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Manual for Teachers: 12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 4. 6-12-18

12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 4
4 Yet what makes God’s teachers is their recognition of the proper purpose of the body. As they advance in their profession, they become more and more certain that the body’s function is but to let God’s Voice speak through it to human ears. And these ears will carry to the mind of the hearer messages that are not of this world, and the mind will understand because of their Source. From this understanding will come the recognition, in this new teacher of God, of what the body’s purpose really is; the only use there really is for it. This lesson is enough to let the thought of unity come in, and what is one is recognized as one. The teachers of God appear to share the illusion of separation, but because of what they use the body for, they do not believe in the illusion despite appearances.

Journal

As I let go of all the uses I had for the body, I naturally embrace that the only use I would have for it is to let the Voice for God through speak through this body to my brothers and sisters. Right now, I am still in the process of allowing this shift. I still overeat or eat for purposes other than fueling the body such as for emotional comfort. I still worry about how the body looks to other bodies in an attempt to bolster a sense of self-worth. I still sometimes use bodies as a repository for my guilt and for self-punishment as with sickness.

However, I also use it for its true purpose. I give my eyes, my ears, my feet and hands, and my voice to God to use for His purposes. As I do this more and more, the contrast in the way I feel using the body for this purpose as opposed to the old way of using the body motivates me to be more consistent in my choice for God. I am also losing my attachment to self as I continue focusing on the holy purpose for the body. And this is why I am drawn to the last sentence in this paragraph.

“The teachers of God appear to share the illusion of separation, but because of what they use the body for, they do not believe in the illusion despite appearances.”

Ok, maybe not yet there, but getting closer and closer.

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Study of Text, C 15: IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P3. 6-11-18

IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P 3
3 In the holy instant, where the Great Rays replace the body in awareness, the recognition of relationships without limits is given you. But in order to see this, it is necessary to give up every use the ego has for the body, and to accept the fact that the ego has no purpose you would share with it. For the ego would limit everyone to a body for its own purposes, and while you think it has a purpose, you will choose to utilize the means by which it tries to turn its purpose into accomplishment. This will never be accomplished. Yet you have surely recognized that the ego, whose goals are altogether unattainable, will strive for them with all its might, and will do so with the strength that you have given it.

Journal
We can see the Great Rays that emanate from us and reach to Heaven, but we must let them replace the body in our awareness. This doesn’t mean we stop seeing the body with our eyes, but that we lose interest in the body as having an ego purpose. Then our awareness will rest on the Great Rays. I wonder if the lesson that says we may start to see light around objects is related to the Great Rays that we will one day come into our awareness.

The ego has many uses for the body, but all its uses come with a cost and never seem to deliver. For instance, it would use it to attract other bodies, but this attraction is not enough to give us the holy relationship we unconsciously long for. It will use the body for temporary pleasure, but because it is temporary, we are left with nothing when it is done and the nothingness is depressing. We then must look for more pleasure and our seeking has no end.

Another use the ego has for the body is to establish our worth. Perhaps we feed it carefully and as little as possible, exercise it to tone it up, dress it with flair and then we feel good about ourselves. But at best it is never enough and eventually, the body will age and change and let us down. If we depended on it to establish our worth with its beauty and perfection, then as this fades, so does our worth.
Here is a use, maybe the most essential use the ego has for the body; it is the repository for our guilt. When we project guilt onto our body it becomes tired and sick and eventually dies. When we project guilt onto others, we rob ourselves of the opportunity to undo the guilt and we destroy our relationships. And yet, the ego places great value in the body as a way to rid itself of guilt even though it doesn’t work, and in fact, the very effort to use the body to rid itself of guilt will only increase guilt.

The ego mind finds many uses for the body and if we give these uses our attention and desire, we will work very hard and fail. The worst part of this is that all this attention on the body will reinforce the belief that we are this body and if we believe we are the body, then we will suffer whatever the body suffers unto death. This obsession with the body will block our awareness of our magnificence. We will not remember who we are as long as we think we are the body.

The ego can cause all of this harm only because we give it the power to do so. We can use the strength given us by God in our creation to undo the ego if we so choose. Choosing to do so will require that we see the ego purposes very clearly and see that they not only do not work, they actually make everything worse. If we do this, our desire to support the ego will dissolve and true will takes its place. Our will is powerful and cannot be overcome. We will naturally become aware of the Great Rays when we lose all interest in any purpose for which the ego would use the body, and instead, give it to the Holy Spirit for His use.

