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 5: Healing and Wholeness

Section VI: Time and Eternity

Read ACIM Chapter 5, Section VI (pages 86-88)

What keeps us chained to time?

In this section we are being encouraged to let go of our belief in time and open to eternity, where God placed us. We are learning to move from the ego’s thought system of time and space to the eternal Thoughts of God — the extension of Love, which is still in our mind, behind the false ideas. We are learning that we do not belong in time but in the eternity of Heaven. We seem to be in time because we chose it. But we can choose once again. “You have elected to be in time rather than eternity, and therefore believe you are in time. Yet your election is both free and alterable. ” (1:4-5)

Guilt is an anchor that keeps us chained to time. Guilt is always associated with something we believe we did in the past. It makes the past seem real. Because we believe that what we “did” happened in the past, it appears unchangeable. But through guilt we continue to feel affected by that past “wrong doing.” Since guilt expects punishment, we expect our future will in some way punish us for our wrong doing in the past. It doesn’t seem to be even a matter of if, but when.

What is the principal ego mechanism that ties the past to the future?

The seeming inevitability of pending punishment is a principal ego mechanism to tie the past to the future and make us oblivious to the joy and peace that can only be found in the now moment. The ego teaches us this link of the future to the past is inevitable. Eternal punishment is the ego’s mantra, for without it the ego would have no anchor and would fade away.

What does the Holy Spirit teach about the past?

The Holy Spirit teaches the opposite. It teaches us that the past is not real and shows us that what we thought we did had no effect on our eternal nature as God’s Son. When we learn that what we “did” had no effect, there is no cause for guilt. If nothing happened, there is nothing to be guilty about.

Knowing this, we realize the future does not need to be a repeat of the past. There is no looming punishment to fear. Our minds can rest in the peace and joy of the present. Our hearts can open to the eternal flow of Love now, which is the one moment in time which is closest to eternity. To the Holy Spirit the phrase “time is of the essence” translates into “now is the essence of God.” As we let go of the past with the Holy Spirit’s help, we open to the present experience of Love — God. Jesus tells us, “When you choose to make this exchange [of time for eternity], you will simultaneously exchange guilt for joy, viciousness for love, and pain for peace. My role is only to unchain your will and set it free.” (2:7-8)

The ego always separates and the Holy Spirit always unites. The ego projects guilt and its interpretations are always fearful. The Holy Spirit teaches you to see innocence, reversing the ego’s judgment of guilt.

Jesus tells us, “The Mind that was in me is in you, for God creates with perfect fairness. Let the Holy Spirit remind you always of His fairness, and let me teach you how to share it with your brothers.” (3:2-3) The ego would have you fear the decisions of the Holy Spirit, projecting its own decision about your guilt and believing the Holy Spirit will uphold it. The ego cannot conceive of innocence and the Holy Spirit cannot conceive of guilt. Thus appealing to His higher court will always result in the recognition of our innocence. The ego’s case, always built on lies, deception and illusions, can never stand in the presence of the truth of our innocence, which the Holy Spirit sees clearly. The Holy Spirit is not fooled by the ego. We are fooled because we made the ego and believe in it. That is why we need the Holy Spirit to teach us how to move from time to eternity, which in fact is our reality now.

How do we move from time to eternity?

Because the ego interprets Scripture for its purposes to reinforce separation through guilt and fear, we need the Light of the Holy Spirit’s interpretation to recognize its true meaning. The Holy Spirit takes thoughts that are fearful and turns them around to bring us hope and release. For example, “... He can still reinterpret what former generations had misunderstood, and thus release the thoughts from the ability to produce fear.” (8:3) As we learn to ask the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of everything, every loveless thought will be undone. We will return to the Kingdom of Heaven where we belong. Because the Holy Spirit knows that time is meaningless, He knows that you and every brother are in Heaven now and for eternity. This is how we move from time to eternity.

How does the Holy Spirit’s infinite patience produce immediate effects?

The Holy Spirit knows that harm is impossible and time is not real. Knowing that we remain the changeless Love of God, the Holy Spirit knows that there is no hurry. The perception of harm is an illusion. Knowing that we remain safe, the Holy Spirit can have infinite patience with our illusions. He holds the awareness of our innocence and perfection, ready to show it to us the moment we are willing to receive His gift. In reality, delay does not matter. In the illusion of time, delay is tragic because it keeps us unaware of the gifts of joy and peace given us in our creation. As we join with the thoughts of the Holy Spirit, we can hold His vision for our brothers with infinite patience, knowing their safety. We offer our brothers the gifts of the Holy Spirit, thus teaching ourselves that we have those gifts. This is how we bless our brothers and know that we are blessed.

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Chapter 5: Healing and Wholeness

Section V: The Ego’s Use of Guilt

Read ACIM Chapter 5, Section V (pages 83-86)

Because we have chosen the ego’s thought system to be our own, we have both the ego and the Holy Spirit in our mind. It is helpful to remember that this is a choice and that we can choose once again. In this section, Jesus tells us “...your mind has the means at its disposal to side with Heaven and earth as it elects.” (1:4)

How can we tell if we are joining with the ego mindset?

It is helpful for us to recognize the symptoms of choosing the ego. If we experience any fear or guilt, it is because we are joining with the ego mindset. If we are not supremely happy and in deep peace, we are still choosing the ego’s belief in separation. Guilt is inevitable if we think we have separated from God. “How could part of God detach itself without believing it is attacking Him?” (3:2)

We are being brought to the understanding that whenever we join with ego thoughts, we will experience fear and guilt. The ego is the symbol of fear and guilt because it is the symbol of separation from God. Jesus explains it very clearly when he says, “Listening to the ego’s voice means that you believe it is possible to attack God, and that part of Him has been torn away by you. Fear of retaliation from without follows, because the severity of the guilt is so acute that it must be projected.” (3:10-11)

Understanding the concepts in the first three paragraphs of this section is very important and helpful to us. Jesus is helping us to understand why we experience fear and guilt. He is helping us understand why we punish ourselves, make ourselves sick and believe in stories of loss and death. Many people have asked, “If we are part of God, why would we choose to do this to ourselves — write tragic stories of war, sickness and death?” Because the guilt is so severe, we have hidden it in our unconscious mind and projected it onto an outside world to “protect” ourselves. But the belief in guilt still remains in our minds and we still believe we deserve punishment.

Here we are seeing that the reason for these stories is our desire for separation. We truly believe we have attacked God and stolen away a part of Him. This thought brings fear and guilt with it. This is in the collective unconscious of the human condition. This whole world is based on the belief in separation and therefore it is a world laden with misery, fear and guilt. We make up life stories of struggle, specialness and trying to get something for ourselves alone. But in the end, we lose it all in death. All these stories are just projections from a sick, disordered mind that believes it really succeeded in separating from God.

Why is it important that we see the root cause of our problems?

An important part of our awakening is to see the root cause of our problems. “Whatever you accept into your mind has reality for you. It is your acceptance of it that makes it real. If you enthrone the ego in your mind, your allowing it to enter makes it your reality.” (4:1-3)

When we think with the ego, we will experience the false stories found within the ego thought system as real. We will experience fear and guilt. We will experience struggle, sickness and finally death. Jesus wants us to understand that this is not our true reality. It may seem real to us while we are experiencing it, but it is all bogus. We are not these stories and these stories of being separated from our true nature will not bring us happiness.

