1 The
role of teaching and learning is actually reversed in the thinking of
the world. The reversal is characteristic. It seems as if the
teacher&teacheress and the learner are separated, the
teacher&teacheress giving something to the learner rather than to
himself&herself. Further, the act of teaching is regarded as a
special activity in which one engages only a relatively small
proportion of one's time. The course, on the other hand, emphasizes
that to teach is to learn, so that teacher&teacheress and learner
are the same. It also emphasizes that teaching is a constant
process—it goes on every moment of the day and continues into sleeping
thoughts as well.
2 To
teach is to demonstrate. There are only two thought systems, and you
demonstrate that you believe one or the other is true all the time.
From your demonstration, others learn and so do you. The question is
not whether you will teach, for in that there is no choice. The
purpose of the course might be said to provide you with a means of
choosing what you want to teach on the basis of what you want to
learn. You cannot give to someone else, and this you learn through
teaching. Teaching is but a call to witnesses to attest to what you
believe. It is a method of conversion. This is not done by words
alone. Any situation must be to you a chance to teach others what you
are and what they are to you. No more than that, but also never less.
3 The
curriculum that you set up is therefore determined exclusively by what
you think you are and what you believe the relationship of others is
to you. In the formal teaching situation, these questions may be
totally unrelated to what you think you are teaching. Yet it is
impossible not to use the content of any situation on behalf of what
you really teach and therefore learn. To this the verbal content of
your teaching is quite irrelevant. It may coincide with it or it may
not. It is the teaching underlying what you say that teaches you.
Teaching but reinforces what you believe about yourself. Its
fundamental purpose is to diminish self doubt. This does not mean that
the self you are trying to protect is real. But it does mean that the
self you think is real is what you teach.
4
This is inevitable. There is no escape from it. How could it be
otherwise? Everyone who follows the world's curriculum, and everyone
here does follow it until he&she changes his&her mind, teaches
solely to convince himself&herself that he&she is what
he&she is not. Herein is the purpose of the world. What else,
then, would its curriculum be? Into this hopeless and closed learning
situation which teaches nothing but despair and death, God sends
teachers and teacheresses. And as they teach lessons of joy and hope,
their learning finally becomes complete.
5
Except for God's teachers and teacheresses, there would be no hope of
salvation, for the world of sin would seem forever "real." The
self-deceiving must deceive, for they must teach deception. And what
else is hell? This is a manual for the teachers&teacheresses of
God. They are not perfect or they would not be here. Yet it is their
mission to become perfect here, and so they teach perfection over and
over in many, many ways until they have learned it. And then they are
seen no more, although their thoughts remain a source of strength and
truth forever. Who are they? How are they chosen? What do they do? How
can they work out their own salvation and the salvation of the world?
This manual attempts to answer these questions.
1
A teacher&teacheress of God is anyone who chooses to be one.
his&her qualifications consist solely in this; somehow, somewhere
he&she has made a deliberate choice in which he&she did not
see his&her interests as apart from someone else's. Once
he&she has done that, his&her road is established and
his&her direction is sure. A light has entered the darkness. It
may be a single light, but that is enough. he&she has entered an
agreement with God even if he&she does not yet believe in
him&her. he&she has become a bringer of salvation. he&she
has become a teacher&teacheress of God.
2
They come from all over the world. They come from all religions and
from no religion. They are the ones who have answered. The Call is
universal. It goes on all the time everywhere. It calls for
teachers&teacheresses to speak for it and redeem the world. Many
hear it, but few will answer. But it is all a matter of time. Everyone
will answer in the end, but the end can be a long, long way off. It is
because of this that the plan of the teachers&teacheresses was
established. Their function is to save time. Each one begins as a
single light, but with the Call at its center, it is a light that
cannot be limited. And each one saves a thousand years of time as the
world judges it. To the Call itself, time has no meaning.
3
There is a course for every teacher&teacheress of God. The form of
the course varies greatly. So do the particular teaching aids
involved. But the content of the course never changes. Its central
theme is always, "God's SonDaughter is guiltless, and in hisher
innocence is hisher salvation." It can be taught by actions or
thoughts, in words or soundlessly, in any language or in no language,
in any place or time or manner. It does not matter who the
teacher&teacheress was before he&she heard the Call.
he&she has become a lord or lady by his&her answering.
he&she has seen someone else as himself&herself. he&she
has therefore found his&her own salvation and the salvation of the
world. In his&her rebirth is the world reborn.
4
This is a manual for a special curriculum, intended for
teachers&teacheresses of a special form of the universal course.
There are many thousands of other forms, all with the same outcome.
They merely save time. Yet it is time alone that winds on wearily, and
the world is very tired now. It is old and worn and without hope.
There was never a question of outcome, for what can change the Will of
God? But time, with its illusions of change and death, wears out the
world and all things in it. Yet time has an ending, and it is this
that the teachers&teacheresses of God are appointed to bring
about. For time is in their hands. Such was their choice, and it is
given them.
1
Certain pupils have been assigned to each of God's teachers and
teacheresses, and they will begin to look for him or her as soon as
he&she has answered the Call. They were chosen for him or her
because the form of the universal curriculum that he&she will
teach is best for them in view of their level of understanding.
his&her pupils have been waiting for him or her, for his&her
coming is certain. Again, it is only a matter of time. Once he&she
has chosen to fulfill his&her role, they are ready to fulfill
theirs. Time waits on his&her choice but not whom he&she will
serve. When he&she is ready to learn, the opportunities to teach
will be provided for him or her.
2 In
order to understand the teaching-learning plan of salvation, it is
necessary to grasp the concept of time which the course sets forth.
Atonement corrects illusions, not the truth. Therefore it corrects
what never was. Further, the plan for this correction was established
and completed simultaneously, for the Will of God is entirely apart
from time. So is all reality, being of him&her. The instant the
idea of separation entered the mind of God's SonDaughter, in that same
instant was God's Answer given. In time this happened very long ago.
In reality it never happened at all.
3 The
world of time is the world of illusion. What happened long ago seems
to be happening now. Choices made long since appear to be open, yet to
be made. What has been learned and understood and long ago passed by
is looked upon as a new thought, a fresh idea, a different approach.
Because your will is free, you can accept what has already happened at
any time you choose, and only then will you realize that it was always
there. As the course emphasizes, you are not free to choose the
curriculum or even the form in which you will learn it. You are free,
however, to decide when you want to learn it. And as you accept it, it
is already learned.
4
Time really, then, goes backward to an instant so ancient that it is
beyond all memory and past even the possibility of remembering. Yet
because it is an instant that is relived again and again and still
again, it seems to be now. And thus it is that pupil and
teacher&teacheress seem to come together in the present, finding
each other as if they had not met before. The pupil comes at the right
time to the right place. This is inevitable because he&she made
the right choice in that ancient instant which he&she now relives.
So has the teacher&teacheress, too, made an inevitable choice out
of an ancient past. God's Will in everything but seems to take time in
the working-out. What could delay the Power of eternity?
5
When pupil and teacher&teacheress come together, a
teaching-learning situation begins. For the teacher&teacheress is
not really the one who does the teaching. God's Teacheress speaks to
any two who join together for learning purposes. The relationship is
holy because of that purpose, and God has promised to send Spirit into
any holy relationship. In the teaching-learning situation, each one
learns that giving and receiving are the same. The demarcations they
have drawn between their roles, their minds, their bodies, their
needs, their interests, and all the differences they thought separated
them from one another fade and grow dim and disappear. Those who would
learn the same course share one interest and one goal. And thus
he&she who was the learner becomes a teacher&teacheress of God
himself&herself, for he&she has made the one decision that
gave his&her teacher&teacheress to him or her. he&she has
seen in another person the same interests as his&her own.
1 The
teachers&teacheresses of God have no set teaching level. Each
teaching-learning situation involves a different relationship at the
beginning, although the ultimate goal is always the same—to make of
the relationship a holy relationship in which both can look upon the
SonDaughter of God as sinless. There is no one from whom a
teacher&teacheress of God cannot learn, so there is no one whom
he&she cannot teach. However, from a practical point of view,
he&she cannot meet everyone, nor can everyone find him or her.
Therefore, the plan includes very specific contacts to be made for
each teacher&teacheress of God. There are no accidents in
salvation. Those who are to meet will meet because together they have
the potential for a holy relationship. They are ready for each other.
2 The
simplest level of teaching appears to be quite superficial. It
consists of what seem to be very casual encounters—a chance meeting of
two apparent strangers in an elevator, a child who is not looking
where he&she is going running into an adult "by accident," two
students who happen to walk home together. These are not chance
encounters. Each of them has the potential for becoming a
teaching-learning situation. Perhaps the seeming strangers in the
elevator will smile to one another; perhaps the man or woman will not
scold the child for bumping into him or her; perhaps the students will
become friends. Even at the level of the most casual encounter, it is
possible for two people to lose sight of separate interests, if only
for a moment. That moment will be enough. Salvation has come.
3 It
is difficult to understand that levels of teaching the universal
course is a concept as meaningless in reality as is time. The illusion
of one permits the illusion of the other. In time, the
teacher&teacheress of God seems to begin to change his&her
mind about the world with the single decision, and then learns more
and more about the new direction as he&she teaches it. We have
covered the illusion of time already, but the illusion of levels of
teaching seems to be something different. Perhaps the best way to
demonstrate that these levels cannot exist is simply to say that any
level of the teaching-learning situation is part of God's plan for
Atonement, and HisHer plan can have no levels, being a reflection of
HisHer Will. Salvation is always ready and always there. God's
teachers&teacheresses work at different levels, but the result is
always the same.
4
Each teaching-learning situation is maximal in the sense that each
person involved will learn the most that he&she can from the other
person at that time. In this sense, and in this sense only, we can
speak of levels of teaching. Using the term in this way, the second
level of teaching is a more sustained relationship in which for a time
two people enter into a fairly intense teaching-learning situation and
then appear to separate. As with the first level, these meetings are
not accidental, nor is what appears to be the end of the relationship
a real end. Again, each has learned the most he&she can at the
time. Yet all who meet will someday meet again, for it is the destiny
of all relationships to become holy. God is not mistaken in HisHer
SonDaughter.
5 The
third level of teaching occurs in relationships which, once they are
formed, are lifelong. These are teaching-learning situations in which
each person is given a chosen learning partner who presents him or her
with unlimited opportunities for learning. These relationships are
generally few because their existence implies that those involved have
reached a stage simultaneously in which the teaching-learning balance
is actually perfect. This does not mean that they necessarily
recognize this; in fact, they generally do not. They may even be quite
hostile to each other for some time, and perhaps for life. Yet should
they decide to learn it, the perfect lesson is before them and can be
learned. And if they decide to learn that lesson, they become the
saviors or savioresses of the teachers&teacheresses who falter and
may even seem to fail. No teacher&teacheress of God can fail to
find the Help he&she needs.
1 The
surface traits of God's teachers&teacheresses are not at all
alike. They do not look alike to the body's eyes, they come from
vastly different backgrounds, their experiences of the world vary
greatly, and their superficial "personalities" are quite distinct. Nor
at the beginning stages of their functioning as
teachers&teacheresses of God have they as yet acquired the deeper
characteristics that will establish them as what they are. God gives
special gifts to teachers&teacheresses because they have a special
role in HisHer plan for Atonement. Their specialness is, of course,
only temporary—set in time as a means of leading out of time. These
special gifts, born in the holy relationship toward which the
teaching-learning situation is geared, become characteristic of all
teachers&teacheresses of God who have advanced in their own
learning. In this respect they are all alike.
2 All
differences among the SonsDaughters of God are temporary.
Nevertheless, in time it can be said that the advanced
teachers&teacheresses of God have the following characteristics:
3
This is the foundation on which their ability to fulfill their
function rests. Perception is the result of learning. In fact,
perception is learning because cause and effect are never separated.
The teachers&teacheresses of God have trust in the world because
they have learned it is not governed by the laws the world made up. It
is governed by a Power Which is in them but not of them. It is this
Power that keeps all things safe. It is through this Power that the
teachers&teacheresses of God look on a forgiven world.
4
When this Power has once been experienced, it is impossible to trust
one's own petty strength again. Who would attempt to fly with the tiny
wings of a sparrow when the mighty power of an eagle has been given
him or her? And who would place his&her faith in the shabby
offerings of the ego when the gifts of God are laid before him or her?
What is it that induces them to make the shift?
5
First, they must go through what might be called "a period of
undoing." This need not be painful, but it usually is so experienced.
It seems as if things are being taken away, and it is rarely
understood initially that their lack of value is merely being
recognized. How can lack of value be perceived unless the perceiver is
in a position where he&she must see things in a different light?
he&she is not yet at a point at which he&she can make the
shift entirely internally. And so the plan will sometimes call for
changes in what seem to be external circumstances. These changes are
always helpful. When the teacher&teacheress of God has learned
that much, he&she goes on to the second stage.
6
Next, the teacher&teacheress of God must go through a "period of
sorting-out." This is always somewhat difficult because, having
learned that the changes in his&her life are always helpful,
he&she must now decide all things on the basis of whether they
increase the helpfulness or hamper it. he&she will find that many
if not most of the things he&she valued before will merely hinder
his&her ability to transfer what he&she has learned to new
situations as they arise. Because he&she has valued what is really
valueless, he&she will not generalize the lesson for fear of loss
and sacrifice. It takes great learning to understand that all things,
events, encounters, and circumstances are helpful. It is only to the
extent to which they are helpful that any degree of reality should be
accorded them in this world of illusion. The word "value" can apply to
nothing else.
7 The
third stage through which the teachers&teacheresses of God must go
can be called a "period of relinquishment." If this is interpreted as
giving up the desirable, it will engender enormous conflict. Few
teachers&teacheresses of God escape this distress entirely. There
is, however, no point in sorting out the valuable from the valueless
unless the next obvious step is taken. The third step is rarely if
ever begun until the second is complete. Therefore, the period of
overlap is apt to be one in which the teacher&teacheress of God
feels called upon to sacrifice his&her own best interests on
behalf of truth. he&she has not realized as yet how wholly
impossible such a demand would be. he&she can learn this only as
he&she actually does give up the valueless. Through this
he&she learns that where he&she anticipated grief, he&she
finds a happy light-heartedness instead; where he&she thought
something was asked of him or her, he&she finds a gift bestowed on
him or her.
