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Daily Lesson 94
Sarah's Reflections
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Course in Miracles Society (CIMS) is an international group of Course students and teachers organized to discover, authenticate and propagate the Divine Teachings of A Course in Miracles.

 

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Ego Has No Being
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 8 "THE JOURNEY BACK"
VIII. THE BODY AS MEANS OR END

When we said that the ego does not know anything, we said the one thing about the ego that is wholly true. But there is a corollary; if knowledge is being and the ego has no knowledge, then the ego has no being.  

    

ACIM OE CH 8, 77 

DAILY LESSON

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 L e s s o n 94
I am as God created me.    


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1 Today we continue with the one idea which brings complete salvation; the one statement which makes all forms of temptation powerless; the one thought which renders the ego silent and entirely undone. You are as God created you. The sounds of this world are still, the sights of this world disappear, and all the thoughts that this world ever held are wiped away forever by this one idea. Here is salvation accomplished. Here is sanity restored. 

 

2 True light is strength, and strength is sinlessness. If you remain as God created you, you must be strong and light must be in you. He Who ensured your sinlessness must be the guarantee of strength and light as well. You are as God created you. Darkness cannot obscure the glory of the Son of God. You stand in light, strong in the sinlessness in which you were created and in which you will remain throughout eternity. 

 

3 Today we will again devote the first five minutes of each waking hour to the attempt to feel the truth in you. Begin these times of searching with these words: 

 

4 I am as God created me

  I am His Son eternally.

 

5 Now try to reach the Son of God in you. This is the Self that never sinned nor made an image to replace reality. This is the Self which never left its home in God to walk the world uncertainly. This is the Self which knows no fear nor could conceive of loss or suffering or death. 

 

6 Nothing is required of you to reach this goal except to lay all idols and self-images aside, go past the long list of attributes, both "good" and "bad," you have ascribed to yourself and wait in silent expectancy for the truth. God has Himself promised that it will be revealed to all who ask for it. You are asking now. You cannot fail because He cannot fail. 

 

7 If you do not meet the requirement of practicing for the first five minutes of every hour, at least remind yourself hourly: 

 

8 I am as God created me. 

  I am His Son eternally.

 

9 Tell yourself frequently today that you are as God created you. And be sure to respond to anyone who seems to irritate you with these words: 

 

10 You are as God created you. 

    You are His Son eternally.

 

11 Make every effort to do the hourly exercises today. Each one you do will be a giant stride toward your release and a milestone in learning the thought system which this course sets forth.

                              

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 ACIM OE WORKBOOK LESSON 94

 

 Circle Of Atonement ~ COMMENTARY on LESSON 94

                 

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LESSON 94
I am as God created me.
      
Sarah's Commentary:

This is an important idea in the workbook and is repeated many times. "I am as God created me." What that really means is that the image that I have made of myself and the way that I have defined myself, both good and bad, cannot be the truth. It seems to me that the behaviors that I exhibit define me. It seems to me that when I get angry, say nasty things, gossip, and do things that I know are not well intentioned, that I build a record for myself that is less than honorable. As I look at this record, I judge myself as guilty and sinful, which is not the truth. The truth is that I have not changed myself from God's creation, but what I have done is made my judgments about myself real in my mind. Now I think this self is what I am and judge myself as guilty and deserving of punishment. In fact, the truth is that I have simply made a mistake, because I am mistaken in who I think I am. In my choice for the ego thought system, I have chosen to believe that I have separated myself from love. As such, I value my individual self, which is made of the very idea of attack. Oh yes, there are behaviors that I see as good, loving and even spiritual as well, but when I look more deeply they too are based on false perception of who I am as special and unique. Who I am in truth is still untouched by all of the thoughts that I hold connected to the body and personality.

"Littleness is the offering you give yourself. You offer this in place of magnitude, and you accept it." (T.15.III.1.3-4)(ACIM OE T.15.IV.22) In other words, let us not be content with the self that we have made, but instead allow the Holy Spirit to reinterpret our misperceptions of ourselves and others.
 