Our true nature is Love. Separation, uniqueness and independence are not prizes to be gained but are beliefs in lack and weakness to be healed. Once we see what is really going on, we will willingly lay down the ego’s thought system. We will not identity with the ego’s stories and believe in the fear, guilt, suffering, sickness and death that pervade these stories. Jesus tells us, “The guiltless mind cannot suffer. Being sane, the mind heals the body because it [the mind] has been healed. The sane mind cannot conceive of illness because it cannot conceive of attacking anyone or anything.” (5:1-3)

Guilt demands punishment. We feel guilty because we believe we have attacked God so we project our belief in punishment on Him. Believing He will punish us, we try to “beat God to the punch” by punishing ourselves before He does. This clearly shows the insanity of the ego.

How do I apply this in my life?

How does this fit with me paying the rent and the car payment? How does this help me with my anger about my son’s misbehavior? How does this help me with my feelings of guilt and fear?” The fact that we still think we have problems, feel vulnerable, lacking, and experience life as a struggle, is a signal that we are still hanging on to the ego’s thought system. Jesus wants us to understand that we have a choice. He tells us, “The Holy Spirit and the ego are the only choices open to you. God created one, and so you cannot eradicate it. You made the other, and so you can.” (6:8-10)

In this section, it is becoming very clear to us that the whole ego thought system is based on lies and is not true. There is no separation. We have not made bodies which are separate and alone real. We could not separate from God even if we wanted to. What God creates is eternal and unchangeable. What we are experiencing is an illusion of separation. It never really happened. We are still Love as God created us. Jesus tells us, “...when you do not think like God, you are not really thinking at all. Delusional ideas are not real thoughts, although you can believe in them.” (6:12-13)

What are we to do with the ego?

The only thing we can do with the ego is to lay it down, let it go. It is as though we have been carrying a huge boulder on our shoulders and now realize that we do not have to continue carrying this heavy burden. We can lay it down. We can release it. This is what the Course calls forgiveness. We can let go of what never really happened. We can learn to see past the false stories to the truth with the Holy Spirit as our Guide. This is what the Course means when it says, “Choose once again.” This is what is called accepting the Atonement for ourselves.

As we are willing to give up the destructive and disordered thoughts of the ego, as we are willing to lay them down, what has been eternally true returns to our awareness. The ego’s destructive thinking is a barrier to our awareness of Love’s presence. As our willingness grows to lay down the heavy burden, we will return to the awareness of the eternal extension of Love. All this returns to us as we are willing to recognize how the ego’s use of fear and guilt works in our minds and are willing to no longer accept the ego’s lies. The Holy Spirit is always present to guide us every step of the way. We can celebrate that we have this help and accept it in our daily lives.

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Chapter 5: Healing and Wholeness

Section IV: Teaching and Healing

Read ACIM Chapter 5, Section IV (pages 81-83)

When are we teaching the ego’s lessons?

The world we see through the body’s eyes is a world of separation — separate objects, separate people, separate minds and separate thoughts. All this is of the ego’s making because the ego is the idea of separation. It made the body and all its senses to reinforce the perception that separation is real.

This is what the ego teaches and we reinforce the ego’s teaching as long as we identify with the body as what we are. As long as we think we are a separate personality with a separate mind and private thoughts and see our brothers as different from us, we teach the ego’s lessons. The ego, the idea of separation, comes from our decision, long since forgotten, to be separate from God’s Love, to be independent, unique and special. That is why the ego is of our own making. Because this is an idea we cherish, and we have made a whole world in support of that idea, we cannot be released from this limited world on our own. We need the help of One Who is not of our own making.

What does the Holy Spirit teach?

By the grace of God we have this Help in our mind — the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s teaching is the opposite of the ego’s in every way. The Holy Spirit teaches us that only Love is true. Since Love is wholly united, always the same, never different and never changing, the Holy Spirit’s message is unified and thus heals the fragmentation of separation. With the Holy Spirit’s help, what seems to be many is recognized as one and all the same Love. The loneliness of private minds with private thoughts fades in the Light of the Holy Spirit’s message of unity. The weakness of existing alone in a world filled with others, different and perceived as threatening, disappears in the recognition of unity which the Holy Spirit’s teaching brings.

In every moment we have the choice to listen the ego’s teaching of isolation, separation, loneliness and weakness or to accept the Holy Spirit’s lesson, which shows us that only Love is true and thus only Love is real. There is nothing to fear and we cannot be alone. The Holy Spirit’s message is a message of peace, for where is conflict if only unity is real?

How do we let the Holy Spirit purify our mind and lift our heavy burden?

Let the Holy Spirit’s Voice teach you of your unity with your Creator, your unity with Love. Join with His message of unity and share it with all to learn that it is yours. You will see your unity and Love shine back upon you as you see it in your brother. With the Holy Spirit’s teaching, the world of shadow images and darkness will be transformed into the Light of Heaven, your real Home.

The Holy Spirit is always present. “The Thoughts of God are with you” (8:15) is the same as saying the Love of God is with you. To receive these Thoughts, quiet your mind and listen. Welcome the Thoughts of God. Let the quiet, healing touch of the Holy Spirit fill your mind and heart. Keep your mind open and follow the Holy Spirit’s lead. The Holy Spirit will reinterpret the false ideas in your mind. If you allow it, the Holy Spirit will purify your mind and lift the heavy burden you are carrying.

With the Holy Spirit, what will we see and feel?

You will be able to feel Love’s presence. You will feel Love for your brother where you once felt conflict. You will learn to see through the Holy Spirit’s eyes. You will learn to remember only what is kind and loving and true. The rest will fall away. The peace of God will fill your heart and you will feel safe and abundant, knowing that the Holy Spirit is there guiding you every step of the way.

Because the Holy Spirit is in your mind, your actions will reflect the kind and loving nature that is the truth about you. Because you are practicing seeing through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, you will see and focus on your brother’s kind and loving nature. You will understand the pure act of sharing God’s one truth that in fact you are united as one mind. You teach and learn that only what is loving is true. You teach and learn that the ego is nowhere and nothing. You teach and learn that you cannot be hurt. You teach and learn the art of seeing through the Holy Spirit’s eyes. You teach and learn through demonstration that the Thoughts of God are with you and with everyone.

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Chapter 5: Healing and Wholeness

Section III: The Guide to Salvation

Read ACIM Chapter 5, Section III (pages 78-80)

What does it mean to recognize the Holy Spirit in every brother?

Becoming aware of the Holy Spirit in our brother is the same as becoming aware of the Call for God in him. Because, in truth, we are all part of God, healing is returning to the truth of our one Identity as Love, which is What God is and What we are. The healing of our minds is accomplished as we open to sharing this one truth of our oneness with God. This idea of sharing the truth is the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit is the idea of healing. Being thought, the idea [of our oneness] gains as it is shared. Being the Call for God, it is also the idea of God.” (2:1-3)

Here we are learning that the Holy Spirit is thought. The Holy Spirit is the Idea of God. This Thought or Idea is in everyone’s mind, right now, even though they may have dissociated from this Thought.

Because we have chosen to experience something other than being an Idea in the one Mind of God, we have dissociated from the Call for God, or the Holy Spirit. Because of this dissociation, the way we return to our true State is to see the Call for God in every brother, because when we see It in our brother, we are strengthening It in ourselves. As we strengthen the Call for God in ourselves, we become more aware of It. “See him through the Holy Spirit in his mind, and you will recognize Him in yours. What you acknowledge in your brother you are acknowledging in yourself, and what you share you strengthen.” (3:4-5)

Here we are being told one of the most important keys to experiencing eternal happiness. Seeing the Holy Spirit or the Call for God in our brother is our way Home. It is the path to our awakening to the truth of our one Identity. Seeing the truth in our brother is the key to our to salvation and returns the strength and joy of God to our awareness. What can be more important than this?