8 Now
comes a "period of settling down." This is a quiet time in which the
teacher&teacheress of God rests a while in reasonable peace. Now
he&she consolidates his&her learning. Now he&she begins to
see the transfer value of what he&she has learned. Its potential
is literally staggering, and the teacher&teacheress of God is now
at the point in his&her progress at which he&she sees in it
his&her whole way out. "Give up what you do not want and keep what
you do." How simple is the obvious! And how easy to do! The
teacher&teacheress of God needs this period of respite. he&she
has not yet come as far as he&she thinks. Yet when he&she is
ready to go on, he&she goes with mighty companions beside him or
her. Now he&she rests a while and gathers them before going on.
he&she will not go on from here alone.
9 The
next stage is indeed a "period of unsettling." Now must the
teacher&teacheress of God understand that he&she did not
really know what was valuable and what was valueless. All that
he&she really learned so far was that he&she did not want the
valueless and that he&she did want the valuable. Yet his&her
own sorting-out was meaningless in teaching him or her the difference.
The idea of sacrifice, so central to his&her thought system, had
made it impossible for him or her to judge. he&she thought
he&she had learned willingness, but now he&she sees that
he&she does not know what the willingness is for. And now
he&she must attain a state that may remain impossible for a long,
long time. he&she must learn to lay all judgment aside and ask
only what he&she really wants in every circumstance. Were not each
step in this direction so heavily reinforced, it would be hard indeed!
10
And finally, there is a "period of achievement." It is here that
learning is consolidated. Now what was seen as merely shadows before
becomes solid gains, to be counted on in all "emergencies" as well as
tranquil times. Indeed, the tranquility is their result—the outcome of
honest learning, consistency of thought, and full transfer. This is
the stage of real peace, for here is the Realm of God fully reflected.
From here the way to the God Realm is open and easy. In fact, it is
here. Who would "go" anywhere if peace of mind is already complete?
And who would seek to change tranquility for something more desirable?
What could be more desirable than this?
11
All other traits of God's teachers&teacheresses rest on trust.
Once that has been achieved, the others cannot fail to follow. Only
the trusting can afford honesty, for only they can see its value.
Honesty does not apply only to what you say. The term actually means
consistency. There is nothing you say that contradicts what you think
or do; no thought opposes any other thought; no act belies your word;
and no word lacks agreement with another. Such are the truly honest.
At no level are they in conflict with themselves. Therefore it is
impossible for them to be in conflict with anyone or anything.
12
The peace of mind which the advanced teachers&teacheresses of God
experience is largely due to their perfect honesty. It is only the
wish to deceive that makes for war. No one at one with
himself&herself can even conceive of conflict. Conflict is the
inevitable result of self-deception, and self-deception is dishonesty.
There is no challenge to a teacher&teacheress of God. Challenge
implies doubt, and the trust on which God's teachers&teacheresses
rest secure makes doubt impossible. Therefore they can only succeed.
In this, as in all things, they are honest. They can only succeed
because they never do their will alone. They choose for all humankind,
for all the world and all things in it, for the unchanging and
unchangeable beyond appearances, and for the SonDaughter of God and
hisher CreatorManifestor. How could they not succeed? They choose in
perfect honesty, sure of their choice themselves.
To this I must
say that I still have some distance to walk, before I do not have any
conflicts with anything or anybody any where at any plan of existence,
but I work on the issue by the help of the process of forgiveness like
the Course suggests.
13
God's teachers&teacheresses do not judge. To judge is to be
dishonest, for to judge is to assume a position you do not have.
Judgment without self-deception is impossible. Judgment implies that
you have been deceived in your brothers and sisters. How then could
you not have been deceived in yourself? Judgment implies a lack of
trust, and trust remains the bed-rock of the teacher&teacheress of
God's whole thought system. Let this be lost, and all his&her
learning goes. Without judgment are all things equally acceptable, for
who could judge otherwise? Without judgment are all men or women
brothers and sisters, for who is there who stands apart? Judgment
destroys honesty and shatters trust. No teacher&teacheress of God
can judge and hope to learn.
14
Harm is impossible for God's teachers and teacheresses. They can
neither harm nor be harmed. Harm is the outcome of judgment. It is the
dishonest act that follows a dishonest thought. It is a verdict of
guilt upon a brother&sister and therefore on one's self. It
is the end of peace and the denial of learning. It demonstrates the
absence of God's curriculum and its replacement by insanity. No
teacher&teacheress of God but must learn—and fairly early in
his&her training—that harmfulness completely obliterates
his&her function from his&her awareness. It will make him or
her confused, fearful, angry, and suspicious. It will make the Holy
Spirit's lessons impossible to learn. Nor can God's Teacheress be
heard at all except by those who realize that harm can actually
achieve nothing. No gain can come of it.
15
Therefore God's teachers&teacheresses are wholly gentle. They need
the strength of gentleness, for it is in this that the function of
salvation becomes easy. To those who would do harm, it is impossible.
To those to whom harm has no meaning, it is merely natural. What
choice but this has meaning to the sane? Who chooses hell when
he&she perceives a way to the Realm of God? And who would choose
the weakness that must come from harm in place of the unfailing,
all-encompassing, and limitless strength of gentleness? The might of
God's teachers&teacheresses lies in their gentleness, for they
have understood their evil thoughts came neither from God's
SonDaughter nor hisher CreatorManifestor. Thus did they join their
thoughts with him&her, Who is their Source. And so their will,
which always was HisHer own, is free to be itself.
16 Joy is the inevitable result of gentleness. Gentleness means that fear
is now impossible, and what could come to interfere with joy? The open
hands of gentleness are always filled. The gentle have no pain. They
cannot suffer. Why would they not be joyous? They are sure they are
beloved and must be safe. Joy goes with gentleness as surely as grief
attends attack. God's teachers&teacheresses trust in him&her.
And they are sure HisHer Teacheress goes before them, making sure no
harm can come to them. They hold HisHer gifts and follow in HisHer way
because God's Voice directs them in all things. Joy is their song of
thanks. And the Christ Consciousness&the Mercy Consciousness looks
down on them in thanks as well. It’s need of them is just as great as
theirs of it. How joyous it is to share the purpose of salvation!
17
God's teachers&teacheresses have learned how to be simple. They
have no dreams that need defense against the truth. They do not try to
make themselves. Their joy comes from their understanding Who created
and manifested them. And does what God created and manifested need
defense? No one can become an advanced teacher&teacheress of God
until he&she fully understands that defenses are but the foolish
guardians of mad illusions. The more grotesque the dream, the fiercer
and more powerful its defenses seem to be. Yet when the
teacher&teacheress of God finally agrees to look past them,
he&she finds nothing was there. Slowly at first, he&she lets
himself&herself be undeceived. But he&she learns faster as
his&her trust increases. It is not danger that comes when defenses
are laid down. It is safety. It is peace. It is joy. And it is God.
18
The term generosity has special meaning to the teacher&teacheress
of God. It is not the usual meaning of the word; in fact, it is a
meaning that must be learned and learned very carefully. Like all the
other attributes of God's teachers and teacheresses, this one rests
ultimately on trust, for without trust, no one can be generous in the
true sense. To the world, generosity means "giving away" in the sense
of "giving up." To the teachers&teacheresses of God, it means
"giving away" in order to keep. This has been emphasized throughout
the text and the workbook, but it is perhaps more alien to the
thinking of the world than many other ideas in our curriculum. Its
greater strangeness lies merely in the obviousness of its reversal of
the world's thinking. In the clearest way possible and at the simplest
of levels, the word means the exact opposite to the
teachers&teacheresses of God and to the world.
19
The teacher&teacheress of God is generous out of self-interest.
This does not refer, however, to the self the world speaks of. The
teacher&teacheress of God does not want anything he&she cannot
give away because he&she realizes it would be valueless to him or
her by definition. What would he&she want it for? he&she could
only lose because of it. he&she could not gain. Therefore
he&she does not seek what only he&she could keep because that
is a guarantee of loss. he&she does not want to suffer. Why should
he&she ensure himself&herself pain? But he&she does want
to keep for himself&herself all things that are of God and
therefore for HisHer SonDaughter. These are the things that belong to
him or her. These he&she can give away in true generosity,
protecting them forever for himself&herself.
20
Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait
without anxiety. Patience is natural to the teacher&teacheress of
God. All he&she sees is certain outcome, at a time perhaps unknown
as yet but not in doubt. The time will be as right as is the answer.
And this is true for everything that happens now or in the future. The
past as well held no mistakes—nothing that did not serve to benefit
the world as well as him or her to whom it seemed to happen. Perhaps
it was not understood at the time. Even so, the teacher&teacheress
of God is willing to reconsider all his&her past decisions if they
are causing pain to anyone. Patience is natural to those who trust.
Sure of the ultimate interpretation of all things in time, no outcome
already seen or yet to come can cause them fear.
21
The extent of the teacher&teacheress of God's faithfulness is the
measure of his&her advancement in the curriculum. Does he&she
still select some aspects of his&her life to bring to his&her
learning while keeping others apart? If so, his&her advancement is
limited and his&her trust not yet firmly established. Faithfulness
is the teacher&teacheress of God's trust in the Word of God to set
all things right—not some but all. Generally, his&her faithfulness
begins by resting on just some problems, remaining carefully limited
for a time. To give up all problems to one Answer is to reverse the
thinking of the world entirely. And that alone is faithfulness.
Nothing but that really deserves the name. Yet each degree, however
small, is worth achieving. Readiness, as the text notes, is not
mastery.
22
True faithfulness, however, does not deviate. Being consistent, it is
wholly honest. Being unswerving, it is full of trust. Being based on
fearlessness, it is gentle. Being certain it is joyous, and being
confident, it is tolerant. Defenselessness attends it naturally, and
joy is its condition. Faithfulness, then, combines in itself the other
attributes of God's teachers and teacheresses. It implies acceptance
of the Word of God and definition of SonDaughter. It is to them that
faithfulness in the true sense is always directed. Toward them it
looks, seeking until it finds. And having found, it rests in quiet
certainty on that alone to which all faithfulness is due.
23
The centrality of open-mindedness, perhaps the last of the attributes
the teacher&teacheress of God acquires, is easily understood when
its relation to forgiveness is recognized. Open-mindedness comes with
lack of judgment. As judgment shuts the mind against God's Teacheress,
so open-mindedness invites Her to come in. As condemnation judges the
SonDaughter of God as evil, so open-mindedness permits him&her to
be judged by the Voice for God on HisHer behalf. As the projection of
guilt upon him&her would send him&her to hell, so
open-mindedness lets the Christ Consciousness, the Mercy
Consciousness’ image be projected on him&her. Only the open-minded
can be at peace, for they alone see reason for it.
24
How do the open-minded forgive? They have let go all things that would
prevent forgiveness. They have in truth abandoned the world and let it
be restored to them in newness and in joy so glorious they could never
have conceived of such a change. Nothing is now as it was formerly.
Nothing but sparkles now which seemed so dull and lifeless before. And
above all are all things welcoming, for threat is gone. No clouds
remain to hide the face of the Christ Consciousness&the Mercy
Consciousness. Now is the goal achieved. Forgiveness is the final goal
of the curriculum. It paves the way for what goes far beyond all
learning. The curriculum makes no effort to exceed its legitimate
goal. Forgiveness is its single aim at which all learning ultimately
converges. It is indeed enough.
25
You may have noticed that the list of attributes of God's
teachers&teacheresses does not include those things which are the
SonDaughter of God's inheritance. Terms like love, sinlessness,
perfection, knowledge and eternal truth do not appear in this context.
They would be most inappropriate here. What God has given is so far
beyond our curriculum that learning but disappears in its presence.
Yet while its presence is obscured, the focus properly belongs on the
curriculum. It is the function of God's teachers&teacheresses to
bring true learning to the world. Properly speaking it is unlearning
that they bring, for that is "true learning" in the world. It is given
to the teachers&teacheresses of God to bring the glad tidings of
complete forgiveness to the world. Blessed indeed are they, for they
are the bringers of salvation.
1
Healing involves an understanding of what the illusion of sickness is
for. Healing is impossible without this.
2
Healing is accomplished the instant the sufferer no longer sees any
value in pain. Who would choose suffering unless he&she thought it
brought him or her something, and something of value to him or her?
he&she must think it is a small price to pay for something of
greater worth. For sickness is an election, a decision. It is the
choice of weakness in the mistaken conviction that it is strength.
When this occurs, real strength is seen as threat and health as
danger. Sickness is a method, conceived in madness, for placing God's
SonDaughter on hisher Father’sMother's throne. God is seen as outside,
fierce and powerful, eager to keep all power for him&herself. Only
by death can HeShe be conquered by HisHer SonDaughter.
3 And
what, in this insane conviction, does healing stand for? It symbolizes
the defeat of God's SonDaughter and the triumph of hisher FatherMother
over him&her. It represents the ultimate defiance in a direct form
which the SonDaughter of God is forced to recognize. It stands for all
that heshe would hide from him&herself to protect hisher life. If
heshe is healed, heshe is responsible for hisher thoughts. And if
heshe is responsible for hisher thoughts, heshe will be killed to
prove to him&her how weak and pitiful heshe is. But if heshe
chooses death him&herself, hisher weakness is hisher strength. Now
has heshe given him&herself what God would give to him&her and
thus entirely usurped the throne of hisher CreatorManifestor.
4
Healing must occur in exact proportion in which the valuelessness of
sickness is recognized. One need but say, "There is no gain to me at
all in this," and he&she is healed. But to say this one must first
recognize certain facts. First, it is obvious that decisions are of
the mind, not of the body. If sickness is but a faulty problem-solving
approach, it is a decision. And if it is a decision, it is the mind
and not the body that makes it. The resistance to recognizing this is
enormous because the existence of the world as we perceive it depends
on the body being the decision-maker. Terms like "instincts,"
"reflexes" and the like represent attempts to endow the body with
non-mental motivators. Actually, such terms merely state or describe
the problem. They do not answer it.
