A
COURSE IN MIRACLES
INTRODUCTION
ACIM(c)
T-in.1.
This is a course in miracles. 2 It is a required course. 3 Only the time you
take
it is voluntary. 4 Free will does not mean that you can establish the
curriculum. 5 It
means
only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. 6 The course
does
not
aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. 7
It does
aim,
however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is
your
natural
inheritance. 8 The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can
have no
opposite.
T-in.2.
This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:
2
Nothing real can be threatened.
3
Nothing unreal exists.
4
Herein lies the peace of God.
Chapter
1.
THE
MEANING OF MIRACLES
I.
Principles of Miracles
T-1.I.1.
There is no order of difficulty in miracles. 2 One is not "harder" or
"bigger"
than
another. 3 They are all the same. 4 All expressions of love are maximal.
T-1.I.2.
Miracles as such do not matter. 2 The only thing that matters is their Source,
which
is far beyond evaluation.
T-1.I.3.
Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. 2 The real miracle is the
love
that inspires them. 3 In this sense everything that comes from love is a
miracle.
T-1.I.4.
All miracles mean life, and God is the Giver of life. 2 His Voice will direct
you
very specifically. 3 You will be told all you need to know.
T-1.I.5.
Miracles are habits, and should be involuntary. 2 They should not be under
conscious
control. 3 Consciously selected miracles can be misguided.
T-1.I.6.
Miracles are natural. 2 When they do not occur something has gone wrong.
T-1.I.7.
Miracles are everyone's right, but purification is necessary first.
T-1.I.8.
Miracles are healing because they supply a lack; they are performed by those
who
temporarily have more for those who temporarily have less.
T-1.I.9.
Miracles are a kind of exchange. 2 Like all expressions of love, which are
always
miraculous in the true sense, the exchange reverses the physical laws. 3 They
bring
more
love both to the giver <and> the receiver.
T-1.I.10.
The use of miracles as spectacles to induce belief is a misunderstanding of
their
purpose.
T-1.I.11.
Prayer is the medium of miracles. 2 It is a means of communication of the
created
with the Creator. 3 Through prayer love is received, and through miracles love
is
expressed.
T-1.I.12.
Miracles are thoughts. 2 Thoughts can represent the lower or bodily level of
experience,
or the higher or spiritual level of experience. 3 One makes the physical, and
the
other
creates the spiritual.
T-1.I.13.
Miracles are both beginnings and endings, and so they alter the temporal
order.
2 They are always affirmations of rebirth, which seem to go back but really go
forward.
3 They undo the past in the present, and thus release the future.
T-1.I.14.
Miracles bear witness to truth. 2 They are convincing because they arise from
conviction.
3 Without conviction they deteriorate into magic, which is mindless and
therefore
destructive; or rather, the uncreative use of mind.
T-1.I.15.
Each day should be devoted to miracles. 2 The purpose of time is to enable
you
to learn how to use time constructively. 3 It is thus a teaching device and a
means to
an
end. 4 Time will cease when it is no longer useful in facilitating learning.
T-1.I.16.
Miracles are teaching devices for demonstrating it is as blessed to give as
to
receive. 2 They simultaneously increase the strength of the giver and supply
strength
to
the receiver.
T-1.I.17.
Miracles transcend the body. 2 They are sudden shifts into invisibility, away
from
the bodily level. 3 That is why they heal.
T-1.I.18.
A miracle is a service. 2 It is the maximal service you can render to another.
3
It is a way of loving your neighbor as yourself. 4 You recognize your own and
your
neighbor's
worth simultaneously.
T-1.I.19.
Miracles make minds one in God. 2 They depend on cooperation because the
Sonship
is the sum of all that God created. 3 Miracles therefore reflect the laws of
eternity,
not
of time.
T-1.I.20.
Miracles reawaken the awareness that the spirit, not the body, is the altar
of
truth. 2 This is the recognition that leads to the healing power of the
miracle.