We can’t underestimate the importance and value of what Jesus is telling us in this section. We are being told how to consistently receive insight from the Holy Spirit — As we join with the idea that the Holy Spirit is in everyone, we strengthen it. In truth, we share the Holy Spirit with everyone because the Holy Spirit is in everyone’s mind. It is the part of our mind where truth lies.

In section one of this chapter, we were told that the Holy Spirit is “Universal Inspiration.” As we learn to see the Holy Spirit or the Call for God in every brother’s mind, the truth is strengthened in our mind. This is how we strengthen our ability to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit. We must look for the Holy Spirit in everyone. What we look for we will find if we truly want to see it. “If you make the mistake of looking for the Holy Spirit in yourself alone your thoughts will frighten you because, by adopting the ego’s viewpoint, you are undertaking an ego-alien journey with the ego as guide.” (4:6)

The Holy Spirit is weak in us because we have forgotten to share the Holy Spirit with our brother. We have forgotten to look for the Holy Spirit in every brother’s mind. The Holy Spirit is still there in everyone’s mind, but we have just not been focusing on it. Now is the time to remember that the Holy Spirit is there. We get what we focus on. We get in touch with the Holy Spirit in our mind when we get in touch with the Holy Spirit in our brother’s mind.

Why is the ego so fascinated with conflict?

The ego thrives on conflict because it perceives peace as a threat. You may have heard the saying that, when things are going well, “I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop” or “It’s too good to last.” These ideas come from the ego’s fascination with conflict. When things are too happy and too peaceful for the ego, it will bring in an idea or a circumstance to disrupt this state so that it can have the conflict that it feeds on so ravenously.

Entertainers know this. Many popular songs express anxiety and conflict in some way. Television and movie script writers know that to keep the audience’s attention, there must be some sort of conflict in the script. The popularity of thriller movies is a testament to the ego’s fascination with fear and conflict. All this feeds the ego’s need to make separation appear real and irreversible.

Without separation, there can be no conflict. Since separation is an illusion, belief in it must be constantly reinforced to keep the perception of separation in place. We do this for ourselves in the stories we tell ourselves about our lives. It is so ingrained in our belief system that we are not even aware of the choices we make that insure the continuation of strife and conflict in our lives. It has become an unconscious habit. We have hidden it so well in our unconscious mind that we believe we have no responsibility for the things that seem to happen to us to disrupt our peace.

Yet everything we perceive is a projection from our own mind and simply reflects the beliefs we hold. Because we have hidden these beliefs well in our unconscious mind, we need help from a Source that does not believe the stories we tell ourselves. This is the Holy Spirit. He recognizes our stories but, because He does not believe them, He can lead us out of them. He uses the language of our stories and gives them a new interpretation that leads us to the recognition of the one Self we share with all. He leads us to the recognition of the Love we share with God. The Holy Spirit is our Guide out of the ego’s hellish stories of fear and conflict and back to the Heaven that is our Home.

How does the Holy Spirit uno the ego?

Because we made the ego and have identified with it as what we are, all of our thinking is based on the ego thought system. We believe it is real and anything not consistent with the ego’s ideas of separation is rejected as untrue and unreal. If it does not fit the ego’s thought system of separation, it is not understandable to us. Thus the unity of God is not understandable and we don’t believe it could be real. That is why we need the Holy Spirit, Who knows the reality of God’s oneness, yet can work with the symbols and images of the ego to help us move beyond the limited realm of the ego thought system. Thus He reinterprets the ego’s image making, bringing it to the Light of His understanding.

The idea of danger and strife is very appealing to the ego because it reinforces the seeming reality of time and space. It reinforces the reality of an outside foe to be defended against and battled with. Because the Holy Spirit is the opposite of the ego, the Holy Spirit always brings our mind to peace and the truth of our safety in the eternal now. Gradually He leads us to recognize that we are not only not alone, but could never be alone. With His gentle guidance, we learn to see our brother as one with us in Love, with no differences of any kind. The Holy Spirit teaches us by using the symbols and language we have learned from the ego and gives them a new interpretation that leads towards unity instead of separation. “He can therefore perform the function of reinterpreting what the ego makes, not by destruction but by understanding.” (7:4)

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Chapter 5: Healing and Wholeness

Section II: The Voice for God

Read ACIM Chapter 5, Section II (pages 75-78)

When we ask for healing, what are we really asking for?

The Holy Spirit is our remaining communication link with God, given us when we rejected Love’s oneness in favor of separation. The Holy Spirit is ever present in our minds, calling us to return to recognizing our oneness with Love. When we ask the Holy Spirit for healing, we are asking to have our belief in separation from Love be healed, whether we realize it or not. We are asking for help in letting separation go. The Holy Spirit reminds us of the truth of our oneness with Love, which has never changed. He sees in us the unchanging Spirit that God created and sees us as extensions of God’s Love.

How does the Holy Spirit work in our minds and why don’t we always hear It?

The previous chapter began to clarify the ego and the effect of our belief in it. Now we are beginning to get clarification about the Holy Spirit, Its role, and how we can be aware of Its presence and guidance in our lives. It could be said that the Holy Spirit is the link in our minds that keeps our decision to separate from God from being irreversible.

The Holy Spirit’s gentle and peaceful Voice is always reminding us of our Source and our true Reality. The only reason we do not hear It is because we have made another voice that we value more. Because the voice we made teaches the opposite of the Holy Spirit, when we listen to it, we cannot hear the Holy Spirit’s call to joy. Most of us have lived our lives unaware of the Holy Spirit’s call or, at best, felt an underlying sense that there is another way but were clueless on how to find it. Now the Course is giving us some keys to open our minds to the guidance that will lead us back to the Self we are that God created. This section brings a tremendous message of promise that not only can we return Home, but that it is inevitable.

What is required to hear the Holy Spirit’s Voice?

There are only two voices in our minds. One we made and the other was given us by God. The one we made, which is not of God, we have come to think of as who we are because of our belief in it. We like being independent and making decisions on our own. We like thinking that our identity is up to us. It gives us a sense of control, uniqueness and specialness. But we keep hidden, through denial, the cost of following this voice that tells us we are separate.

Eventually, however, the pain of loss, guilt and fear becomes great enough that we become willing to open to another Voice. We may vacillate between listening to one voice or the other, but as we recognize the peace and joy that come with listening to God’s Voice, we gradually value It more and listen to It more consistently. Jesus demonstrated to us that it is possible to listen only to the Voice for God. He reminds us that, because we are equal to him, we can also make that choice. “I am your model for decision. By deciding for God I showed you that this decision can be made, and that you can make it.” (9:6-7)

How do we decide for God?

It is helpful to ask ourselves often, “Who am I and where am I?” Because our illusions seem so real, we need to be reminded often that we are God’s extension and remain in Heaven, where we were created. We are not just in Heaven, we are Heaven because being and having are the same. Because we chose to reject the oneness of God, we have made up a fantasy world of separate identities that is the opposite of Heaven. It is not this separate identity that we think we are that is Heaven. It is sharing one Identity as Love and nothing else.