5 The
acceptance of sickness as a decision of the mind for a purpose for
which it would use the body is the basis of healing. And this is so
for healing in all forms. A patient decides that this is so, and
he&she recovers. If he&she decides against recovery,
he&she will not be healed. Who is the physician? Only the mind of
the patient himself&herself. The outcome is what he&she
decides that it is. Special agents seem to be ministering to him or
her, yet they but give form to his&her own choice. he&she
chooses them to bring tangible form to his&her desires. And it is
this they do, and nothing else. They are not actually needed at all.
The patient could merely rise up without their aid and say, "I have no
use for this." There is no form of sickness that would not be cured at
once.
6
What is the single requisite for this shift in perception? It is
simply this: the recognition that sickness is of the mind and has
nothing to do with the body. What does this recognition "cost"? It
costs the whole world we see, for the world will never again appear to
rule the mind. For with this recognition is responsibility placed
where it belongs—not with the world but on him or her who looks on the
world and sees it as it is not. he&she looks on what he&she
chooses to see. No more and no less. The world does nothing to him or
her. he&she only thought it did. Nor does he&she do anything
to the world because he&she was mistaken about what it was. Herein
is the release from guilt and sickness both, for they are one. Yet to
accept this release, the insignificance of the body must be an
acceptable idea.
7
With this idea is pain forever gone. But with this idea goes also all
confusion about creation and manifestation. Does not this follow of
necessity? Place cause and effect in their true sequence in one
respect, and the learning will generalize and transform the world. The
transfer value of one true idea has no end nor limit. The final
outcome of this lesson is the remembrance of God. What do guilt and
sickness, pain, disaster, and all suffering mean now? Having no
purpose, they are gone. And with them also go all the effects they
seemed to cause. Cause and effect but replicate creation and
manifestation. Seen in their proper perspective, without distortion
and without fear, they re-establish the God Realm.
8 If
the patient must change his&her mind in order to be healed, what
does the teacher&teacheress of God do? Can he&she change the
patient's mind for him or her? Certainly not. For those already
willing to change their mind he&she has no function except to
rejoice with them, for they have become teachers&teacheresses of
God with him or her. he&she has, however, a more specific function
for those who do not understand what healing is. These patients do not
realize they have chosen sickness. On the contrary, they believe that
sickness has chosen them. Nor are they open-minded on this point. The
body tells them what to do, and they obey. They have no idea how
insane this concept is. If they even suspected it, they would be
healed. Yet they suspect nothing. To them the separation is quite
real.
9 To
them God's teachers&teacheresses come to represent another choice
which they had forgotten. The simple presence of a
teacher&teacheress of God is a reminder. his&her thoughts ask
for the right to question what the patient has accepted is true. As
God's messengers, teachers&teacheresses are the symbols of
salvation. They ask the patient for forgiveness for God's SonDaughter
in hisher own name. They stand for the alternative. With God's Word in
their minds they come in benediction, not to heal the sick but to
remind them of the remedy God has already given them. It is not their
hands that heal. It is not their voice that speaks the Word of God.
They merely give what has been given them. Very gently they call to
their brothers and sisters to turn away from death. Behold, you
SonDaughter of God, what life can offer you. Would you choose sickness
in place of this?
10
Not once do the advanced teachers&teacheresses of God consider the
forms of sickness in which their brother&sister believes. To
do this is to forget that all of them have the same purpose and
therefore are not really different. They seek for God's Voice in this
brother&sister who would so deceive himself&herself as
to believe God's SonDaughter can suffer. And they remind him or her
that he&she has not made himself&herself and must remain as
God created and manifested him or her. They recognize illusions can
have no effect. The truth in their minds reaches out to the truth in
the minds of their brothers and sisters, so that illusions are not
reinforced. They are thus brought to truth, and truth is not brought
to them. So are they dispelled, not by the will of another but by the
union of the One Will with itself. And this is the function of God's
teachers&teacheresses —to see no will as separate from their own,
nor theirs as separate from God's.
1
Healing is always certain. It is impossible to let illusions be
brought to truth and keep the illusions. Truth demonstrates illusions
have no value. The teacher&teacheress of God has seen the
correction of his&her errors in the mind of the patient,
recognizing it for what it is. Having accepted the Atonement for
himself&herself, he&she has also accepted it for the patient.
Yet what if the patient uses sickness as a way of life, believing
healing is the way to death? When this is so, a sudden healing might
precipitate intense depression, and a sense of loss so deep that the
patient might even try to destroy himself&herself. Having nothing
to live for, he&she may ask for death. Healing must wait, for
his&her protection.
2
Healing will always stand aside when it would be seen as threat. The
instant it is welcome it is there. Where healing has been given, it
will be received. And what is time before the gifts of God? We have
referred many times in the text to the storehouse of treasures laid up
equally for the giver and the receiver of God's gifts. Not one is
lost, for they can but increase. No teacher&teacheress of God
should feel disappointed if he&she has offered healing and it does
not appear to have been received. It is not up to him or her to judge
when his&her gift should be accepted. Let him or her be certain it
has been received and trust that it will be accepted when it is
recognized as a blessing and not a curse.
3 It
is not the function of God's teachers&teacheresses to evaluate the
outcome of their gifts. It is merely their function to give them. Once
they have done that, they have also given the outcome, for that is
part of the gift. No one can give if he&she is concerned with the
result of the giving. That is a limitation on the giving itself, and
neither the giver nor the receiver would have the gift. Trust is an
essential part of giving; in fact, it is the part that makes sharing
possible, the part that guarantees the giver will not lose but only
gain. Who gives a gift and then remains with it to be sure it is used
as the giver deems appropriate? Such is not giving but imprisoning.
4 It
is the relinquishing of all concern about the gift that makes it truly
given. And it is trust that makes true giving possible. Healing is the
change of mind that the Holy Spirit in the patient's mind is seeking
for him or her. And it is the Holy Spirit in the mind of the giver Who
gives the gift to him or her. How can it be lost? How can it be
ineffectual? How can it be wasted? God's treasure house can never be
empty. And if one gift were missing, it would not be full. Yet is its
fullness guaranteed by God. What concern, then, can a
teacher&teacheress of God have about what becomes of his&her
gifts? Given by God to God, who in this holy exchange can receive less
than everything?
1
This question really answers itself. Healing cannot be repeated. If
the patient is healed, what remains to heal him or her from? And if
the healing is certain, as we have already said it is, what is there
to repeat? For a teacher&teacheress of God to remain concerned
about the result of healing is to limit the healing. It is now the
teacher&teacheress of God himself&herself whose mind needs to
be healed. And it is this he&she must facilitate. he&she is
now the patient, and he&she must so regard himself&herself.
he&she has made a mistake and must be willing to change
his&her mind about it. he&she lacked the trust that makes for
giving truly, and so he&she has not received the benefit of
his&her gift.
2
Whenever a teacher&teacheress of God has tried to be a channel for
healing, he&she has succeeded. Should he&she be tempted to
doubt this, he&she should not repeat his&her previous effort.
That was already maximal because the Holy Spirit so accepted it and so
used it. Now the teacher&teacheress of God has only one course to
follow. he&she must use his&her reason to tell
himself&herself that he&she has given the problem to One Who
cannot fail, and recognize that his&her own uncertainty is not
love but fear and therefore hate. his&her position has thus become
untenable, for he&she is offering hate to one to whom he&she
offered love. This is impossible. Having offered love, only love can
be received.
3 It
is in this that the teacher&teacheress of God must trust. This is
what is really meant by the statement that the one responsibility of
the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for himself&herself.
The teacher&teacheress of God is a miracle worker because
he&she gives the gifts he&she has received. Yet he&she
must first accept them. he&she need do no more, nor is there more
that he&she could do. By accepting healing, he&she can give
it. If he&she doubts this, let him or her remember Who gave the
gift and Who received it. Thus is his&her doubt corrected.
he&she thought the gifts of God could be withdrawn. That was a
mistake, but hardly one to stay with. And so the
teacher&teacheress of God can only recognize it for what it is and
let it be corrected for him or her.
4 One
of the most difficult temptations to recognize is that to doubt a
healing because of the appearance of continuing symptoms is a mistake
in the form of lack of trust. As such, it is an attack. Usually it
seems to be just the opposite. It does appear unreasonable at first to
be told that continued concern is attack. It has all the appearances
of love. Yet love without trust is impossible, and doubt and trust
cannot coexist. And hate must be the opposite of love, regardless of
the form it takes. Doubt not the gift, and it is impossible to doubt
its result. This is the certainty that gives God's
teachers&teacheresses the power to be miracle workers, for they
have put their trust in him&her.
5 The
real basis for doubt about the outcome of any problem that has been
given to God's teacher&teacheress for resolution is always
self-doubt. And that necessarily implies that trust has been placed in
an illusory self, for only such a self can be doubted. This illusion
can take many forms. Perhaps there is a fear of weakness and
vulnerability. Perhaps there is a fear of failure and shame associated
with a sense of inadequacy. Perhaps there is a guilty embarrassment
stemming from false humility. The form of the mistake is not
important. What is important is only the recognition of a mistake as a
mistake.
6 The
mistake is always some form of concern with the self to the exclusion
of the patient. It is a failure to recognize him or her as part of the
self and thus represents a confusion in identity. Conflict about what
you are has entered your mind, and you have become deceived about
yourself. And you are deceived about yourself because you have denied
the Source of your creation and manifestation. If you are offering
only healing, you cannot doubt. If you really want the problem solved,
you cannot doubt. If you are certain what the problem is, you cannot
doubt. Doubt is the result of conflicting wishes. Be sure of what you
want, and doubt becomes impossible.
1 The
belief in order of difficulties is the basis for the world's
perception. It rests on differences; on uneven background and shifting
foreground, on unequal heights and diverse sizes, on varying degrees
of darkness and light, and thousands of contrasts in which each thing
seen competes with every other in order to be recognized. A larger
object overshadows a smaller one. A brighter thing draws the attention
from another with less intensity of appeal. And a more threatening
idea or one conceived of as more desirable by the world's standards
completely upsets the mental balance. What the body's eyes behold is
only conflict. Look not to them for peace and understanding.
2
Illusions are always illusions of differences. How could it be
otherwise? By definition, an illusion is an attempt to make something
real that is regarded as of major importance but is recognized as
being untrue. The mind therefore seeks to make it true out of its
intensity of desire to have it for itself. Illusions are travesties of
creation and manifestation, attempts to bring truth to lies. Finding
truth unacceptable, the mind revolts against truth and gives itself an
illusion of victory. Finding health a burden, it retreats into
feverish dreams. And in these dreams, the mind is separate, different
from other minds, with different interests of its own and able to
gratify its needs at the expense of others.
3
Where do all these differences come from? Certainly they seem to be in
the world outside. Yet it is surely the mind that judges what the eyes
behold. It is the mind that interprets the eyes' messages and gives
them "meaning." And this meaning does not exist in the world outside
at all. What is seen as "reality" is simply what the mind prefers. Its
hierarchy of values is projected outward, and it sends the body's eyes
to find it. The body's eyes will never see except through differences.
Yet it is not the messages they bring on which perception rests. Only
the mind evaluates their messages, so only the mind is responsible for
seeing. It alone decides whether what is seen is real or illusory,
desirable or undesirable, pleasurable or painful.
4 It
is in the sorting out and categorizing activities of the mind that
errors in perception enter. And it is here correction must be made.
The mind classifies what the body's eyes bring to it according to its
preconceived values, judging where each sense datum fits best. What
basis could be faultier than this? Unrecognized by itself, it has
itself asked to be given what will fit into these categories. And
having done so, it concludes that the categories must be true. On this
the judgment of all differences rests because it is on this that
judgments of the world depend. Can this confused and senseless
"reasoning" be depended on for anything?
5
There can be no order of difficulty in healing merely because all
sickness is illusion. Is it harder to dispel the belief of the insane
in a larger hallucination as opposed to a smaller one? Will he&she
agree more quickly to the unreality of a louder voice he&she hears
than to that of a softer one? Will he&she dismiss more easily a
whispered demand to kill than a shout? And do the number of pitchforks
the devils he&she sees carrying affect their credibility in
his&her perception? his&her mind has categorized them as real,
and so they are real to him or her. When he&she realizes they are
all illusions, they will disappear. And so it is with healing. The
properties of illusions which seem to make them different are really
irrelevant, for their properties are as illusory as they are.
6 The
body's eyes will continue to see differences, but the mind which has
let itself be healed will no longer acknowledge them. There will be
those who seem to be "sicker" than others, and the body's eyes will
report their changed appearances as before. But the mind will put them
all in one category—they are unreal. This is the gift of its
Teacheress—the understanding that only two categories are meaningful
in sorting out the messages the mind receives from what appears to be
the outside world. And of these two, but one is real. Just as reality
is wholly real, apart from size and shape and time and place—for
differences cannot exist within it—so too are illusions without
distinction. The one answer to sickness of any kind is healing. The
one answer to all illusions is truth.
1
Changes are required in the minds of God's teachers and teacheresses.
This may or may not involve changes in the external situation.
Remember that no one is where he&she is by accident, and chance
plays no part in God's plan. It is most unlikely that changes in
his&her attitudes would not be the first step in the newly-made
teacher&teacheress of God's training. There is however no set
pattern, since training is always highly individualized. There are
those who are called upon to change their life situation almost
immediately, but these are generally special cases. By far the
majority are given a slowly-evolving training program in which as many
previous mistakes as possible are corrected. Relationships in
particular must be properly perceived and all dark cornerstones of
unforgiveness removed. Otherwise, the old thought-system still has a
basis for return.