If we did not accept our littleness and instead connected with the magnificence of our true Self, as created by God, we would know the truth about ourselves. It is through striving in this world for those things that we believe will bring us joy, satisfaction and peace that "you are belittling yourself and blinding yourself to glory." (T.15.III.1.6)(ACIM OE T.15.IV.22) We always choose one at the expense of the other. We always have this choice of littleness or glory. "There is no form of littleness that can ever content you. You are free to try as many as you wish, but all you will be doing is to delay your homecoming. For you will be content only in magnitude, which is your home." (T.15.III.2.4-6)(ACIM OE T.15.IV.23)

Thus, the temptation we are confronted with is to define ourselves based on attributes we see in ourselves. Of course our identity as a separate, individual self living in a body has a very strong hold on us. "Temptation has one lesson it would teach, in all its forms, wherever it occurs. It would persuade the holy Son of God he is a body, born in what must die, unable to escape its frailty, and bound by what it orders him to feel." (T.31.VIII.1.1-2)(ACIM OE T.31.VIII.83) Yet if the separation never happened, everything that the ego tells us that we are must be false. If I truly am as God created me, everything I have made of myself is not true. None of my actions have altered who I really am. This brings fear because we identify ourselves with what we have made of ourselves and thus it leaves us not knowing the thing that we are.

Ram Das said that from the moment we were born into these bodies, everybody treated us as a body and a personality and it becomes all we know of ourselves. It would be nice if we were treated as a soul, he went on to say, because that is what we are. We get into routines in our lives and the routines are the melodramas that captivate our consciousness, but we can free ourselves from the box of our personality and our physical self that we identify with. This is what the practice is about. We are much more aware of this limited self, so our focus now is to try to get in touch with the Christ Self. What this requires is that we bring our thoughts to light. "Healing occurs as a patient begins to hear the dirge he sings, and questions its validity." (P.2.VI.1.5) Until we hear it we "cannot understand that it is he [we] who sings it to himself [ourselves]." (P.VI.1.6) This dirge is based on the guilt we hold, but Jesus goes on to say that we hang onto this guilt and hug it close, sheltering it and turning to it for its loving protection. That is quite a statement about our investment in guilt and the thoughts that we hold close and even defend about ourselves. We do so because we are invested in the body and who we think we are. Jesus tells us that the ugliness of our thoughts so deceive us that we have covered them over with sounds that seem beautiful to us. (P.VI.2) This is how we defend against the love that we are. Now we must "lay all idols and self-images aside; go past the list of attributes, both good and bad, you have ascribed to yourself; and wait in silent expectancy for the truth." (W.94.4.1)

We have not screwed up the Self created by God. We can't corrupt ourselves. It is arrogance to think that we can do anything to change this Self that we are, created by God. Whatever we have done in this world, in this illusion, has no effect on who we really are. We can forgive it all by no longer protecting this image and defending against the truth. "You stand in light, strong in the sinlessness in which you were created, and in which you will remain throughout eternity." (W.94.2.6) When we see the sin in others and see ourselves as innocent, we deny our responsibility for making this body, this world, and our reality and for separating from God.

Connecting with the truth of our Identity invalidates everything that we think we are. It is the Self, the Son of God, who has never left his home in God. "This is the Self that never sinned, nor made an image to replace reality." (W.94.3.6) While we think that we are in this world and walking around uncertainly, our true reality, who we really are, has never left our home in God, knows no fear, and can't even conceive of loss, suffering or death. Every time we connect with the truth that, "I am as God created me," (W.94) we are accepting the Atonement for ourselves. In other words, we accept the healing or correction for ourselves. The Atonement makes it impossible to be anything except what God created, even though we can stay unaware of this truth. Yet we can choose to refuse the thought system of the ego, when we remember who we are.
 
How can we know that any of this is true? We can only know it when we "lay all idols and self-images aside; go past the list of attributes, both good and bad, you have ascribed to yourself; and wait in silent expectancy for the truth." (W.94.4.1) Without the experience of corrected perception of ourselves, we have no reason to believe what Jesus is telling us. That is why we are urged to enter the place where we can have some experience of the truth. What is required for this to happen? All we need to do is recognize how we worship the idol of the self that we think we are and bring these thoughts of specialness to the Holy Spirit, Who will reinterpret them for us. Don't we take great pride in our thoughts, our ideas, our opinions, our independence, our beliefs about ourselves, whether good or bad? We hold them in place saying, "that is just the way I am." And we think that is what we have made of ourselves as the author of who we think we are or what others have made of us through their actions and inactions.

