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Study of Text, Chapter 11, VII.The Condition of Reality, P 4. 11-19-15

VII. The Condition of Reality, P 4

4 The perception of goodness is not knowledge, but the denial of the opposite of goodness enables you to recognize a condition in which opposites do not exist. And this is the condition of knowledge. Without this awareness you have not met its conditions, and until you do you will not know it is yours already. You have made many ideas that you have placed between yourself and your Creator, and these beliefs are the world as you perceive it. Truth is not absent here, but it is obscure. You do not know the difference between what you have made and what God created, and so you do not know the difference between what you have made and what you have created. To believe that you can perceive the real world is to believe that you can know yourself. You can know God because it is His Will to be known. The real world is all that the Holy Spirit has saved for you out of what you have made, and to perceive only this is salvation, because it is the recognition that reality is only what is true.

Journal
How I see the world depends on whether I am looking at what God created and what I created, or if I am looking at what I made. I cannot perceive the real world if I look at the illusory world. To be free of the illusion I must no longer desire it. I must desire only what is real. From that desire I am led to release to the Holy Spirit all that is not truth. He remembers the truth for me and will show it to me when that becomes what I want. The real world is all that the Holy Spirit has saved for me out of what I made. Salvation is the willingness to perceive only this.

I was reading in the paper this morning some comments people made about the refugees being placed in our towns. I see that some people have so much fear they cannot conceive of allowing these people into their states. It seems insane to them to even consider it. Their fear is all that drives them and so the world they see is a frightening place in need of constant defense. Their fear will not let them see how their Christian values such as “what you do for the least of my brothers you do for me” and “do unto your neighbors as you would have them do unto you” apply here.

Then there are some who seem to know that they should be generous and provide refuge, but who are afraid to do so. They justify the fear they feel by saying things like, “We don’t hate the ones that would come, but love those who are here.” It is still fear driven thoughts and behavior, but there is also a glimmer of truth in their minds. They know on some level that love is important but fear is still too strong in their minds to choose only love.

Then there were comments from those who spoke from reason. These people are in need, they have been vetted, and we should open our hearts to them. It is the right thing to do and the American way. I have been looking within my own heart. What do I feel? I know that what is fear is not God and not the real world. Fear is always the ego mind and the ego world. Which one will I choose to perceive? It matters, because the choice I make determines my happiness and either pulls us all more deeply into the illusion or lifts us all a little more into the Kingdom.

The words I say about this, knowing how I should feel, are not the same as believing them so I choose to be honest and from that honesty allow healing of all that is not truth. I feel like we should accept these people and give them comfort and help to make a new life. I also feel trepidation. I feel afraid. What if one of them is a terrorist plant that evaded the scrutiny of the government and in inviting them in, I have invited the wolf to take refuge among the sheep.

The fear in my heart is the illusion I made. It is the ego. It is also the veil that keeps me from seeing the real world and from returning my mind to God. I cannot enter His presence if I attack His Son, and these refugees are His Son. Looking at them in fear is an attack. What do I do with the fear thoughts that are blocking love?

I made fear and so I believe in it, and as Jesus tells us in the Course, what we believe in is true for us. That is why I cannot undo fear in my mind. I can see the fear and recognize the harm it does. I can know that fear blocks all that is true and good and that it keeps me in the dark. I can know that I cannot have both fear and joy and that I must choose what it is I really want. But I cannot destroy or change what I believe to be true.

The solution is to turn to the Holy Spirit who is in my mind for that purpose. It is His function to undo for me what I no longer want to believe. I give Him the fear in my mind. I put it on the altar within; all the fearful thoughts, all the justifications, all the judgments about this issue. I ask for the Atonement as I set it all next to Him. I trust in His power to undo what I have done in making a world unlike Heaven.

There. I have done my part and now I wait in trust for the Holy Spirit to do His. The ego mind argues against this and tries to show that there is no way to see this differently. It argues for common sense. It argues for separation, at least in this case. I am willing to perceive only the truth. I don’t have to figure out what that looks like or how it could work. I only need to put my trust in God rather than the ego. The real world is all that the Holy Spirit has saved for me out of what I made. Salvation is the willingness to perceive only this. I am willing.

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 11: VII: The Condition of Reality, P 3. 11-17-15

VII. The Condition of Reality, P 3

3 The ego may see some good, but never only good. That is why its perceptions are so variable. It does not reject goodness entirely, for that you could not accept. But it always adds something that is not real to the real, thus confusing illusion and reality. For perceptions cannot be partly true. If you believe in truth and illusion, you cannot tell which is true. To establish your personal autonomy you tried to create unlike your Father, believing that what you made is capable of being unlike Him. Yet everything true is like Him. Perceiving only the real world will lead you to the real Heaven, because it will make you capable of understanding it.