2 As
the teacher&teacheress of God advances in his&her training,
he&she learns one lesson with increasing thoroughness. he&she
does not make his&her own decisions; he&she asks his&her
Teacheress for answer, and it is this he&she follows as
his&her guide for action. This becomes easier and easier as the
teacher&teacheress of God learns to give up his&her own
judgment. The giving up of judgment, the obvious prerequisite for
hearing God's Voice, is usually a fairly slow process, not because it
is difficult, but because it is apt to be perceived as personally
insulting. The world's training is directed toward achieving a goal in
direct opposition to that of our curriculum. The world trains for
reliance on one's judgment as the criterion for maturity and strength.
Our curriculum trains for the relinquishment of judgment as the
necessary condition of salvation.
1
Judgment, like other devices by which the world of illusions is
maintained, is totally misunderstood by the world. It is actually
confused with wisdom and substitutes for truth. As the world uses the
term, an individual is capable of "good" and "bad" judgment, and
his&her education aims at strengthening the former and minimizing
the latter. There is, however, considerable confusion about what these
categories mean. What is "good judgment" to one is "bad judgment" to
another. Further, even the same person classifies the same action as
showing "good" judgment at one time and "bad" judgment at another
time. Nor can any consistent criteria for determining what these
categories are be really taught. At any time, the student may disagree
with what his&her would-be teacher&teacheress says about them,
and the teacher&teacheress himself&herself is inconsistent in
what he&she believes.
2 "Good judgment" in these terms does not mean anything. No more does "bad."
It is necessary for the teacher&teacheress of God to realize not
that he&she should not judge, but that he&she cannot. In
giving up judgment, he&she merely gives up what he&she did not
have. he&she gives up an illusion; or better, he&she has an
illusion of giving up. he&she has actually merely become more
honest. Recognizing that judgment was always impossible for him or
her, he&she no longer attempts it. This is no sacrifice. On the
contrary, he&she puts himself&herself in a position where
judgment through him or her rather than by him or her can occur. And
this judgment is neither "good" nor "bad." It is the only judgment
there is, and it is only one: "God's SonDaughter is guiltless, and sin
does not exist."
3 The aim of our curriculum, unlike the goal of
the world's learning, is the recognition that judgment in the usual
sense is impossible. This is not an opinion, but a fact. In order to
judge anything rightly, one would have to be fully aware of an
inconceivably wide range of things, past, present, and to come. One
would have to recognize in advance all the effects of his&her
judgments on everyone and everything involved in them in any way. And
one would have to be certain there is no distortion in his&her
perception, so that his&her judgment would be wholly fair to
everyone on whom it rests, now and in the future. Who is in a position
to do this? Who except in grandiose fantasies would claim this for
himself&herself?
4 Remember how many times you thought you knew
all the "facts" you needed for judgment, and how wrong you were! Is
there anyone who has not had this experience? Would you know how many
times you merely thought you were right, without ever realizing you
were wrong? Why would you choose such an arbitrary basis for
decision-making? Wisdom is not judgment; it is the relinquishment of
judgment. Make then but one more judgment. It is this there is Someone
with you Whose judgment is perfect. HeShe does know all the facts,
past, present, and to come. HeShe does know all the effects of
judgment on everyone and everything involved in any way. And HeShe is
wholly fair to everyone, for there is no distortion in perception.
5 Therefore lay judgment down,
not with regret but with a sigh of gratitude. Now are you free of a
burden so great that you could merely stagger and fall down beneath
it. And it was all illusion. Nothing more. Now can the
teacher&teacheress of God rise up unburdened and walk lightly on.
Yet it is not only this that is his&her benefit. his&her sense
of care is gone, for he&she has none. he&she has given it
away, along with judgment. he&she gave himself&herself to Her
Whose judgment he&she has chosen now to trust instead of
his&her own. Now he&she makes no mistakes. his&her Guide
is sure. And where he&she came to judge, he&she comes to
bless. Where now he&she laughs, he&she used to come to weep.
6 It is not difficult to
relinquish judgment. But it is difficult indeed to try to keep it. The
teacher&teacheress of God lays it down happily the instant
he&she recognizes its cost. All of the ugliness he&she sees
about him or her is its outcome. All of the pain he&she looks upon
is its result. All of the loneliness and sense of loss, of passing
time and growing hopelessness; of sickening despair and fear of
death—all these have come of it. And now he&she knows that these
things need not be. Not one is true. For he&she has given up their
cause, and they, which never were but the effects of his&her
mistaken choice, have fallen from him or her. teacher&teacheress
of God, this step will bring you peace. Can it be difficult to want
but this?
1
This is a question everyone must ask. Certainly peace seems to be
impossible. Yet the Word of God promises other things that seem
impossible, as well as this. HisHer Word has promised peace. It has
also promised that there is no death, that resurrection must occur,
and that rebirth is man's or woman’s inheritance. The world you see
cannot be the world God loves, and yet HisHer Word assures us that
HeShe loves the world. God's Word has promised us that peace is
possible here, and what HeShe promises can hardly be impossible. But
it is true that the world must be looked at differently if HisHer
promises are to be accepted. What the world is, is but a fact. You
cannot choose what this should be. But you can choose how you would
see it. Indeed, you must choose this.
2
Again we come to the question of judgment. This time, ask yourself
whether your judgment or the Word of God is more likely to be true.
For they say different things about the world, and things so opposite
that it is pointless to try to reconcile them. God offers the world
salvation; your judgment would condemn it. God says there is no death;
your judgment sees but death as the inevitable end of life. God's Word
assures you that HeShe loves the world; your judgment says it is
unlovable. Who is right? For one of you is wrong. It must be so.
3 The
text explains that the Holy Spirit is the Answer to all problems you
have made. These problems are not real, but that is meaningless to
those who believe in them. And everyone believes in what he&she
made, for it was made by his&her believing it. Into this strange
and paradoxical situation—one without meaning and devoid of sense, yet
out of which no way seems possible—God has sent Judgment to answer
yours. Gently His Judgment substitutes for yours. And through this
substitution is the ununderstandable made understandable. How is peace
possible in this world? In your judgment it is not possible and can
never be possible. But in the Judgment of God, what is reflected here
is only peace.
4
Peace is impossible to those who look on war. Peace is inevitable to
those who offer peace. How easily, then, is your judgment of the world
escaped! It is not the world that makes peace seem impossible. It is
the world you see that is impossible. Yet has God's Judgment on this
distorted world redeemed it and made it fit to welcome peace. And
peace descends on it in joyous answer. Peace now belongs here because
a Thought of God has entered. What else but a Thought of God turns
hell to the God Realm merely by being what it is? The earth bows down
before its gracious Presence, and it leans down in answer to raise it
up again. Now is the question different. It is no longer, "Can peace
be possible in this world?" but instead, "Is it not impossible that
peace be absent here?"
1 The
answer to this question is "one." One wholly perfect
teacher&teacheress whose learning is complete suffices. This One,
sanctified and redeemed, becomes the Self Who is the SonDaughter of
God. Heshe who was always wholly Spirit now no longer sees
him&herself as a body or even as in a body. Therefore heshe is
limitless. And being limitless, Thoughts are joined with God's forever
and ever, perception of him&herself is based upon God's Judgment,
not hisher own. Thus does heshe share God's Will, and bring HisHer
Thoughts to still deluded minds. Heshe is forever One because heshe is
as God created and manifested him&her. Heshe has accepted the
Christ Consciousness&the Mercy Consciousness, and heshe is saved.
2
Thus does the son or daughter of humankind become the SonDaughter 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&teacheresses appear to be many, for
that 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.
3 Why
is the illusion of many necessary? Only because reality is not
understandable to the deluded. Only a very few can hear God's Voice at
all, and even they cannot communicate 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&teacheresses need a body, for their unity could not be
recognized directly.
4 Yet
what makes them God's teachers&teacheresses 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 which 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&teacheress 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&teacheresses 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.
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 which are responsible for the body's condition. Yet the
teacher&teacheress 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 or her when he&she has
fulfilled his&her role, just as It tells him or her what
his&her function is. he&she does not suffer either in going or
remaining. Sickness is now impossible to him or her.
6
Oneness and sickness cannot co-exist. God's
teachers&teacheresses 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&her faith in dreams, once they
are recognized for what they are? Awareness of dreaming is the real
function of God's teachers and teacheresses. 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&teacheresses acknowledge as behind the dream,
beyond all seeing and yet surely theirs.
1
Although in truth the term sacrifice is altogether meaningless, it
does have meaning in the world. Like all things in the world, its
meaning is temporary and will ultimately fade into the nothingness
from which it came when there is no more use for it. Now its real
meaning is a lesson. Like all lessons, it is an illusion, for in
reality there is nothing to learn. Yet this illusion must be replaced
by a corrective device, another illusion that replaces the first, so
both can finally disappear. The first illusion, which must be
displaced before another thought system can take hold, is that it is a
sacrifice to give up the things of this world. What could this be but
an illusion, since this world itself is nothing more than that?
2 It
takes great learning both to realize and to accept the fact that the
world has nothing to give. What can the sacrifice of nothing mean? It
cannot mean that you have less because of it. There is no sacrifice in
the world's terms that does not involve the body. Think a while about
what the world calls sacrifice. Power, fame, money, physical
pleasure—who is the hero to whom all these things belong? Could they
mean anything except to a body? Yet a body cannot evaluate. By seeking
after such things, the mind associates itself with the body, obscuring
its identity and losing sight of what it really is.
3
Once this confusion has occurred, it becomes impossible for the mind
to understand that all the "pleasures" of the world are nothing. But
what a sacrifice—and it is sacrifice indeed—all this entails! Now has
the mind condemned itself to seek without finding, to be forever
dissatisfied and discontented, to know not what it really wants to
find. Who can escape this self-condemnation? Only through God's Word
could this be possible. For self-condemnation is a decision about
identity, and no one doubts what he&she believes he&she is.
he&she can doubt all things but never this.
4
God's teachers&teacheresses can have no regret on giving up the
pleasures of the world. Is it a sacrifice to give up pain? Does an
adult resent the giving up of children's toys? Does one whose vision
has already glimpsed the face of the Christ Consciousness&the
Mercy Consciousness look back with longing on a slaughter house? No
one who has escaped the world and all its ills looks back on it with
condemnation. Yet he&she must rejoice that he&she is free of
all the sacrifice which its value would demand of him or her. To them
he&she sacrifices all his&her freedom. To them he&she
sacrifices all his&her peace. And to possess them must he&she
sacrifice his&her hope of the God Realm and remembrance of
his&her Father’sMother’s Love. Who in his&her sane mind
chooses nothing as a substitute for everything?
5
What is the real meaning of sacrifice? It is the cost of believing in
illusions. It is the price that must be paid for the denial of truth.
There is no pleasure of the world that does not demand this, for
otherwise the pleasure would be seen as pain. And no one asks for pain
if he&she recognizes it. It is the idea of sacrifice that makes
him or her blind. he&she does not see what he&she is asking
for. And so he&she seeks it in a thousand ways and in a thousand
places, each time believing it is there and each time disappointed in
the end. "Seek but do not find," remains this world's stern decree,
and no one who pursues the world's goals can do otherwise.
6 You
may believe this Course requires sacrifice of all you really hold
dear. In one sense that is true, for you hold dear the things that
crucify God's SonDaughter. And it is the Course's aim to set
him&her free. But do not be mistaken about what sacrifice means.
It always means the giving up of what you want. And what, oh
teacher&teacheress of God, is it that you want? You have been
called by God, and you have answered. Would you now sacrifice that
Call? Few have heard it as yet, and they can but turn to you. There is
no other hope in all the world that they can trust. There is no other
voice in all the world that echoes God's. If you would sacrifice the
truth, they stay in hell. And if they stay, you will remain with them.
7 Do
not forget that sacrifice is total. There are no "half sacrifices."
You cannot give up the God Realm partially. You cannot be a little bit
in hell. The Word of God has no exceptions. It is this that makes it
holy and beyond the world. It is its holiness that points to God. It
is its holiness that makes you safe. It is denied if you attack any
brother&sister for anything. For it is here the split with
God occurs. A split that is impossible. A split that cannot happen.
Yet a split in which you surely will believe, because you have set up
a situation that is impossible. And in this situation the impossible
can seem to happen. It seems to happen at the "sacrifice" of truth.
8
teacher&teacheress of God, do not forget the meaning of sacrifice,
and remember what each decision you make must mean in terms of cost.
Decide for God, and everything is given you at no cost at all. Decide
against him&her, and you choose nothing at the expense of the
awareness of everything. What would you teach? Remember only what you
would learn. For it is here that your concern should be. Atonement is
for you. Your learning claims it, and your learning gives it. The
world contains it not, but learn this Course and it is yours. God
holds out HisHer Word to you, for HeShe has need of teachers and
teacheresses. What other way is there to save HisHer SonDaughter?
1 Can
what has no beginning really end? The world will end in an illusion,
as it began. Yet will its ending be an illusion of mercy. The illusion
of forgiveness, complete, excluding no one, limitless in gentleness,
will cover it, hiding all evil, concealing all sin, and ending guilt
forever. So ends the world that guilt had made, for now it has no
purpose and is gone. The fathermother of illusions is the belief that
they have a purpose; that they serve a need or gratify a want.
Perceived as purposeless, they are no longer seen. Their uselessness
is recognized, and they are gone. How but in this way are all
illusions ended? They have been brought to truth, and truth saw them
not. It merely overlooked the meaningless.
2
Until forgiveness is complete, the world does have a purpose. It
becomes the home in which forgiveness is born and where it grows and
becomes stronger and more all embracing. Here is it nourished, for
here it is needed. A gentle Savioress, born where sin was made and
guilt seemed real. Here is Her home, for here there is need of Her
indeed. She brings the ending of the world with Her. It is Her call
God's teachers&teacheresses answer, turning to Her in silence to
receive Her Word. The world will end when all things in it have been
rightly judged by Her judgment. The world will end with the
benediction of holiness upon it. When not one thought of sin remains,
the world is over. It will not be destroyed nor attacked nor even
touched. It will merely cease to seem to be.
