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Chapter 1, Section VI: The Illusion of Needs

Read Chapter 1, Section VI. (pages 13-15)

This section has some core ideas that are important for us to learn to apply in our lives. If we really want to awaken to the truth of our oneness in God, we need to fully understand and integrate these key ideas into the way we think and live our lives. An important idea Jesus states in this section is: "A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct. This sense of separation would never have arisen if you had not distorted your perception of truth, and had thus perceived yourself as lacking." (2:1-2)

What does Jesus mean by, "Belief produces the acceptance of existence."?

It is important to realize that this is why we see the world we see. We see a world of separate bodies because we thought we would "be better off in a state somehow different from the one you are in." (1:5) We wanted a world that was different from God's oneness. We wanted to believe we were separate and could have something for ourselves alone. We wanted to experience a world of uniqueness that was separate from the unity of God. We wanted to put ourselves in God's place and make a world of unique identities that we as individuals could control.

What causes our sense of lack, fear and conflict?

It is the belief that we are separate that creates the sense of lack in our lives because we do not feel one with God's unified Love and strength. God is unified Love. In truth we also are unified Love. Believing we are separate from Love creates fear. As we are motivated to let go of this false sense of separation from God, our sense of lack will disappear. Fear will disappear from our experience. That is why letting go our our false beliefs (forgiving) is the only meaningful purpose for time.

Our belief in separation has given us the false impression that our Creator's oneness has been destroyed and replaced with differences and individuality. Our belief in separation has given us the experience of a world of unique bodies which have separate wills of their own which are different from God's unity. To reverse this false belief, we need to return the reality that we are still as God created us. As we return to the purity our true reality through the process of forgiveness, we return to a state of peace, which is our natural state.

Holding onto our belief in separation only produces the continued experience of stress, conflict and lack. This stressful state of mind is not our reality, but we will think it so as long as this belief remains in tact. That is why at the end of this section, Jesus uses the following logic to help us sort the real from the unreal as a way to resolve all belief in lack and fear: "Perfect love casts out fear. If fear exists, then there is not perfect love. But: Only perfect love exists. If there is fear, it produces a state that does not exist." (5:4-8)

Why is it so important to recognize the illusory nature of our fears and beliefs?

Even though fear produces a state that does not exist, our belief makes fear seem real and justified to us. Just as Jesus' logic leads us to the truth because it is based on truth, logic based on a false assumption leads to an erroneous conclusion. We conclude that fear is justified because it is based on the underlying false belief that separation is real.

As we let go of believing we are separate from unified Love, we will no longer see justification for fear. For example, in our past we may have been afraid of losing a loved one because we have carried the belief that they were their body and individual personality. Now we know that they are one with us as the same eternal Spirit of Love. This peaceful understanding of the truth releases us from the fear of loss because we now know that what is real is changeless and eternal and could never be lost. We feel safe at a deep level and know that in reality, loss of our true Identity as an extension of God's Love is impossible. We know that the Love we feel is eternal and cannot be lost. We know that we were created as an extension of God's Love and that can never change for ourselves or anyone in our dream of separation.

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