Journal
As I read that the ego always adds something that is not real to the real, and thus creates confusion, I am reminded of the ego version of forgiveness. Let’s consider how the ego forgives. It makes the sin real and then tries to forgive it. For instance, when I was holding a grievance against my co-worker, I tried to forgive him. I tried over and over to forgive him and to forgive myself for judging him.

I would think about the words and the behavior that I found threatening. He was, in my mind, symbolic of the young replacing the old, which in this case happened to be me. He was also symbolic of the victimizer and the proof I was unfairly treated. There, I had defined the problem, labeled it properly and thus made my grievance real. Now all I had to do was forgive it. Well, good luck with that! I have only confused myself by trying to believe in innocence and guilt.

I cannot forgive what I really believe is true. I can only offer feeble attempts to explain away the guilt I believe in, make excuses for the behavior I hate, and thus make the reality of it stronger in my mind. This is the ego attempt at forgiveness. The desire to forgive is true and the belief that there is anything to forgive is not true, so I was at an impasse, and for a long time nothing happened other than I was frustrated at my failed attempts to experience true forgiveness.

Finally, I managed to chip away at the problem through my commitment to not give up. I kept asking for healing until my willingness was strong enough to mean that I wanted healing, and only healing. I lost interest in everything except forgiveness. This was the permission the Holy Spirit was waiting for, and He did His part in removing from my mind the belief that I needed someone to be guilty. In other words, he removed what was not real, my belief that my co-worker was truly guilty, and what was left was only the truth, which was forgiveness.

As I continue to allow my mind to be cleansed of all that is not true, I am left with only truth. I do this here in the illusion because it prepares me to accept Heaven. It makes a place in my mind that is free of illusion so that I will understand Heaven. If Heaven is within and I can’t find it, it must be that I don’t understand it. But that is changing as I continue to release what is not true and allow my mind to be healed.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 11: VII: The Condition of Reality, P 2. 11-16-15

VII. The Condition of Reality, P 2

2 Every loving thought that the Son of God ever had is eternal. The loving thoughts his mind perceives in this world are the world’s only reality. They are still perceptions, because he still believes that he is separate. Yet they are eternal because they are loving. And being loving they are like the Father, and therefore cannot die. The real world can actually be perceived. All that is necessary is a willingness to perceive nothing else. For if you perceive both good and evil, you are accepting both the false and the true and making no distinction between them.

Journal
There are two ideas that stood out to me. First, my loving thoughts are eternal. Honestly, I must think about which thoughts are actually loving. Love has been a much confused concept in this world. There were times when I thought I was being loving and actually, I learned through the study of the Course, that it was only neediness that I was expressing.

I had a recent experience of love when I was flying to N Carolina for the workshop. I had been standing in a long line waiting to get on the plane. It was moving slowly because they kept calling up various groups of “special” people. First class and VIPs of various degrees. I was starting to think untrue thoughts about these folks who were getting the best seats and on top of that, were keeping me standing in line.

With nothing else to do, I started practicing being in the moment rather than anticipating the next moment. Immediately I noticed how heavy and dark I felt and realized it was because I was attacking my brothers. So I asked for the Atonement in this situation and allowed those thoughts to be removed from my mind.

When I did finally get on the plane and was moving slowly up the aisle, I met eyes with a man sitting in first class. I smiled at him and kept eye contact for a moment. It was a smile that conveyed love and union, and he responded with a sincere smile of his own. When I looked away, I made eye contact with a woman across the aisle and the same thing happened.
These were holy encounters, an exchange of love. Those thoughts are eternal.

The second thing that caught my attention in this paragraph is that the real world can actually be perceived. The real world is a world of love and I got a little glimpse of that world, a peek behind the veil, when I had the holy encounters on the plane. Jesus says that I can have that experience all the time in all circumstances as I begin to perceive the world in this way.

But to do so, I must choose only truth. At this time, I am still shifting back and forth between the world the ego perceives and the world that is available to me through true perception. I am closer to consistently choosing truth than I ever have been and so my life is more peaceful and loving than it ever has been. I am dedicated to this practice and I am open and willing to allow the full healing of my mind.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 11: VII: The Condition of Reality, P 1. 11-13-15

VII. The Condition of Reality, P 1

1 The world as you perceive it cannot have been created by the Father, for the world is not as you see it. God created only the eternal, and everything you see is perishable. Therefore, there must be another world that you do not see. The Bible speaks of a new Heaven and a new earth, yet this cannot be literally true, for the eternal are not re-created. To perceive anew is merely to perceive again, implying that before, or in the interval between, you were not perceiving at all. What, then, is the world that awaits your perception when you see it?

