A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple

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.

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Chapter 14: Teaching for Truth

Section II: The Happy Learner

Read ACIM Chapter 14, Section II (pages 272-274)

How do we mask the fear and anxiety that comes with belief in bodies?

It seems incredible that we would be devoted to misery and believe that misery is happiness. We don’t realize that what we perceive is a made up universe of illusions based upon belief in separation. Because of our belief, separation seems to be true to us. And so we make up illusions that we believe bring us happiness: Romantic relationships, wealth, special recognition, fancy cars and houses. These are just a few examples of the myriad forms we have made up that we believe will make us happy.

Yet if we look at each one of them honestly, we see that even if they seem to bring us happiness, this happiness does not last. There is always an underlying anxiety that we will soon have to go seeking for another source of happiness because what we have will lose value and fade away. We mask the underlying fear and anxiety with surface thrills of excitement so we don’t recognize that through all these periods of seeming happiness runs a thread of misery. The misery is there because the price for seeing all these illusions is the denial of our Self, the denial of Love. No form in this world can substitute for the Love we truly are. And so no form in this world can content us. We cannot feel complete while we believe that any form in the world has value.

Where do the Holy Spirit’s lessons begin?

We need a Teacher Who is not deceived by the illusions we have made to substitute for the truth of Love. By the grace of God we have this Teacher in our minds, right there, where we made up the illusions. Being in the place where we make the error, He is in a position to offer correction if we are willing to learn His lessons. His lessons begin with helping us to recognize that what we have believed brought us happiness has no real value because it is made of nothing. It is a simple lesson, but one that may not be easy for us to accept.

We have built our self-identity around our belief in what could never be. We resist changing this belief because it seems like we will lose our identity. And so our inner Teacher shows us our real Identity, which is so magnificent that we begin to recognize that the false identity we made offers us nothing we want. His teaching helps us to change our values so we no longer give value to nothing and we recognize the real value of Love, which is everything and which is What we are. Gradually the fear of change subsides and we become happy learners of the fact that only truth is true — only Love is real.

What does Jesus tell us is the key to awakening and the way to become a happy learner?

We become willing to hear the Holy Spirit’s lesson: “The truth is true. Nothing else matters, nothing else is real, and everything beside it is not there. Let Me make the one distinction for you that you cannot make, but need to learn. Your faith in nothing is deceiving you. Offer your faith to Me, and I will place it gently in the holy place where it belongs. You will find no deception there, but only the simple truth. And you will love it because you will understand it.” (3:3-8)

The Holy Spirit shows us that nothing really matters in a world that is not there. What really matters is remembering the truth that we are in Heaven where we belong, now. No worldly stories can change the truth. Truth is true and nothing else is true. As we see our brothers in the light of truth, we help ourselves and our brothers. “The heavy chains that seem to bind them to despair they do not see as nothing, until you bring the light to them. And then they see the chains have disappeared, and so they must have been nothing. And you will see it with them. Because you taught them gladness and release, they will become your teachers in release and gladness. When you teach anyone that truth is true, you learn it with him. And so you learn that what seemed hardest was the easiest.” (4:6-9, 5:1-2)

Here we have the key to awakening. Here we have the way to become happy learners. Remembering the truth is an experience that brings us happiness and joy. The Holy Spirit teaches by contrast. As we experience the peace and happiness in His lessons more and more, we become more willing to pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s lessons in thought reversal. We become more willing to recognize that we have made nothing. “For truth is true. What else could ever be, or ever was? This simple lesson holds the key to the dark door that you believe is locked forever. You made this door of nothing, and behind it is nothing. The key is only the light that shines away the shapes and form and fears of nothing. Accept this key to freedom from the hands of Christ Who gives it to you, that you may join Him in the holy task of bringing light.” (7:3-8)

What could be more clear than this? Being a happy learner means happily letting Christ’s vision change our mind about what we think we are seeing. Being a happy learner means letting ourselves become aware that only truth is true and nothing else matters.

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Chapter 14: Teaching for Truth

Intro & Section I: The Conditions of Learning

Read ACIM Chapter 14, Intro & Section I (pages 270-271)

Why don’t we know that we are blessed?

In the Introduction we are told that we are blessed but we do not know it. We do not know that we are blessed because we have been following the insane logic of the ego, which attempts to make separation and death our only reality. Here Jesus encourages us to turn away from the ego’s logic and follow the Holy Spirit’s logic, which brings us to the simple truth of our unity in Love. In unity, we recognize that we are blessed. In unity, we give as we receive. We recognize that only Love is real and so we can only receive and give Love. We know that anything else is illusion.

What have we thrown away?

In Section I Jesus explains that we have thrown away the conditions for learning that we are blessed. What we have thrown away is the willingness to offer blessing. The Holy Spirit’s logic brings us to the opposite of the ego’s teaching. “You can learn to bless, and cannot give what you have not. If, then, you offer blessing, it must have come first to yourself. And you must also have accepted [blessing] as yours, for how else could you give it away? That is why miracles offer you the testimony that you are blessed.” (1:3-6)

In the ego’s illusionary and insane world, separation is maintained by extending guilt. In the ego’s world we see ourselves as different from ‘others’ by comparing ourselves with them and seeing that ‘they’ are the guilty ones. Jesus is showing us that the more we focus on the guilt in ‘those out there that are separate from us,’ the guiltier we will feel. Even if we, instead, label ourselves as the guilty one, the ego’s goal is still maintained because separation is its goal and guilt is the means for maintaining the illusion of separation. As long as we would maintain that guilt is justified anywhere, we will not recognize that we are blessed.

Jesus wants us to see the ego for what it is and understand that, with the ego, we will always see darkness and death. We will not recognize that we are blessed and can only bless. We will not recognize just how insane this world is and that it leads us to nothing. He tells us, “If you decide to have and give and be nothing except a dream, you must direct your thoughts unto oblivion. And if you have and give and are everything, and all this has been denied, your thought system is closed off and wholly separated from the truth.” (2:4-5)

Why do we resist recognizing that the world is nothing?

Because we love what we have made, we do not want to recognize that it is nothing. We do not recognize that it is insane. “There is no area of your perception that [insanity] has not touched, and your dream is sacred to you. That is why God placed the Holy Spirit in you, where you placed the dream.” (2:7-8) It is through the Holy Spirit alone that our insanity will be undone.

What is the key to hearing the Voice of sanity?