T-1.I.21.
Miracles are natural signs of forgiveness. 2 Through miracles you accept
God's
forgiveness by extending it to others.
T-1.I.22.
Miracles are associated with fear only because of the belief that darkness
can
hide. 2 You believe that what your physical eyes cannot see does not exist. 3
This
leads
to a denial of spiritual sight.
T-1.I.23.
Miracles rearrange perception and place all levels in true perspective. 2
This
is healing because sickness comes from confusing the levels.
T-1.I.24.
Miracles enable you to heal the sick and raise the dead because you made
sickness
and death yourself, and can therefore abolish both. 2 <You> are a
miracle, capable of
creating
in the likeness of your Creator. 3 Everything else is your own nightmare, and
does not
exist.
4 Only the creations of light are real.
T-1.I.25.
Miracles are part of an interlocking chain of forgiveness which, when
completed,
is the Atonement. 2 Atonement works all the time and in all the dimensions of
time.
T-1.I.26.
Miracles represent freedom from fear. 2 "Atoning" means
"undoing." 3 The
undoing
of fear is an essential part of the Atonement value of miracles.
T-1.I.27.
A miracle is a universal blessing from God through me to all my brothers. 2
It
is the privilege of the forgiven to forgive.
T-1.I.28.
Miracles are a way of earning release from fear. 2 Revelation induces a state
in
which fear has already been abolished. 3 Miracles are thus a means and
revelation is
an
end.
T-1.I.29.
Miracles praise God through you. 2 They praise Him by honoring His creations,
affirming
their perfection. 3 They heal because they deny body-identification and
affirm
spirit-identification.
T-1.I.30.
By recognizing spirit, miracles adjust the levels of perception and show them
in
proper alignment. 2 This places spirit at the center, where it can communicate
directly.
T-1.I.31.
Miracles should inspire gratitude, not awe. 2 You should thank God for what
you
really are. 3 The children of God are holy and the miracle honors their
holiness,
which
can be hidden but never lost.
T-1.I.32.
I inspire all miracles, which are really intercessions. 2 They intercede for
your
holiness and make your perceptions holy. 3 By placing you beyond the physical
laws
they
raise you into the sphere of celestial order. 4 In this order you <are>
perfect.
T-1.I.33.
Miracles honor you because you are lovable. 2 They dispel illusions about
yourself
and perceive the light in you. 3 They thus atone for your errors by freeing you
from
your
nightmares. 4 By releasing your mind from the imprisonment of your illusions,
they
restore
your sanity.
T-1.I.34.
Miracles restore the mind to its fullness. 2 By atoning for lack they
establish
perfect protection. 3 The spirit's strength leaves no room for intrusions.
T-1.I.35.
Miracles are expressions of love, but they may not always have observable
effects.
T-1.I.36.
Miracles are examples of right thinking, aligning your perceptions with truth
as
God created it.
T-1.I.37.
A miracle is a correction introduced into false thinking by me. 2 It acts as
a
catalyst, breaking up erroneous perception and reorganizing it properly. 3 This
places
you
under the Atonement principle, where perception is healed. 4 Until this has
occurred,
knowledge of the Divine Order is impossible.
T-1.I.38.
The Holy Spirit is the mechanism of miracles. 2 He recognizes both God's
creations
and your illusions. 3 He separates the true from the false by His ability to
perceive
totally
rather than selectively.
T-1.I.39.
The miracle dissolves error because the Holy Spirit identifies error as false
or
unreal. 2 This is the same as saying that by perceiving light, darkness
automatically
disappears.
T-1.I.40.
The miracle acknowledges everyone as your brother and mine. 2 It is a way of
perceiving
the universal mark of God.
T-1.I.41.
Wholeness is the perceptual content of miracles. 2 They thus correct, or
atone
for, the faulty perception of lack.
T-1.I.42.