Journal
I remain a little confused about the world. As in this paragraph, Jesus talks about a world that is different than the world I see. I can understand that on every level. I have seen instances of a healed world as I allowed my mind to be healed. One moment I would be looking at the ego interpretation of a situation, and the next, I would ask for and receive the Holy Spirit’s interpretation, and what had been awful, was then seen (perceived) as perfect. I am not yet consistent in this practice.

Lesson 132 says that the world is nothing in itself. Your mind must give it meaning. It also says this about the world.
“There is no world apart from what you wish, and herein lies your ultimate release. Change but your mind on what you want to see, and all the world must change accordingly. Ideas leave not their source. This central theme is often stated in the text, and must be borne in mind if you would understand the lesson for today. It is not pride which tells you that you made the world you see, and that it changes as you change your mind.”

So again, the world is seen as being available to us, but seen as we would have it seen. It also says that we made the world we see. That seems to infer there is a world that is different than the world we see. Or maybe not. I could be wrong about my interpretation. Then this same lesson tells us that; “There is no world! This is the central thought the course attempts to teach.”

So is there a world or not? I tend to think that the world is part of my mind. It is what I think it is and as my mind heals the world heals. What happens to the world when our mind, as a whole, has been healed and we have all rejoined our Father? Does it exist still in our mind in its healed state, a reflection of Reality? I don’t know, but only have an opinion and an opinion is not truth no matter how strongly one might believe in it. I am putting away my opinions and am looking forward to being taught as we go through this section.

What I can know right now is that God did not create the world I see, and there is another way to see it whether it is real or not. This new vision is a worthy goal, whatever it means. This goal is attainable, and though it is probably not the end of what is attainable I think it is a step in that direction, and one I must take. I have always seen the world as it is interpreted by ego, but I am beginning to see it as interpreted by the Holy Spirit. The difference is one of peace and joy.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 11: VI: Waking to Redemption, P 9. 11-11-15

VI. Waking to Redemption, P 9

9 You will awaken to your own call, for the Call to awake is within you. If I live in you, you are awake. Yet you must see the works I do through you, or you will not perceive that I have done them unto you. Do not set limits on what you believe I can do through you, or you will not accept what I can do for you. Yet it is done already, and unless you give all that you have received you will not know that your Redeemer liveth, and that you have awakened with him. Redemption is recognized only by sharing it.

Journal
I say that I am ready to awaken, but what that means, really, is that I am ready to know that I am awake, because as Jesus says here, if he lives in me, I am awake. How do I come to know that I am awake? Jesus says that I must see the works he does through me, and I must give as I have received. This is something I have been thinking about since I woke up this morning.

I have noticed that I am happiest when I am living the Course, and when I am teaching it in a more formal setting. Both of these times I am joyful and peaceful. For instance when there is drama going on and I am the observer rather than the participant, when I am the peaceful presence, my heart is filled with joy in spite of the chaos around me.

I was thinking this morning that when I am facilitating a student or teaching a class or presenting a workshop, I am what I teach and in that moment what I teach is redemption in some form. So in that moment, I am experiencing redemption because I am sharing it. That is why I feel so peaceful and so joyful when I do this work.

When I first began to reach out to others, allowing what I was being taught to come through me, it was surprising. I discovered that I was being taught as I taught. It was a little unsettling, this not knowing until it came through me. I was used to being prepared and feeling confident through my own efforts.

This was different and I was always afraid it would abandon me and leave me standing there with nothing to say. This fear was my weak sense of worthiness speaking to me, and robbed me of a lot of the joy I could have experienced. Jesus has taught me to trust him, and in so doing, I have learned to trust myself as well.

Now when I open to that teaching that teaches, I feel confident in the Teacher, rather than myself. I am not worrying about myself so I experience the joy of the moment fully, and I am at peace. The earlier experiences were helpful for both those who listened and for me, but now it is better. I stay aware of the voice I am listening to so that the ego does not take over, but because it is not about me and because my willingness is strong, there is more clarity and less conflicted thinking, therefore more joy.

I felt like Jesus was trying to tell me something this morning and as I write this it is becoming clearer to me. I have times when I am teaching through my actions and times when I am teaching more formally and in those moments I am sharing and so I am being redeemed and this is a joyful experience.