Because we chose to reject God, our minds became split. Now we must choose whether we want to see the world we made or know the Heaven we are. The Holy Spirit helps us remember the truth and forget illusions. Jesus tells us, “I have assured you that the Mind that decided for me is also in you, and that you can let a it change you just as it changed me.” (10:1)

How do we recognize the Voice of the Holy Spirit?

Paragraph seven gives us a wonderful description of the Holy Spirit’s attributes. “The Voice for God is always quiet, because it speaks of peace.” (7:7) The Course tells us that Holy Spirit does not command, demand, seek control, overcome or attack. The Holy Spirit is always present in our minds, waiting until we are willing to quiet our minds and truly open to It’s compelling experience of peace. The Holy Spirit guides us in making the right choices that lead to peace and lasting happiness, because He speaks for God.

Jesus tells us, “When you are tempted by the wrong voice, call on me to remind you how to heal by sharing my decision and making it stronger. As we share this goal, we increase its power to attract the whole Sonship, and to bring it back to the oneness in which it was created.” (11:1-2) As we join with the one motivation inspired by the Holy Spirit, the healing we can accomplish together has no limits. Because ideas are strengthened by sharing, our shared and unified purpose brings us the strength and power of God.

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Chapter 5: Healing and Wholeness

Section I: The Invitation to the Holy Spirit

Read ACIM Chapter 5, Section I (pages 73-75)

How does Jesus describe healing?

Connecting with the Holy Spirit is connecting with our true Nature. Our true Nature is naturally happy and joyous. The ego thought system of separating from God’s oneness is a downer. Trying to get and keep something for one’s self alone is a downer. “Healing is a thought by which two minds perceive their oneness and become glad. This gladness calls to every part of the Sonship to rejoice with them, and lets God go out into them and through them.” (1:1-2)

As we receive Holy Spirit’s ideas, we just naturally want to recognize our oneness with others out a sense of mutual celebration of the truth. As we open to letting our ego thoughts of ‘getting’ be gently washed away by the healing thoughts of the Holy Spirit, our values change. What we think is important changes. We become more open to our natural state, which is wholly joyous.

What happens to us when we remember the truth about everyone?

The fact is we cannot lose our inherent beingness in God and that is really wonderful news. It means that everyone, at the core of their being, is really totally safe, totally in a place of well being, no matter what fearful thoughts of scarcity or limitation they may be dreaming. The truth about everyone is so wonderful that, as we recognize it, we can’t help but be happy. We realize that we do not have to let our level of happiness go up and down like the horse on a merry-go-round. “If you do not choose to be wholly joyous, your mind cannot have what it does not choose to be.” (1:4)

Our happiness can be constant because our remembering the truth can be constant. The ideas that come from the Holy Spirit are always there. They may come and go because of our choice to allow them in or not, but we now realize that we can make that choice to accept happiness and joy more consistently with practice. The news from the Holy Spirit is so good and so happy that we can lower our barriers and accept it instead of rejecting it. Thank goodness the truth of our oneness in Love and joy is true and nothing else is true.

What is the effect of seeing that the world is not form but simply ideas?

This is one of many places in the Course where we are asked to question whether what we have been believing is true. The Part I of the Workbook is dedicated to helping us undo the way we have been seeing the world. We invite the Holy Spirit to heal our minds when we are willing to question our beliefs about reality.

We have become accustomed to thinking in concrete terms of separate images and separate things. We have taught ourselves that these forms are reality. As long as we hang on to that belief, we will always experience fear, loss and lack because it is impossible to share a separate form. A form by its definition is separated off from the whole. From this perspective, any attempt to share it could only mean dividing it more.

We are being asked here to accept that the world is not one of form, but of ideas. The effect of accepting this concept will be a profound change in our values, because it will mean that giving is no longer associated with losing. This means there will no longer be cause for fear, for loss becomes impossible. The giving of ideas can only mean gain. What a relief! No longer do we need to isolate and protect ourselves from potential loss. Instead we want to join and share our ideas, because in the sharing, we become stronger. Our joy is increased. This is the gift we receive when we invite the Holy Spirit to be our Guide.

What does the Holy Spirit need from us in order to help us?

We will only receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit when we make room for Him in our mind. He needs our welcome for us to know His presence. If we fill our mind with thoughts of separation, anger and guilt, there is no room for the Holy Spirit’s healing thoughts. Jesus tells us, “I have said already that I can reach up and bring the Holy Spirit down to you, but I can bring Him to you only at your own invitation. The Holy Spirit is in your right mind, as He was in mine.” (3:2-3) The Holy Spirit is there in everyone’s right mind, for He is “Universal Inspiration,” which means that the Holy Spirit is there to inspire everyone, as they are willing to accept the truth.

Here we learn that, “The Holy Spirit is the Christ Mind which is aware of the knowledge that lies beyond perception. He came into being with the separation as a protection, inspiring the Atonement principle at the same time.” (5:1-2) It is through the Holy Spirit, or the Christ Mind, that our mistaken perceptions are corrected, leading us to true perception. This allows the last step for us to be “carried over” by God so that we are able to remember our true Nature, as God created It.

What occurs as we welcome the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?

The Universal Inspiration of the Holy Spirit returns our mind to sharing the truth instead of trying to separate out a part of the whole to keep for ourselves alone. As we practice inviting the Holy Spirit into our mind, we are led away from our belief in the ego’s thought system of separation. We are led away from making forms that are distinct and separate real. We are led towards seeing the truth of our unified Spirit, which shares one integrated mind. Our integrated mind knows its wholeness and oneness with all and thus is incapable of attack. Because it does not see differences, the integrated mind accepts the unity and universality of God’s Love. Creation, the extension of Love, is recognized as our only function.

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Chapter 5: Healing and Wholeness

Introduction

Read ACIM Chapter 5, Introduction (page 72)

What are we denying when we are unhappy?

Think about an experience when you felt really happy. Your heart was so filled with joy, it overflowed. You didn’t want to contain it; you wanted to share it. You just radiated happiness. Because of its radiance, joy is contagious, because it resonates with the joy that is everyone’s natural state. We must actively deny joy, deny our true Self, in order to be unhappy.

As you shared your joy with others, chances are they responded in one of two ways. Some chose to join you in your joy and accepted it as their own. But someone in a funk, who wanted to stay in their funk, would be disturbed by your joy. They would respond either by trying to get away from you or trying to find a way to get you out of your joy so they wouldn’t have to give up their funk.

What is God’s Will for us and what indicates we are not accepting God’s Will?

Workbook Lessons 101 through 103 tell us that God’s Will for us is perfect happiness and we share that Will. It tells us that God, being Love, is also happiness. The Course also tells us that our true Self is Love, so our true Self must be happiness. That is why any state that is not wholly joyous indicates a need for healing. It indicates that we have somehow perceived ourselves as separate from our Self, Which is happiness.

If we are sick, we are not in our right mind. If we are not happy, we are not in our right mind. Depression, anxiety, fear, guilt, anger, unhappiness — all these come from joining with the ego. The ego was born from the desire to separate from the oneness of God. Within God’s oneness is joy and happiness. Therefore it is not surprising that we would experience a lack of joy and happiness when we join with the ego thought system of separation.

What happens when we come to a turning point?

On page 22 of the Text, it says, “Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit.” Feeling angry, sad, separated and alone is a painful experience. But there comes a time when we have had enough of it. We come to a turning point. We become willing to open to a better way. This openness provides the Holy Spirit with an opportunity to bring us a change of mind, a change in our perception.