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Manual for Teachers: 12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 3. 6-8-18

12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 3
3 Why is the illusion of many necessary? Only because reality is not understandable to the deluded. Only very few can hear God’s Voice at all, and even they cannot communicate His messages directly through the Spirit which gave them. They need a medium through which communication becomes possible to those who do not realize that they are spirit. A body they can see. A voice they understand and listen to, without the fear that truth would encounter in them. Do not forget that truth can come only where it is welcomed without fear. So do God’s teachers need a body, for their unity could not be recognized directly.

Journal
I do hear the Voice for God, though not perfectly. I do share what I hear, but again, not perfectly.  I have always appreciated my teachers. These are God’s messengers who hear more clearly and share more precisely than I do. I have always had a teacher, someone who was a few steps ahead of me, someone whose steps I could follow. Not someone who is way ahead of me because then I would not understand the words she gave me, but far enough that she could lead me to my next level of understanding.

If I had no teacher in form, I would still get there, but not as quickly. The support that a good teacher provides has also been important to me. My teachers have not only gently guided me back on track when I temporarily lost my way; they have also reassured me when I was uncertain. They have not told me what I needed to do or believe, but have reminded me of the truth that is always available to me. It is like they put the truth before me to accept or reject. If fear was too strong in me at that time, they left it there for when I was ready.

I have met many teachers over the years and sometimes I met teachers I couldn’t work with. That does not mean there is anything wrong with them, but only that they were not for me. This is why there are many teachers. The ones that are for us will be brought into our sphere. Jesus tells us that as teachers our students are waiting for us. This applies both ways. As students, our teachers are available to us when we are ready for them. It is in this way, teacher to student and student to teacher that we find our way home together.

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Study of Text, C 15: IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P 2. 6-7-18

IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P 2
2 Our task is but to continue, as fast as possible, the necessary process of looking straight at all the interference and seeing it exactly as it is. For it is impossible to recognize as wholly without gratification what you think you want. The body is the symbol of the ego, as the ego is the symbol of the separation. And both are nothing more than attempts to limit communication, and thereby to make it impossible. For communication must be unlimited in order to have meaning, and deprived of meaning, it will not satisfy you completely. Yet it remains the only means by which you can establish real relationships, which have no limits, having been established by God.

Journal
Our task is but to continue, as fast as possible, the necessary process of looking straight at all the interference and seeing it exactly as it is.

This paragraph goes nicely with the lesson I am doing today which tells us that our goal is to see our brothers as they are rather than as bodies. A good way to achieve that goal is to look straight at the interference with the goal and see it as it is. So when I look at my brother and see him as a body, I know the body, being the symbol of the ego, is the interference Jesus speaks of. The body itself and all that it does gets in the way of vision.

If all that I do is look at the body, all that I will see is the story and that is what I will believe. This leads to judgment and unforgiveness and takes me more deeply into the confusion of the illusion. I don’t want to be there anymore. I want to see past the illusion to the beauty and truth of my brothers and sisters. I want to overlook the story and see straight into the heart, to remember who we are. I want to experience this life with detachment, always asking what everything is for, letting the Holy Spirit interpret it all for me. This will be the fastest route possible for me.

If I do these things, if I am diligent in my practice of seeing past the illusion, my attempts at communication will be, if not unlimited, certainly with fewer limits. As I get closer to unlimited communication, my relationships will not be so limited. I will have holy relationships rather than the special relationships the ego offers.

I was with someone yesterday and I love being with her, but it is always a little stressful. The stress is caused by the limited communication between us. Somehow we each spend too much effort in trying to say the right thing to the other. I have never figured out how to correct this and so I am surrendering that relationship to the Holy Spirit. I am asking to see this precious person with Christ’s Vision. It feels good as I think of this. It feels like an intolerable weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

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Manual for Teachers: 12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 2. 6-5-18

12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 2
2 Thus does the son of man become the Son of God. It is not really a change; it is a change of mind. Nothing external alters, but everything internal now reflects only the Love of God. God can no longer be feared, for the mind sees no cause for punishment. God’s teachers appear to be many, for that is what is the world’s need. Yet being joined in one purpose, and one they share with God, how could they be separate from each other? What does it matter if they then appear in many forms? Their minds are one; their joining is complete. And God works through them now as one, for that is what they are.

Journal
Thus does the son of man become the Son of God.

How does this miracle occur? It is a change of mind. My experience has been a change that occurs slowly over time. I used to be afraid of everything and I had very low self worth. I was self-centered and selfish. All of these traits were the result of thinking mostly with my ego mind and believing everything I thought. After I began to study the Course, I began to change outwardly, but only because I changed inwardly.

It has been a radical change, though not a complete change as of yet. It is a daily practice as my willingness grows. I know I am not my ego even though I still get pulled into a drama now and again. I know that I am as God created me even when I have moments of self-doubt. I am learning the value and the joy of surrender and that surrender deepens daily. I step back and let Him lead the way far more often than not. I reflect the Love of God, and one day, I will reflect nothing but the Love of God.