The Holy Spirit is the Voice of sanity and as we learn to step back and listen, we will see that what we have made is nothing. We will see that everyone is guiltless. We will let go of denying the truth that we have and give and are everything, which is Love and nothing else.

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section XI: The Peace of Heaven

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section XI (pages 266-269)

In reality, are we in Heaven now, but just afraid of accepting Where we are?

The central points in this section are that God guarantees that we are in Heaven now and will remain in Heaven eternally. We can dream of being separated from Heaven and this does interfere with our awareness of Heaven. But God’s plan for waking us from this insane dream is guaranteed to work. This section is truly a message of hope and assurance that we remain safe in God. Some examples: “God gave the Holy Spirit to you, and gave Him the mission to remove all doubt and every trace of guilt that His dear Son has laid upon himself. It is impossible that this mission fail.” (5:1-2) “...God’s Will is done.” (5:4) “The Will of God can fail in nothing. ...God wills you be in Heaven, and nothing can keep you from it, or it from you.” (6:9, 7:1) “His Voice will be heard.” (7:7) “His sleep will not withstand the call to wake.” (10:3)

Why does this dream seem so real?

In our dreaming, we don’t realize we are hallucinating. Because of our belief in it, everything in the dream of separate bodies seems real. In this dream of separation, the endless battles, the pain and destruction and death seem to be inevitable. That is why God gave us the Holy Spirit in our minds to be the Call that reminds us of the truth.

What is the Holy Spirit’s role in our dream?

His role is to teach us the difference between reality and unreality. Learning this difference is the key to our release from conflict. “No one finds himself ravaged and torn in endless battles if he himself perceives them as wholly without meaning.” (1:5)

It is the Holy Spirit That shows us what has meaning and what does not have meaning. In the dream we believe that the separate forms or identities we see are real. Without His help we could not know the difference between the real and the unreal. In truth we share one Mind — the Mind of God. There are no differences or variation in the one Mind of God. There are no separate forms that change with time. In the Mind of God there is no time — only the eternal extension of joy and peace that is found in the all encompassing Love of Heaven. To know that we are in Heaven now, “...the Will of God must be accepted as your will.” (10:7) When we accept God’s Will, “There is a sense of peace so deep that no dream in this world has ever brought even a dim imagining of what it is.” (3:13)

What does the Holy Spirit teach us to share?

“Perfect perception can merely show you what is capable of being wholly shared. It can also show you the results of sharing, while you still remember the results of not sharing.” (4:2-3) Separate things cannot be wholly shared. It is only the one, universal Mind of God that is wholly shared. It is the Holy Spirit That will gently lead us back to the awareness of What is truly wholly shared. It is the Holy Spirit That will lead us back to our true Identity by helping us let go of what could never be of God. “The Holy Spirit points quietly to the contrast, knowing that you will finally let Him judge the difference for you, allowing Him to demonstrate which must be true.” (4:4)

Jesus reassures us again and again that everyone will be released from the dream of separation. All all that we will remember is the Love that created us and the Love we extend. Nothing else has ever existed and we will be grateful that this is so. “From [God] you cannot wander, and there is no possibility that the plan the Holy Spirit offers to everyone, for the salvation of everyone, will not be perfectly accomplished.” (11:5)

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section X: Release from Guilt

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section X (pages 262-266)

How do hallucinations of separation arise?

With the false idea of separation from God’s oneness comes guilt. When we hold these false ideas of separation and guilt in our mind, we expect punishment, thus making guilt fearful. These ideas are at the core of the ego thought system from which hallucinations of separation arise.

In an attempt to protect ourselves from the fearful thoughts of guilt and punishment that come with belief in separation, we try to displace or project the source of guilt outside us. We try to see the source of guilt where it is not. We deny that the source of guilt is a false idea we are holding on to in our mind. We project the guilt onto our bodies and onto other individuals we believe are outside us.

This strategy seems to alleviate some of the fear, but it also hides the real source of guilt, still in our minds, from our awareness. As long as we are unaware of the real source of guilt, which comes from believing in the false idea of separation, we will not escape the guilt. If we were to recognize the falsity of separation — the real source of guilt — we would realize it is just an insane idea and easily let it go.

How does Jesus describe a real relationship?

When we use a relationship as a means for projecting our guilt, there is no recognition of unity and therefore no real relationship. “[The relationship] is not shared, and so it is not real.” (2:10) Where there is a belief in separation — a sense of being an individual — there cannot be a real relationship. Real relationships come with recognition of unity.

When we do not share a relationship, we are seeing the ‘other’ as different from us. We are not seeing the other as the Holy Spirit sees him. Rather we are seeing the guilt in our own minds projected onto him. When we project the guilt that lies in our minds onto our brother, the guilt still remains in our mind and actually maintains it rather than releasing us from it.

Why does the ego always seek to find guilt in our relationships?

This section helps us clearly see the ego’s strategy for avoiding guilt, and the Holy Spirit’s plan for complete release from guilt. Because guilt is the glue that holds the ego together, the ego does not really want full release from guilt. But because guilt and the fear that comes with it are intolerable if fully recognized, the ego seeks for ways to project the guilt and see it ‘somewhere else.’ This provides the means for the ego to maintain guilt while keeping the pain at a low enough level that we won’t seek a better way.

One of the principal places the ego tries to project or displace guilt is in relationships with others. The ego always sees relationships with others as a means of projecting guilt. This projection blinds us to the vision that would show us the truth in our brothers. Instead, what we perceive in others is really our own belief in guilt projected on to them. Thus we don’t really have a relationship with that brother. We are just maintaining a “relationship” with our own projected image.

How does the Holy Spirit’s use our relationships?

On the other hand, the Holy Spirit’s use for relationships with our brothers is to show us the purity of Love in them, which reminds us of the Love in ourselves. By using the relationship to show us the Love in our brothers and ourselves, the Holy Spirit teaches us of our unity. We learn that there is no difference between us. Ultimately we learn to love all equally. It is this unified Love given equally to all that is the holy relationship that the Holy Spirit brings us. “You cannot enter into real relationships with any of God’s Sons unless you love them all and equally. Love is not special.” (11:1-2)

As we learn about the true meaning of Love from the Holy Spirit, we will let go of the special love that the ego offers. We will learn to love truly and see that we all are equal in God’s Love. Our relationships thus become free of guilt, for all projections have been laid down and we see our brothers completely free of the past. Thus we will be able to say, “Behold the Son of God, and look upon his purity and be still. In quiet look upon his holiness, and offer thanks unto his Father that no guilt has ever touched him.” (11:10-11)

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section IX: The Cloud of Guilt

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section IX (pages 260-262)

How does Jesus describe the ego’s laws of punishment?