As we are willing to let ourselves be led by the Holy Spirit, we are gradually, step by step, led away from the thought system of separation and toward the recognition of our oneness. As we are willing to lay the ego thought system down, the knowing of our true Self returns to our awareness. With this knowing comes joy and happiness. With this knowing, our mind is healed. We see the ego thought system as what brings us pain and the Spirit of Wholeness as what brings us joy and happiness.

We become more willing to return to our inner Spirit of joy which always resides in our minds. We become willing to quiet our mind of the ego’s constant chatter and, in that stillness, we find the joy of our true inner Spirit. We let ourselves be returned to our true Self. We let ourselves accept the Love, peace and joy that is innately ours. We let ourselves be shown that we are one with our brother. We let all thoughts of separation fall away, for we no longer value them. We see that these perspectives only bring us unhappiness. We become willing to accept true happiness, which is the same as accepting our inheritance from God. We let our mind be healed. We let ourselves find the happiness that is always there in our minds, waiting for our return to the oneness of Love.

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Chapter 4: The Illusions of the Ego

Section VII: Creation and Communication

Read ACIM Chapter 4, Section VII (pages 69-71)

What is the difference between ego and Spirit communication?

In the first two paragraphs of this section, the Course defines the ego split mind very clearly. “The ego is the part of the mind that believes your existence is defined by separation.” (1:5) Here we see the difference between the ego’s specific and concrete forms of communication within a world of separation, and the direct, universal communication of Spirit, which is abstract and formless. Since the separate forms of the ego cannot unite, it is impossible for the ego to experience the communion that occurs in God’s creation, which is “in complete and direct communication with its Creator.” (3:4)

Communication in the ego’s world is the exchange of thoughts or ideas between separate beings. “Its communication is controlled by its need to protect itself, and it will disrupt communication when it experiences threat.” (2:4) God’s communication, on the other hand, is total and does not come and go. It is eternal. Being Love, God has one idea, one Thought — Love. Love, by Its nature, is eternally giving Itself to All That Is. Thus the Thought of Love is eternally being given and received.

How does the Course define true communication?

This giving and receiving of Love is what creation is. And since Love is the Thought of God, It is the constant exchange of the Thought of Love, which is communication. “Creation and communication are synonymous. God created every mind by communicating His Mind to it, thus establishing it forever as a channel for the reception of His Mind and Will.” (3:6-7)

What deception does the ego use to block God’s univerfsal communication?

The ego thought system, in its dissatisfaction with God’s oneness, tries to change God’s Will and creation into something else. It uses its distorted form of communication to reinforce separation from God’s creation, where only oneness is real. It blocks God’s universal communication by trying to make its own form of communication, wherein it sees differences and specific, unique identities. This part believes it has split off from the unity of God’s Mind in an order to change God’s creation to its own liking. Since reality can only be as God created It, everything within the ego’s communication system is a deception. Because it is a deception, everything it makes is an illusion.

How does the Course define the difference between ‘existence’ and ‘being’?

In this section, the Course distinguishes between “existence” and “being” like it distinguishes between “make” and “create.” Existence is how the ego tries to establish itself by defining forms as separate wholes. Since everything the ego perceives is a separate whole, it uses communication to reinforce separation and thus communicates differently with things it perceives as different. Because the ego is the belief in separation, it can only make the illusion of separate forms, which cannot be in direct communication or communion with each other.

On the other hand, being is of Spirit, which experiences being one inclusive whole in the Mind of God. Since God is one, what He creates remains one with Him and is always in direct communication with Him. As we learn to open our minds to the truth, Jesus promises he will help us let go of the ego thought system which blocks our reception of God’s revelations. He will help us return to direct communication with God as God intended for all in His creation. As we follow Jesus’ lead, we learn to be truly helpful. “The truly helpful are God’s miracle workers, whom I direct until we are all united in the joy of the Kingdom. I will direct you to wherever you can be truly helpful, and to whoever can follow my guidance through you.” (8:7-8)

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Chapter 4: The Illusions of the Ego

Section VI: The Rewards of God

Read ACIM Chapter 4, Section VI (pages 67-69)

What gives the ego power?

It’s important for us to realize that we are not the ego. It has no power of its own. Only our allegiance to it seems to give it power. It is not an outside force to be battled with. It is simply a belief to let go of. Our choice to believe in it makes it seem very real to us. One of the key points the Course is teaching us is to recognize the power of our belief and that we are free to change our belief in every moment.

This section emphasizes that identifying with the ego as what we are only brings us pain. We are learning the ego is just a device that we use in order to make separation appear to be real. When we use a device, such as a telephone, we don’t make the mistake of thinking we are the device. We are asked to lay down this ego device, not out of sacrifice, but only because we recognize the pain it brings us. Placing our trust in the ego has only brought us illusions of separation, which leads ultimately to the illusion of death.

What happens as we learn to turn to Jesus for guidance?

Instead, we are asked to put our trust in our elder brother, Jesus. He tells us, “You have very little trust in me as yet, but it will increase as you turn more and more often to me instead of your ego for guidance.” (3:1) He promises us that as we become willing to choose with Him, our peace and joy will increase. We will be happy. These are the rewards of God. The more we choose the rewards of God, the more we will recognize that we are not the ego.

What does Jesus teach us?

The ego has just brought us sickness and pain. Through our belief in it, we have lost awareness of our true Identity as Love. We have lost touch with true happiness. Jesus tells us, “I am teaching you to associate misery with the ego and joy with the spirit. You have taught yourself the opposite. You are still free to choose, but can you really want the rewards of the ego in the presence of the rewards of God?” (5:6-8) Jesus trusts in us and asks us to place our trust in him. He knows what will make us truly happy. He knows what will heal our conflicted mind and bring us peace, comfort and contentment. He promises that he will lend us his strength while we are still wavering.

He is there to help us see our brother differently. As long as we see ourselves as separate from our brother, we cannot know our completion and wholeness. We cannot go Home alone because it is the idea of being alone that has cost us our awareness of Heaven. That is why we are indebted to our brother. He is our completion. It is through our recognition that we are one with our brother that we join together and return to the unity of Love, our Home.

What happens when we are grateful for our brother?

We welcome whatever we are grateful for. When we are grateful for our brother, we welcome him and accept him as our own. Since we share the same Father and the same Self, when we welcome our brother, we are accepting our Self and our Father. Jesus is asking us to be grateful for our brother because he knows that this is the way for us to accept and join with the Self that we share with all our brothers. This is the way we return Home.

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Chapter 4: The Illusions of the Ego

Section V: The Ego-Body Illusion

Read ACIM Chapter 4, Section V (pages 65-67)

To maintain control, what does the ego do?

It’s helpful to remember that the ego is founded on the belief in separation. Without this belief, the ego would not seem to exist. Thus, out of self-preservation, the ego will not permit into awareness any thought that contradicts the belief in separation. Any Thought of God, which is a thought of unity, does contradict separation and thus is not acceptable to the ego. To maintain control, the ego banishes Thoughts of God, which it sees as threatening, from our awareness.

Wanting to be a separate identity, the ego needs a means to protect this identity. To provide this protection, the ego made the body to house a separate mind with private thoughts. Yet it also teaches us that the body is vulnerable and weak. So it is giving us mixed signals: This seeming protector of a private mind that we think is who we are is tenuous at best and cannot be relied upon to keep us safe. This leaves us in a constant state of uneasiness, ranging from seemingly mild discomfort to intense fear.