God’s teachers appear to be many, for that is what is the world’s need.
Jesus explains how it is that we only need one teacher of God to save the world. While it seems to us that there are many teachers of God, they are all one teacher. This is very hard for our mind to grasp because it is an abstract idea and our human minds are concrete in nature. We look with our eyes and we see many. If we looked with our holy mind, we would see that we are one, that nothing is separate from us.

I think it does not matter if we follow Jesus or Buddha, or Krishna or any other Teacher of God because all teachers are one teacher. If I become a Teacher of God, it will still be one teacher of God. As Jesus says, “Their minds are one; their joining is complete. And God works through them now as one, for that is what they are.”

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Study of Text, C 15: IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P 1. 6-4-18

IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P 1
1 As the ego would limit your perception of your brothers to the body, so would the Holy Spirit release your vision and let you see the Great Rays shining from them, so unlimited that they reach to God. It is this shift to vision that is accomplished in the holy instant. Yet it is needful for you to learn just what this shift entails, so you will become willing to make it permanent. Given this willingness it will not leave you, for it is permanent. Once you have accepted it as the only perception you want, it is translated into knowledge by the part that God Himself plays in the Atonement, for it is the only step in it He understands. Therefore, in this there will be no delay when you are ready for it. God is ready now, but you are not.

Journal
The ego mind sees only with the eyes and so it sees only bodies. Our holy mind will show us what is really there, something that we can see only with the mind, not with the eyes. The Holy Spirit will release our vision and then we will see the Great Rays (the extension of the Light of God) shining from everyone. Jesus says these rays reach to God.

The Great Rays are there now, we just are not aware of them because we are intent on arresting our sight at the body. How do we get this shift of vision? It is accomplished in the holy instant, that instant in which we have chosen forgiveness instead of guilt. This shift in vision will be made permanent, as we are willing to make it the only perception we would have.

So this would mean that we would have no grievances, no attack thoughts. We would then be in the Holy Instant and in that instant God will do His part and translate perception into knowledge. What a thing that will be! The Holy Instant will be the only instant and we will know ourselves as One and as Love. We will know ourselves as part of All That Is and know ourselves as everywhere at once. What bliss that will be! I am excited to read on to see what is necessary to experience this shift so that I will be ready for it.

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Manual for Teachers: 12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 1. 5-31-18

12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 1
1 The answer to this question is-one. One wholly perfect teacher, whose learning is complete, suffices. This one, sanctified and redeemed, becomes the Self Who is the Son of God. He who was always wholly spirit now no longer sees himself as a body, or even as in a body. Therefore he is limitless. And being limitless, his thoughts are joined with God’s forever and ever. His perception of himself is based upon God’s judgment, not his own. Thus does he share God’s Will, and bring His Thoughts to still deluded minds. He is forever one, because he is as God created him. He has accepted Christ; and he is saved.

Journal

“He who was always wholly spirit now no longer sees himself as a body, or even as in a body.”

I am becoming more adamant with myself as to what I am. I remind myself often that I am not this body, and that I am not even in this body temporarily. This body is an illusion that exists only in the mind. I have used words to refer to my self, words like spirit, pure consciousness, awareness, and the Course says that we are the Son of God and sometimes it says, we are Christ Consciousness or the Mind of Christ. None of these words evoke a sense of knowing in me.

What the Course is very clear about is that I am not a body, and of course, the body is the only idea that seems real to me. I have thought of myself as a body for eons, evidently. But believing something for a long time does not make it true, it simply reinforces a false idea to the point that it becomes a hardened belief. And as Jesus says, what we believe is true for us.

Another thing Jesus tells us is that if we believe we are a body we will suffer when the body suffers. I am especially aware of this right now because this body is sick and so I feel sick, not because I must, but because I am identified with the body. But as always now, I notice this phenomenon and realize it is a form of insanity, and as such, I deny it can be true. It is saner to deny what is not real than to simply accept it, and since it is not real, I can eventually learn to perceive it as not real. Then my experience will be of what is real and will know myself as unlimited, as I truly am.

“His perception of himself is based upon God’s judgment, not his own.”

What I have learned and what I am learning to master is that I cannot judge myself or anyone else. I choose to stop giving any credence to the ego’s incessant judging. How do I know that I am judging? If I am not perfectly peaceful, I have asked the ego for its interpretation. This is not hard to discern, nor is it hard to turn around. I asked the ego to begin with and so with a simple change of mind, I disregard the ego and now ask the Holy Spirit for a different interpretation. The Holy Spirit will teach me God’s judgment, which I will share with everyone else. We will remember our oneness. We will be saved.

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