
One night not long after my twenty-ninth birthday, I woke up in the early hours with a feeling of absolute dread. I had woken up with such a feeling many times before, but this time it was more intense than it had ever been. The silence of the night, the vague outlines of the furniture in the dark room, the distant noise of a passing train-- everything felt so alien, so hostile, and so utterly meaningless that it created in me a deep loathing of the world. "I cannot live with myself any longer." This was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind. Then suddenly I became aware of what a peculiar thought it was. " Am I one or two? If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the 'I' and the 'self' that 'I cannot live with." "Maybe," I thought, "only one of them is real." (Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, Namaste Press, Vancourver, CA., 1999) pp. 3,4
In the context of this post, Tolle is positing the three parts of the mind I have been referring to.
" Am I (the mechanism of decision) one or two? If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the 'I' (the ego) and the 'self' (the True Self) that 'I' cannot live with." "Maybe," I thought, "only one of them is real." And the I joins with the True Self, becoming I.
And now we can read through the review of the first 50 lessons, becoming increasingly aware that we have choice by carefully verifying the reference points for each pronoun serving as subject.
I Have Given What I See All The Meaning It Has For Me.
I have judged everything I look upon, and it is this and only this I see. This is not vision. It is merely an illusion of reality, because my judgments have been made quite apart from reality. I am willing to recognize the lack of validity in my judgments, because I want to see. My judgments have hurt me, and I do not want to see according to them.
LESSON 2
This identification of the references for the pronouns empowers me to realize that I have choice: I have judged, I am willing, I want to see, and so forth.
I Do Not Understand Anything I See.
How could I understand what I see when I have judged it amiss? What I see is the projection of my own errors of thought. I do not understand what I see because it is not understandable. There is no sense in trying to understand it. But there is every reason to let it go, and make room for what can be seen and understood and loved. I can exchange what I see now for this merely by being willing to do so. Is not this a better choice than the one I made before?
LESSON 3
These Thoughts Do Not Mean Anything.
The thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything because I am trying to think without God. What I call “my” thoughts are not my real thoughts. My real thoughts are the thoughts I think with God.
This (I think with God) is the joining of the mechanism of decision with the True Self, represented by the bold I.
I am not aware of them because I have made my thoughts to take their place. I am willing to recognize that my thoughts do not mean anything, and to let them go. I choose to have them be replaced by what they were intended to replace. My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God.
LESSON 4
I Am Never Upset For The Reason I Think.
I am never upset for the reason I think because I am constantly trying to justify my thoughts. I am constantly trying to make them true. I make all things my enemies, so that my anger is justified and my attacks are warranted. I have not realized how much I have misused everything I see by assigning this role to it. I have done this to defend a thought system that has hurt me, and that I no longer want. I am willing to let it go.
LESSON 5
I Am Upset Because I See What Is Not There.
Reality is never frightening. It is impossible that it could upset me. Reality brings only perfect peace. When I am upset, it is always because I have replaced reality with illusions I made up. The illusions are upsetting because I have given them reality, and thus regard reality as an illusion. Nothing in God’s creation is affected in any way by this confusion of mine. I am always upset by nothing.
LESSON 6
I See Only The Past.
As I look about, I condemn the world I look upon. I call this seeing. I hold the past against everyone and everything, making them my enemies. When I have forgiven myself and remembered Who I am, I will bless everyone and everything I see. There will be no past, and therefore no enemies. And I will look with love on all that I failed to see before.
LESSON 7
Here we are, only in Lesson 7, and already Jesus has us sinking into the peace of joining with our True Self. Only Oneness is in our experience, as we boldly unite with all things, seeing through the eyes of Christ.
My Mind Is Preoccupied With Past Thoughts.
I see only my own thoughts, and my mind is preoccupied with the past. What, then, can I see as it is? Let me remember that I look on the past to prevent the present from dawning on my mind. Let me understand that I am trying to use time against God. Let me learn to give the past away, realizing that in so doing I am giving up nothing.