When we are in our right mind, what would we not tolerate?

In our right mind, we would not tolerate this lack of peace and would surely question the ego’s assertion that the body is our protector. The ego cannot allow us to ask this question because awareness that the body is not our protector and our home would mean the end of the ego. We would recognize that it offers us nothing we really want and simply lay it down. So in its own defense, the ego denies the doubt that the body could really be our protector and pushes it into unconsciousness.

Yet even though the ego denies this doubt, the gnawing sense of vulnerability remains. So we spend our days seeking in the world of form for ways to protect ourselves and our self-image, never feeling really satisfied or confident that any “solution” will last. This uncertainty is justified because nothing in the world can substitute for the certain Love of God, our real Home and protector.

Where is the only place we can go for sure protection?

When we follow the ego’s lead, we search where the real answers cannot be found. There is really only one place where we can go for protection and that is the thought system of the Holy Spirit. While we believe we are in the world, we open our minds to the Holy Spirit’s thought system by asking of everything, “What is its purpose?” With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can learn to recognize the ego’s purpose, which may bring us transient moments of pleasure but will never bring us eternal happiness. As we let the Holy Spirit replace it with His purpose, we are released from the world and return to our Home in Love.

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Chapter 4: The Illusions of the Ego

Section IV: This Need Not Be

Read ACIM Chapter 4, Section IV (pages 62-65)

What symptoms show up when we are joining with the ego?

This section may be called a declaration of our independence from the ego. It gives us several symptoms to help us recognize when we have chosen to join with the ego — lack of joy, sadness, depression, anxiety and guilt. It tells us that we need not experience this. It is because of choosing the ego that we cannot hear the Voice for God because we have chosen not to listen.

Our mood will tell us when we have chosen the ego as our guide. We become dis-spirited when we choose the ego. By paying attention to our mood, we can know whether we have chosen the ego or the Holy Spirit. As we learn to recognize the ego thoughts that fill our mind, we can choose to withdraw our allegiance to the ego rather than protect it.

What helps when we find ourselves in a dis-spirited mood?

The way out of the dis-spirited moods of the ego is to watch our minds and judge against the ego. “To the ego’s dark glass you need but say, ‘I will not look there because I know these images are not true.’ Then let the Holy One shine on you in peace, knowing that this and only this must be.” (9:2-3) This is an example of the mind training the Course offers to help us realign our minds with the Holy Spirit instead of the ego.

What guage does Jesus give us to recognize the thoughts of the ego mind?

We are given a clear gauge to help us recognize the thoughts of the ego mind so we can change our minds. It tells us, “Think honestly what you have thought that God would not have thought, and what you have not thought that God would have you think.” (2:4) The truth is that we are one in the Mind of God. Making other thoughts real that are not God’s Thoughts has split our minds and made a lower mind that denies God’s Thoughts and tries to be the opposite.

By asking ourselves honestly, “Would God think this?” we are learning to question the reality of the ego thought system. Questioning is the first step in breaking away from the ego. Joining with the Holy Spirit allows the undoing of the ego thought system. Jesus will help us watch our minds and judge the ego truly. We need his help because our minds are still too confused to recognize our own release from fear. “Your mind will elect to join with mine, and together we are invincible. You and your brother will yet come together in my name, and your sanity will be restored.” (11:5-6)

What does Jesus urge us to do to see ourselves as he sees us?

Jesus sees us as glorious creations of a glorious Father. He urges us to follow his example and look at our brothers in the same way. He tells us that we and our brothers are worth the consistent effort. We are worthy and deserving of identifying with the Love we are and feeling this Love by giving the Love we are. This is how God’s Love shines through us.

But in order to do this, we must not accept the ego’s dark thoughts and make them real in our minds. We must choose to end the ego’s rule over our mind and open to healing. By uniting our mind with Jesus, we are able to shine the ego away and experience the strength of God in everything we do. He tells us, “Watch your mind carefully for any beliefs that hinder its accomplishment [shining your ego away], and step away from them [these beliefs]. Judge how well you have done this by your own feelings, for this is the one right use of judgment.” (8:5-6)

We are not stuck with the ego. We are being encouraged again and again to divorce the ego by joining with the mind of Jesus. He is the example of the truth in all our brothers. As we learn to join with him, we are learning to recognize our unity with the one Self that we share with all our brothers.

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Chapter 4: The Illusions of the Ego

Section III: Love without Conflict

Read ACIM Chapter 4, Section III (pages 60-62)

How does the Course define the Kingdom of Heaven?

Because we are so identified with being a body with an individual personality walking around in the world, it is hard to think of ourselves as being the Kingdom of Heaven. That individual identity is not the Kingdom. It is our true Self, the Love that unites us all as one, that is the Kingdom of Heaven. It is our one Self that is perfectly protected and completely unaffected by any of the mad illusions of the ego. Being Love, our Self is constantly creating by extending God’s Perfect Love.

The ego does not know what Love is because Love is one, and the ego is the belief in division. Love cannot conceive of division and the ego cannot conceive of oneness. Since we are so identified with the ego, it seems impossible to reach the oneness of Love. If we were left only to the ego’s devices, it would be impossible. But the moment we accepted the insane idea of separation, God gave us the Holy Spirit as a bridge to lead us out of our insane beliefs. It is His Voice that will lead us to the full recognition of the Kingdom of Heaven that we are.

How does the Course clarify the meaning of being a co-creator with God?

In paragraph one we are helped to understand the idea of being a co-creator with God. “Your ego and your spirit will never be co-creators, but your spirit and your Creator will always be [co-creators].” (1:10) Spirit is formless, entirely abstract and thus incapable of creating form. There is a common misconception that we can co-create forms in this world with God, like a nice house or new car. We need to remember that form is part of the ego thought system and thus outside the realm of God and Spirit.

How does the Holy Spirit break through the barriers the ego has set up?

As we learn to let the Holy Spirit be our guide in all things, He will provide everything we need in the service of our awakening and the awakening of our brothers. He will not provide things to satisfy the ego’s drive to get because that would only serve to reinforce the belief in separation. In all of our doing we need to ask, “What is this for? Does this serve God’s plan of awakening?” As we learn to keep our minds open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will be shown what is important and what is not important. Jesus says he will help us with this when he says, “My role is to separate the true from the false, so truth can break through the barriers the ego has set up and can shine into your mind. Against our united strength the ego cannot prevail.” (2:5-6)

Paragraph three highlights the difference between the sense of temporary existence we get from the ego and the “knowledge of permanence and unshakable being” offered by Spirit, our true Self. We are being led to see that we don’t really want the ego’s meager offering. Why would we settle for the temporary when we can have the eternal Love and joy of God now and forever? “Love will enter immediately into any mind that truly wants it, but it must want it truly. This means that it wants it without ambivalence, and this kind of wanting is wholly without the ego’s ‘drive to get.’” (4:7-8)

What blocks the Light of God’s Love from entering our minds?

Are we asking for darkness or are we asking for the Light of God’s Love to enter our minds? The experience of God’s Love is so beyond anything the ego has ever offered or could offer that, when we allow it in, we will never want to hide from God again. When we ask for God’s Love, it is inevitable that we will receive It because it is God’s Will that we have His Love.

