II. The Law of the Kingdom, Paragraph 3
3 Outside the Kingdom, the law that prevails inside is adapted to “What you project you believe.” This is its teaching form, because outside the Kingdom learning is essential. This form implies that you will learn what you are from what you have projected onto others, and therefore believe they are. In the Kingdom there is no teaching or learning, because there is no belief. There is only certainty. God and His Sons, in the surety of being, know that what you extend you are. That form of the law is not adapted at all, being the law of creation. God Himself created the law by creating by it. And His Sons, who create like Him, follow it gladly, knowing that the increase of the Kingdom depends on it, just as their own creation did.
Jesus is helping us to see some basic differences between the world and the Kingdom. In the Kingdom teaching and learning have no place because there is only certainty. There is nothing to teach or to learn. Here in the world teaching and learning are essential because we have forgotten our certainty. I believe different things than you believe and even within my own mind, the things I believe vary according to my experiences.
This seems so normal and natural it is hard for me to imagine not having beliefs. But think how peaceful will be the world when we let go of our desire to choose the form “truth” will take for us, and we simply know what there is to know. Everyone will know the same thing because it will not be a belief, but will be Truth.
In the meantime, I wonder at the absurdity of arguing for a view point. Why would I give up my peace because someone did not agree with the meaning I gave something. I could change my mind about it at any moment, no matter what “it” is. I will find plenty of “proof” to support whatever concept I am in love with at the moment, but my proof is meaningless because it, too, is based on belief, not certainty. Would I really sacrifice Heaven for a belief?
It really makes me laugh when I hear people arguing for their personal understanding of a concept from the Course. I have even done that myself and it is just as funny to me when I notice I am doing it. When this is done, we are allowing our ego to convince us that we need to defend our beliefs even when the belief is about not having a personal, and about beliefs not being certainties.
Having studied the Course for over 30 years now, I have witnessed the shifts my understanding has taken and I expect these shifts will continue. And no matter how close I come to the truth, it is going to be a million miles away from the Truth. I only have words and concepts to work with so how close do I imagine I could come to something I cannot possibly understand from this ego framework from which I am working at this time? Why would I even care about my beliefs, or how someone else understands it?
The other thing I want to always remember is that my projection onto others is teaching me what I believe about myself. This is so basic and so essential to my growing understanding that I remind myself of it often. The world is literally, my mirror. The axiom, “you spot it, you got it,” could not be more true.
Whatever I think is true about someone else, however I see this person, I am only ever really seeing my self reflected there. If I see light then I am seeing my true self reflected in another. If I see darkness I am seeing my own dark thoughts reflected onto this one. When my vision of another is blurred by my projections of darkness, I know to go inward with the Holy Spirit to have my mind healed. I’m seldom confused about that anymore. When I use projection to teach myself, I am teaching what I don’t want to learn and will suffer for it.
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