LESSON 8
I See Nothing As It Is Now. If I see nothing as it is now, it can truly be said that I see nothing. I can see only what is now.
This is a statement of fact. Seeing through the eyes of Christ, I can see only what is now. Now is not an interval between the past and the future; now is the state of mind of the peace of God.
The choice is not whether to see the past or the present; the choice is merely whether to see or not. What I have chosen to see has cost me vision. Now I would choose again, that I may see.
LESSON 9
My Thoughts Do Not Mean Anything.
I have no private thoughts. Yet it is only private thoughts of which I am aware. What can these thoughts mean? They do not exist, and so they mean nothing. Yet my mind is part of creation and part of its Creator. Would I not rather join the thinking of the universe than to obscure all that is really mine with my pitiful and meaningless “private” thoughts?
LESSON 10
My Meaningless Thoughts Are Showing Me A Meaningless World.
Since the thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything, the world that pictures them can have no meaning. What is producing this world is insane, and so is what it produces. Reality is not insane, and I have real thoughts as well as insane ones. I can therefore see a real world, if I look to my real thoughts as my guide for seeing.
LESSON 11
I Am Upset Because I See A Meaningless World.
Insane thoughts are upsetting. They produce a world in which there is no order anywhere. Only chaos rules a world that represents chaotic thinking, and chaos has no laws. I cannot live in peace in such a world. I am grateful that this world is not real, and that I need not see it at all unless I choose to value it. And I do not choose to value what is totally insane and has no meaning.
LESSON 12
This is Lesson 12, and already the I, mind, consciousness, awareness, is making a strong declaration of standing up for itself.
A Meaningless World Engenders Fear.
The totally insane engenders fear because it is completely undependable, and offers no grounds for trust. Nothing in madness is dependable. It holds out no safety and no hope. But such a world is not real. I have given it the illusion of reality, and have suffered from my belief in it. Now I choose to withdraw this belief, and place my trust in reality. In choosing this, I will escape all the effects of the world of fear, because I am acknowledging that it does not exist.
LESSON 13
God Did Not Create A Meaningless World.
How can a meaningless world exist if God did not create it? He is the Source of all meaning, and everything that is real is in His Mind. It is in my mind too, because He created it with me. Why should I continue to suffer from the effects of my own insane thoughts, when the perfection of creation is my home? Let me remember the power of my decision, and recognize where I really abide.
LESSON 14
As the mechanism of decision, I am determined or recognize my Home, yes I will.
My Thoughts Are Images That I Have Made.
Whatever I see reflects my thoughts. It is my thoughts that tell me where I am and what I am. The fact that I see a world in which there is suffering and loss and death shows me that I am seeing only the representation of my insane thoughts, and am not allowing my real thoughts to cast their beneficent light on what I see. Yet God’s way is sure. The images I have made cannot prevail against Him because it is not my will that they do so. My will is His, and I will place no other gods before Him.
LESSON 15
I Have No Neutral Thoughts.
Neutral thoughts are impossible because all thoughts have power. They will either make a false world or lead me to the real one. But thoughts cannot be without effects. As the world I see arises from my thinking errors, so will the real world rise before my eyes as I let my errors be corrected. My thoughts cannot be neither true nor false. They must be one or the other. What I see shows me which they are.
LESSON 16
I See No Neutral Things.
What I see witnesses to what I think. If I did not think I would not exist, because life is thought. Let me look on the world I see as the representation of my own state of mind. I know that my state of mind can change. And so I also know the world I see can change as well.
LESSON 17
This is the awareness of the mechanism of decision poised in the middle of choosing to see through the eyes of either the false self, or the True Self, knowing that he will see outside what is first inside.
I Am Not Alone In Experiencing The Effects Of My Seeing.
