To gain the most from A Course in Miracles Lesson Insights, we recommend
that you read the corresponding lesson in the Workbook of the Second or
Third Edition of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.
“Beyond this world there is a world I want.”
In paragraph 7 of this lesson, I love the symbol of Light given in this exercise. In the physical world, the experience of light is the closest approximation to the experience of Spirit. Light always joins with light. It never defends against “other” Light. It always merges with it, joins with it, just as Spirit always joins with Spirit, being one.
I visualized the many points of Light and saw them expand and join into one ocean of Light in front of me that extended as far as I could see. I wanted to join with that Light, so I dove into It, like diving into an ocean. I swam around in It, felt Its presence surrounding me, yet I was still not experiencing being one with the Light. I tried to sink into the Light, but still did not feel part of It.
Then I began to see myself as Light. The more I saw myself as Light, the more I blended in with the ocean of Light, the more I felt part of It, one with It. As I let go of body identification and saw myself as only Light, I recognized I was one with the ocean of Light. Complete peace enveloped me. I felt great joy from all the Light that I now recognized as part of me. No division, no differences, one all encompassing, unlimited, unchanging, eternal Light. Complete freedom.
This experience represents to me the process of waking up from this illusionary world of separation. It is why I must learn that there is no value in this world and this world holds nothing that I want. As long as I hold value of anything in this world, I may be aware that there is Light, but I will only be able to be on the surface, unable to join with it.
As I let go of valuing the forms of this world, I am able to identify more and more with Light as What I am. I am grateful for these lessons that gently lead me away from my identification with a false image of myself and guide me toward the Light that I share with God. My heart is filled with gratitude.
In this lesson, Jesus is presenting me with a clear choice. First he describes the world of separation. He points out its instability and all the unhappiness that resides there. It becomes very clear that this is not the world I want. He then describes God’s World, a world of oneness, where all is given to all. All has all because all is all.
Jesus reminds me that I need to make a choice. I have to let go of the world of separation in order to experience the real world of Love’s oneness. I cannot experience both at the same time. Jesus encourages me to make the conscious choice for oneness and focus on that reality, because I always get what I focus on. He asks me to take time out from focusing on the world of separation and instead open to God’s World of oneness. He knows that as I practice making the conscious choice for oneness, that it gradually becomes the only choice I want to make.
Jesus takes us one step at a time. He knows that we have along history of making the choice for separation, for seeing separation. So he shows us just what separation really brings us. He shows us that it has never made us happy and we really do not want it. He encourages us to lay it down a while and in the open space made free by its release, he brings us a taste of the real world, the world where our one Self abides in eternity.
At first we take tiny steps toward opening to Love’s oneness. As we continue the practice of opening to the truth of our oneness more and more, our experience of It grows and expands. We gradually learn to appreciate God’s World. We gradually let go of rejecting it.
This lesson is about making the choice for God and letting go of the choice for the ego. The more I practice opening to God’s World, the more I make the choice for God, the more I will let the truth in. God’s World will become more real to me and the world of separation will appear less real. The threads of separation will fall away and the real world behind the world of separation will feel more clear, more attractive, more real.
This is my life process. I am learning to change my mind about what I want, about what I choose to experience. My choice is always between separation and oneness, the unreal and the real. I choose now to bring the awareness that I am choosing between the real and the unreal with me all through the day. Do I want to make separation or oneness real to me? As I make lunch today, as I answer the phone, as I work on the computer, my practice today is, “Which world do I want to experience?” I choose to practice opening to the real world of oneness today.
Note: An expansion of this lesson is found in the Text, Chapter 31, Section IV on pages 653-655 of the second edition.
Depression has been so much a part of my life because I never knew there was anything other than this world. For so long it was a mystery to me how God could have created such a world. It was a relief when I learned that my world was of my own doing and that I have the power to change it; or exchange it with the help of the Holy Spirit.
I sometimes fear the unknown, which is the world beyond the one I see, but this is where I must have complete trust — trust in my natural instincts, trust in that part of me that feels strongly that something is missing in my life, trust that I will experience another world if I just let go of this one.
Jesus Christ, my Master Teacher, help me to have the willingness to let go of this world. Help me to take a strong hold of your hand and lead me to where my Heavenly Father waits for me. Amen.
Sometimes I feel so certain of where my life is leading me and so grateful for where I am going. Other times, I start feeling doubtful and fearful. I may have led a miserable life up until this time, but it is a misery I have become comfortable with. Letting it go for something else should be easy, but I resist it. Thing is, I have come too far; I can’t go back. That’s both scary and good.
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