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Study of Text, C 15: IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P6. 6-29-18

IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P 6
6 You have no conception of the limits you have placed on your perception, and no idea of all the loveliness that you could see. But this you must remember; the attraction of guilt opposes the attraction of God. His attraction for you remains unlimited, but because your power, being His, is as great as His, you can turn away from love. What you invest in guilt you withdraw from God. And your sight grows weak and dim and limited, for you have attempted to separate the Father from the Son, and limit their communication. Seek not Atonement in further separation. And limit not your vision of God’s Son to what interferes with his release, and what the Holy Spirit must undo to set him free. For his belief in limits has imprisoned him.

Journal
I want to really look at this paragraph.

“You have no conception of the limits you have placed on your perception, and no idea of all the loveliness that you could see.”

This says to me that even though perception is not truth, it can be brought much closer to truth and the truth will dazzle us. I imagine that this is what it must be like to be awakened. I would guess that from an awakened state, perception has become so purified that the world you see is lovely.

Sometimes when there appears to my ego eyes and ego mind that the world is moving faster than ever towards destruction or at least more deeply into sleep, it is hard for me to believe that my perception of this could change. Other times, I feel certain that what I see is just a hallucination and I am more certain that what is really there is God.

Jesus says this: “But this you must remember; the attraction of guilt opposes the attraction of God.”

And so he makes it clear that the reason we don’t see God is that we are still attracted to guilt. We want guilt and so we see guilt and guilt is in opposition to God. God is only Love and so there cannot be God and guilt together. Can we really ever believe that we can look to God and find guilt? I understand what Jesus is saying here and, of course, I believe him. So why do I still have guilt in my mind?

I have paid close attention to guilt this year. I have noticed that there are a lot of little judgment thoughts in my mind. I call them little because they don’t seem important to me, that is they don’t seem to affect me. For instance, I was at the store the other day and the clerk was talking to her colleague the whole time she checked me out. She hardly glanced at me. I judged her behavior as unprofessional and thought that if she worked for me I would fire her.

It was a quick thought and if I had not been paying attention to my thoughts, I would probably have not given it any notice. I didn’t think of it again until just now. So what difference did it make? Here is what Jesus is helping me to see about this. There are no little judgments, just judgments. They are equally harmful because guilt is guilt. It doesn’t come in degrees. I either believe in guilt or I don’t. Not questioning that judgment left guilt in place in my mind and so left me in opposition to God. Questioning it and asking the Holy Spirit to remove that belief in guilt opens my mind to the state of Heaven, which is always available to me.

Then Jesus says: “His attraction for you remains unlimited, but because your power, being His, is as great as His, you can turn away from love.”

Wow! Did he just say that? Have you ever wondered how it is that you can oppose God? How could it be possible that we could choose something other than what God would have us choose? My thought in the past was that God gave me free will and so that is what allowed me to choose separation. But now, Jesus is telling us that God created us as powerful as He is because our power is His power, that is, our power is an effect of being an extension of God. What love! What faith and trust He must have in us! We have used that power to turn away from love and yet, His love for us remains unlimited.

Next, Jesus says this. “What you invest in guilt you withdraw from God. And your sight grows weak and dim and limited, for you have attempted to separate the Father from the Son, and limit their communication.”
We were created one with God and we exist in God as a Thought in His Mind. As such, we are in constant communication with Him. It seems to me that Jesus is telling us in this passage that when we withdraw from God, as we do when we believe in guilt instead of in Him, we limit that communication. I wonder if that means we limit our self because we can only be our true Self as part of God, in full communication with God.

I am reminded that in The Song of Prayer Jesus says this about prayer.

“It was then what it is to become: the single voice Creator and creation share; the song the Son sings to the Father, Who returns the thanks it offers Him unto the Son. Endless the harmony, and endless, too, the joyous concord of the Love They give forever to Each Other. And in this, creation is extended.”

It certainly sounds like we must be as One and in endless joyous communication if we are to extend creation. We are not truly ourselves if we are not creating. When we choose guilt over God we interfere with creation and so we lose our awareness of joy and of Self.

“Seek not Atonement in further separation. And limit not your vision of God’s Son to what interferes with his release, and what the Holy Spirit must undo to set him free.”

Well, this one is simple. We are not going to find Atonement in the world of separation. Trying to do so will only delay our release because it limits our vision. If we think of Atonement as salvation, then we can easily become aware of when we seek it in the world. All we have to do is ask ourselves what we need to see changed in order to be happy.