When we align with the ego, we are aligning with the laws of punishment. There must be belief in condemnation and guilt for there to be a perceived need for punishment. So the ego thought system is always engaged in a repeating cycle of condemnation, guilt and punishment. Making the illusion of the past seem real holds guilt in place. It seems that what is past cannot be changed. Condemnation of past behavior thus maintains guilt. Since it appears that the past cause of guilt cannot be changed, guilt seems to be eternal. This “continuity,” based on an unchangeable past that maintains a future of guilt, is the ego’s substitute for the eternity of Love.

How does the Holy Spirit release us from the laws of punishment?

The Holy Spirit releases us from this seemingly endless cycle by teaching us that the past does not exist and therefore cannot be a cause. Guilt is thus causeless. As we learn to let go of the idea of having a past and future, we awaken to the Light of Love in the present. This undoing of belief in the past and future is the Atonement. It is the release from guilt.

When we make another guilty in our minds, we are punishing ourselves. We are accepting pain and projecting pain. “The ego rewards fidelity to it with pain, for faith in it is pain.” (2:3) When we treasure specialness and uniqueness, guilt comes with it because we are really denying God’s oneness. We really are hating God and loving the ego’s substitute of specialness.

The world was made by the ego to make differences and specialness appear real. Yet, “The world can give you only what you gave it, for being nothing but your own projection, [the world] has no meaning apart from what you found in it and placed your faith in.” (3:1) As long as we hold the world dear and think there is anything of value in it, it will appear real to us, even though it is an illusion. Thus we can no longer tell the difference between the true and the false. Because of these mistaken values, we need the Holy Spirit to help us separate the false from the true.

It is helpful for us to clearly understand that when we place our faith in the world’s thought system, guilt, pain and punishment automatically come with it. The world and all its forms are merely the effect of the thought of separation, which is trying to be the opposite of what we are. This is why thoughts of guilt, condemnation and punishment come with belief in the world.

What is really happening when we perceive guilt in a brother?

Now we are learning that whenever we perceive guilt in a brother, we are simply seeing a projection of the guilt that lies in our own mind. Instead of getting rid of the guilt by seeing it in another, we are simply maintaining our own sense of guilt. “Guilt is always in your mind, which has condemned itself. Project it not, for while you do, [guilt] cannot be undone. With everyone whom you release from guilt great is the joy in Heaven, where the witnesses to your fatherhood rejoice.” (6:7-8) Heaven rejoices because when we are willing to let it go, we are freeing ourselves from the pain of guilt and punishment. We are loosening the chains that bind us.

Where can the Holy Spirit be found and what does He show us?

The Holy Spirit is always present in our minds, waiting to bring us the truth of our innocence and our brother’s innocence. Because nothing could change the reality of God’s one Son, guilt and separation could never be real. Guilt is an illusion. Separate bodies are an illusion. This is the truth that the Holy Spirit brings to us as we are willing to listen. As we listen, we are brought to the truth that the separation never happened. It has all been just an hallucination brought on by the power of our valuing false ideas that could never be true.

Having given belief to the idea of separation, we have also given belief to guilt. Separation and guilt always come together. But thankfully, belief does not make reality, although it does make the appearance of reality. We all know from experience that appearances can change. This is our window of release. With the Holy Spirit as our Guide, we can let go of our belief in the false idea of separation and thus let go of guilt.

As we learn to let the Holy Spirit guide our vision, He will help us look past the mistaken perception of the darkness of guilt and see the Light that God placed in us in our creation. The Holy Spirit will show us that the darkness we feared has no substance. On our own, we are afraid to look for the Light within, because we do not believe that it is there. But the strength of the Holy Spirit is available to us when we choose to accept it. With His help we can “look, then, upon the light [God] placed within you, and learn that what you feared was there has been replaced with love.” (8:13)

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section VIII: From Perception to Knowledge

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section VIII (pages 258-260)

Why does the Holy Spirit teach that there is no time?

The Holy Spirit is the bridge between perception and knowledge. Were we not dreaming of separation with perception of time and space, there would be no need for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings us a message of timelessness that releases us from perception. “He teaches that the past does not exist, a fact with belongs to the sphere of knowledge, and which therefore no one in the world can know.” (1:3)

His message of timelessness heals our perception so that we can see the truth in our brother without the past. As we align our minds with the Holy Spirit, we move toward perfect perception, the vision of Christ. “Perception can reach everywhere under His guidance, for the vision of Christ beholds everything in light.” (2:7)

How does Jesus define knowledge in the Course?

Jesus knows that we do not understand knowledge and cannot experience it while we believe we are in this world of separate bodies. Knowledge is the awareness and beingness of oneness, which is always the same, everywhere and forever. Being eternal, knowledge is changeless. Being one, there is no ‘other’ to perceive. We are told, “Aspects of reality can be seen in everything and everywhere.” (3:8) This is another way of saying, “God is in everything I see.” (WB Lesson 29) Like a hologram, every aspect is whole and contains the whole. Because knowledge cannot be partial and reflects only wholeness, every aspect of knowledge contains all knowledge. We are an aspect of knowledge because we are in the Mind of God.

With Christ’s vision, what do we see?

We cannot experience knowledge while we still place our belief in separation, which Jesus tells us “is merely a faulty formulation of reality, with no effect at all.” (3:5) Because of our faulty thinking we need the Holy Spirit, Who is the bridge between the Father and the Son. “[The Holy Spirit] is a Thought of God, and God has given Him to you because He has no Thoughts He does not share. His message speaks of timelessness in time, and that is why Christ’s vision looks on everything with love.” (4:3-4) Christ’s vision gives us glimpses of the wholeness of Heaven.

As we are willing to accept miracles (changes in perception) from the Holy Spirit, we see our brother without the past and therefore as he really is. Without the past we see no differences and “see that every aspect is the same, perceived in the same light and therefore one. Everyone seen without the past thus brings you nearer to the end of time by bringing healed and healing sight into the darkness, and enabling the world to see.” (5:3-4)

What happens when we offer true perception to every brother?