We block the Light by retaining fearful thoughts in our minds. These thoughts are walls that block the Light from entering. That is why it is important for us to watch our minds carefully for fear thoughts and bring them to the Holy Spirit for His gentle correction. This is how we open our minds to the Light.

Most of us really don’t know the difference between truth and illusions because we have been identified with the ego for so long. We have believed in the reality of the world of form and so we need the help of the Holy Spirit to distinguish between illusions and reality. It is with the Holy Spirit that we are able to look honestly at what we are asking for and recognize the illusions for what they are. If we want to keep our illusions, we will not want to bring them to the Light of the Holy Spirit, which will shine them away.

In truth, we have been given everything. When we believe in the ego’s thoughts of lack and scarcity, we are denying the truth of what we have and what we are. This denial makes the ego’s thoughts very real to us. It is only when we are willing to question the validity of these thoughts that we become open minded enough to receive Holy Spirit’s gentle correction. “Consider how much vigilance you have been willing to exert to protect your ego, and how little to protect your right mind. Who but the insane would undertake to believe what is not true, and then protect this belief at the cost of truth?” (10:3-4)

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Chapter 4: The Illusions of the Ego

Section II: The Ego and False Autonomy

Read ACIM Chapter 4, Section II (pages 56-60)

How is the ego held in place?

“The ego is the mind’s belief that it is completely on its own.” (8:4) It is held in place by believing in it now. The moment we let go of belief in the ego, it is gone. The ego uses “history” to try to make itself seem real. Its reasoning is that if it has a history, it must have been a cause and it must therefore be real. By not questioning the reality of history, the ego feels safe in its own delusions of its reality. The Course is telling us that history is an illusion because time is an illusion. Since this is true, the ego has never really had any effect and must therefore not be a cause and cannot be real. History is held only in the deluded mind that thinks it’s separate. Thus the error of belief in separation continues to be repeated in the present. It is this that we need to undo.

Where does our changing image of others come from?

Every individual makes up an ego image of him or her self, which is in a constant state of change. “He also makes an ego for everyone else he perceives, which is equally variable.” (2:2) The interaction of ego identities affects both and is in a constant state of change. Not realizing that our image of others comes from our own mind, we perceive others as different and independent from us. Yet our relationships with them are really relationships between images in our own mind. That is why the Course says, “It is important to realize that this alteration can and does occur as readily when the interaction takes place in the mind as when when it involves physical proximity.” (2:4)

What effect does changing our self-image have on our relationships?

The relationship changes the moment either our self-image or our image of the “other” changes. When forgiveness occurs, this change of image results in a change of relationship. The changeable nature of these images is why we are not stuck here in this illusion of separation. Forgiveness is the key for letting go of false images. “Thinking about another ego is as effective in changing relative perception as is physical interaction.” (2:5)

What comes with belief in separation?

Since we are the dreamer of our dream, the entire world of separation we perceive is coming from our own mind. We see a world of differences, which reinforces our belief in separation. What is not the same must be separate. With belief in separation comes guilt. Deep inside we know that separation is not of God and therefore by believing in it, we are rejecting Him. We feel guilty for this rejection.

If we believe in our own guilt, we will project that guilt onto an outside world and will see guilt in ‘others’ that we believe are separate from us. When we align ourselves with the Holy Spirit instead of the ego’s belief in separation, we are able to see the Love that is there instead of guilt. This helps us recognize our unity with everyone in Love.

Why do we resist letting go of the ego thought system?

When we identify with the ego, we believe we are the ego. Perceiving through the ego’s eyes and believing in what we see is how we maintain what we made and cherish — the belief in separation. We think it’s appealing to be an individual that can make decisions on its own. That is why we protect the ego and respond with defense and attack if something seems to threaten the ego we have made.

The Course uses the example of the love animals have for their offspring to illustrate the love we have for the ego we have made. We consider the ego as our “offspring” and, like animals, we think it is part of us, so we believe we need to protect it. Thus we resist anything that might change what we believe we are. “Undermining the ego’s thought system must be perceived as painful, even though this is anything but true.” (5:1)

There are a variety of ways the ego tries to protect itself. It perceives other ego’s as real to try to convince itself that it is real. It is constantly comparing and evaluating itself in relation to other egos in order to maintain the idea of uniqueness and differences, which supports the belief in separation. Because the body is its home, it uses the body as a means to get what it thinks it has lost by being separate. “Appetites are ‘getting’ mechanisms, representing the ego’s need to confirm itself.” (7:5)

How do we free ourselves from the limitations of the ego?

The Course teaches us that there is another way of perceiving. In Workbook Lessons 28 and 33 we learn that there is another way of looking at the world and that to free ourselves of the ego’s prison, we want to see things differently. Really getting that there is another way of perceiving “...contains a hint of recognition that the ego is not the Self.” (4:11)

The reason we are studying the Course is to help us open our minds to the reality of our Self and let go of the false limited separate self we have made. Belief in limitation, struggle, sickness and death does not really bring us happiness. We can free ourselves of such repressive beliefs through the study of this Course. This helps us learn about and identify with our true Identity — the Self that is not limited in any way. Jesus is one with our Self and wants to help us be free of the hell we have made in our minds.

What does true perception show us?

Right-mindedness, or true perception, recognizes our unity in Love. In this recognition it is impossible to attack, compare or judge. “The ego cannot survive without judgment.” (10:3) Since the ego is the idea of judgment and attack, it is laid aside when true perception is accepted. When we accept that we are Love and nothing else, and that Love unites us with all that is, we realize that there is no “other” to perceive and perception is unnecessary.

Without perception we do not see separate selves living in a world of separation. Our true Self is eternal and changeless. There is no body that is born and then dies. Love is formless; Love is one. The mythical story that founded this world is just that, a myth. Spirit does not need myths for its survival. In spirit there are no differences and so there are no comparisons.

Because of our belief in the ego, the only meaningful goal now is the correction of our perceptions to prepare us for the knowledge of oneness. As we correct our misperceptions, the myths and magic of the ego are laid aside. Judgment and perception are seen as blocks to knowledge and are laid down. We become open to joining with the One-mindedness of the Holy Spirit.

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Chapter 4: The Illusions of the Ego

Section I: Right Teaching and Right Learning

Read ACIM Chapter 4, Section I (page 53-56)

Why is change frightening?

Because we have joined with the ego thought system, we are in dire need of having our beliefs clarified or corrected. When we think our ideas are right, we are not open to change. Change brings up fear. Paragraph two explains why. When we believe we have separated from God, we believe we have lost God’s Love. This is frightening because fear is the absence of Love.

Since our first experience with change was the separation, we associate change with fear. So we believe that the way to find peace (avoid fear) is to not allow change. Yet this simply holds the ego and all its fear in place in our minds. To be relieved of fear, we need to undo the change that brought about the fear. We need to stop protecting the ego thought system. Jesus tells us, “If you are willing to renounce the role of guardian of your thought system and open it to me, I will correct it very gently and lead you back to God.” (4:7)

Why are teaching and learning our greatest strengths?

Because Jesus experienced what it was like to believe in separation and let it go, he knows what we are experiencing. Like a sponsor in twelve step programs, he knows how to help us out of our addiction to the ego thought system. He knows how to lead us out it because he did it himself. Jesus tells us, “My lesson was like yours, and because I learned it I can teach it. I will never attack your ego, but I am trying to teach you how its thought system arose. When I remind you of your true creation, your ego cannot but respond with fear.” (3:4-6)

This helps us understand why we feel resistance to learning the lessons of the Course. Resistance can show up as drowsiness after reading just a few paragraphs, not wanting to pick up the book or being too busy with other things to spend time with mind healing work. This is because of the ego’s underlying fear of change.