3
Certainly this seems to be a long, long while away. "When not one
thought of sin remains" appears to be a long-range goal indeed. But
time stands still and waits on the goals of God's teachers and
teacheresses. Not one thought of sin will remain the instant any one
of them accepts the Atonement for himself&herself. It is not
easier to forgive one sin than to forgive all of them. The illusion of
orders of difficulty is an obstacle the teacher&teacheress of God
must learn to pass by and leave behind. One sin perfectly forgiven by
one teacher&teacheress of God can make salvation complete. Can you
understand this? No; it is meaningless to anyone here. Yet it is the
final lesson in which unity is restored. It goes against all the
thinking of the world, but so does the God Realm.
4 The
world will end when its thought system has been completely reversed.
Until then, bits and pieces of its thinking will still seem sensible.
The final lesson which brings the ending of the world cannot be
grasped by those not yet prepared to leave the world and go beyond its
tiny reach. What, then, is the function of the teacher&teacheress
of God in this concluding lesson? he&she need merely learn how to
approach it, to be willing to go in its direction. he&she need
merely trust that, if God's Voice tells him or her it is a lesson
he&she can learn, he&she can learn it. he&she does not
judge it either as hard or easy. The Teacheress points to it, and
he&she trusts that She will show him or her how to learn it.
5 The
world will end in joy because it is a place of sorrow. When joy has
come, the purpose of the world has gone. The world will end in peace
because it is a place of war. When peace has come, what is the purpose
of the world? The world will end in laughter because it is a place of
tears. Where there is laughter, who can longer weep? And only complete
forgiveness brings all this to bless the world. In blessing it
departs, for it will not end as it began. To turn hell into the God
Realm is the function of God's teachers and teacheresses, for what
they teach are lessons in which the God Realm is reflected. And now
sit down in true humility and realize that all God would have you do
you can do. Do not be arrogant and say you cannot learn HisHer own
curriculum. HisHer Word says otherwise. HisHer Will be done. It cannot
be otherwise. And be you thankful it is so.
1
Indeed yes! No one can escape God's Final Judgment. Who could flee
forever from the truth? But the Final Judgment will not come until it
is no longer associated with fear. One day each one will welcome it,
and on that very day it will be given him or her. he&she will hear
his&her sinlessness proclaimed around and around the world,
setting it free as God's Final Judgment on him or her is received.
This is the judgment in which salvation lies. This is the judgment
that will set him or her free. This is the judgment in which all
things are freed with him or her. Time pauses as eternity comes near,
and silence lies across the world that everyone may hear this judgment
of the SonDaughter of God:
3 Is
this your judgment on yourself, teacher&teacheress of God? Do you
believe that this is wholly true? No, not yet, not yet. But this is
still your goal—why you are here. It is your function to prepare
yourself to hear this judgment and to recognize that it is true. One
instant of complete belief in this, and you will go beyond belief to
certainty. One instant out of time can bring time's end. Judge not,
for you but judge yourself and thus delay this Final Judgment. What is
your judgment on the world, teacher&teacheress of God? Have you
yet learned to stand aside and hear the Voice of Judgment in yourself?
Or do you still attempt to take HisHer role from him&her? Learn to
be quiet, for HisHer Voice is heard in stillness. And Judgment comes
to all who stand aside in quiet listening and wait for him&her.
4 You
who are sometimes sad and sometimes angry, who sometimes feel your
just due is not given you and your best efforts meet with lack of
appreciation and even contempt, give up these foolish thoughts. They
are too small and meaningless to occupy your holy minds an instant
longer. God's judgment waits for you to set you free. What can the
world hold out to you, regardless of your judgments on its gifts, that
you would rather have? You will be judged, and judged in fairness and
in honesty. There is no deceit in God. HisHer promises are sure. Only
remember that HisHer promises have guaranteed that HisHer judgment,
and HisHer alone, will be accepted in the end. It is your function to
make that end be soon. It is your function to hold it to your heart
and offer it to all the world to keep it safe.
1 To
the advanced teacher&teacheress of God, this question is
meaningless. There is no program, for the lessons in the curriculum
change each day. Yet he&she is sure of but one thing—they do not
change at random. Seeing this and understanding it is true, he&she
rests content. he&she will be told all that his&her role
should be, this day and every day. And those who share that role with
him or her will find him or her, so they can learn the lessons for the
day together. Not one is absent whom he&she needs; not one is sent
without a learning goal already set, and one which can be met that
very day. For the advanced teacher&teacheress of God, then, this
question is superfluous. It has been asked and answered, and
he&she keeps in constant contact with the Answer. he&she is
set and sees the road on which he&she walks stretch surely and
smoothly before him or her.
2 But
what about those who have not reached his&her certainty? They are
not yet ready for such lack of structuring on their own part. What
must they do to learn to give the day to God? There are some general
rules which do apply, although each one must use them as best
he&she can in his&her own way. Routines as such are dangerous
because they easily become gods in their own right, threatening the
very goals for which they were set up. Broadly speaking, then, it can
be said that it is well to start the day right. It is always possible
to begin again, should the day begin with error, yet there are obvious
advantages in terms of saving time if the need for this can be
avoided.
3 At
the beginning, it is wise to think in terms of time. This is by no
means the ultimate criterion, but at the outset, it is probably the
simplest to observe. The saving of time is an essential early emphasis
which, although it remains important throughout the learning process,
becomes less and less emphasized. At the outset, we can safely say
that time devoted to starting the day right does indeed save time. How
much time should be so spent? This must depend on the
teacher&teacheress of God himself&herself. he&she cannot
claim that title until he&she has gone through the workbook, since
we are learning within the framework of our course. After completion
of the more structured practice periods which the workbook contains,
individual need becomes the chief consideration.
4
This course is always practical. It may be that the
teacher&teacheress of God is not in a situation which fosters
quiet thought as he&she awakes. If this is so, let him or her but
remember that he&she chooses to spend time with God as soon as
possible, and let him or her do so. Duration is not the major concern.
One can easily sit still an hour with closed eyes and accomplish
nothing. One can as easily give God only an instant, and in that
instant join with him&her completely. Perhaps the one
generalization that can be made is this—as soon as possible after
waking, take your quiet time, continuing a minute or two after you
begin to find it difficult. You may find that the difficulty will
diminish and drop away. If not, that is the time to stop.
5 The
same procedures should be followed at night. Perhaps your quiet time
should be fairly early in the evening if it is not feasible for you to
take it just before going to sleep. It is not wise to lie down for it.
It is better to sit up, in whatever position you prefer. Having gone
through the workbook you must have come to some conclusions in this
respect. If possible, however, just before going to sleep is a
desirable time to devote to God. It sets your mind into a pattern of
rest and orients you away from fear. If it is expedient to spend this
time earlier, at least be sure that you do not forget a brief
period—not more than a moment will do—in which you close your eyes and
think of God.
6
There is one thought in particular that should be remembered
throughout the day. It is a thought of pure joy, a thought of peace, a
thought of limitless release—limitless because all things are freed
within it. You think you made a place of safety for yourself. You
think you made a power that can save you from all the fearful things
you see in dreams. It is not so. Your safety lies not there. What you
give up is merely the illusion of protecting illusions. And it is this
you fear, and only this. How foolish to be so afraid of nothing!
Nothing at all! Your defenses will not work, but you are not in
danger. You have no need of them. Recognize this, and they will
disappear. And only then will you accept your real protection.
7 How
simply and how easily does the day slip by for the
teacher&teacheress of God who has accepted protection! All that
he&she did before in the name of safety no longer interests him or
her. For he&she is safe and knows it to be so. he&she has a
Guide Who will not fail. he&she needs make no distinctions among
the problems he&she perceives, for HeShe to Whom he&she turns
with all of them recognizes no order of difficulty in resolving them.
he&she is as safe in the present as he&she was before
illusions were accepted into his&her mind and as he&she will
be when he&she has let them go. There is no difference in
his&her state at different times and different places because they
are all one to God. This is his&her safety. And he&she has no
need for more than this.
8 Yet
there will be temptations along the way the teacher&teacheress of
God has yet to travel, and he&she has need of reminding
himself&herself throughout the day of his&her protection. How
can he&she do this, particularly during the time when his&her
mind is occupied with external things? he&she can but try, and
his&her success depends on his&her conviction that he&she
will succeed. he&she must be sure success is not of him or her but
will be given him or her at any time, in any place and circumstance
he&she calls for it. There are times his&her certainty will
waver, and the instant this occurs he&she will return to earlier
attempts to place reliance on himself&herself alone. Forget not
this is magic and that magic is a sorry substitute for true
assistance. It is not good enough for God's teacher&teacheress
because it is not enough for God's SonDaughter.
9 The
avoidance of magic is the avoidance of temptation. For all temptation
is nothing more than the attempt to substitute another will for God's.
These attempts may indeed seem frightening, yet they are merely
pathetic. They can have no effects, neither good nor bad, neither
rewarding nor demanding sacrifice, healing nor destructive, quieting
nor fearful. When all magic is recognized as merely nothing, the
teacher&teacheress of God has reached the most advanced state. All
intermediate lessons will but lead to this and bring this goal nearer
to recognition. For magic of any kind, in all its forms, simply does
nothing. Its powerlessness is the reason it can be so easily escaped.
What has no effects can hardly terrify.
10
There is no substitute for the Will of God. In simple statement, it is
to this fact that the teacher&teacheress of God devotes
his&her day. Each substitute he&she may accept as real can but
deceive him or her. But he&she is safe from all deception if
he&she so decides. Perhaps he&she needs to remember "God is
with me. I cannot be deceived." Perhaps he&she prefers other
words, or only one or none at all. Yet each temptation to accept magic
as true must be abandoned through his&her recognition not that it
is fearful, not that it is sinful, not that it is dangerous, but
merely that it is meaningless. Rooted in sacrifice and separation, two
aspects of one error and no more, he&she merely chooses to give up
all that he&she never had. And for this "sacrifice" is the God
Realm restored to his&her awareness.
11 Is
not this an exchange that you would want? The world would gladly make
it if it knew it could be made. It is God's
teachers&teacheresses who must teach it that it can. And so
it is their function to make sure that they have learned it. No risk
is possible throughout the day except to put your trust in magic, for
it is only this that leads to pain. "There is no will but God's."
teachers&teacheresses know that this is so and have learned that
everything but this is magic. All belief in magic is maintained by
just one simple-minded illusion—that it works. All through his&her
training, every day and hour, and even every minute and second, must
God's teachers&teacheresses learn to recognize the forms of magic
and perceive their meaninglessness. Fear is withdrawn from them, and
so they go. And thus the Gate of the God Realm is reopened, and its
light can shine again on an untroubled mind.
1
This is a crucial question both for teacher&teacheress and pupil.
If this issue is mishandled, the teacher&teacheress has hurt
himself&herself and has also attacked his&her pupil. This
strengthens fear and makes the magic seem quite real to both of them.
How to deal with magic thus becomes a major lesson for the
teacher&teacheress of God to master. his&her first
responsibility in this is not to attack it. If a magic thought arouses
anger in any form, God's teacher&teacheress can be sure that
he&she is strengthening his&her own belief in sin and has
condemned himself&herself. he&she can be sure as well that
he&she has asked for depression, pain, fear, and disaster to come
to him or her. Let him or her remember, then, it is not this that
he&she would teach because it is not this that he&she would
learn.
2
There is, however, a temptation to respond to magic in a way that
reinforces it. Nor is this always obvious. It can, in fact, be easily
concealed beneath a wish to help. It is this double wish that makes
the help of little value and must lead to undesired outcomes. Nor
should it be forgotten that the outcome that results will always come
to teacher&teacheress and to pupil. How many times has it been
emphasized that you give but to yourself? And where could this be
better shown than in the kinds of help the teacher&teacheress
gives to those who need his&her aid? Here is his&her gift most
clearly given him or her. For he&she will give only what
he&she has chosen for himself&herself. And in this gift is
his&her judgment upon the holy SonDaughter of God.
3 It
is easiest to let error be corrected where it is most apparent, and
errors can be recognized by their results. A lesson truly taught can
lead to nothing but release for teacher&teacheress and pupil who
have shared in one intent. Attack can enter only if perception of
separate goals has entered. And this must indeed have been the case if
the result is anything but joy. The single aim of the
teacher&teacheress turns the divided goal of the pupil into one
direction, with the call for help becoming his&her one appeal.
This then is easily responded to with just one answer, and this answer
will enter the teacher’s or teacheress's mind unfailingly. From there
it shines into his&her pupil's mind, making it one with
his&hers.
4
Perhaps it will be helpful to remember that no one can be angry at a
fact. It is always an interpretation that gives rise to negative
emotions, regardless of their seeming justification by what appears as
facts. Regardless, too, of the intensity of the anger that is aroused.
It may be merely slight irritation, perhaps too mild to be even
clearly recognized. Or it may also take the form of intense rage
accompanied by thoughts of violence, fantasized or apparently acted
out. It does not matter. All of these reactions are the same. They
obscure the truth, and this can never be a matter of degree. Either
truth is apparent or it is not. It cannot be partially recognized. Who
is unaware of truth must look upon illusions.
5
Anger in response to perceived magic thoughts is the basic cause of
fear. Consider what this reaction means, and its centrality in the
world's thought system becomes apparent. A magic thought, by its mere
presence, acknowledges a separation from God. It states in the
clearest form possible that the mind which thinks it believes it has a
separate will that can oppose the Will of God and succeed. That this
can hardly be a fact is obvious. Yet that it can be believed as fact
is surely so. And herein lies the birthplace of guilt. Who usurps the
place of God and takes it for himself&herself now has a deadly
"enemy." And he&she must stand alone in his&her protection and
make himself&herself a shield to keep him or her safe from fury
that can never be abated and vengeance that can never be satisfied.
6 How
can this unfair battle be resolved? Its ending is inevitable, for its
outcome must be death. How then can one believe in one's defenses?
Magic again must help. Forget the battle. Accept it as a fact, and
then forget it. Do not remember the impossible odds against you. Do
not remember the immensity of the "enemy," and do not think about your
frailty in comparison. Accept your separation, but do not remember how
it came about. Believe that you have won it, but do not retain the
slightest memory of Who your great "opponent" really is. Projecting
your "forgetting" onto him&her, it seems to you HeShe has
forgotten too.
