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Chapter 3 - Retraining the Mind This is a course in MIND TRAINING. All learning involves attention and study at some level. Some of the later parts of the course rest too heavily on these earlier sections not to require their study. You will also need them for preparation.
However, as you study these earlier sections, you will begin to see some of their implications, which will be amplified considerably later on. The reason a solid foundation is necessary is because of the confusion between fear and awe to which we have already referred, and which so many people hold. You will remember that we said that awe is inappropriate in connection with the Sons of God because you should not experience awe in the presence of your equals. However, it was also emphasized that awe IS a proper reaction in the presence of your Creator.
Some of the later steps in this course, however, DO involve a more direct approach to God Himself. It would be most unwise to start on these steps without careful preparation, or awe will be confused with fear, and the experience will be more traumatic that beatific.
Special Principles for Miracle Workers
The miracle abolishes the need for lower-order concerns. Since it is an out-of-pattern time interval, the ordinary considerations of time and space do not apply.
A clear distinction between what has been created and what is being created is essential.
Another way of stating the above point is: Never confuse right with wrong-mindedness.
The level-adjustment power of the miracle induces the right perception for healing.
Miraculous forgiveness is only correction. It has no element of judgment at all. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” in no way evaluates what they do.
It should be noted that the two statements are not in the same order of reality. The latter involves a time awareness, since to remember implies recalling the past in the present. Time is under my direction, but Timelessness belongs to God alone.
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A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum that guides students toward a spiritual way of life by restoring their contact with what it calls the Holy Spirit.
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Chapter 3 - Retraining the Mind Atonement Without Sacrifice There is another point which must be perfectly clear before any residual fear which may still be associated with miracles becomes entirely groundless.
If the crucifixion is seen from an upside-down point of view, it does appear as if God permitted, and even encouraged, one of His sons to suffer because he was good. Many ministers preach this every day. This particularly unfortunate interpretation, which arose out of the combined misprojections of a large number of "would-be" followers, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God. This particularly anti-religious concept enters into many religions, and this is neither by chance or coincidence. Yet the real Christian would have to pause and ask,
The best defense, as always, is not to attack another’s position, but rather to protect the truth. It is unwise to accept any concept, if you have to turn a whole frame of reference around in order to justify it. This procedure is painful in its minor applications, and genuinely tragic on a mass basis. Persecution is a frequent result, undertaken to justify the terrible misperception that
It has been particularly difficult to overcome this (misperception) because, although the error itself is no harder to overcome than any other, men were unwilling to give this one up because of its prominent escape value.
It is so essential that all such thinking be dispelled, that we must be very sure that nothing of this kind remains in your mind.
The wholly benign lesson the Atonement teaches is lost if it is tainted with this kind of distortion in any form.
The evil conscience from the past has nothing to do with God. He did not create it and He does not maintain it. God does not believe in karmic retribution. His Divine Mind does not create that way. He does not hold the evil deeds of a man even against himself.
Be very sure that you recognize how utterly impossible this assumption really is, and how entirely it arises from misprojection.
It is also responsible for the fact that you may believe, from time to time, that I am misdirecting you. I have made every effort to use words that are almost impossible to distort, but man is very inventive when it comes to twisting symbols around. State of Innocence
The Atonement, too, is totally without symbolism. It is perfectly clear because it exists in light. Only man's attempts to shroud it in darkness have made it inaccessible to the unwilling, and ambiguous to the partly willing. The Atonement itself radiates nothing but truth. It, therefore, epitomizes harmlessness and sheds only blessing. It could not do this if it arose from anything but perfect innocence. Innocence is wisdom because it is unaware of evil, which does not exist. It is, however, perfectly aware of everything that is true.