If I have no private thoughts, I cannot see a private world. Even the mad idea of separation had to be shared before it could form the basis of the world I see. Yet that sharing was a sharing of nothing. I can also call upon my real thoughts, which share everything with everyone. As my thoughts of separation call to the separation thoughts of others, so my real thoughts awaken the real thoughts in them. And the world my real thoughts show me will dawn on their sight as well as mine.
LESSON 18
I Am Not Alone In Experiencing The Effects Of My Thoughts.
I am alone in nothing. Everything I think or say or do teaches all the universe. A Son of God cannot think or speak or act in vain. He cannot be alone in anything. It is therefore in my power to change every mind along with mine, for mine is the power of God.
LESSON 19
I Am Determined To See.
Recognizing the shared nature of my thoughts, I am determined to see. I would look upon the witnesses that show me the thinking of the world has been changed. I would behold the proof that what has been done through me has enabled love to replace fear, laughter to replace tears, and abundance to replace loss. I would look upon the real world, and let it teach me that my will and the Will of God are one.
LESSON 20
I would demonstrates the intention of my mind to join with my True Self.
I Am Determined To See Things Differently.
What I see now are but signs of disease, disaster and death. This cannot be what God created for His beloved Son. The very fact that I see such things is proof that I do not understand God. Therefore I also do not understand His Son. What I see tells me that I do not know who I am. I am determined to see the witnesses to the truth in me, rather than those which show me an illusion of myself.
LESSON 21
What I See Is A Form Of Vengeance.
The world I see is hardly the representation of loving thoughts. It is a picture of attack on everything by everything. It is anything but a reflection of the Love of God and the love of His Son. It is my own attack thoughts that give rise to this picture. My loving thoughts will save me from this perception of the world, and give me the peace God intended me to have.
LESSON 22
I Can Escape From This World By Giving Up Attack Thoughts.
Herein lies salvation, and nowhere else. Without attack thoughts I could not see a world of attack. As forgiveness allows love to return to my awareness, I will see a world of peace and safety and joy. And it is this I choose to see, in place of what I look on now.
LESSON 23
I Do Not Perceive My Own Best Interests.
How could I recognize my own best interests when I do not know who I am? What I think are my best interests would merely bind me closer to the world of illusions. I am willing to follow the Guide God has given me to find out what my own best interests are, recognizing that I cannot perceive them by myself.
LESSON 24
I Do Not Know What Anything Is For.
To me, the purpose of everything is to prove that my illusions about myself are real. It is for this purpose that I attempt to use everyone and everything. It is for this that I believe the world is for. Therefore I do not recognize its real purpose. The purpose I have given the world has led to a frightening picture of it. Let me open my mind to the world’s real purpose by withdrawing the one I have given it, and learning the truth about it.
LESSON 25
My Attack Thoughts Are Attacking My Invulnerability.
How can I know who I am when I see myself as under constant attack? Pain, illness, loss, age and death seem to threaten me. All my hopes and wishes and plans appear to be at the mercy of a world I cannot control. Yet perfect security and complete fulfillment are my inheritance. I have tried to give my inheritance away in exchange for the world I see. But God has kept my inheritance safe for me. My own real thoughts will teach me what it is.
LESSON 26
Above All Else I Want To See.
Recognizing that what I see reflects what I think I am, I realize that vision is my greatest need. The world I see attests to the fearful nature of the self image I have made. If I would remember who I am, it is essential that I let this image of myself go. As it is replaced by truth, vision will surely be given me. And with this vision, I will look upon the world and on myself with charity and love.
LESSON 27
The bold I, the Self, will look upon the world.
Above All Else I Want To See Differently.
The world I see holds my fearful self-image in place, and guarantees its continuance. While I see the world as I see it now, truth cannot enter my awareness. I would let the door behind this world be opened for me, that I may look past it to the world that reflects the Love of God.
LESSON 28
God Is In Everything I See.
Behind every image I have made, the truth remains unchanged. Behind every veil I have drawn across the face of love, its light remains undimmed. Beyond all my insane wishes is my will, united with the Will of my Father. God is still everywhere and in every-thing forever. And we who are part of Him will yet look past all appearances, and recognize the truth beyond them all.