A major contribution of miracles is their strength in releasing you from your
false
sense of isolation, deprivation and lack.
T-1.I.43.
Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind, or a state of
miracle-readiness.
T-1.I.44.
The miracle is an expression of an inner awareness of Christ and the
acceptance
of His Atonement.
T-1.I.45.
A miracle is never lost. 2 It may touch many people you have not even met,
and
produce undreamed of changes in situations of which you are not even aware.
T-1.I.46.
The Holy Spirit is the highest communication medium. 2 Miracles do not
involve
this type of communication, because they are <temporary> communication
devices. 3 When
you
return to your original form of communication with God by direct revelation,
the
need
for miracles is over.
T-1.I.47.
The miracle is a learning device that lessens the need for time. 2 It
establishes
an out-of-pattern time interval not under the usual laws of time. 3 In this
sense it
is
timeless.
T-1.I.48.
The miracle is the only device at your immediate disposal for controlling
time.
2 Only revelation transcends it, having nothing to do with time at all.
T-1.I.49.
The miracle makes no distinction among degrees of misperception. 2 It is a
device
for perception correction, effective quite apart from either the degree or the
direction
of the error. 3 This is its true indiscriminateness.
T-1.I.50.
The miracle compares what you have made with creation, accepting what is in
accord
with it as true, and rejecting what is out of accord as false.
II.
Revelation, Time and Miracles
T-1.II.1.
Revelation induces complete but temporary suspension of doubt and fear. 2 It
reflects
the original form of communication between God and His creations, involving the
extremely
personal sense of creation sometimes sought in physical relationships. 3
Physical
closeness
cannot achieve it. 4 Miracles, however, are genuinely interpersonal, and result
in
true
closeness to others. 5 Revelation unites you directly with God. 6 Miracles
unite you
directly
with your brother. 7 Neither emanates from consciousness, but both are
experienced
there.
8 Consciousness is the state that induces action, though it does not inspire
it. 9
You
are free to believe what you choose, and what you do attests to what you
believe.
T-1.II.2.
Revelation is intensely personal and cannot be meaningfully translated. 2
That
is why any attempt to describe it in words is impossible. 3 Revelation induces
only
experience.
4 Miracles, on the other hand, induce action. 5 They are more useful now
because of
their
interpersonal nature. 6 In this phase of learning, working miracles is
important
because
freedom from fear cannot be thrust upon you. 7 Revelation is literally
unspeakable
because
it is an experience of unspeakable love.
T-1.II.3.
Awe should be reserved for revelation, to which it is perfectly and correctly
applicable.
2 It is not appropriate for miracles because a state of awe is worshipful,
implying
that one of a lesser order stands before his Creator. 3 You are a perfect
creation,
and
should experience awe only in the Presence of the Creator of perfection. 4 The
miracle
is
therefore a sign of love among equals. 5 Equals should not be in awe of one
another
because
awe implies inequality. 6 It is therefore an inappropriate reaction to me. 7 An
elder
brother
is entitled to respect for his greater experience, and obedience for his
greater
wisdom.
8 He is also entitled to love because he is a brother, and to devotion if he is
devoted.
9 It is only my devotion that entitles me to yours. 10 There is nothing about
me that
you
cannot attain. 11 I have nothing that does not come from God. 12 The difference
between
us now is that I have nothing else. 13 This leaves me in a state which is only
potential
in you.
T-1.II.4.
"No man cometh unto the Father but by me" does not mean that I am in
any way
separate
or different from you except in time, and time does not really exist. 2 The
statement
is
more meaningful in terms of a vertical rather than a horizontal axis. 3 You
stand
below
me and I stand below God. 4 In the process of "rising up," I am
higher because without
me
the distance between God and man would be too great for you to encompass. 5 I
bridge
the
distance as an elder brother to you on the one hand, and as a Son of God on the
other.