The Atonement is therefore the perfect lesson. It is the final demonstration that all of the other lessons which I taught are true. Man is released from all errors if he believes in this. Nothing can prevail against a Son of God who commends his spirit into the hands of his Father. By doing this, the mind awakens from its sleep and remembers its Creator. All sense of separation disappears, and level confusion vanishes. The Son of God is part of the Holy Trinity, but the Trinity Itself is one. There is no confusion within Its levels because they are of One Mind and One Will. This single purpose creates perfect integration and establishes the peace of God. Yet this vision can be perceived only by the truly innocent. Because their hearts are pure, the innocent defend true perception instead of defending themselves against it. Understanding the lesson of the Atonement, they are without the will to attack, and therefore they see truly. This is what the Bible means when it says, |
The Lamb of God Sacrifice is a notion totally unknown to God. It arises solely from fear. This is particularly unfortunate because frightened people are apt to be vicious. Sacrificing another in any way is a clear-cut violation of God's own injunction that man should be merciful, even as his Father in Heaven. (Bible says "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:36) It has been hard for many Christians to realize that this commandment also applies to themselves. Good teachers never terrorize their students. To terrorize is to attack, and this results in rejection of what the teacher offers. The result is learning failure. I
have been correctly referred to as "the lamb
of God who taketh away the sins of the world."
Those who represent the lamb as blood-stained, an all-too-widespread error, do not understand the meaning of the (lamb) symbol. Correctly
understood, it is a very simple parable which merely
speaks of my innocence.
The lion and the lamb lying down together refers to the fact that strength (lion) and innocence (lamb) are not in conflict, but naturally live in peace. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" Matthew 5:8 is another way of saying the same thing. A pure mind knows the truth, and this is its strength. It cannot attack the body because it recognizes exactly what the body is. This is what a sane mind in a sane body really means. It does not confuse destruction with innocence, because it associates innocence with strength, not with weakness. Innocence is incapable of sacrificing anything, because the innocent mind has everything and strives only to protect its wholeness. This is why it cannot misproject. It can only honor man, because honor is the natural greeting of the truly loved to others who are like them. "The
lamb taketh away the sins of the world"
John
1:29 only in the sense that the state of
innocence, or grace, is one in which the meaning
of the Atonement is perfectly apparent.
The innocence of God is the true state of the mind of His Son. In this state, man's mind does see God in the sense that he sees Him as He is, and realizes that the Atonement, not sacrifice, is the only appropriate gift to His Own altar, where nothing except true perfection belongs. The understanding of the innocent is truth. That is why their altars are truly radiant! |
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Chapter 3 - Retraining the Mind Miracles as Accurate Perception We have repeatedly stated that the basic concepts referred to in this course are not matters of degree. Certain fundamental concepts cannot be meaningfully understood in terms of coexisting polarities. It is impossible to conceive of
as joint possibilities. They are all true or all false. It is essential that you realize that behavior is erratic, until a firm commitment to one or the other is made. A firm commitment to darkness or nothingness is impossible. No one has ever lived who has not experienced some light and some thing. This makes everyone really unable to deny truth totally, even if he generally deceives himself in this connection. That is why those who live largely in darkness and emptiness never find any lasting solace.
When it is partial, it is characterized by the same erratic nature that holds for other two-edged defenses. The partly innocent are apt to be quite stupid at times. It is not until their innocence becomes a genuine viewpoint which is universal in its application that it becomes wisdom. Innocent (or true) perception means that you never misperceive and always see truly. More simply, it means that you never see what does not really exist. When you lack confidence in what someone will do, you are attesting to your belief that he is not in his right mind.
The miracle perceives everything as it is. If nothing but the truth exists (and this is really a redundant statement because what is not true cannot exist), right-minded seeing cannot see anything but perfection. |
Truth Overcomes All Errors We have said many times that only what God creates, or what man creates with the same will, has any real existence. This, then, is all the innocent can see. They do not suffer from the distortions of the separated ones. The way to correct all such distortions is to withdraw your faith from them, and invest it only in what is true. You cannot validate the invalid. I would suggest that you voluntarily give up all such attempts, because they can only be frantic. If you are willing to validate what is true in everything you perceive, you will make it true for you. Truth overcomes all error. This means that if you perceive truly, you are canceling out misperceptions in yourself and in others simultaneously. Because you see them as they are, you offer them your own validation of their truth. This is the healing which the miracle actively fosters. |
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