What we need to understand is that we don't have to strive for our magnitude because we already have it. It is just that we don't know it. Striving is of the ego. It is thinking we can add something to God's creation. It is continuing to think that we can make ourselves better or more spiritual. Our part is only to bring our attributes to light, nothing else.

The Lesson today is repeated seventeen more times in the Course and said in many ways throughout the text. Jesus keeps reminding us over and over of this truth about ourselves. Again, it is something we need to "attempt to feel" (W.94.3.1) as the truth in us. It is important to realize that there is nothing we need to strive for. Our reality belongs to us, but we can't do any of this without the Holy Spirit. Our part is to look at our illusions of ourselves, the thoughts we hold, and to bring them to the light of the Atonement. We must do our part. It will not be done for us. The truth can only be revealed through our willingness as we "wait in silent expectancy for the truth. God has Himself promised that it will be revealed to all who ask for it. You are asking now. You cannot fail because He cannot fail." (W.94.4.1-4)

Clearly ,if we want to know the truth about ourselves, we have to go through the darkness of the ego thought system. We can't just do a spiritual bypass by affirming truth. He makes it clear here that we must take responsibility for our thoughts, our attachments, all of our self-concepts, our belief in the body and all of our attributes. All have to be laid aside. They have all been held in place by our decision to separate from the truth. This is the part that we must do, if we want to experience the peace of God. It will never be imposed on us.

Today, we meditate on this idea for the first five minutes of every hour. That is quite a commitment! Are we willing to make this commitment? He asks that we make every effort to do so and calls this a giant stride toward our release. How motivated are you to arrange your schedule today to attempt this holy mission? I have never been totally diligent in following these requirements in the years that I have studied this Course, but I am struck today by the impact of being told that this is another giant-stride Lesson following up on the two previous giant-stride Lessons 61 and 66. It is compelling to give it my best today. We are simply asked to do our best, and, if we fail at any point, we forgive ourselves and pick it up again as soon as we realize our failure. Forgetting is another opportunity to look at our resistance without bringing more guilt into our minds.

We start the practice today by laying aside all idols and self-images. We review how we think of ourselves in terms of our attributes, both good and bad, our roles, the images we hold of ourselves and then "wait in silent expectancy" (W.94.4.1) for our true Self to be revealed. Wait in confidence and stillness. Watch your thoughts go by and let the truth dawn upon your mind. Throughout the hour remind yourself as frequently as possible that you are as God created you.

Also remember that when someone irritates or upsets you, this is another opportunity for you to look at the upset in your own mind and bring it to the truth. You can make the choice not to throw your peace away by what others do. Apply the Lesson very specifically if you feel discouraged, angry, or distressed in any way. This upset may be a thought in your mind about someone, or it may be someone that you have in your life who irritates you. Do not succumb to the temptation to blame, or judge, but rather take responsibility for the thoughts in your mind and ask for help to release them. Remember that what you are seeing outside of yourself is just a split-off part of your own mind, an outside picture of your own inner condition. "And be sure to respond to anyone who seems to irritate you with these words: You are as God created you. You are His Son eternally." (W.94.5.5-7) We apply the Lesson throughout the day, whenever we see ourselves unfairly treated or victimized, recognizing that this is not the truth. We are one Self. Our interests are the same.

Love and blessings, Sarah

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A Course in Miracles 

 

Chapter Eight

VIII. The Body As Means or End  

69 Attitudes toward the body are attitudes toward attack. The ego's definitions of everything are childish and always based on what it believes a thing is for. This is because it is incapable of true generalizations and equates what it sees with the function it ascribes to it. It does not equate it with what it is. To the ego, the body is to attack with. Equating you with the body, it teaches that you are to attack with, because this is what it believes. The body, then, is not the source of its own health. The body's condition lies solely in your interpretation of its function.

 

70 The reason why definitions in terms of function are inferior is that they may well be inaccurate. Functions are part of being since they arise from it, but the relationship is not reciprocal. The whole does define the part, but the part does not define the whole. This is as true of knowledge as it is of perception. The reason to know in part is to know entirely is because of the fundamental difference between knowledge and perception. In perception the whole is built up of parts, which can separate and reassemble in different constellations. Knowledge never changes, so its constellation is permanent. The only areas in which part-whole relationships have any meaning are those in which change is possible. There is no difference between the whole and the part where change is impossible.