6 My devotion to my brothers has placed me in charge of the Sonship, which I
render
complete
because I share it. 7 This may appear to contradict the statement "I and
my Father are
one,"
but there are two parts to the statement in recognition that the Father is
greater.
T-1.II.5.
Revelations are indirectly inspired by me because I am close to the Holy
Spirit,
and alert to the revelation-readiness of my brothers. 2 I can thus bring down
to them
more
than they can draw down to themselves. 3 The Holy Spirit mediates higher to
lower
communication,
keeping the direct channel from God to you open for revelation. 4 Revelation is
not
reciprocal.
5 It proceeds from God to you, but not from you to God.
T-1.II.6.
The miracle minimizes the need for time. 2 In the longitudinal or horizontal
plane
the recognition of the equality of the members of the Sonship appears to
involve
almost
endless time. 3 However, the miracle entails a sudden shift from horizontal to
vertical
perception. 4 This introduces an interval from which the giver and receiver
both
emerge
farther along in time than they would otherwise have been. 5 The miracle thus
has the
unique
property of abolishing time to the extent that it renders the interval of time
it
spans
unnecessary. 6 There is no relationship between the time a miracle takes and
the time
it
covers. 7 The miracle substitutes for learning that might have taken thousands
of
years.
8 It does so by the underlying recognition of perfect equality of giver and
receiver
on
which the miracle rests. 9 The miracle shortens time by collapsing it, thus
eliminating
certain intervals within it. 10 It does this, however, within the larger
temporal
sequence.
III.
Atonement and Miracles
T-1.III.1.
I am in charge of the process of Atonement, which I undertook to begin. 2
When
you offer a miracle to any of my brothers, you do it to <yourself> and
me. 3 The
reason
you come before me is that I do not need miracles for my own Atonement, but I stand
at
the
end in case you fail temporarily. 4 My part in the Atonement is the cancelling
out
of
all errors that you could not otherwise correct. 5 When you have been restored
to the
recognition
of your original state, you naturally become part of the Atonement yourself. 6
As you
share
my unwillingness to accept error in yourself and others, you must join the
great
crusade
to correct it; listen to my voice, learn to undo error and act to correct it. 7
The
power
to work miracles belongs to you. 8 I will provide the opportunities to do them,
but
you
must be ready and willing. 9 Doing them will bring conviction in the ability,
because
conviction
comes through accomplishment. 10 The ability is the potential, the achievement
is its
expression,
and the Atonement, which is the natural profession of the children of God, is
the
purpose.
T-1.III.2.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away" means that they will not continue
to
exist
as separate states. 2 My word, which is the resurrection and the life, shall
not pass
away
because life is eternal. 3 You are the work of God, and His work is wholly
lovable and
wholly
loving. 4 This is how a man must think of himself in his heart, because this is
what
he is.
T-1.III.3.
The forgiven are the means of the Atonement. 2 Being filled with spirit,
they
forgive in return. 3 Those who are released must join in releasing their
brothers, for
this
is the plan of the Atonement. 4 Miracles are the way in which minds that serve
the
Holy
Spirit unite with me for the salvation or release of all of God's creations.
T-1.III.4.
I am the only one who can perform miracles indiscriminately, because I am
the
Atonement. 2 You have a role in the Atonement which I will dictate to you. 3
Ask me
which
miracles you should perform. 4 This spares you needless effort, because you
will be
acting
under direct communication. 5 The impersonal nature of the miracle is an
essential
ingredient,
because it enables me to direct its application, and under my guidance miracles
lead
to
the highly personal experience of revelation. 6 A guide does not control but he
does
direct,
leaving it up to you to follow. 7 "Lead us not into temptation" means
"Recognize your
errors
and choose to abandon them by following my guidance."
T-1.III.5.
Error cannot really threaten truth, which can always withstand it. 2 Only
the
error is actually vulnerable. 3 You are free to establish your kingdom where
you see
fit,
but the right choice is inevitable if you remember this:
4
Spirit is in a state of grace forever.