As we offer true perception to every brother, we heal our minds and bring healing to the world. As we offer true perception, we become witnesses to the fact that everyone is the same. Without the past there are no differences. “There is one miracle, as there is one reality. And every miracle you do contains them all, as every aspect of reality you see blends quietly into the one Reality of God.” (6:3-4) As we see through Christ’s vision, we see that every brother is the same and we are the same as every brother. This is the miracle that shows us that the Sonship is one and we have never left our Father.

As we become witnesses to the one reality of Love in everyone, the truth is returned to our awareness. We bless and we are blessed. We return to our awareness of oneness. “God waits your witness to His Son and to Himself.” (10:4) As we practice beholding the Light, which is always there behind the “faulty formulation of reality,” we… “Help Him to give His gift of light to all who think they wander in the darkness, and let Him gather them into His quiet sight that makes them one.” (5:6)

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section VII: Attainment of the Real World

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section VII (pages 254-258)

What does Jesus tell us is the key to attaining the real world?

In this section Jesus compares the world we made with the real world. He asks us to really look at the world we think we are living in and see it clearly for the false world it really is. He reminds us that it is a world of pain, scarcity and death and that we do not really want the disappointment that it offers. He reminds us that we are not trapped here. He tells us, “All that you need to give this world away in glad exchange for what you did not make is willingness to learn the one you made is false.” (4:4)

This is significant because Jesus is showing us the way to our real happiness. He also tells us, “The world you see must be denied for sight of it is costing you a different kind of vision. You cannot see both worlds, for each of them involves a different kind of seeing, and depends on what you cherish.” (2:1-2) Because we cannot see both worlds at the same time, we must be willing to relinquish one to see the other.

Why do we see a world of separate bodies?

Jesus is showing us that we see this world because we are cherishing it. It has been what we have wanted to see. But we have been wrong about what is true and what is false. We have labeled God’s oneness false and a world of separate bodies true. We have tried to make specialness real and replace God’s Reality with our own false ideas of uniqueness and seeing differences.

Now we have come to the time where we are learning a better way of seeing through the Holy Spirit. As we are willing, the Holy Spirit will show us the falsity of our wild imaginings. “As you follow Him, you will rejoice that you have found His company, and learned of Him the joyful journey home.” (6:4)

How does Jesus describe our natural state as we were created by God?

Much of paragraph seven describes our natural state as we were created by God. Our reality is Love, in which we are perfectly safe and at peace. This is the condition that God wills for us and it is also our will. Seeing the world of separation is really a denial of our true will. When we are aware of God’s loving Arms surrounding us, the world of pain disappears from our awareness.

The real world is the dream of peace that prepares us to awaken to the peace of Heaven. “You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it. Your first exchange of what you made for what you want is the exchange of nightmares for the happy dreams of love. ...the dreams of love lead unto knowledge.” (9:1-2,5) In dreams of Love there is nothing to fear, and so we feel perfectly safe. Thus knowledge is welcomed rather than perceived as a threat to our identity. As Love is welcomed, joy comes with it.

Why is the belief in separate bodies the same as the belief in lack?

Love created us like Itself, giving us all Love, which is all that is real. Thus our true Self has everything. The belief in separation is by definition belief in lack because it is the belief that we have separated from Love. We cannot find Love in an environment where Love is denied, which is this world. The good news is that we have the Holy Spirit to serve as a mediator between the loveless world we made through denial and the reality of Love that is our inheritance.

Because of our belief in lack in this world, it is inevitable that we will seek to fill that lack and so we spend our time striving to acquire whatever we believe will fill the lack. Then we try to protect what we have acquired because we believe our safety depends upon keeping it. “The ego wants to have things for salvation, for possession is its law.” (10:11) All these possessions are substitutes for Love. Being unreal, they never truly satisfy. In fact, our investment in these possessions blinds us to the eternal presence of Love.

Why does Jesus encourage us to let go of worldly attachments?

In paragraphs 10 through 17 Jesus is gently encouraging us to let go of worldly attachments. He reminds us that the only thing of real value is to awaken in Christ. Valuing things in this world keeps us attached to the illusion. These values are dark spots that blind us to the Light of God that we are. The Holy Spirit always guides away from fear. Consequently we are not asked to give up the things we value in this world all at once. The Holy Spirit recognizes that this drastic shift would bring up fear of loss and lack. Instead He gently guides us to recognize that what we thought had value is really valueless and not worth our investment. If we practice letting the Holy Spirit guide our decisions, He will lead us to let go of what holds us in the world of illusion so that we can awaken to the Love we are.

What does Jesus say is the “only need to be fulfilled in time”?

In paragraph 16 we are told that by joining with Jesus we will experience the non-attachment he achieved for everyone. “In me you have already overcome every temptation that would hold you back. We walk together on the way to quietness that is the gift of God. Hold me dear, for what except your brothers can you need? We will restore to you the peace of mind that we must find together. The Holy Spirit will teach you to awaken unto us and to yourself. This is the only need to be fulfilled in time.” (16:1-6)

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section VI: Finding the Present

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section VI (pages 250-253)

What does the ego’s seeming existence depend upon?

The ego’s seeming existence depends upon hanging on to the past and projecting it onto the present. Jesus tells us, “Your past was made in anger, and if you use it to attack the present, you will not see the freedom that the present holds.” (5:7) Since Love is only in the eternal present, there is no reality to the false idea of a past or future. Therefore the past does not exist and to bring the past to the present is to perceive illusions. This makes it impossible to recognize Love’s reality, which is always now. Projection is thus a barrier to our awareness of the truth in the present.

How do we deny Light and how do we maintain this denial?

In many places in the Course, Light is used as a symbol for Love, which is all of Reality. Thus the perception of darkness must be the perception of illusion, since darkness and Light cannot coexist. Light (Love) surrounds us and is ever present. To perceive darkness (illusion), we must actively deny the presence of Light. That is why darkness is in our minds. Darkness is just the effect of our own decision to deny Light. The fact that what we experience is our own decision is good news because we can also make the decision to stop denying Light.

We deny Light by insisting on holding onto the tiny mad idea of separation, which we maintain through judgment and condemnation. This shows up as memories of the past in our minds and using these memories to interpret what we perceive in the present. This makes the reality of Love in the present invisible to us.

How do we accept the Light that eternally surrounds us?