Do you think more money would do it? Maybe a better relationship or a thinner body? I have noticed myself doing this sometimes. I might put on an outfit that used to look good on me and now it doesn’t fit right. My feeling is one of distress. This is the same thing as saying, a thinner body would be my salvation. But I have played that game too long to really believe it.

I gain weight and am so convinced that I need a thinner body to be happy that I do what is necessary to lose weight. And guess what! I’m still not happy. Something else needs to change. This is the story of looking for Atonement in the world. It is one failure after another because it is looking in the wrong place.

There is one solution. God created the Holy Spirit and placed It in our mind so that His Solution would always be right where we need it; next to the problem. We activate that solution when we ask for healing. I notice that my mind has wandered into the world looking for a solution to my problem and having noticed this, I can now choose to let the Holy Spirit remove the erroneous belief that is the real cause of my distress. For my belief in limits has imprisoned me. And a belief that is chosen by me can be released to the Holy Spirit by me and thus truly released.

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Manual for Teachers: 12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 6. 6-26-18

12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 6
6 Oneness and sickness cannot coexist. God’s teachers choose to look on dreams a while. It is a conscious choice. For they have learned that all choices are made consciously, with full awareness of their consequences. The dream says otherwise, but who would put his faith in dreams once they are recognized for what they are? Awareness of dreaming is the real function of God’s teachers. They watch the dream figures come and go, shift and change, suffer and die. Yet they are not deceived by what they see. They recognize that to behold a dream figure as sick and separate is no more real than to regard it as healthy and beautiful. Unity alone is not a thing of dreams. And it is this God’s teachers acknowledge as behind the dream, beyond all seeming and yet surely theirs.

Journal

I have often said that a thought or decision was not conscious. Jesus says that all our decisions are made consciously, that we know exactly what we are doing and aware of the consequences of that choice. I use the word unconscious to mean that my ego mind is in denial and so as I am using the ego mind to think, it feels like an unconscious decision.

The point Jesus is making here is important, though, and perhaps it would be of benefit to me to recognize my intention when I choose to dream. This would help me to become more aware of when I am indulging the dream and by so doing, giving myself another opportunity to further awaken from the dream.

Sometimes I do watch the dream figures come and go and I am not deceived. I know it is a dream. Other times, I am as lost in the dream as anyone, just another dream figure coming and going. When we are lost in the dream and believe we are the dream figures, our mind is sick and needs to be healed. The Holy Spirit will do this for us if we ask with a true willingness to be healed.

Then Jesus says something else interesting. He says that to behold a dream figure as sick and separate is no more real than to regard it as healthy and beautiful. Our goal is to recognize the dream figure as unreal.  I had not thought of it like that, but I see that it is true. I do ask for healing so that I never become confused about what is real and what is not. As I give up the belief that bodies are real, the remembrance of oneness takes their place.

From reading something that Regina Dawn Akers wrote, I am reminded that our efforts are two-fold. We notice our thinking errors and let them be healed. Then we shift our focus to what is true. This is my process for releasing the untrue thoughts and embracing the truth of oneness, and it works well for me. If I notice that I feel disheartened, I look within for the thoughts I have chosen to believe that caused this feeling. Then I ask for correction, for another way to see. Once that is done, I choose different thoughts, thoughts that come to me as a result of that request for healing. I give them my attention and my belief.

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Study of Text, C 15: IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P5. 6-22-18

IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P 5
5 If you would but let the Holy Spirit tell you of the Love of God for you, and the need your creations have to be with you forever, you would experience the attraction of the eternal. No one can hear Him speak of this and long remain willing to linger here. For it is your will to be in Heaven, where you are complete and quiet, in such sure and loving relationships that any limit is impossible. Would you not exchange your little relationships for this? For the body is little and limited, and only those whom you would see without the limits the ego would impose on them can offer you the gift of freedom.

Journal
It is a persistent delusion that I am a body or in a body, even temporarily. As Jesus says, at no single instant does the body exist at all. I am pure, formless awareness. I am a Thought in the Mind of God, an Idea in His Mind, and have never left that state. But my mind is divided on this while I dream of being something else, somewhere else. Dreaming does not disrupt the state of my Being nor does it in any way affect the Love of God for me.

While I linger in this limited experience, I try to imitate reality. I have children in response to my innate desire to create. I have relationships with them and others because deeply hidden in my mind is the sublime memory of the relationship I have with God and my creations, and I long for that again. I seem to think that I can find a substitute for these things, to be something else somewhere else and still have what I left behind. I can’t.