But what has been happening is that at other times I notice that I am reverting to the old way of being. I am listening to ego tell me that I am less than and that there is much to fear. I mostly stay aware of this in my mind, and I ask for healing. But my life feels like a struggle when I live this way. I think that Jesus is telling me I don’t have to do this, that it is just an old habit.

It feels like I am being told that what I know when I teach is known, and I don’t lose it because I am not teaching it. In other words, I could be joyful and peaceful all the time in the same way I am when I allow him to teach through me. I can break the habit of feeling like I am struggling to awaken. Until this moment, I didn’t even know that was what I was doing.

I hear you, Jesus, and I am ready to shift this kind of thinking. Please help me to do this.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, Chapter 11: VI: Waking to Redemption, P 8. 11-10-15

VI. Waking to Redemption, P 8

8 You have nailed yourself to a cross, and placed a crown of thorns upon your own head. Yet you cannot crucify God’s Son, for the Will of God cannot die. His Son has been redeemed from his own crucifixion, and you cannot assign to death whom God has given eternal life. The dream of crucifixion still lies heavy on your eyes, but what you see in dreams is not reality. While you perceive the Son of God as crucified, you are asleep. And as long as you believe that you can crucify him, you are only having nightmares. You who are beginning to wake are still aware of dreams, and have not yet forgotten them. The forgetting of dreams and the awareness of Christ come with the awakening of others to share your redemption.

Journal
I’m dreaming of crucifixion. That’s all that is happening; a bad dream, a nightmare, but still, just a dream. I cannot crucify or be crucified except in a dream. The Son of God cannot be crucified because that is not God’s Will. I am safe as are all my brothers, but as long as I judge and hold onto my grievances, as long as I place value in the separate-self and believe it is me, I will suffer for my beliefs.

We are beginning to wake up, and recognize that there is no value in our grievances, and so we are learning to forgive them. We are still aware of our dreams and most of us still become confused about what they mean. We ask the ego for an interpretation and believe what we hear. But, and this is the difference between being completely asleep and waking up, we notice how miserable it is to hold the grievance and how peaceful it is to let them go. So we ask again, this time directing our inquiry to the Holy Spirit.

This is our work right now, to become aware of the voice we are listening to, and to choose differently when we are not at peace. This is the way we end the dream of crucifixion. When it is time, we will be awake from all dreams and forget they ever existed. This occurs as our brothers awaken with us. Together we are redeemed.

My prayer for today is from The End of Death, by Nouk Sanchez

Holy Spirit, please help me to forgive myself for using my body to attack myself and to separate from your Love as my Holy Self.

If this prayer speaks to you, please feel free to exchange “body” with any other word, person, situation, that is being used to deny your Holy Self.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 11: VI: Waking to Redemption, P 7. 11-9-15

VI. Waking to Redemption, P 7

7 You will not find peace until you have removed the nails from the hands of God’s Son, and taken the last thorn from his forehead. The Love of God surrounds His Son whom the god of crucifixion condemns. Teach not that I died in vain. Teach rather that I did not die by demonstrating that I live in you. For the undoing of the crucifixion of God’s Son is the work of the redemption, in which everyone has a part of equal value. God does not judge His guiltless Son. Having given Himself to him, how could it be otherwise?

Journal
How do I remove the nails from the hands of God’s Son? When I feel guilty for something I said or did, past or present, I remember that I am redeemed. I am forgiven. In this way, I am teaching innocence to myself, and undoing the crucifixion. It is the same when I make someone else guilty. I undo the crucifixion of the Son the moment I realize what I have done and ask for healing.

I have had the experience, as I expect everyone else has had, of being reluctant to forgive. It seems that it is myself I crucify the most often, and myself that I resist forgiving. It makes no difference if it is myself or someone else; in my refusal to forgive I am condemning the Son of God. Either way, myself or someone else, I am teaching guilt and so learning guilt, and blinding myself to innocence.

If I tell myself that I want to forgive but just can’t, I am being dishonest. The resistance to forgive is the desire to judge, to hold a grievance, and the desire to remain in the illusion of separation. It is a decision I make, a choice. When I am ready to be happy I ask the Holy Spirit to heal my mind and to show me another way to see this.

The more often I accept the Atonement for my judgments and release my grievances, the less I am able to tolerate the effects. I want the ease, and the lightness and the joy of being forgiven and forgiving. I laugh at myself sometimes when I realize that I am crucifying myself. I remember hearing Dolly Parton remark about someone doing this to himself. She said, “Get down off the cross. We need the wood.” Ha ha.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.