We accept Light, or the reality of Love, by forgiving the past — letting it go. As we learn to let go of the tiny mad idea of separation, we gradually become aware of the Light (Love) we have been denying. “Judgment and condemnation are behind you, and unless you bring them with you, you will see that you are free of them. Look lovingly upon the present, for it holds the only things that are forever true.” (6:1-2)

As we learn to accept the Light that is within our right minds, we will see the world anew. Jesus asks us to join with him in seeing our brothers Light. He says, “God’s guiltless Son is only light. There is no darkness in him anywhere, for he is whole. Call all your brothers to witness to his wholeness, as I am calling you to join with me.” (8:4-6) As we continue to practice joining with Jesus in seeing the Light in every brother, we also become aware of the Light within us. “Your Light will join with theirs in power so compelling, that it will draw the others out of darkness as you look on them.” (11:10)

Jesus is defining the process of awakening very clearly here. He defines the laws of Love and teaches us how to become aware of Love’s presence in every now moment. Our job is to practice seeing the light in every brother. As we accept the truth, we will see the truth. “God’s Son is still as loving as his Father. Continuous with his Father, he has no past apart from Him. So he has never ceased to be his Father’s witness and his own. Although he slept, Christ’s vision did not leave him. And so it is that he can call unto himself the witnesses that teach him that he never slept.” (13:5-9)

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section V: The Two Emotions

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section V (pages 247-250)

How does Jesus describe the two emotions of Love and fear?

The first paragraph gives us a good description of the emotion of Love. Jesus tells us Love is changeless, and is continually exchanged. In this sense Love is always active, never stopping Its extension to Itself. “In this exchange [Love] is extended, for [Love] increases as [Love] is given.” (1:3) A key here is that Love is continuously being exchanged — being shared with all of Itself. Sharing Itself with all of Itself is how It knows Itself.

Jesus describes fear as individual illusions that make up a private world that cannot be shared. We do not realize that we make up these illusions ourselves. The figures in our world are projections of our individual past. We do not see our brothers as they are now. “For they see only those who remind them of these images [from the past], and it is to them that they relate.” (3:2) These projections from the past make it impossible for us to see the loving reality of our brother, which is also our own reality. These projections are really an attack on ourselves because they come from our own mind and keep us from recognizing the truth in ourselves. “And thus it is you must attack yourself first, for what you attack is not in others. It’s only reality is in your own mind, and by attacking others you are literally attacking what is not there.” (3:7-8)

So we are seeing that our illusionary private worlds are filled with fear and condemnation. In this delusion, the condemnation that is in our minds appears to be in an outside world. Fear, guilt and condemnation are tied together. We learned before that when we identify with the ego, we are afraid of Love. Thus we think we are searching for Love, but at the same time we are trying to avoid it.

What do we need to learn in order to let go of insanity?

We will not let go of insanity until we learn to take a very close look at it and see it for what it is. As we look at the many forms of fear, it will help us learn what insanity is so that we can learn to look beyond it. “It is given you to learn how to deny insanity, and come forth from your private world in peace. You will see all that you denied in your brothers because you denied it in yourself.” (7:7-8)

Guilt is central to the ego thought system. Condemnation is the means for maintaining guilt. We perceive condemnation as the means for defending our individual identity. Along with condemnation comes fear because we fear the punishment that condemnation demands. So our belief in the value of condemnation is really an attraction to fear and our world is filled with images of fear. This fear blocks our awareness of the Love in our brothers that is forever being offered us.

As we open to the vision of the Holy Spirit, we recognize the insanity of the world we see through the body’s eyes. We see that separate figures could not be real in the oneness of Love. “You who know not what you do can learn what insanity is, and look beyond it. It is given you to learn how to deny insanity, and come forth from your private world in peace.” (7:6-7) We realize that the only ‘sound’ we could really hear is the song of Heaven. We realize that we really want the joyous oneness of Love and a private world offers us nothing. We hear God’s call of Love because we cease desiring to keep a private world we can call our own.

How do we open our eyes to the Light of Love?

In paragraph 8 Jesus uses the metaphor of sleep we experience with the body to illustrate how we could perceive a world we made that seems real but is only a dream. We “sleep” by denying vision — denying the awareness of our oneness with Love. Denying what is, we then have to make up a replacement, which is the dream of a private world in which we rule our own perception. For this to seem to be real, we must exclude the Light of Love. We must exclude God. We open our eyes to the Light of Love through forgiveness. (See Workbook lesson 75.)

Vision cannot come through the body’s eyes because the body is part of the dream we made that denies vision. But despite this denial, the vision of Christ is still within our minds. Christ’s vision sees the Love in all our brothers. It sees the real world forgiveness offers us and disregards all the images we have made. This vision is already ours. We need only be willing to let go of the past and our images of a private world and we will experience the clarity of Christ’s vision.

In paragraph 11 Light is equated with the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit is the Light in which Christ stands revealed. And all who would behold Him can see Him, for they have asked for Light.” (11:1-2) We ask for Light when we are willing to become aware of the truth. Our dreams of separation are not the truth and are only perceived in the darkness of the denial of the truth. With the Light we see ourselves as the Holy Spirit sees us and we experience the beauty of Love Which is everywhere.

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section IV: The Function of Time

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section IV (pages 245-247)

Why does Jesus say the ego teaches that destruction is salvation?

This section continues with the theme of our fear of Love. Since Heaven is Love, if we fear Love, we also fear Heaven. The ego has made a substitute for Heaven and along with that made a substitute image for what we are. When we believe in the ego thought system, we believe we are this substitute image with a separate and unique identity.

The foundation of this substitute is the ego idea that it is possible to separate from Love and still exist. Since separation from Love, were it true, would be Love’s destruction, the ego teaches that destruction is salvation. It is only through destruction of Love that it could be possible to have an identity separate from Love.

Since destruction is the kingpin of the ego thought system, it teaches us that our function is to destroy. Most of us don’t think of ourselves as being on a binge of destruction, but that is because the ego has convinced us that our judgments and perception of differences is just part of maintaining and protecting our identity. We think that judgment is necessary and that we need to decide what we want and how to get it and keep it for ourselves. That is how we maintain our specialness and our uniqueness. We don’t realize that our judgment, or deciding on our own, is destroying our awareness of the Love we are. The ego does not tell us that the identity that we think we are protecting is an empty image without life. Yet we are willing to experience even death to protect this identity. “For you believe that attack is your reality, and that your destruction is the final proof that you were right.” (2:5)

Why is our belief in time the principal mechanism for maintaining guilt?