7 But
what will now be your reaction to all magic thoughts? They can but
reawaken sleeping guilt, which you have hidden but have not let go.
Each one says clearly to your frightened mind, "You have usurped the
place of God. Think not HeShe has forgotten." Here we have the fear of
God most starkly represented. For in that thought has guilt already
raised madness to the throne of God him&herself. And now there is
no hope. Except to kill. Here is salvation now. An angry FatherMother
pursues guilty SonDaughter. Kill or be killed, for here alone is
choice. Beyond this there is none, for what was done cannot be done
without. The stain of blood can never be removed, and anyone who bears
this stain on him or her must meet with death.
8
Into this hopeless situation God sends His teachers and teacheresses.
They bring the light of hope from God him&herself. There is a way
in which escape is possible. It can be learned and taught, but it
requires patience and abundant willingness. Given that, the lesson's
manifest simplicity stands out like an intense white light against a
black horizon, for such it is. If anger comes from an interpretation
and not a fact, it is never justified. Once this is even dimly
grasped, the way is open. Now it is possible to take the next step.
The interpretation can be changed at last. Magic thoughts need not
lead to condemnation, for they do not really have the power to give
rise to guilt. And so they can be overlooked and thus forgotten in the
truest sense.
9
Madness but seems terrible. In truth it has no power to make anything.
Like the magic which becomes its male servant or female servant, it
neither attacks nor protects. To see it and to recognize its thought
system is to look on nothing. Can nothing give rise to anger? Hardly
so. Remember then, teacher&teacheress of God, that anger
recognizes a reality that is not there, yet is the anger certain
witness that you do believe in it as fact. Now is escape impossible
until you see you have responded to your own interpretation which you
have projected on an outside world. Let this grim sword be taken from
you now. There is no death. This sword does not exist. The fear of God
is causeless. But HisHer love is Cause of everything beyond all fear
and thus forever real and always true.
1
Correction of a lasting nature—and only this is true correction—cannot
be made until the teacher&teacheress of God has ceased to confuse
interpretation with fact or illusion with truth. If he&she argues
with his&her pupil about a magic thought, attacks it, tries to
establish its error or demonstrate its falsity, he&she is but
witnessing to its reality. Depression is then inevitable, for
he&she has "proved," both to his&her pupil and
himself&herself that it is their task to escape from what is real.
And this can only be impossible. Reality is changeless. Magic thoughts
are but illusions. Otherwise salvation would be only the same age-old
impossible dream in but another form. Yet the dream of salvation has
new content. It is not the form alone in which the difference lies.
2
God's teachers and teacheressess' major lesson is to learn how to
react to magic thoughts wholly without anger. Only in this way can
they proclaim the truth about themselves. Through them, the Holy
Spirit can now speak of the reality of the SonDaughter of God. Now She
can remind the world of sinlessness, the one unchanged, unchangeable
condition of all that God created and manifested. Now She can speak
the Word of God to listening ears and bring the Christ Consciousness,
the Mercy Consciousness’ vision to the eyes that see. Now is She free
to teach all minds the truth of what they are, so they will gladly be
returned to Her. And now is guilt forgiven, overlooked completely in
Her sight and in God's Word.
3
Anger but screeches, "Guilt is real." Reality is blotted out as this
insane belief is taken as replacement for God's Word. The body's eyes
now "see"; its ears alone are thought to hear. Its little space and
tiny breath become the measure of reality. And truth becomes
diminutive and meaningless. Correction has one answer to all this and
to the world that rests on this:
5 In
order to heal, it thus becomes essential for the
teacher&teacheress of God to let all his&her own mistakes be
corrected. If he&she senses even the faintest hint of irritation
in himself&herself as he&she responds to anyone, let him or
her instantly realize that he&she has made an interpretation that
is not true. Then let him or her turn within to his&her Eternal
Guide, and let Her judge what the response should be. So is he&she
healed, and in his&her healing is his&her pupil healed with
him or her. The sole responsibility of God's teacher&teacheress is
to accept the Atonement for himself&herself. Atonement means
correction, or the undoing of errors. When this has been accomplished,
the teacher&teacheress of God becomes a miracle worker by
definition. his&her sins have been forgiven him or her, and
he&she no longer condemns himself&herself. How can he&she
then condemn anyone? And who is there whom his&her forgiveness can
fail to heal?
1
Justice is the divine correction for injustice. Injustice is the basis
for all the judgments of the world. Justice corrects the
interpretations to which injustice gives rise and cancels them out.
Neither justice nor injustice exists in the God Realm, for error is
impossible and correction meaningless. In this world, however,
forgiveness depends on justice since all attack can only be unjust.
Justice is the Holy Spirit's verdict upon the world. Except in
judgment, justice is impossible, for no one in the world is capable of
making only just interpretations and laying all injustices aside. If
God's SonDaughter were fairly judged, there would be no need for
salvation. The thought of separation would have been forever
inconceivable.
2
Justice, like its opposite, is an interpretation. It is, however, the
one interpretation that leads to truth. This becomes possible because,
while it is not true in itself, justice includes nothing that opposes
truth. There is no inherent conflict between justice and truth; one is
but the first small step in the direction of the other. The path
becomes quite different as one goes along. Nor could all the
magnificence, the grandeur of the scene and the enormous opening
vistas that rise to meet one as he&she travels on, be foretold
from the outset. Yet even these, whose splendor reaches indescribable
heights as one proceeds, falls short indeed of all that awaits one
when the pathway ceases and time ends with it. But somewhere one must
start. Justice is the beginning.
3 All
concepts of your brothers and sisters and yourself, all fears of
future states, and all concern about the past stem from injustice.
Here is the lens which, held before the body's eyes, distorts
perception and brings witness of the distorted world back to the mind
that made the lens and holds it very dear. Selectively and arbitrarily
is every concept of the world built up in just this way. "Sins" are
perceived and justified by this careful selectivity in which all
thought of wholeness must be lost. Forgiveness has no place in such a
scheme, for not one "sin" but seems forever true.
4
Salvation is God's justice. It restores to your awareness the
wholeness of the fragments you perceive as broken off and separate.
And it is this that overcomes the fear of death. For separate
fragments must decay and die, but wholeness is immortal. It remains
forever and forever like its CreatorManifestor, being one with
him&her. God's Judgment is justice. Onto this—a judgment wholly
lacking in condemnation, an evaluation based entirely on love—you have
projected your injustice, attributing to God the lens of warped
perception through which you look. Now it belongs to him&her and
not to you. You are afraid of him&her and do not see you hate and
fear your Self as enemy.
5
Pray for God's justice, and do not confuse HisHer mercy with your own
insanity. Perception can make whatever picture the mind desires to
see. Remember this. In this lies either the God Realm or hell, as you
elect. God's justice points to the God Realm just because it is
entirely impartial. It accepts all evidence that is brought before it,
omitting nothing and assessing nothing as separate and apart from all
the rest. From this one standpoint does it judge, and this alone. Here
all attack and condemnation becomes meaningless and indefensible.
Perception rests, the mind is still, and light returns again. Vision
is now restored. What had been lost has now been found. The peace of
God descends on all the world and we can see. And we can see!
1 It
has been said that there is a kind of peace that is not of this world.
How is it recognized? How is it found? And being found, how can it be
retained? Let us consider each of these questions separately, for each
reflects a different step along the way.
2
First, how can the peace of God be recognized? God's peace is
recognized at first by just one thing—in every way it is totally
unlike all previous experiences. It calls to mind nothing that went
before. It brings with it no past associations. It is a new thing
entirely. There is a contrast, yes, between this thing and all the
past. But strangely, it is not a contrast of true differences. The
past just slips away and in its place is everlasting quiet. Only that.
The contrast first perceived has merely gone. Quiet has reached to
cover everything.
3 How
is this quiet found? No one can fail to find it who but seeks out its
conditions. God's peace can never come where anger is, for anger must
deny that peace exists. Who sees anger as justified in any way or any
circumstance proclaims that peace is meaningless and must believe that
it cannot exist. In this condition peace cannot be found. Therefore
forgiveness is the necessary condition for finding the peace of God.
More than this, given forgiveness there must be peace. For what except
attack will lead to war? And what but peace is opposite to war? Here
the initial contrast stands out clear and apparent. Yet when peace is
found, the war is meaningless. And it is conflict now that is
perceived as non-existent and unreal.
4 How
is the peace of God retained once it is found? Returning anger in
whatever form will drop the heavy curtain once again, and the belief
that peace cannot exist will certainly return. War is again accepted
as the one reality. Now must you once again lay down your sword,
although you may not recognize that you have picked it up again. But
you will learn, as you remember even faintly now what happiness was
yours without it, that you must have taken it again as your defense.
Stop for a moment now, and think of this: is conflict what you want,
or is God's peace the better choice? Which gives you more? A tranquil
mind is not a little gift. Would you not rather live than choose to
die?
5
Living is joy, but death can only weep. You see in death escape from
what you made. But this you do not see—that you made death, and it is
but illusion of an end. Death cannot be escape because it is not life
in which the problem lies. Life has no opposite, for it is God. Life
and death seem to be opposites because you have decided that death
ends life. Forgive the world, and you will understand that everything
which God created and manifested cannot have an end, and nothing HeShe
did not create and manifest is real. In this one sentence is our
course explained. In this one sentence is our practicing given its one
direction. And in this the Holy Spirit's whole curriculum is specified
exactly as it is.
6
What is the peace of God? No more than this—the simple understanding
that HisHer Will is wholly without opposite. There is no thought that
contradicts HisHer Will yet can be true. The contrast between HisHer
Will and yours but seemed to be reality. In truth there is no conflict
because HisHer Will is yours. Now is the mighty Will of God
him&herself HisHer gift to you. HeShe does not seek to keep it for
him&herself. Why would you seek to keep your tiny, frail
imaginings apart from him&her? The Will of God is one and all
there is. This is your heritage. The universe beyond the sun and stars
and all the thoughts of which you can conceive belong to you. God's
peace is the condition for HisHer Will. Attain peace, and you remember
him&her.
1
Strictly speaking, words play no part at all in healing. The
motivating factor is prayer, or asking. What you ask for, you receive.
But this refers to the prayer of the heart, not to the words you use
in praying. Sometimes the words and the prayer are contradictory;
sometimes they agree. It does not matter. God does not understand
words, for they were made by separated minds to keep them in the
illusion of separation. Words can be helpful, particularly for the
beginner, in helping concentration and facilitating the exclusion or
at least the control of extraneous thoughts. Let us not forget,
however, that words are but symbols of symbols. They are thus twice
removed from reality.
2 As
symbols, words have quite specific references. Even when they seem
most abstract, the picture that comes to mind is apt to be very
concrete. Unless a specific referent does occur to the mind in
conjunction with the word, the word has little or no practical meaning
and thus cannot help the healing process. The prayer of the heart does
not really ask for concrete things. It always requests some kind of
experience, the specific things asked for being the bringers of the
desired experience in the judgment of the asker. The words, then, are
symbols for the things asked for, but the things themselves but stand
for the experiences which are hoped for.
3 The
prayer for things of this world will bring experiences of this world.
If the prayer of the heart asks for this, this will be given because
this will be received. It is impossible that the prayer of the heart
remain unanswered in the perception of the one who asks. If he&she
asks for the impossible, if he&she wants what does not exist or
seeks for illusions in his&her heart, all this becomes his&her
own. The power of his&her decision offers it to him or her, as
he&she requests. Herein lie hell and the God Realm. The sleeping
SonDaughter of God has but this power left to him or her. It is
enough. his&her words do not matter. Only the Word of God has any
meaning because it symbolizes that which has no human symbols at all.
The Holy Spirit alone understands what this Word stands for. And this,
too, is enough.
4 Is
the teacher&teacheress of God then to avoid the use of words in
his&her teaching? No, indeed. There are many who must be reached
through words, being as yet unable to hear in silence. The
teacher&teacheress of God must, however, learn to use words in a
new way. Gradually, he&she learns how to let his&her words be
chosen for him or her by ceasing to decide for himself&herself
what he&she will say. This process is merely a special case of the
workbook lesson "I will step back and let him&her lead the way."
The teacher&teacheress of God accepts the words which are offered
him or her and gives as he&she receives. he&she does not
control the direction of his&her speaking. he&she listens and
hears and speaks.
5 A
major hindrance in this aspect of his&her learning is the
teacher&teacheress of God's fear about the validity of what
he&she hears. And what he&she hears may indeed be quite
startling. It may also seem to be quite irrelevant to the presented
problem as he&she perceives it, and may, in fact, confront him or
her with a situation that appears to be very embarrassing. All these
are judgments which have no value. They are his&her own, coming
from a shabby self-perception that he&she would leave behind.
Judge not the words that come to you, but offer them in confidence.
They are far wiser than your own. God's teachers&teacheresses have
God's Word behind their symbols. And HeShe him&herself gives to
the words they use the power of HisHer Spirit, raising them from
meaningless symbols to the call of the God Realm itself.
1
Healing and Atonement are not related; they are identical. There is no
order of difficulty in miracles because there are no degrees of
Atonement. It is the one complete concept possible in this world
because it is the source of a wholly unified perception. Partial
Atonement is a meaningless idea, just as special areas of hell in the
God Realm is inconceivable. Accept Atonement, and you are healed.
Atonement is the Word of God. Accept HisHer Word, and what remains to
make sickness possible? Accept HisHer Word, and every miracle has been
accomplished. To forgive is to heal. The teacher&teacheress of God
has taken accepting the Atonement for himself&herself as
his&her only function. What is there, then, he&she cannot
heal? What miracle can be withheld from him or her?
2 The
progress of the teacher&teacheress of God may be slow or rapid,
depending on whether he&she recognizes the Atonement's
inclusiveness or for a time excludes some problem areas from it. In
some cases, there is a sudden and complete awareness of the perfect
applicability of the lesson of the Atonement to all situations. This,
however, is comparatively rare. The teacher&teacheress of God may
have accepted the function God has given him or her long before
he&she has learned all that his&her acceptance holds out to
him or her. It is only the end that is certain. Anywhere along the
way, the necessary realization of inclusiveness may reach him or her.
