MANUAL FOR TEACHERS&TEACHERESSES IN A
COURSE OF MIRACLES, THE NEW. THE 4TH VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL, SEEN THROUGH
THE EYES OF BOTH THE MASCULINE AND THE FEMININE PRINCIPLE
(The explanation for the changes in language is found in the first part of
this book called the text)
Manual for Teachers&Teacheresses, the new is
Created and Manifested by
Harishchandra Sharma TuTu and Solvejg
Sharma TuTu
Second edition begun January 1st 2026
Introduction
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 is
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&teacheresses. And as they teach lessons of joy and hope,
their learning finally becomes complete.
5 Except for God's teachers&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. Who Are God's teachers&teacheresses?
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 HimHer. 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 Savior/Savioress 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.
2. Who Are Their Pupils?
1 Certain pupils have been assigned to each of God's teachers/teacheresses ,
and they will begin to look for him/her as soon as he/she has answered the
Call. They were chosen for him/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/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&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 HimHer. 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 teacher/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, for
he/she has made the one decision that gave his/her teacher/teacheress to
him/her. He/she has seen in another person the same interests as his/her
own.
3. What are the Levels of Teaching?
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/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/woman
will not scold the child for bumping into him/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/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&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.
4. What Are the Characteristics of God's teachers&teacheresses ?
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:
• Trust
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/her? And who
would place his/her faith in the shabby offerings of the ego when the gifts
of God are laid before him/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&her, he&she finds a gift bestowed on him&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&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&her the difference. The idea of sacrifice, so central to
his&her thought system, had made it impossible for him&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?
• Honesty
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 CreatorManifestoress. 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.
• Tolerance
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&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&women brothers&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.
• Gentleness
14 Harm is impossible for God's teachers&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/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 CreatorManifestoress. Thus did they join their thoughts with HimHer,
Who is their Source. And so their will, which always was HisHer own, is free
to be itself.
• Joy
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 HimHer. And they are sure HisHer Teacheress
goes before them, making sure no harm can come to them. They hold Her gifts
and follow in Her 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!
• Defenselessness
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.
• Generosity
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&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&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 all things that are of God and
therefore for HisHer SonDaughter. These are the things that belong to
him&her. These he&she can give away in true generosity, protecting
them forever for himself&herself.
• Patience
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/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.
• Faithfulness
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&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.
• Open-Mindedness
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 himher to be judged
by the Voice for God on hisher behalf. As the projection of guilt upon
himher would send himher to hell, so open-mindedness lets the Christ
Consciousness’, the Mercy Consciousness’ image be projected on himher. 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.
5. How is Healing Accomplished?
1 Healing involves an understanding of what the illusion of sickness is for.
Healing is impossible without this.
The
Perceived Purpose of Sickness
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/her
something, and something of value to him/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 HimHerself. 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
himher. 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 himherself 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 himher how weak and pitiful heshe
is. But if heshe chooses death himherself, hisher weakness is hisher
strength. Now has heshe given himherself what God would give to himher and
thus entirely usurped the throne of hisher CreatorManifestoressess.
The
Shift in Perception
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 heshe 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/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/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/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 manifested creation. 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.
The
Function of the teacher&teacheress of God
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/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/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&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/her that he/she has not made himself/herself and must remain as
God Created and Manifested him/her. They recognize illusions can have no
effect. The truth in their minds reaches out to the truth in the minds of
their brothers&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.
6. Is Healing Certain?
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/her to judge when his/her gift should be accepted. Let him/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/her. And it is the Holy Spirit in the mind of the giver Who gives the
gift to him/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?
7. Should Healing Be Repeated?
1 This question really answers itself. Healing cannot be repeated. If the
patient is healed, what remains to heal him/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
male/female miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for himself/herself.
The teacher&teacheress of God is a male/female 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/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/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 male&female miracle
workers, for they have put their trust in HimHer.
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 himher 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 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.
8. How Can the Perception of Order of Difficulties Be Avoided?
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/devilesses 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/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.
9. Are Changes Required in the Life Situation of God's
teachers&teacheresses?
1 Changes are required in the minds of God's teachers&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.
10. How Is Judgment Relinquished?
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/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/her rather than by him/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. She does know all the
facts, past, present, and to come. She does know all the effects of judgment
on everyone and everything involved in any way. And She 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. Hisher 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/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/her. teacher/teacheress of
God, this step will bring you peace. Can it be difficult to want but this?
11. How Is Peace Possible in this World?
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&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 HisHer 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?"
12. How Many teachers&teacheresses of God Are Needed to Save the
World?
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 himherself 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 himherself 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 himher. Heshe has accepted the Christ
Consciousness, the Mercy Consciousness, and heshe is saved.
2 Thus does the son&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 what 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 teachers&teacheresses 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/her when he/she
has fulfilled his/her role, just as It tells him/her what his/her function
is. He/she does not suffer either in going or remaining. Sickness is now
impossible to him/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&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.
13. What Is the Real Meaning of Sacrifice?
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 and
heroine 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/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/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 himher 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 God’s 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 HimHer, 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&teacheresses. What other way is there to save HisHer
SonDaughter?
14. How Will the World End?
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&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&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&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&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.
15. Is Each One to Be Judged in the End?
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/her. He/she will hear his/her sinlessness proclaimed
around and around the world, setting it free as God's Final Judgment on
him/her is received. This is the judgment in which salvation lies. This is
the judgment that will set him/her free. This is the judgment in which all
things are freed with him/her. Time pauses as eternity comes near, and
silence lies across the world that everyone may hear this judgment of the
SonDaughter of God:
2 Holy are you, eternal, free, and whole,
At peace forever in the Heart of God.