As we become a good learner under Holy Spirit’s guidance, we are able to move past the destructive beliefs of the ego. As we move into right learning we move into right teaching because we need to teach what we are learning to strengthen these ideas in our own minds. “Teaching and learning are your greatest strengths now, because they enable you to change your mind and help others to change theirs.” (4:1) Letting our minds be changed by the Holy Spirit and be under His guidance becomes our one goal. This is what the Course calls forgiveness. Only through forgiveness is salvation from the dream possible. But in order to receive the correction from the Holy Spirit we need a little humility. We must not think that we know anything on our own. Of ourselves, we do not know how to find salvation.

The Course includes the Manual for Teachers, not because there are certain people to be designated as teachers, but because we all need to teach what we need to learn. Unless we share what we are learning, our learning will lack conviction. We need to understand how teaching works and that it is not a part time function. It is something we are doing all the time. What we teach depends upon what thought system we are aligning ourselves with, the ego’s or the Holy Spirit’s.

Who establishes our worth?

If we feel inferior or superior, these thoughts are coming from the ego thought system. If we are feeling unworthy, this also is coming from the ego thought system and we will experience fear. God gave us His worth in our creation. This means our worth is His. What we are can never be lost because God created it. The ego is a delusion that does not really exist. Just because we believe in the ego, doesn’t mean we are the ego. We have chosen to dream a dream of separation, but we are not the dream. Our belief in the dream makes it seem real to us but that does not mean we have actually changed reality. Jesus tells us, “When you are afraid, be still and know that God is real, and you are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Do not let your ego dispute this, because the ego cannot know what is as far beyond its reach as you are.”(8:6-7)

Why does the ego thrive on fear?

The Course describes God as Love and nothing else. Since Love is the opposite of fear, God could not be the author of fear. God, being Love, extends only Love and because we are part of God, that is our function. When we choose a substitute for Love, we are rejecting Love, and fear is inevitable, since fear is Love’s opposite.

When we listen to the ego, we are listening to fear. The ego thrives on fear because it makes the thought system of separation, which is the ego, seem real and plausible. To continue to seem to exist, the ego needs our investment in fear.

When we choose to listen to Love instead of fear, we release ourselves from the limitations of the ego and release others as well. We leave the ego behind by seeing past the limited forms the ego has made as a substitute home for us. We see beyond the shadows to the Light that is the Love in everyone we meet. Instead of witnessing to the ego’s false perceptions, Jesus encourages us to, “Leave it behind! Do not listen to it and do not preserve it. Listen only to God, Who is as incapable of deception as is the spirit He created.” (10:3-5)

What happens when we move into the mindset of true perception?

True perception comes as we are willing to recognize the unimportance of the ego and the body, which is not our home. When we defend and try to hang on to the ego, we are defending weakness. As we are willing to lay the ego down, we move into our real source of strength. “The meek shall inherit the earth because their egos are humble, and this gives them truer perception.” (12:4)

As we move into a mindset of true perception, we recognize the shabbiness of the ego’s home and choose to listen to the Guide That leads us to our real Home. Because Jesus has identified wholly with the Love of God, we can trust him to guide us out of the ego’s thought system of fear. We go Home by choosing to no longer listen to the ego’s guidance and letting Love be our Guide instead.

This is what Jesus is offering us if we are willing to entrust our body and ego to him. He asks us to join with him to learn the lesson of the unimportance of the body and the ego. He tells us, “Let us undertake to learn this lesson together so we can be free of them together. I need devoted teachers who share my aim of healing the mind.” (13:6-7)

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Chapter 3: The Innocent Perception

Section VII: Creating versus the Self-Image

Read ACIM Chapter 3, Section VII (pages 49-51)

What does Jesus say about the two thought systems — making or creating?

‘Making’ and ‘creating’ are each foundations upon which completely separate thought systems are built. The power for both ‘making’ and ‘creating’ comes from the power of the mind. Even though the thought system based on ‘making’ is a lie, it is not weak because we have given it power through our mind’s belief in it.

It is important for us to realize that it is our belief in this thought system of making — the thought system of separation — that seems to give it power, or we will think there is no way out of the prison we have made. When we realize that it is our belief that gives it power, we know we can release ourselves from this prison by changing our belief. We are always in control of what we believe. Through this power of choosing what we believe in, we are always choosing between making or creating, separation or oneness. Which thought system we choose determines our entire life experience. The body and the world we see with the body’s eyes is the effect of choosing the thought system of separation. The experience of Heaven is the effect of releasing beliefs that deny our natural state of oneness with God.

Is the ‘devil’ simply a personification of the belief in separation?

In this world we have symbolized the thought system that is in combat with God as the devil. We have made up a story that this force is “battling Him [God] for possession of His creations. The devil deceives by lies, and builds kingdoms in which everything is in direct opposition to God.” (2:5-6) The truth is that the devil is just a symbol of our choice to believe in separation. To avoid taking responsibility for this choice, we make up a story that it is an external force (the devil) that is the cause of our experience instead of our own beliefs.

How does Jesus reinterpret the Garden of Eden story?

Most of us are familiar with the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. Paragraphs 3-4 are helping us to reinterpret the meaning of this story. The idea of a forbidden tree could not have come from God. In truth, a loving Father would never put us in a position in which we could hurt ourselves or be excluded from Heaven, our Home. In reality we remain one with God in Heaven. God made us as part of Heaven and that can never change. We cannot be outside of Heaven.

Believing that we are in a world external from God is therefore only a made up story. “All beliefs are real to the believer.” (3:3) This means believing in a world of separation cannot make it real, although we will experience it as real because of our belief. Belief is always a choice. This means that when we change our beliefs, our experience of what is real will change.

The idea of self-creating — making our own image of our self — is symbolized by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. It symbolizes joining with the ego thought system of separation, also called the devil. When we believe in the thought system of separation, it becomes very real to us and it seems like we really have lost paradise. Joining with the ego is also joining with the idea of self-creating, or making an image of a self that is different from what God created. “You can perceive yourself as self-creating, but you cannot do more than believe it. You cannot make it true.” (4:6-7) We can eat of the fruit of the ego and dream the ego’s dreams, but we cannot change the fact that we remain in Heaven. Nothing of the ego thought system has ever happened in truth.

What is needed to let go of our separate self-images?

As we practice taking all our beliefs to the Holy Spirit, we are letting our thought system be corrected. Our mistaken beliefs will dissolve in the Light of truth. This is now what time is for. It is the return to our Beginning, where we are free of conflict and know God. “The world is not left by death but by truth, and truth can be known by all those for whom the Kingdom was created, and for whom it waits.” (6:11)

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Reference Keys for
A Course in Miracles Quotes

How to Read References for Quotes from A Course in Miracles

Below are example references to specific sentences using the notation of the Second & Third Editions of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace:

T-26.IV.4:7 = Text, Chapt. 26, Section IV, paragraph 4, sentence 7.

W-pI.169.5:2 = Workbook, Part I, Lesson 169, paragraph 5, sentence 2.

M-13.3:2 = Manual for Teachers, Question 13, paragraph 3, sentence 2.

C-6.4:6 = Clarification of Terms, Term 6, paragraph 4, sentence 6

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