If the way seems long, let him or her be content. he&she has
decided on the direction he&she will take. What more was asked of
him or her? And having done what was required, would God withhold the
rest?
3
That forgiveness is healing needs to be understood if the
teacher&teacheress of God is to make progress. The idea that a
body can be sick is a central concept in the ego's thought system.
This thought gives the body autonomy, separates it from the mind, and
keeps the idea of attack inviolate. If the body could be sick,
Atonement would be impossible. A body that can order a mind to do as
it sees fit would merely take the place of God and prove salvation is
impossible. What then is left to heal? The body has become lord or
lady of the mind. How could the mind be returned to the Holy Spirit
unless the body is killed? And who would want salvation at such a
price?
4
Certainly sickness does not appear to be a decision. Nor would anyone
actually believe he&she wants to be sick. Perhaps he&she can
accept the idea in theory, but it is rarely if ever consistently
applied to all specific forms of sickness, both in the individual's
perception of himself&herself and of all others as well. Nor is it
at this level that the teacher&teacheress of God calls forth the
miracle of healing. he&she overlooks the mind and body, seeing
only the face of the Christ Consciousness&the Mercy Consciousness
shining in front of him or her, correcting all mistakes and healing
all perception. Healing is the result of the recognition by God's
teacher&teacheress of Who it is that is in need of healing. This
recognition has no special reference. It is true of all things that
God created and manifested. In it are all illusions healed.
5
When a teacher&teacheress of God fails to heal, it is because
he&she has forgotten Who he&she is. Another's sickness thus
becomes his&her own. In allowing this to happen, he&she has
identified with another's ego and has thus confused him or her with a
body. In so doing, he&she has refused to accept the Atonement for
himself&herself and can hardly offer it to his&her
brother&sister in the name of the Christ
Consciousness&the Mercy Consciousness. he&she will, in fact,
be unable to recognize his&her brother&sister at all,
for his&her FatherMother did not create and manifest bodies, and
so he&she is seeing in his&her brother&sister only
the unreal. Mistakes do not correct mistakes, and distorted perception
does not heal. Step back now, teacher&teacheress of God. You have
been wrong. Lead not the way, for you have lost it. Turn quickly to
your Teacheress, and let yourself be healed.
6 The
offer of Atonement is universal. It is equally applicable to all
individuals in all circumstances. And in it is the power to heal all
individuals of all forms of sickness. Not to believe this is to be
unfair to God and thus unfaithful to him&her. A sick person
perceives himself&herself as separate from God. Would you see him
or her as separate from you? It is your task to heal the sense of
separation that has made him or her sick. It is your function to
recognize for him or her that what he&she believes about
himself&herself is not the truth. It is your forgiveness that must
show him or her this. Healing is very simple. Atonement is received
and offered. Having been received, it must be accepted. It is in the
receiving, then, that healing lies. All else must follow from this
single purpose.
7 Who
can limit the power of God him&herself? Who then can say who can
be healed of what and what must remain beyond God's power to forgive?
This is insanity indeed. It is not up to God's
teachers&teacheresses to set limits upon him&her because it is
not up to them to judge HisHer SonDaughter. And to judge HisHer
SonDaughter is to limit hisher FatherMother. Both are equally
meaningless. Yet this will not be understood until God's
teacher&teacheress recognizes that they are the same mistake.
Herein does he&she receive Atonement, for he&she withdraws
his&her judgment from the SonDaughter of God, accepting
him&her as God created and manifested him&her. No longer does
he&she stand apart from God, determining where healing should be
given and where it should be withheld. Now can he&she say with
God, "This is my beloved SonDaughter, created and manifested perfect
and forever so."
1
God's gifts can rarely be received directly. Even the most advanced of
God's teachers&teacheresses will give way to temptation in this
world. Would it be fair if their pupils were denied healing because of
this? The Bible says, "Ask in the name of Jesus Christ." Is this
merely an appeal to magic? A name does not heal, nor does an
invocation call forth any special power. What does it mean to call on
Jesus Christ? What does calling on his name confer? Why is the appeal
to him part of healing?
2 We
have repeatedly stated that one who has perfectly accepted the
Atonement for himself can heal the world. Indeed, he has already done
so. Temptation may recur to others, but never to this one. He has
become the risen Son of God. He has overcome death because he has
accepted life. He has recognized himself as God created and manifested
him, and in so doing he has recognized all living things as part of
him. There is now no limit on his power because it is the Power of
God. So has his name become the name of God, for he no longer sees
himself as separate from him&her.
3
What does this mean to you? It means that in remembering Jesus, you
are remembering God. The whole relationship of the SonDaughter to the
FatherMother lies in him. His part in the SonDaughtership is also
yours, and his completed learning guarantees your own success. Is he
still available for help? What did he say about this? Remember his
promises, and ask yourself honestly whether it is likely that he will
fail to keep them. Can God fail HisHer SonDaughter? And can one who is
one with God be unlike him&her? Who transcends the body has
transcended limitation. Would the greatest teacher&teacheress be
unavailable to those who follow him?
4 The
name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol. But it stands for love
that is not of this world. It is a symbol that can safely be used as a
replacement for the many names of all the gods you pray to. It becomes
the shining symbol for the Word of God, so close to what it stands for
that the little space between the two is lost the moment that the name
is called to mind. Remembering His name is to give thanks for all the
gifts that God has given you. And gratitude to God becomes the way in
which He is remembered, for love cannot be far behind a grateful heart
and thankful mind. God enters easily, for these are the true
conditions for your coming home.
5
Jesus has led the way. Why would you not be grateful to him? He has
asked for love, but only that he might give it to you. You do not love
yourself. But in his eyes your loveliness is so complete and flawless
that he sees in it an image of his FatherMother. You become the symbol
of his FatherMother here on earth. To you he looks for hope because in
you he sees no limit and no stain to mar your beautiful perfection. In
his eyes the vision of the Christ Consciousness&the Mercy
Consciousness shines in perfect constancy. He has remained with you.
Would you not learn the lesson of salvation through his learning? Why
would you choose to start again when he has made the journey for you?
6 No
one on earth can grasp what the God Realm is or what its one
CreatorManifestor really means. Yet we have witnesses. It is to them
that wisdom would appeal. There have been those whose learning far
exceeds what you can learn. Nor would we teach the limitations we have
laid on us. No one who has become a true and dedicated
teacher&teacheress of God forgets his&her brothers and
sisters. Yet what he&she can offer them is limited by what
he&she learns himself&herself. Then turn to one who laid all
limits by and went beyond the farthest reach of learning. He will take
you with him, for he did not go alone. And you were with him then, as
you are now.
7
This course has come from him because his words have reached you in a
language you can love and understand. Are other
teachers&teacheresses possible to lead the way to those who speak
in different tongues and appeal to different symbols? Certainly there
are. Would God leave anyone without a very present help in time of
trouble? A Savioress who can symbolize him&herself? Yet do we need
a many-faceted curriculum, not because of content differences but
because symbols must shift and change to suit the need. Jesus has come
to answer yours. In him you find God's Answer. Do you then teach with
him, for he is with you; he is always here.
1 In
the ultimate sense, reincarnation is impossible. There is no past nor
future, and the idea of birth into a body has no meaning either once
or many times. Reincarnation cannot, then, be true in any real sense.
Our only question should be, "Is the concept helpful?" And that
depends of course on what it is used for. If it is used to strengthen
the recognition of the eternal nature of life, it is helpful indeed.
Is any other question about it really useful in lighting up the way?
Like many other beliefs, it can be bitterly misused. At least, such
misuse offers preoccupation and perhaps pride in the past. At worst,
it induces inertia in the present. In between many kinds of folly are
possible.
2
Reincarnation would not, under any circumstances, be the problem to be
dealt with now. If it were responsible for some of the difficulties
the individual faces now, his&her task would still be only to
escape from them now. If he&she is laying the groundwork for a
future life, he&she can still work out his&her salvation only
now. To some there may be comfort in the concept, and if it heartens
them, its value is self-evident. It is certain, however, that the way
to salvation can be found by those who believe in reincarnation and by
those who do not. The idea cannot, therefore, be regarded as essential
to the curriculum. There is always some risk in seeing the present in
terms of the past. There is always some good in any thought which
strengthens the idea that life and the body are not the same.
3 For
our purposes, it would not be helpful to take any definite stand on
reincarnation. A teacher&teacheress of God should be as helpful to
those who believe in it as to those who do not. If a definite stand on
it were required of him or her, it would merely limit his&her
usefulness as well as his&her own decision-making. Our course is
not concerned with any concept that is not acceptable to anyone,
regardless of his&her formal beliefs. his&her ego will be
enough for him or her to cope with, and it is not part of wisdom to
add sectarian controversies to his&her burdens. Nor would there be
an advantage in his&her premature acceptance of the course merely
because it advocates a long-held belief of his&her own.
4 It
cannot be too strongly emphasized that this course aims at a complete
reversal of thought. When this is finally accomplished, issues such as
the validity of reincarnation become meaningless. Until then they are
likely to be merely controversial. The teacher&teacheress of God
is therefore wise to step away from all such questions, for he&she
has much to teach and learn apart from them. he&she should both
learn and teach that theoretical issues but waste time, draining it
away from its appointed purpose. If there are aspects to any concept
or belief that will be helpful, he&she will be told about it.
he&she will also be told how to use it. What more need he&she
know?
5
Does this mean that the teacher&teacheress of God should not
believe in reincarnation himself&herself or discuss it with others
who do? The answer is certainly not! If
he&she does believe in reincarnation, it would be a mistake for him
or her to renounce the belief unless his&her Internal Teacheress
so advised. And this is most unlikely. he&she might be advised
that he&she is misusing the belief in some way which is
detrimental to his&her pupil's advance or his&her own.
Reinterpretation would then be recommended because it would be
necessary. All that must be recognized, however, is that birth was not
the beginning and death is not the end. Yet even this much is not
required of the beginner. he&she need merely accept the idea that
what he&she knows is not necessarily all there is to learn.
his&her journey has begun.
6 The
emphasis of this course always remains the same—it is at this moment
that complete salvation is offered you, and it is at this moment that
you can accept it. This is still your one responsibility. Atonement
might be equated with total escape from the past and total lack of
interest in the future. The God Realm is here. There is nowhere else.
The God Realm is now. There is no other time. No teaching that does
not lead to this is of concern to God's teachers and teacheresses. All
beliefs will point to this if properly interpreted. In this sense it
can be said that their truth lies in their usefulness. All beliefs
that lead to progress should be honored. This is the sole criterion
this course requires. No more than this is necessary.
1 The
answer to this question is much like the preceding one. There are, of
course, no "unnatural" powers, and it is obviously merely an appeal to
magic to make up a power that does not exist. It is equally obvious,
however, that each individual has many abilities of which he&she
is unaware. As his&her awareness increases, he&she may well
develop abilities that seem quite startling to him or her. Yet nothing
he&she can do can compare even in the slightest with the glorious
surprise of remembering who he&she is. Let all his&her
learning and all his&her efforts be directed toward this one great
final surprise, and he&she will not be content to be delayed by
the little ones that may come to him or her on the way.
2
Certainly there are many "psychic" powers that are clearly in line
with this course. Communication is not limited to the small range of
channels the world recognizes. If it were, there would be little point
in trying to teach salvation. It would be impossible to do so. The
limits the world places on communication are the chief barrier to
direct experience of the Holy Spirit, Whose Presence is always there
and Whose Voice is available but for the hearing. These limits are
placed out of fear, for without them the walls that surround all the
separate places of the world would fall at the holy sound of Her
Voice. Who transcends these limits in any way is merely becoming more
natural. he&she is doing nothing special, and there is no magic in
his&her accomplishments.
3 The
seemingly new abilities that may be gathered on the way can be very
helpful. Given to the Holy Spirit and used under Her direction, they
are valuable teaching aids. To this the question of how they arise is
irrelevant. The only important consideration is how they are used.
Taking them as ends in themselves, no matter how this is done, will
delay progress. Nor does their value lie in proving
anything—achievements from the past, unusual attunement with the
"unseen," or special favors from God. God gives no special favors, and
no one has any powers that are not available to everyone. Only by
tricks of magic are special powers "demonstrated."
4
Nothing that is genuine is used to deceive. The Holy Spirit is
incapable of deception, and She can use only genuine abilities. What
is used for magic is useless to Her, but what She uses cannot be used
for magic. There is, however, a particular appeal in unusual abilities
which can be curiously tempting. Here are strengths which the Holy
Spirit wants and needs. Yet the ego sees in these same strengths an
opportunity to glorify itself. Strengths turned to weakness are
tragedy indeed. Yet what is not given to the Holy Spirit must be given
to weakness, for what is withheld from love is given to fear and will
be fearful in consequence.
5
Even those who no longer value the material things of the world may
still be deceived by "psychic" powers. As investment has been
withdrawn from the world's material gifts, the ego has been seriously
threatened. It may still be strong enough to rally under this new
temptation to win back strength by guile. Many have not seen through
the ego's defenses here, although they are not particularly subtle.
Yet, given a remaining wish to be deceived, deception is made easy.
Now the "power" is no longer a genuine ability and cannot be used
dependably. It is almost inevitable that, unless the individual
changes his&her mind about its purpose, he&she will bolster
its uncertainties with increasing deception.
6 Any
ability that anyone develops has the potentiality for good. To this
there is no exception. And the more unusual and unexpected the power,
the greater its potential usefulness. Salvation has need of all
abilities, for what the world would destroy, the Holy Spirit would
restore. "Psychic" abilities have been used to call upon the devil,
which merely means to strengthen the ego. Yet here is also a great
channel of hope and healing in the Holy Spirit's service. Those who
have developed "psychic" powers have simply let some of the
limitations they laid upon their minds be lifted. It can be but
greater limitations they lay upon themselves if they utilize their
increased freedom for greater imprisonment. The Holy Spirit needs
these gifts, and those who offer them to Her and Her alone go with the
Christ Consciousness, the Mercy Consciousness’ gratitude upon their
hearts, and Her holy sight not far behind.