Where is the world and where is sorrow now?
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 HimHer? 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
HimHer.
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.
16. How Should the teacher&teacheress of God Spend Day?
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/her will find him/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/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/her but remember that he/she chooses to spend time
with God as soon as possible, and let him/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 HimHer 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/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 She 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/her but will be given him/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/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."HisHer 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.
17. How do God's teachers&teacheresses Deal With Their Pupils'
Thoughts of Magic?
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/her. Let him/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/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/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/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 HimHer, 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 HimHerself. 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/her must meet with death.
8 Into this hopeless situation God sends His teachers&teacheresses. They
bring the light of hope from God HimHerself. 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 servant/maidservant, 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.
18. How Is Correction Made?
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’&teacheresses’ 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:
4 You but mistake interpretation for the truth. And you are wrong. But a
mistake is not a sin, nor has reality been taken from its throne by your
mistakes. God reigns forever, and HisHer laws alone prevail upon you and
upon the world. HisHer love remains the only thing there is. Fear is
illusion, for you are like HimHer.
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/her instantly realize that he/she has made an interpretation
that is not true. Then let him/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/her. The sole
responsibility of God's teacher’&teacheress’s 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/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?
19. What Is Justice?
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&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
CreatorManifestoress, being one with HimHer. 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 HimHer and not
to you. You are afraid of HimHer 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!
20. What Is the Peace of God?
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 CreateManifest 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 HimHerself HisHer gift to you. HeShe
does not seek to keep it for HimHerself. Why would you seek to keep your
tiny, frail imaginings apart from HimHer? 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 HimHer.
21. What Is the Role of Words in Healing?
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/her, as he/she requests. Herein lie hell and the God Realm.
The sleeping SonDaughter of God has but this power left to him/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/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 HimHer lead the way." The
teacher&teacheress of God accepts the words which are offered him/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’s/teacheress’s 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/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 HimHerself gives to the words they use the
power of HisHer Spirit, raising them from meaningless symbols to the call of
the God Realm itself.
22. How Are Healing and Atonement Related?
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/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/her long before he/she has learned all that his/her acceptance holds out
to him/her. It is only the end that is certain. Anywhere along the way, the
necessary realization of inclusiveness may reach him/her. If the way seems
long, let him/her be content. He/she has decided on the direction he/she
will take. What more was asked of him/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/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/her,
correcting all mistakes and healing all perception. Healing is the result of
the recognition by God's teacherteacheress 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/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 CreateManifest
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 HimHer. A sick person perceives himself/herself
as separate from God. Would you see him/her as separate from you? It is your
task to heal the sense of separation that has made him/her sick. It is your
function to recognize for him/her that what he/she believes about
himself/herself is not the truth. It is your forgiveness that must show
him/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 HimHerself? 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 HimHer 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
teachers&teacheresses 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 himher as God Created and Manifested
himher. 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."
23. Does Jesus Have a Special Place in Healing?
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/she has become the
risen SonDaughter of God. He/she has overcome death because he/she has
accepted life. He/she has recognized himself/herself as God Created and
Manifested him/her, and in so doing he has recognized all living things as
part of him/her. There is now no limit on his/her power because it is the
Power of God. So has his/her name become the name of God, for he/she no
longer sees himself/herself as separate from HimHer.
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
HimHer? Who transcends the body has transcended limitation. Would the
greatest Teacher/Teacheress be unavailable to those who follow him/her?
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
CreatorManifestoress 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&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 Savior/Savioress who can symbolize
HimHerself? 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/hun is always here.
24. Is Reincarnation True?
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/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/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/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&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.
25. Are "Psychic" Powers Desirable?
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/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/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.
26. Can God Be Reached Directly?
1 God indeed can be reached directly, for there is no distance between
HimHer 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&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&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?
27. What Is Death?
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 CreatorManifestoress
could will this.
2 In this perception of the universe as God Created and Manifested it, it
would not be possible to think of HimHer 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.
His/her 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 himher 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 HimHer.
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 Manifested Creation must stand in fear of
HimHer. HeShe is not FatherMother but destroyer. HeShe is not
CreatorManifestoress but avenger. Terrible HisHer Thoughts and fearful
HisHer image. To look on HisHer Manifested Creations 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 HimHer 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 Guds 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.
28. What Is the Resurrection?
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. Idol&idolresses 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, It’s sinlessness, It’s love behind all forms, beyond
all purposes. Holy are we because It’s holiness has set us free indeed, and
we accept It’s 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. Heshe is redeemed, for
heshe has heard God's Word and understood its meaning. Heshe is free because
heshe let God's Voice proclaim the truth. And all heshe sought before to
crucify are resurrected with himher, by hisher side as heshe prepares with
them to meet their God.
29. As For the Rest
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&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/her by God is but to
acknowledge his/her CreatorManifestoress 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 or 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 or mother will protect him/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.
8 And now in all your doings be you blessed.
God turns to you for help to save the world.
teacher&teacheress of God, HisHer thanks HeShe offers you,
And all the world stands silent in the grace
You bring from HimHer. You are the SonDaughter HeShe loves,
And it is given you to be the means
Through which HisHer Voice is heard around the world
To close all things of time, to end the sight
Of all things visible, and to undo
All things that change. Through you is ushered in
A world unseen, unheard, yet truly there.
Holy are you, and in your light the world
Reflects your holiness, for you are not
Alone and friendless. I give thanks for you
And join your efforts on behalf of God,
Knowing they are on my behalf as well
And for all those who walk to God with me.