 

71 The body exists in a world which seems to contain two voices which are fighting for its possession. In this perceived constellation, the body is regarded as capable of shifting its control from one to the other, making the concept of both health and sickness possible. The ego makes a fundamental confusion between means and ends, as it always does. Regarding the body as an end, the ego has no real use for it because it is not an end. You must have noticed an outstanding characteristic of every end that the ego has accepted as its own. When you have achieved it, it has not satisfied you. This is why the ego is forced to shift from one end to another without ceasing, so that you will continue to hope that it can yet offer you something.

 

72 It has been particularly difficult to overcome the ego's belief in the body as an end, because this is synonymous with the belief in attack as an end. The ego has a real investment in sickness. If you are sick, how can you object to the ego's firm belief that you are not invulnerable? This is a particularly appealing argument from the ego's point of view because it obscures the obvious attack which underlies the sickness. If you accepted this and also decided against attack, you could not give this false witness to the ego's stand.

 

73 It is hard to perceive sickness as a false witness because you do not realize that it is entirely out of keeping with what you want. This witness, then, appears to be innocent and trustworthy because you have not seriously cross-examined him. If you did, you would not consider sickness such a strong witness on behalf of the ego's views.

 

74 A more honest statement would be as follows:  Those who want the ego are predisposed to defend it. Therefore, their choice of witnesses should be suspect from the beginning. The ego does not call upon witnesses who would disagree with its case, nor does the Holy Spirit. We have said that judgment is the function of the Holy Spirit and one which He is perfectly equipped to fulfill. The ego as a judge gives anything but an impartial judgment. When the ego calls on a witness, it has already made the witness an ally.

 

75 It is still true that the body has no function of itself, because it is not an end. The ego, however, establishes it as an end because as such it will lose its true function. This is the purpose of everything the ego does. Its sole aim is to lose sight of the function of everything. A sick body does not make any sense. It could not make sense, because sickness is not what the body is for. Sickness is meaningful only if the two basic premises on which the ego's interpretation of the body rests are true. Specifically, these are that the body is for attack and that you are a body. Without these premises, sickness is completely inconceivable.

 

76 Sickness is a way of demonstrating that you can be hurt. It is a witness to your frailty, your vulnerability, and your extreme need to depend on external guidance. The ego uses this as its best argument for your need for its guidance. It dictates endless prescriptions for avoiding catastrophic outcomes. The Holy Spirit, perfectly aware of the same data, does not bother to analyze them at all. If the data are meaningless, there is no point in considering them. The function of truth is to collect data which are true. There is no point in trying to make sense out of meaningless data. Any way you handle them results in nothing. The more complicated the results become, the harder it may be to recognize their nothingness, but it is not necessary to examine all possible outcomes to which premises give rise to judge them truly.

 

77 A learning device is not a teacher. It cannot tell you how you feel. You do not know how you feel because you have accepted the ego's confusion, and you think that a learning device can tell you how you feel. Sickness is merely another example of your insistence on asking the guidance of a teacher who does not know the answer. The ego is incapable of knowing how you feel. When we said that the ego does not know anything, we said the one thing about the ego that is wholly true. But there is a corollary; if knowledge is being and the ego has no knowledge, then the ego has no being.

 

78 You might well ask how the voice of something which does not exist can be so insistent. Have you seriously considered the distorting power of something you want, even if it is not true? You have had many instances of how what you want can distort what you see and hear. No one can doubt the ego's skill in building up false cases. Nor can anyone doubt your willingness to listen until you will not to tolerate anything except truth. When you lay the ego aside, it will be gone. The Holy Spirit's Voice is as loud as your willingness to listen. It cannot be louder without violating your will, which the Holy Spirit seeks to free but never to command.

 

79 The Holy Spirit teaches you to use your body only to reach your brothers, so He can teach His message through you. This will heal them and therefore heal you. Everything used in accordance with its function as the Holy Spirit sees it cannot be sick. Everything used otherwise is. Do not allow the body to be a mirror of a split mind. Do not let it be an image of your own perception of littleness. Do not let it reflect your will to attack. Health is the natural state of anything whose interpretation is left to the Holy Spirit, Who perceives no attack on anything. Health is the result of relinquishing all attempts to use the body lovelessly. Health is the beginning of the proper perspective on life under the guidance of the one Teacher Who knows what life is, being the Voice for Life Itself.

 

 

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