5
Your reality is only spirit.
6
Therefore you are in a state of grace forever.
7
Atonement undoes all errors in this respect, and thus uproots the source of
fear. 8
Whenever
you experience God's reassurances as threat, it is always because you are
defending
misplaced
or misdirected loyalty. 9 When you project this to others you imprison them,
but only
to
the extent to which you reinforce errors they have already made. 10 This makes
them
vulnerable
to the distortions of others, since their own perception of themselves is
distorted.
11
The miracle worker can only bless them, and this undoes their distortions and
frees
them
from prison.
T-1.III.6.
You respond to what you perceive, and as you perceive so shall you behave. 2
The
Golden Rule asks you to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 3
This
means
that the perception of both must be accurate. 4 The Golden Rule is the rule for
appropriate
behavior. 5 You cannot behave appropriately unless you perceive correctly. 6
Since you
and
your neighbor are equal members of one family, as you perceive both so you will
do
to
both. 7 You should look out from the perception of your own holiness to the
holiness
of
others.
T-1.III.7.
Miracles arise from a mind that is ready for them. 2 By being united this
mind
goes out to everyone, even without the awareness of the miracle worker himself.
3 The
impersonal
nature of miracles is because the Atonement itself is one, uniting all
creations with
their
Creator. 4 As an expression of what you truly are, the miracle places the mind
in a
state
of grace. 5 The mind then naturally welcomes the Host within and the stranger
without.
6
When you bring in the stranger, he becomes your brother.
T-1.III.8.
That the miracle may have effects on your brothers that you may not
recognize
is not your concern. 2 The miracle will always bless <you>. 3 Miracles
you are not
asked
to perform have not lost their value. 4 They are still expressions of your own
state
of
grace, but the action aspect of the miracle should be controlled by me because
of my
complete
awareness of the whole plan. 5 The impersonal nature of miracle-mindedness
ensures
your
grace, but only I am in a position to know where they can be bestowed.
T-1.III.9.
Miracles are selective only in the sense that they are directed towards
those
who can use them for themselves. 2 Since this makes it inevitable that they
will
extend
them to others, a strong chain of Atonement is welded. 3 However, this selectivity
takes
no account of the magnitude of the miracle itself, because the concept of size
exists
on
a plane that is itself unreal. 4 Since the miracle aims at restoring the
awareness of
reality,
it would not be useful if it were bound by laws that govern the error it aims
to
correct.
IV.
The Escape from Darkness
T-1.IV.1.
The escape from darkness involves two stages: First, the recognition that
darkness
cannot hide. 2 This step usually entails fear. 3 Second, the recognition that
there is
nothing
you want to hide even if you could. 4 This step brings escape from fear. 5 When
you
have become willing to hide nothing, you will not only be willing to enter into
communion
but will also understand peace and joy.
T-1.IV.2.
Holiness can never be really hidden in darkness, but you can deceive yourself
about
it. 2 This deception makes you fearful because you realize in your heart it
<is>
a
deception, and you exert enormous efforts to establish its reality. 3 The
miracle sets
reality
where it belongs. 4 Reality belongs only to spirit, and the miracle
acknowledges
only truth. 5 It thus dispels illusions about yourself, and puts you in
communion with
yourself
and God. 6 The miracle joins in the Atonement by placing the mind in the
service
of the Holy Spirit. 7 This establishes the proper function of the mind and
corrects
its
errors, which are merely lacks of love. 8 Your mind can be possessed by
illusions, but
spirit
is eternally free. 9 If a mind perceives without love, it perceives an empty
shell
and is unaware of the spirit within. 10 But the Atonement restores spirit to
its
proper
place. 11 The mind that serves spirit <is> invulnerable.
T-1.IV.3.
Darkness is lack of light as sin is lack of love. 2 It has no unique
properties
of its own. 3 It is an example of the "scarcity" belief, from which
only error can
proceed.