Jesus asks us to question our belief in death as “proof” of life. Our unwillingness to question our beliefs prevents us from recognizing the falsity of their foundation. One of our beliefs that we never question is our belief in the reality of time. Yet we are reminded here that time is not of God. It was made up by the ego as part of its scheme for self-preservation. Time is the principal mechanism for maintaining guilt. The moment we accept that time is not real, guilt will be gone because guilt is always based upon what we believe happened in the past. If time is not real, nothing that appears to happen in time is real.

The ego uses time to hang on to the past and make it appear that our future is the effect of our past. “Remember that [the ego’s] emphasis on guilt enables it to ensure its continuity by making the future like the past, and thus avoiding the present. By the notion of paying for the past in the future, the past becomes the determiner of the future, making them continuous without an intervening present.” (4:3-4)

Why does the Course say that all the thoughts we are aware of are rooted in the past?

The practices in Workbook lessons 5 through 9 help us learn how all the thoughts we are aware of are rooted in the past. These thoughts interfere with our perception of the present. Lesson 5 says, “I am never upset for the reason I think.” As we see in paragraph 5 we are always interpreting the present based on the past. We think we are reacting to present circumstances but we are really reacting to the meaning we are giving it based upon memories of the past. Bringing our past to the present causes us to see what is not there. (Lesson 6) As long as we are aligned with the ego, we will see only the past. (Lesson 7) Because the ego views the past as its means of self-preservation, it keeps our mind preoccupied with past thoughts. (Lesson 8) Because of this we see nothing as it is now. (Lesson 9) These lessons are important steps in our release from the past and return to our natural state of oneness in Love.

What frees us from belief in a past and future?

Every brother offers us the opportunity to recognize Love for every brother in truth only offers Love. Nothing else is real. Forgiveness releases our mind from the past and frees us to accept the gift of Love that every brother is truly offering. Forgiveness comes through learning that the past is an illusion. “Unless you learn that past pain is an illusion, you are choosing a future of illusions and losing the many opportunities you could find for release in the present.” (6:5) We cannot recognize the holiness of our brother as long as we perceive him through the filter of our past. Neither can we know our own holiness, or oneness.

In another part of the Text we are told to ask of everything, “What is it for?” Here we are being shown we should ask the same question of the purpose we are giving time. When we align ourselves with the ego, we use time to maintain our separate identity. When we align ourselves with the Holy Spirit, time is used to extend the wholeness of the present, free of the past or future. This is the beginning of the appreciation of eternity.

As long as we join with the ego, our belief in time with a past and future will continue. When we are willing to join with the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of time, we use time only as a means of undoing our belief in time. We remember that only the eternal present is real. Love has no past or future because it is eternally changeless and is always the same.

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section III: The Fear of Redemption

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section III (pages 242-245)

Why are we afraid of Love?

This section lays out for us how terrified we are of Love. It seems insane that we would be afraid of Love and it is. The fear comes because we have made a unique image of ourselves that excludes Love by believing that we have succeeded in separating from God (Love). Because this unique identity is built on the belief in separation, the acceptance of God’s oneness (redemption) would mean the end of our identity. It is this we fear.

Why are we attracted to judge against another?

Belief in separation brings with it the idea of attack, or judging against, because judgment could only occur to the mind that perceives itself as separate. There must be something perceived as outside to be judged against. Since attack (judgment) maintains separation, it is seen as salvation because it protects the separate, unique identity we treasure.

“You may wonder why it is so crucial that you look upon your hatred and realize its full extent.” (1:1) Hatred is another way of saying “judging against.” This world is the effect of our judgment against the oneness of God. “You were at peace until you asked for special favor.” (10:2) When Love would not give us the specialness or uniqueness we demanded, we rejected (judged against) Love. The world was made as a defense against the oneness of Love. This is the hatred or rejection we must look upon.

Why does Jesus say we must look upon our hatred?

We not only deny our hatred, but beneath that is the denial of our Love of our Source. Our hatred is a dark cloak we use to hide our Love. We are terrified of removing the cloak because it would reveal the Love that we are and the false identity we have made would disappear. We do not want the separation healed because we want to keep the unique identity we made up, the story of our self image.

Why does Jesus say that our minds are conflicted?

Because we were created as Love by Love, the call of Love is always with us, no matter how hard we try to deny it. This call of Love is the Holy Spirit in our minds. But we cannot accept ourselves as Love and maintain a unique identity at the same time. “The Holy Spirit, then, seems to be attacking your fortress, for you would shut God out, and He does not will to be excluded.” (3:4) As long as we insist on maintaining an image of ourselves as a separate identity, we will be conflicted because we are defending against our true Nature, our Self. At the same time that we defend against Love, we yearn to return to Love. This conflict will continue until we recognize and accept that we share God’s Will to be Love and nothing else.

Why do we hide the fact that we are creating the world as we experience it?

Our illusions seem to be self-sustained and that is why they seem to happen to us. It doesn’t appear that we are responsible for the illusions. In fact, we deny responsibility for the illusions and blame God for the world of limitation, lack, pain and death that we experience. This projection of responsibility saves us from having to accept responsibility for the lack of Love we experience. As we learn to recognize that the experience of lack of Love is a choice we made by desiring specialness and individuality, we can begin the process of healing.

We do a good job of hiding from ourselves the fact that we are making up the illusion of separation. We make it appear that we had nothing to do with writing the script. “You must look upon your illusions and not keep them hidden, because they do not rest on their own foundation. In concealment they appear to do so, and thus they seem to be self-sustained. This is the fundamental illusion on which the others rest.” (6:1-3) This is a key concept for us to understand. We are making up these illusions. These illusions are the barrier we have placed between ourselves and Love Which is our Source. Beneath this barrier is our loving mind. We are learning that the barrier of a world of separate bodies is not our salvation. It is our crucifixion.

Why must we take all our illusions of separation to the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit has the remedy, but we must take all our illusions of separation to Him in order to receive His help. “Do not leave any spot of pain hidden from His Light, and search your mind carefully for any thoughts you may fear to uncover. For He will heal every little thought you have kept to hurt you and cleanse it of its littleness, restoring it to the magnitude of God.” (7:5-6)

This is a very clear explanation of how to awaken from our dream of fear. We made it appear that the world is happening to us and now we are learning to recognize all the little barriers to Love that we place in the way of the memory of God. We are learning to take all these hidden thoughts, these false ideas, to the Holy Spirit for a correction in perception. We have been wrong in our thinking and in true humility we are open to having our thoughts be corrected.

