To gain the most from A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple, we recommend that
you read the corresponding chapter and section in the Text of the Second or
Third Edition of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.
Read ACIM Chapter 20, Section VIII (pages 441-44)
Because judgment, or deciding what reality is on our own, has been our goal, we have lost true vision. The goal of the thought system of separation has been to see guilt outside us by projecting it onto ‘others’ we now see as outside of our own mind. The vision of sinlessness sees just the opposite. Jesus tells us, “Vision will come to you at first in glimpses, but they will be enough to show you what is given you who see your brother sinless. Truth is restored to you through your desire, as it was lost to you through your desire for something else. Open the holy place that you closed off by valuing the ‘something else,’ and what was never lost will quietly return.” (1:1-3)
Jesus tells us, “Your holy relationship offers all this to you. As it was given you, so will be its effects. And as its holy purpose was not made by you, the means by which its happy end is yours is also not of you. Rejoice in what is yours but for the asking, and think not that you need make either means or end. All this is given you who would but see your brother sinless. All this is given, waiting on your desire but to receive it. Vision is freely given to those who ask to see.” (2:4-10, italics added)
As we let all our relationships become holy relationships by seeing the truth behind every body, we receive the peace of God. We see holiness instead of sin. “For peace will come to all who ask for it with real desire and sincerity of purpose, shared with the Holy Spirit and at one with Him on what salvation is. Be willing, then, to see your brother sinless, that Christ may rise before your vision and give you joy. And place no value on your brother’s body, which holds him to illusions of what he is. It is his desire to see his sinlessness, as it is yours. And bless the Son of God in your relationship, nor see in him what you have made of him.” (3:2-6)
“The body is the sign of weakness, vulnerability and loss of power.” (5:1) We do not have to continue choosing to dream this dream. We have at our disposal the way out of every problem we think we have by accepting Holy Spirit’s vision instead of our own judgment. We do not have to continue focusing on the illusion of separate bodies with all the pain and sorrow it brings to us. “There is no problem, no event or situation, no perplexity that vision will not solve. All is redeemed when looked upon with vision. For this is not your sight, and brings with it the laws beloved of Him Whose sight it is.” (5:7-9)
Jesus tells us, “Judgment is but a toy, a whim, the senseless means to play the idle game of death in your imagination. But vision sets all things right, bringing them gently within the kindly sway of Heaven’s laws.” (7:1-2) With Holy Spirit’s vision, we see the truth. We see that everyone is still as God created them. Everyone is still pure Love and nothing else. With judgment we see illusions of separation, where nothing is the same and everything is in a constant state of change. Jesus is showing us the difference between judgment and vision so that we can recognize the ‘idle game of death’ that is going on in our minds and become willing to let it go. He tells us, “What if you recognized this world is an hallucination? What if you really understood you made it up? What if you realized that those who seem to walk about in it, to sin and die, attack and murder and destroy themselves, are wholly unreal? Could you have faith in what you see, if you accepted this? And would you see it?” (7:3-7) The Holy Spirit’s gentle correction teaches us to recognize the hallucination for what it is and with this recognition, we automatically let go of the dream.
We are learning that all we see in this world of separate bodies is the effect of judgment — making separate bodies real because we like the made-up story of individuality and uniqueness. We see this story of differences because of our choice or we would not see it. At this stage of the game we would rather see separation than the oneness that vision would show us. The good news is, “Hallucinations disappear when they are recognized for what they are. This is the healing and the remedy. Believe them not and they are gone. And all you need to do is recognize that you did this. Once you accept this simple fact and take unto yourself the power you have them, you are released from them.” (8:1-5) This is how judgment is replaced by vision. We must first recognize that we are making the world we see up. We must see that they are hallucinations that are coming from what we are choosing to believe in. Jesus says, “One thing is sure; hallucinations serve a purpose, and when that purpose is no longer held they disappear.” (8:6)
Jesus tells us, “Only two purposes are possible. And one is sin, the other holiness. Nothing is in between, and which you choose determines what you see. For what you see is merely how you elect to meet your goal.” (9:1-4) Because of the power of our mind, as long as we want to have a separate identity, we will see separate bodies. As we become willing to join with the Holy Spirit’s purpose, our mind is returned to remembering oneness. We recognize that nothing could really be outside of our mind and that what we see as outside us is coming from our mind. Because only oneness is real, there is no ‘other.’ Only God, or Love is real. The question is, when will we be willing to see the truth of Love’s all encompassing oneness?
As we open up to our true Self, the hallucinations coming from the false self are transformed into experiences of gentleness and peace. The fearful sights are translated into calm and reassuring sights. Instead of guilt, we see innocence. Instead of rejection and hate, we see acceptance and God’s Love. “These gentle sights and sounds are looked on happily, and heard with joy. They are His substitutes for all the terrifying sights and screaming sounds the ego’s purpose brought to your horrified awareness. [Holy Spirit’s substitutes] step away from sin, reminding you that it is not Reality which frightens you, and that the errors which you made can be corrected.” (10:5-7)
Jesus tells us, “Think but an instant just on this; you can behold the holiness God gave His Son. And never need you think that there is something else for you to see.” (11:3) All there really is to see is our loving brother who is one with us in the Love of God.
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