4 Truth is always abundant. 5 Those who perceive and acknowledge that they have
everything
have no needs of any kind. 6 The purpose of the Atonement is to restore
everything to
you;
or rather, to restore it to your awareness. 7 You were given everything when
you were
created,
just as everyone was.
T-1.IV.4.
The emptiness engendered by fear must be replaced by forgiveness. 2 That is
what
the Bible means by "There is no death," and why I could demonstrate
that death does
not
exist. 3 I came to fulfill the law by reinterpreting it. 4 The law itself, if
properly
understood,
offers only protection. 5 It is those who have not yet changed their minds
who
brought the "hell-fire" concept into it. 6 I assure you that I will
witness for anyone
who
lets me, and to whatever extent he permits it. 7 Your witnessing demonstrates
your
belief,
and thus strengthens it. 8 Those who witness for me are expressing, through
their
miracles,
that they have abandoned the belief in deprivation in favor of the abundance
they
have
learned belongs to them.
V.
Wholeness and Spirit
T-1.V.1.
The miracle is much like the body in that both are learning aids for
facilitating
a state in which they become unnecessary. 2 When spirit's original state of
direct
communication
is reached, neither the body nor the miracle serves any purpose. 3 While you
believe
you
are in a body, however, you can choose between loveless and miraculous channels
of
expression.
4 You can make an empty shell, but you cannot express nothing at all. 5 You can
wait,
delay,
paralyze yourself, or reduce your creativity almost to nothing. 6 But you
cannot
abolish
it. 7 You can destroy your medium of communication, but not your potential. 8
You
did not create yourself.
T-1.V.2.
The basic decision of the miracle-minded is not to wait on time any longer
than
is necessary. 2 Time can waste as well as be wasted. 3 The miracle worker,
therefore,
accepts
the time-control factor gladly. 4 He recognizes that every collapse of time
brings
everyone
closer to the ultimate release from time, in which the Son and the Father are
One. 5
Equality
does not imply equality <now>. 6 When everyone recognizes that he has
everything,
individual
contributions to the Sonship will no longer be necessary.
T-1.V.3.
When the Atonement has been completed, all talents will be shared by all the
Sons
of God. 2 God is not partial. 3 All His children have His total Love, and all
His
gifts
are freely given to everyone alike. 4 "Except ye become as little
children" means that
unless
you fully recognize your complete dependence on God, you cannot know the real
power
of the Son in his true relationship with the Father. 5 The specialness of God's
Sons
does
not stem from exclusion but from inclusion. 6 All my brothers are special. 7 If
they
believe
they are deprived of anything, their perception becomes distorted. 8 When this
occurs
the
whole family of God, or the Sonship, is impaired in its relationships.
T-1.V.4.
Ultimately, every member of the family of God must return. 2 The miracle calls
him
to return because it blesses and honors him, even though he may be absent in
spirit.
3
"God is not mocked" is not a warning but a reassurance. 4 God
<would> be mocked if
any
of His creations lacked holiness. 5 The creation is whole, and the mark of
wholeness
is
holiness. 6 Miracles are affirmations of Sonship, which is a state of
completion and
abundance.
T-1.V.5.
Whatever is true is eternal, and cannot change or be changed. 2 Spirit is
therefore
unalterable because it is already perfect, but the mind can elect what it
chooses to
serve.
3 The only limit put on its choice is that it cannot serve two masters. 4 If it
elects
to do so, the mind can become the medium by which spirit creates along the line
of its
own
creation. 5 If it does not freely elect to do so, it retains its creative
potential
but
places itself under tyrannous rather than Authoritative control. 6 As a result
it
imprisons,
because such are the dictates of tyrants. 7 To change your mind means to place
it at
the
disposal of <true> Authority.
T-1.V.6.
The miracle is a sign that the mind has chosen to be led by me in Christ's
service.