LESSON 29
God Is In Everything I See Because God Is In My Mind.
In my own mind, behind all my insane thoughts of separation and attack, is the knowledge that all is one forever. I have not lost the knowledge of Who I am because I have forgotten it. It has been kept for me in the Mind of God, Who has not left His Thoughts. And I, who am among them, am one with them and one with Him.
LESSON 30
I Am Not The Victim Of The World I See.
How can I be the victim of a world that can be completely undone if I so choose? My chains are loosened. I can drop them off merely by desiring to do so. The prison door is open. I can leave simply by walking out. Nothing holds me in this world. Only my wish to stay keeps me a prisoner. I would give up my insane wishes and walk into the sunlight at last.
LESSON 31
I Have Invented The World I See.
I made up the prison in which I see myself. All I need do is recognize this and I am free. I have deluded myself into believing it is possible to imprison the Son of God. I was bitterly mistaken in this belief, which I no longer want. The Son of God must be forever free. He is as God created him, and not what I would make of him. He is where God would have him be, and not where I thought to hold him prisoner.
LESSON 32
There Is Another Way Of Looking At The World.
Since the purpose of the world is not the one I ascribed to it, there must be another way of looking at it. I see everything upside down, and my thoughts are the opposite of truth. I see the world as a prison for God’s Son. It must be, then, that the world is really a place where he can be set free. I would look upon the world as it is, and see it as a place where the Son of God finds his freedom.
LESSON 33
I Could See Peace Instead Of This.
When I see the world as a place of freedom, I realize that it reflects the laws of God instead of the rules I made up for it to obey. I will understand that peace, not war, abides in it. And I will perceive that peace also abides in the hearts of all who share this place with me.
LESSON 34
I will perceive and I will understand. . .the future tense indicates a condition when the regular I can choose for peace.
My Mind Is Part Of God’s. I Am Very Holy.
The bold I is now, in this moment of recognition, very Holy. As I share the peace of the world with my brothers, I begin to understand that this peace comes from deep within myself. The world I look upon has taken on the light of my forgiveness, and shines forgiveness back at me. In this light I begin to see what my illusions about myself kept hidden. I begin to understand the holiness of all living things, including myself, and their oneness with me.
LESSON 35
The regular I is beginning to join with the True Self.
My Holiness Envelops Everything I See. From my holiness does the perception of the real world come. Having forgiven, I no longer see myself as guilty. I can accept the innocence that is the truth about me. Seen through understanding eyes, the holiness of the world is all I see, for I can picture only the thoughts I hold about myself.
LESSON 36
I boldly see now; the regular I can picture, meaning I have choice.
My Holiness Blesses The World.
The perception of my holiness does not bless me alone. Everyone and everything I see in its light shares in the joy it brings to me. There is nothing that is apart from this joy, because there is nothing that does not share my holiness. As I recognize my holiness, so does the holiness of the world shine forth for everyone to see.
LESSON 37
There Is Nothing My Holiness Cannot Do.
My holiness is unlimited in its power to heal, because it is unlimited in its power to save. What is there to be saved from except illusions? And what are all illusions except false ideas about myself? My holiness undoes them all by asserting the truth about me. In the presence of my holiness, which I share with God Himself, all idols vanish.
LESSON 38
My Holiness Is My Salvation.
Since my holiness saves me from all guilt, recognizing my holiness is recognizing my salvation. It is also recognizing the salvation of the world. Once I have accepted my holiness, nothing can make me afraid. And because I am unafraid, everyone must share in my understanding, which is the gift of God to me and to the world.
LESSON 39
I Am Blessed As A Son Of God.
Herein lies my claim to all good and only good. I am blessed as a Son of God. All good things are mine, because God intended them for me. I cannot suffer any loss or deprivation or pain because of Who I am. My Father supports me, protects me, and directs me in all things. His care for me is infinite, and is with me forever. I am eternally blessed as His
Son.