1 God
indeed can be reached directly, for there is no distance between
him&her and HisHer SonDaughter. HisHer awareness is in everyone's
memory, and HisHer Word is written on everyone's heart. Yet this
awareness and this memory can arise across the threshold of the
unconscious only where all barriers to truth have been removed. In how
many is this the case? Here then is the role of God's teachers and
teacheresses. They too have not attained the necessary understanding
as yet, but they have joined with others. This is what sets them apart
from the world. And it is this that enables others to leave the world
with them. Alone they are nothing. But in their joining is the Power
of God.
2
There are those who have reached God directly, retaining no trace of
worldly limits and remembering their own Identity perfectly. These
might be called the teachers&teacheresses of
teachers&teacheresses because, although they are no longer
visible, their image can yet be called upon. And they will appear when
and where it is helpful for them to do so. To those to whom such
appearances would be frightening, they give their ideas. No one can
call on them in vain. Nor is there anyone of whom they are unaware.
All needs are known to them, and all mistakes are recognized and
overlooked by them. The time will come when this is understood. And
meanwhile they give all their gifts to the teachers&teacheresses
of God who look to them for help, asking all things in their name and
in no other.
3
Sometimes a teacher&teacheress of God may have a brief experience
of direct union with God. In this world, it is almost impossible that
this endure. It can, perhaps, be won after much devotion and
dedication and then be maintained for most of the time on earth. But
this is so rare that it cannot be considered a realistic goal. If it
happens, so be it. If it does not happen, so be it as well. All
worldly states must be illusory. If God were reached directly in
sustained awareness, the body would not be long maintained. Those who
have laid the body down merely to extend their helpfulness to those
remaining behind are few indeed. And they need helpers who are still
in bondage and still asleep, so that by their awakening can God's
Voice be heard.
4 Do
not despair, then, because of limitations. It is your function to
escape from them, but not to be without them. If you would be heard by
those who suffer, you must speak their language. If you would be
saviors or savioresses, you must understand what needs to be escaped.
Salvation is not theoretical. Behold the problem, ask for the answer,
and then accept it when it comes. Nor will its coming be long delayed.
All the help you can accept will be provided, and not one need you
have will not be met. Let us not, then, be too concerned with goals
for which you are not ready. God takes you where you are and welcomes
you. What more could you desire, when this is all you need?
1
Death is the central dream from which all illusions stem. Is it not
madness to think of life as being born, aging, losing vitality, and
dying in the end? We have asked this question before, but now we need
to consider it still more carefully. It is the one fixed, unchangeable
belief of the world that all things in it are born only to die. This
is regarded as "the way of nature," not to be raised to question but
to be accepted as the "natural" law of life. The cyclical, the
changing and unsure, the undependable and the unsteady, waxing and
waning in a certain way upon a certain path—all this is taken as the
Will of God. And no one asks if a benign CreatorManifestor could will
this.
2 In
this perception of the universe as God created and manifested it, it
would not be possible to think of him&her as loving. For who has
decreed that all things pass away, ending in dust and disappointment
and despair could but be feared. HeShe holds your little life in
HisHer hand but by a thread, ready to break it off without regret or
care, perhaps today. Or if HeShe waits, yet is the ending certain. Who
loves such a god knows not of love because he&she has denied that
life is real. Death has become life's symbol. HisHer world is now a
battleground where contradiction reigns, and opposites make endless
war. Where there is death is peace impossible.
3
Death is the symbol of the fear of God. love is blotted out in the
idea, which holds it from awareness like a shield held to obscure the
sun. The grimness of the symbol is enough to show it cannot co-exist
with God. It holds an image of the SonDaughter of God in which heshe
is "laid to rest" in devastation's arms, where worms wait to greet
him&her and to last a little while by hisher destruction. Yet the
worms as well are doomed to be destroyed as certainly. And so do all
things live because of death. Devouring is nature's "law of life." God
is insane, and fear alone is real.
4 The
curious belief that there is part of dying things that may go on apart
from what will die does not proclaim a loving God nor re-establish any
grounds for trust. If death is real for anything, there is no life.
Death denies life, but if there is reality in life, death is denied.
No compromise in this is possible. There is either a god of fear or
One of Love. The world attempts a thousand compromises and will
attempt a thousand more. Not one can be acceptable to God's
teachers&teacheresses because not one could be acceptable to God.
HeShe did not make death because HeShe did not make fear. Both are
equally meaningless to him&her.
5 The
"reality" of death is firmly rooted in the belief that God's
SonDaughter is a body. And if God created and manifested bodies, death
would indeed be real. But God would not be loving. There is no point
at which the contrast between the perception of the real world and
that of the world of illusions becomes more sharply evident. Death is
indeed the death of God if HeShe is Love. And now HisHer own creation
and manifestation must stand in fear of him&her. HeShe is not
FatherMother but destroyer. HeShe is not CreatorManifestor but
avenger. Terrible HisHer Thoughts and fearful HisHer image. To look on
HisHer creations and manifestations is to die.
6
"And the last to be overcome will be death." Of course! Without the
idea of death, there is no world. All dreams will end with this one.
This is salvation's final goal, the end of all illusions. And in death
are all illusions born. What can be born of death and still have life?
But what is born of God and still can die? The inconsistencies, the
compromises, and the rituals the world fosters in its vain attempts to
cling to death and yet to think love real are mindless magic,
ineffectual and meaningless. God is, and in him&her all created
and manifested things must be eternal. Do you not see that otherwise
HeShe has an opposite, and fear would be as real as love?
7
teacher&teacheress of God, your one assignment could be stated
thus: accept no compromise in which death plays a part. Do not believe
in cruelty nor let attack conceal the truth from you. What seems to
die has but been misperceived and carried to illusion. Now it becomes
your task to let the illusion be brought to the truth. Be steadfast
but in this; be not deceived by the "reality" of any changing form.
Truth neither moves nor wavers nor sinks down to death and
dissolution. And what is the end of death? Nothing but this: the
realization that the SonDaughter of God is guiltless now and forever.
Nothing but this. But do not let yourself forget it is not less than
this.
1
Very simply, the resurrection is the overcoming or surmounting of
death. It is a reawakening or a rebirth, a change of mind about the
meaning of the world. It is the acceptance of the Holy Spirit's
interpretation of the world's purpose; the acceptance of the Atonement
for oneself. It is the end of dreams of misery and the glad awareness
of the Holy Spirit's final dream. It is the recognition of the gifts
of God. It is the dream in which the body functions perfectly, having
no function except communication. It is the lesson in which learning
ends, for it is consummated and surpassed with this. It is the
invitation to God to take HisHer final step. It is the relinquishment
of all other purposes, all other interests, all other wishes, and all
other concerns. It is the single desire of the SonDaughter for the
FatherMother.
2 The
resurrection is the denial of death, being the assertion of life. Thus
is all the thinking of the world reversed entirely. Life is now
recognized as salvation, and pain and misery of any kind perceived as
hell. Love is no longer feared but gladly welcomed. Idols&idolress
have disappeared, and the remembrance of God shines unimpeded across
the world. The face of the Christ Consciousness&the Mercy
Consciousness is seen in every living thing, and nothing is held in
darkness apart from the light of forgiveness. There is no sorrow still
upon the earth. The joy of the God Realm has come upon it.
3
Here the curriculum ends. From here on no directions are needed.
Vision is wholly corrected and all mistakes undone. Attack is
meaningless, and peace has come. The goal of the curriculum has been
achieved. Thoughts turn to the God Realm and away from hell. All
longings are satisfied, for what remains unanswered or incomplete? The
last illusion spreads over the world, forgiving all things and
replacing all attack. The whole reversal is accomplished. Nothing is
left to contradict the Word of God. There is no opposition to the
truth. And now the truth can come at last. How quickly will it come as
it is asked to enter and envelop such a world!
4 All
living hearts are tranquil, with a stir of deep anticipation, for the
time of everlasting things is now at hand. There is no death. The
SonDaughter of God is free. And in hisher freedom is the end of fear.
No hidden places now remain on earth to shelter sick illusions, dreams
of fear, and misperceptions of the universe. All things are seen in
light, and in the light their purpose is transformed and understood.
And we, God's children, rise up from the dust and look upon our
perfect sinlessness. The song of the God Realm sounds around the
world, as it is lifted up and brought to truth.
5 Now
there are no distinctions. Differences have disappeared, and Love
looks on Itself. What further sight is needed? What remains that
vision could accomplish? We have seen the face of the Christ
Consciousness&the Mercy Consciousness, his&her sinlessness,
his&her love behind all forms, beyond all purposes. Holy are we
because his&her holiness has set us free indeed, and we accept
his&her holiness as ours, as it is. As God created and manifested
us, so will we be forever and forever, and we wish for nothing but
HisHer Will to be our own. Illusions of another will are lost, for
unity of purpose has been found.
6
These things await us all, but we are not prepared as yet to welcome
them with joy. As long as any mind remains possessed of evil dreams,
the thought of hell is real. God's teachers&teacheresses have the
goal of wakening the minds of those asleep and seeing there the vision
of the Christ Consciousness, the Mercy Consciousness’ face to take the
place of what they dreamed. The thought of murder is replaced with
blessing. Judgment is laid by and given Her Whose function judgment
is. And in Her Final Judgment is restored the truth about the holy
SonDaughter of God. he&she is redeemed, for he&she has heard
God's Word and understood its meaning. he&she is free because
he&she let God's Voice proclaim the truth. And all he&she
sought before to crucify are resurrected with him or her, by
his&her side as he&she prepares with them to meet his&her
God.
1
This manual is not intended to answer all questions that both
teacher&teacheress and pupil may raise. In fact, it covers only a
few of the more obvious ones in terms of a brief summary of some of
the major concepts in the text and workbook. It is not a substitute
for either, but merely a supplement. While it is called a manual for
teachers and teacheresses, it must be remembered that only time
divides teacher&teacheress and pupil, so that the difference is
temporary by definition. In some cases, it may be helpful for the
pupil to read the manual first. Others might do better to begin with
the workbook. Still others may need to start at the more abstract
level of the text.
2
Which is for whom? Who would profit more from prayers alone? Who needs
but a smile, being as yet unready for more? No one should attempt to
answer these questions alone. Surely no teacher&teacheress of God
has come this far without realizing that. The curriculum is highly
individualized. And all aspects are under the Holy Spirit's particular
care and guidance. Ask and She will answer. The responsibility is
Hers, and She alone is fit to assume it. To do so is Her function. To
refer the questions to Her is yours. Would you want to be responsible
for decisions about which you understand so little? Be glad you have a
Teacheress Who cannot make a mistake. Her answers are always right.
Would you say that of yours?
3
There is another advantage—and a very important one—in referring
decisions to the Holy Spirit with increasing frequency. Perhaps you
have not thought of this aspect, but its centrality is obvious. To
follow the Holy Spirit's guidance is to let yourself be absolved of
guilt. It is the essence of the Atonement. It is the core of the
curriculum. The imagined usurping of functions not your own is the
basis of fear. The whole world you see reflects the illusion you have
done so, making fear inevitable. To return the function to the One to
Whom it belongs is thus the escape from fear. And it is this that lets
the memory of love return to you. Do not, then, think that following
the Holy Spirit's guidance is necessary merely because of your own
inadequacies. It is the way out of hell for you.
4
Here again is the paradox often referred to in the course. To say, "Of
myself I can do nothing" is to gain all power. And yet it is but a
seeming paradox. As God created and manifested you, you have all
power. The image you made of yourself has none. The Holy Spirit knows
the truth about you. The image you made does not. Yet despite its
obvious and complete ignorance, this image assumes it knows all things
because you have given that belief to it. Such is your teaching and
the teaching of the world which was made to uphold it. But the
Teacheress Who knows the truth has not forgotten it. Her decisions
bring benefit to all, being wholly devoid of attack. And therefore
incapable of arousing guilt.
5 Who
assumes a power that he&she does not have is deceiving
himself&herself. Yet to accept the power given him or her by God
is but to acknowledge his&her CreatorManifestor and accept HisHer
gifts. And HisHer gifts have no limit. To ask the Holy Spirit to
decide for you is simply to accept your true inheritance. Does this
mean that you cannot decide anything without consulting Her? No
indeed! That would hardly be practical, and it is the practical with
which this course is most concerned. If you have made it a habit to
ask for help when and where you can, you can be confident that wisdom
will be given you when you need it. Prepare for this each morning,
remember God when you can throughout the day, ask the Holy Spirit's
help when it is possible to do so, and thank Her for Her guidance at
night. And your confidence will be well founded indeed.
6
Never forget that the Holy Spirit does not depend on your words. She
understands the requests of your heart and answers them. Does this
mean that while attack remains attractive to you, She will respond
with evil? Hardly! For God has given Her the power to translate your
prayers of the heart into Her language. She understands that an attack
is a call for help. And She responds with help accordingly. God would
be cruel if HeShe let your words replace HisHer Own. A loving
father&mother does not let his&her child harm
himself&herself or choose his&her own destruction. he&she
may ask for injury, but his&her father&mother will protect him
or her still. And how much more than this does your FatherMother love
HisHer SonDaughter?
7
Remember you are HisHer completion and Love. Remember your weakness is
HisHer strength. But do not read this hastily or wrongly. If HisHer
strength is in you, what you perceive as your weakness is but
illusion. And HeShe has given you the means to prove it so. Ask all
things of HisHer Teacheress, and all things are given you. Not in the
future but immediately—now. God does not wait, for waiting implies
time and HeShe is timeless. Forget your foolish images, your sense of
frailty and your fear of harm, your dreams of danger and selected
"wrongs." God knows but HisHer SonDaughter, and as heshe was created
and manifested, so heshe is. In confidence I place you in HisHer
hands, and I give thanks for you that this is so.