We are learning to let go of our fear of redemption. We are learning to exempt no one from our Love for we would no longer crucify ourselves. We would not close our mind to the Holy Spirit’s healing help. We would not make ourselves separate and alone. We would not set ourselves apart. We are learning to give up this insanity. “But seek this place and you will find it, for love is in you and will lead you there.” (12:10)

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section II: The Guiltless Son of God

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section II (pages 239-241)

Why are we attracted to see guilt as long as we believe we are an ego?

At the core of our being there is an irresistible desire to return to the awareness of God. Yet since guilt maintains separation, it interferes with our awareness of God because inherent in God, or Love, is oneness. Separation and oneness cannot coexist. But the ego needs guilt to maintain its “existence” separate from God so it wants us to retain guilt. We have become persuaded that we are the ego and not our Self as God created us. Having identified ourselves with the ego, we follow the ego’s dictates, believing they are our own.

What happens when we withdraw our belief in the ego?

In the first two paragraphs of this section the Course speaks of the ego as if it is an external “being.” Yet it is simply a system of thought that seems to exist only because because of our belief in it. When we withdraw our belief in the ego, the world of separation will cease to seem to exist. But because we still identify with the ego, we think its thought system is our own. We think its rules apply to us.

When we identify with the ego, why are we always on the alert for the ‘guilt police’?

The ego has made up a complex web of rules we must follow, many of them contradictory so that we always feel like there is something we have done wrong. We feel guilty so we are expecting others to see our failures and recognize our guilt. When we identify with the ego, we are always on the alert for the “guilt police,” who are bound to catch us failing to comply with some ego rule. This alertness makes us defensive, while at the same time leaving us feeling unworthy because of our unconscious belief in our guilt. It is no wonder this is a world of depression.

What is the ego’s answer to get rid of guilt?

Inherent in the ego thought system is the belief that we can get rid of guilt by projecting it. All the while the ego secretly knows that this merely conceals the guilt so it can keep the guilt without our objection. Everyone who believes this world is real is identifying with the ego thought system. This brings with it an underlying sense of guilt from a belief that we have somehow failed, without recognizing what the failure is.

What is the ego’s ultimate goal for us?

The intent of this section is to help us learn to recognize the ego’s insane and murderous thought system for what it is. The ego’s ultimate goal is the death of God’s Son. “You do not even suspect this murderous but insane idea lies hidden there, for the ego’s destructive urge is so intense that nothing short of the crucifixion of God’s Son can ultimately satisfy it.” (3:3) God’s Son is Love, which is one. The ego is the opposite and therefore is totally unaware of who the Son of God is.

The ego wants the Son of God dead because “To the ego, the guiltless are guilty. Those who do not attack are its ‘enemies’ because, by not valuing its interpretation of salvation, they are in an excellent position to let [the ego] go.” (4:2-3) The ego is the belief that we truly were successful in separating from God (or Love’s oneness). The ego is the belief that we were successful in individualizing and are now making our own reality in a world where everything is separate and different. The ego is the idea that we killed the Son of God and with this comes the belief that we are guilty for what we did.

When we identify with the ego thought system, this is what we are buying into. That is why the ego never wants to see innocence. It always wants to see guilt and sees our true Self as guilty. To the ego crucifixion is salvation because it believes that by destroying its enemy (God’s oneness) it will be safe.

How do we learn that we are not an ego?

Recognizing the ego thought system for what it is is an important step in learning that we are not an ego. As we learn to recognize the ego thoughts of guilt and separation for what they are when they come into our mind, we will cease to be deceived by the ego’s distortions of the truth.

It is only our belief in the ego idea that it is possible to be separate that makes us feel guilty and fearful. We think we are afraid of God’s judgment. But we are really afraid that God would show us that we are innocent. We are afraid of this because when we truly see our innocence, it would be the end of the ego. Believing we are the ego, we think it would be the end of us.

Buying into the ego thought system and the world of separation is like buying a complex computer software program. This program comes with its own built in set of “features.” It features time, space, individuality, separate interests, birth and death, vulnerability, hunger, bodies that give is pleasure and pain, suffering and much more. The program comes as a package deal, but it has a very high price. The way to escape from this program is not in trying to change or rewrite the program. We hit the “escape button” by ceasing to believe in the validity of the program. To do this we need help from outside the program, Which is the Holy Spirit — the part of our mind Which has never forgotten the reality of Love.

The release from the “program” of guilt occurs as we let the part of our mind that is still awake awaken us to the truth. This part of our mind is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will show us our brother’s innocence so we can see it without fear. The process in most cases is gradual so we do not feel we are sacrificing anything. The guilt that we had projected we see as not real with the Holy Spirit’s help. “For the redeemed son of man is the guiltless Son of God, and to recognize him is your redemption.” (9:7) Thus as we see the innocence of our brother, we learn of our own innocence. We see that guilt was never real and that we remain eternally as God created us. We recognize that we remain in Heaven and the ego (separation from God) never occurred. Only Love is real and illusions of separation are nothing. The guiltless Son of God is all there is to see.

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Section I: Guiltlessness and Invulnerability

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Section I (pages 237-39)

When we believe in guilt, why does Love disappear?

Guilt is a barrier to the awareness of Love’s presence. “Love and guilt cannot coexist, and to accept one is to deny the other.” (1:4) The Course says in the introduction that its aim is to remove the blocks to the awareness of Love’s presence. Thus it could be said that the Course’s aim is the release of guilt, which clears our vision to see the innocent Son of God as he is. That is why forgiveness, or letting go of the guilt that keeps the ego going, is a thread that weaves through the entire Course.

What makes the illusory world of separation we see seem so real?

The Course equates sin with lack of Love or separation from Love. When we believe in the thought system of the ego, we believe that separation from Love is real and therefore believe sin is real and guilt is justified. Since the Son of God could never in truth be separate from His Father, belief in separation from Love (sin) makes awareness of the innocent Son of God impossible. It is only our belief in separation from Love that makes the illusionary world we see seem real. The world of separate and unique identities is a substitute for the oneness of God’s Love. But despite our dreams of separation, the truth about us as the guiltless Son of God remains unchanged.

Why is the idea of ‘time’ an integral part of the belief in separation?

The idea of time with a past and future is an integral part of the belief in separation. Here we are learning that everything that appears to happen within the realms of time never was and disappears as we are willing to let these false ideas go. Within the realm of time it appears that we really have separated or sinned, but because there is no time in reality, nothing has ever really happened to the Son of God. Love remains changeless in eternity and eternity is all that is real.