LESSON 40
God Goes With Me Wherever I Go.
How can I be alone when God always goes with me? How can I be doubtful and unsure of myself when perfect certainty abides in Him? How can I be disturbed by anything when He rests in me in absolute peace? How can I suffer when love and joy surround me through Him? Let me not cherish illusions about myself. I am perfect because God goes with me wherever I go.
LESSON 41
The first four questions starting with "How" indicate that the regular I is asking himself a question. The bold I indicates joining in pefection.
God Is My Strength. Vision Is His Gift.
Let me not look to my own eyes to see today. Let me be willing to exchange my pitiful illusion of seeing for the vision that is given by God. Christ’s vision is His gift, and He has given it to me. Let me call upon this gift today, so that this day may help me to understand eternity.
LESSON 42
God Is My Source. I Cannot See Apart From Him.
I can see what God wants me to see. I cannot see anything else. Beyond His Will lie only illusions. It is these I choose when I think I can see apart from Him. It is these I choose when I try to see through the body’s eyes. Yet the vision of Christ has been given me to replace them. It is through this vision that I choose to see.
LESSON 43
God Is The Light In Which I See.
I cannot see in darkness. God is the only light. Therefore, if I am to see, it must be through Him. I have tried to define what seeing is, and I have been wrong. Now it is given me to understand that God is the light in which I see. Let me welcome vision and the happy world it will show me.
LESSON 44
God Is The Mind With Which I Think.
I have no thoughts I do not share with God. I have no thoughts apart from Him, because I have no mind apart from His. As part of His Mind, my thoughts are His and His Thoughts are mine.
LESSON 45
God Is The Love In Which I Forgive.
God does not forgive because He has never condemned. The blameless cannot blame, and those who have accepted their innocence see nothing to forgive. Yet forgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence. It is the reflection of God’s Love on earth. It will bring me near enough to Heaven that the Love of God can reach down to me and raise me up to Him.
LESSON 46
God Is The Strength In Which I Trust.
It is not my own strength through which I forgive. It is through the strength of God in me, which I am remembering as I forgive. As I begin to see, I recognize His reflection on earth. I forgive all things because I feel the stirring of His strength in me. And I begin to remember the Love I chose to forget, but Which has not forgotten me.
LESSON 47
Forgiving is joining.
There Is Nothing To Fear.
How safe the world will look to me when I can see it! It will not look anything like what I imagine I see now. Everyone and everything I see will lean toward me to bless me. I will recognize in everyone my dearest Friend. What could there be to fear in a world that I have forgiven, and that has forgiven me?
LESSON 48
God’s Voice Speaks To Me All Through The Day.
There is not a moment in which God’s Voice ceases to call on my forgiveness to save me. There is not a moment in which His Voice fails to direct my thoughts, guide my actions and lead my feet. I am walking steadily on toward truth. There is nowhere else I can go, because God’s Voice is the only voice and the only guide that has been given to His Son.
LESSON 49
I Am Sustained By The Love Of God.
As I listen to God’s Voice, I am sustained by His Love. As I open my eyes, His Love lights up the world for me to see. As I forgive, His Love reminds me that His Son is sinless. And as I look upon the world with the vision He has given me, I remember that I am His Son.
LESSON 50
Finally, here is Eckhart Tolle again.
I understood that the intense pressure of suffering that night must have forced my consciousness to withdraw from its identification with the unhappy and deeply fearful self, which is ultimately a fiction of the mind. This withdrawal must have been so complete that this false, suffering self immediately collapsed, just as if a plug had been pulled out of an inflatable toy. What was left then was my true nature as the ever-present I am: consciousness in its pure state prior to identification with form. (Tolle, p. 5)
Master Teacher in his video, The Power of Now In The Resurrection and Teleportation of Your Body, refers often to Tolle. To see a ten-minute preview of this video, please click here.