This desire to recreate the beauty and glory of my Self while not being my Self is what keeps me here. I seem to think that if I try one more time, I will finally succeed. Then I will be my own God and happy. It isn’t working. I was created to be part of All That Is, to be One with God, to be eternal and to be Divine. The acceptance of what I am is the only path to joy. Holy Spirit, speak to me of God, of my creations, of Love. I am listening.

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Manual for Teachers: 12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 5. 6-19-18

12. HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD? P 5
5 The central lesson is always this; that what you use the body for it will become to you. Use it for sin or for attack, which is the same as sin, and you will see it as sinful. Because it is sinful it is weak, and being weak, it suffers and it dies. Use it to bring the Word of God to those who have it not, and the body becomes holy. Because it is holy it cannot be sick, nor can it die. When its usefulness is done it is laid by, and that is all. The mind makes this decision, as it makes all decisions that are responsible for the body’s condition. Yet the teacher of God does not make this decision alone. To do that would be to give the body another purpose from the one that keeps it holy. God’s Voice will tell him when he has fulfilled his role, just as It tells him what his function is. He does not suffer either in going or remaining. Sickness is now impossible to him.

Journal
As Jesus has told us before, the body is neutral. It is not good or bad, sick or healthy. How we use the body determines what it is to us. If we use the body in service of the ego, it will be weak. This is because when used for attack, it will be weak to us. If we use it in service to the Holy Spirit, it becomes holy.

I didn’t always understand that the body could become holy. Because for a long time, I associated the body with the ego, and because I misused the body, I projected my guilt onto it. The body for me represented my sinfulness in choosing separation. Slowly, as I released more and more ego beliefs, I have become less identified with the ego and so less identified with the body as my self.

Since I don’t feel as sinful anymore, I have begun to make new decisions for the body. This is still a work in progress, but I am willing to see that the body can be holy if it is used only for holy purposes. I see that if I surrender the use of the body to the Holy Spirit, it will be useful for all that needs to be done. The Holy Spirit will give me my purpose and when it is done, the body will be laid aside. And, Jesus says, I will not suffer in either going or remaining.

Now Jesus says something that is not universally accepted, I think. He says that if we give the body over to our function as decided by the Holy Spirit, and we don’t use it for the ego’s purposes, sickness will be impossible to us because the body will have become holy. I have not experienced that yet, but then, I have not been fully surrendered yet.

I very much want to release all of the ego beliefs in my mind and, equally, I want to be the channel for God’s Word and only that. My desire along with my unwavering commitment will help me to accomplish this. In the meantime, I do the best I can in every moment.

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Study of Text, C 15: IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P4. 6-15-18

IX. The Holy Instant and the Attraction of God, P 4
4 It is impossible to divide your strength between Heaven and hell, God and the ego, and release your power to creation, which is the only purpose for which it was given you. Love would always give increase. Limits are demanded by the ego, and represent its demands to make little and ineffectual. Limit your sight of a brother to his body, which you will do as long as you would not release him from it, and you have denied his gift to you. His body cannot give it. And seek it not through yours. Yet your minds are already continuous, and their union need only be accepted and the loneliness in Heaven is gone.

Journal
I am being told that I need to give my full allegiance to God rather than continuing to divide it between God and ego. I understand this doesn’t work, doesn’t make me happy and now I am told that it prevents me from using my power to create. I have all the reason in the world to remember my function and my one goal.

As Jesus does throughout the Course, he is reminding us that we are all in this together. We help each other to wake up. This is the only way it will work. Letting go of grievances is another way to think of this. I separate myself from my brother if I hold a grievance against him. If I separate us, I keep myself in hell. So the gift that my brother offers me is the opportunity to forgive him and thus to accept the Atonement.

Jesus talks about releasing my brother from his body by not limiting my sight of him to his body. If I am holding a grievance, I am limiting my brother to his body. It is only what we do and say that is judged and that is done within the body. I know a woman who I try to avoid. I see her in and as her body with no regard for her as she truly is.

She talks endlessly about her problems with no apparent desire to solve them. I would like to give her something but it would mean spending time with her and I dread the long monologue about how mistreated she is. This is an example of keeping her in her body. I see her as her body/personality and I react to that. Now, an interesting thing is happening. While there is still that ego reaction to her, I am also beginning to see her light.

It is not something I see with my eyes, but something that happens in the heart, vision rather than sight. It shows up as a sincere interest in her, and as a softening when I am around her. Sometimes I can listen to the whole conversation without casting about for someplace else to put my attention. I feel different about her in a way that is hard to explain. While my ego still reacts to her ego, there is something in me that loves her. I think I am releasing her from her body and, so, me from mine. I am beginning to accept our union.

 

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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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