We are learning that imagining that time is real is a useless and painful journey. But we have another choice. “The Father is not cruel, and His Son cannot hurt himself.” (4:2) The Holy Spirit knows the way out of this painful, illusionary journey. It is through the Holy Spirit, Which resides in our mind, that we learn what we have imagined is not true. The Holy Spirit teaches us of our innocence by helping us see that the world we made is not real. “Deny your world and judge him not, for his eternal guiltlessness is in the Mind of his Father, and protects him forever.” (5:8)

Why must we let go of thinking our brother or ourself is guilty?

To know our Self as God created It, we must let go of guilt because guilt maintains the belief in separation. The Self is one and cannot be recognized as long as there is a perception of separation. Self condemnation is inevitable as long as we believe we are separate from the Love that created us and Where we abide in truth. That is why we need to learn of our blamelessness from our inner Teacher, Who will guide us to see the holiness in all our brothers, and thus recognize it in ourselves. As we learn to see the Light in our holy companions, the darkness we have believed is in us is shined away.

What happens when we accept our guiltlessness?

The ego’s plan for guilt is to make it real and then pay for it through punishment. That is why we make up dreams of sickness and death. Through the Holy Spirit we learn that none of this dream of separation has ever been real, and so the past is not real. Since there is no past, there is no justification for guilt and thus no need to fear punishment. “... by accepting your guiltlessness you learn that the past has never been, and so the future is needless and will not be.” (9:1) As we recognize that there is no past and no future but only the eternal now, we learn that separation could never have occurred. With no separation, there is no dream of guilt. There is no dream of individuality. Nothing but God’s eternal Love has ever been or could ever be.

It is reassuring to know that God has never condemned us, His Son. Love does not condemn because Love knows only the truth. Because only Love is real, It knows no opposite. The fact that we are Love and can never change our reality guarantees our harmlessness and innocence. “And being wholly pure, you are invulnerable.” (11:8)

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Chapter 13: The Guiltless World

Introduction

Read ACIM Chapter 13, Introduction (pages 236-37)

How does Jesus expose the core of the ego thought system?

This introduction exposes the core of the ego thought system. Guilt and the subsequent demand for punishment is the basis for all the ego’s laws. Judgment could not occur if the mind did not perceive itself as separate from what it is judging. “The acceptance of guilt into the mind of God’s Son was the beginning of the separation, as the acceptance of the Atonement is its end.” (2:1) With the Atonement comes the recognition that the separation never occurred. Thus there is no justification for guilt or punishment.

What is the cause of our holding on to guilt?

When we perceive ourselves as separate, we are denying our true Self, Which is one with our Father. So when we deny our one Self, we are denying our Father. It is with this denial that we hold on to guilt. Because of the unconscious guilt we hold in our minds, the world we are projecting from our minds is a world of punishment and death. Jesus tells us, “For this world is the symbol of punishment, and all the laws that seem to govern it are the laws of death.” (2:4)

Why do we experience dreams of punishment, pain, lack and death?

Because of the guilt we are holing onto, we believe we need to be punished for separating from our Father. Believing punishment is due, we project that punishing intent upon God and believe that He is cruel. We even think that if we are not ‘good,’ God will condemn us to hell, yet it is we who have condemned ourselves to hell by continuing to hold on to the idea that guilt is real and justified.

Paragraph three speaks directly to the mistaken belief that the crucifixion was necessary for salvation to be given the world. In our insanity we believe God shares our insane judgment that the Son of God is guilty and deserves punishment. But we are reminded, “Love does not kill to save.” (3:3)

What releases us from this insane dream of punishment?

The only way out of this insane thought system is to accept the fact that the Son of God is innocent and nothing has really happened except insane dreams of guilt and punishment in the tortured split mind. Because we believe that the separation really happened and consequently believe in guilt, we need help to recognize that what we are believing in is untrue. The Holy Spirit teaches us that God’s Son “deserves only Love because he has given only Love.” (4:4) As we learn to see as the Holy Spirit sees, we recognize that we have never sinned and have no need of salvation. This recognition is the Atonement.

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Chapter 12: The Holy Spirit’s Curriculum

Section VIII: The Attraction of Love for Love

Read ACIM Chapter 12, Section VIII (pages 233-235)

How does the Love that is eternally in our mind fill our awareness?

It is interesting that in the dream, we have the illusion of light, which is so similar to Love in its characteristics. Light never ceases to extend. It has no limits or boundaries. In order to have darkness, there must be a barrier to keep light out. Light can be brought into a darkened space and the darkness is dispelled. Light does not do battle with darkness. Darkness simply disappears when the barrier is removed.

In this same way, when we are willing to have our destructive thoughts removed by the Holy Spirit, the Love that is eternally in our mind fills our awareness, dispelling the “darkness” of lovelessness. By wanting to be separate and unique, we build barriers against the unity of Love. Then we wonder why we feel lack of Love and lonely. To know Love we must be willing to accept Love as It is and not try to change it. “For the memory of God can dawn only in a mind that chooses to remember, and that has relinquished the insane desire to control reality.” (5:3)

How does Jesus describe the protection and comfort given us by our Creator?

Paragraph two paints a beautiful picture of the protection and comfort given us by our Creator. We are held in perfect peace, in need of nothing, and this has never changed. We cannot lose what God has given us. It is only because we thought we wanted something else and tried to make that something else visible by believing in its reality that we have lost awareness of our safety in God’s Love. Jesus gently reminds us, “Everything you made has never been, and is invisible because the Holy Spirit does not see it. Yet what He does see is yours to behold, and through His vision your perception is healed.” (6:5-6)

Why do we see a false world and how do we see the real world?

We are reminded that we can see the real world by letting go of belief in this false world of separate and unique identities. We see it only because we are still choosing to see it. As we open our minds to the Holy Spirit’s wholeness, we will see the truth of God’s Son. It will become known to us. “And you who share God’s Being with Him could never be content without reality. What God did not give you has no power over you, and the attraction of Love for Love remains irresistible. For it is the function of Love to unite all things unto Itself, and to hold all things together by extending Its wholeness.” (7:9-11)

Perception in the ego thought system must be limited because it is a thought system of fragmentation. Only bits and pieces can ever be seen with ego-based perception. But Love is one, so when we accept the Holy Spirit’s perception, which sees only Love, it must be total. There is nothing but Love to see. Our Father is Love and we are extensions of the Love in total oneness. There has never been any separation. And we are thankful that only Love has ever been real.

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