2 The abundance of Christ is the natural result of choosing to follow Him. 3
All
shallow
roots must be uprooted, because they are not deep enough to sustain you. 4 The
illusion
that shallow roots can be deepened, and thus made to hold, is one of the
distortions
on
which the reverse of the Golden Rule rests. 5 As these false underpinnings are
given
up,
the equilibrium is temporarily experienced as unstable. 6 However, nothing is
less
stable
than an upside-down orientation. 7 Nor can anything that holds it upside down
be
conducive
to increased stability.
VI.
The Illusion of Needs
T-1.VI.1.
You who want peace can find it only by complete forgiveness. 2 No learning is
acquired
by anyone unless he wants to learn it and believes in some way that he needs
it.
3 While lack does not exist in the creation of God, it is very apparent in what
you
have
made. 4 It is, in fact, the essential difference between them. 5 Lack implies
that you
would
be better off in a state somehow different from the one you are in. 6 Until the
"
separation,"
which is the meaning of the "fall," nothing was lacking. 7 There were
no needs at
all.
8 Needs arise only when you deprive yourself. 9 You act according to the
particular
order
of needs you establish. 10 This, in turn, depends on your perception of what
you are.
T-1.VI.2.
A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct. 2
This
sense of separation would never have arisen if you had not distorted your
perception
of
truth, and had thus perceived yourself as lacking. 3 The idea of order of needs
arose
because,
having made this fundamental error, you had already fragmented yourself into
levels
with
different needs. 4 As you integrate you become one, and your needs become one
accordingly.
5 Unified needs lead to unified action, because this produces a lack of
conflict.
T-1.VI.3.
The idea of orders of need, which follows from the original error that one
can
be separated from God, requires correction at its own level before the error of
perceiving
levels at all can be corrected. 2 You cannot behave effectively while you
function on
different
levels. 3 However, while you do, correction must be introduced vertically from
the
bottom
up. 4 This is because you think you live in space, where concepts such as
"up" and "
down"
are meaningful. 5 Ultimately, space is as meaningless as time. 6 Both are
merely
beliefs.
T-1.VI.4.
The real purpose of this world is to use it to correct your unbelief. 2 You
can
never control the effects of fear yourself, because you made fear, and you
believe in
what
you made. 3 In attitude, then, though not in content, you resemble your
Creator, Who
has
perfect faith in His creations <because> He created them. 4 Belief
produces the
acceptance
of existence. 5 That is why you can believe what no one else thinks is true. 6
It is
true
for you because it was made by you.
T-1.VI.5.
All aspects of fear are untrue because they do not exist at the creative
level,
and therefore do not exist at all. 2 To whatever extent you are willing to
submit
your
beliefs to this test, to that extent are your perceptions corrected. 3 In
sorting out
the
false from the true, the miracle proceeds along these lines:
4
Perfect love casts out fear.
5
If fear exists,
Then
there is not perfect love.
6
But:
7
Only perfect love exists.
8
If there is fear,
It
produces a state that does not exist.
9
Believe this and you will be free. 10 Only God can establish this solution, and
this
faith
<is> His gift.
VII.
Distortions of Miracle Impulses
T-1.VII.1.
Your distorted perceptions produce a dense cover over miracle impulses,
making
it hard for them to reach your own awareness. 2 The confusion of miracle
impulses with
physical
impulses is a major perceptual distortion. 3 Physical impulses are misdirected
miracle
impulses. 4 All real pleasure comes from doing God's Will. 5 This is because
<
not>
doing it is a denial of Self. 6 Denial of Self results in illusions, while
correction
of
the error brings release from it. 7 Do not deceive yourself into believing that
you
can
relate in peace to God or to your brothers with anything external.
T-1.VII.2.
Child of God, you were created to create the good, the beautiful and the
holy.
2 Do not forget this. 3 The Love of God, for a little while, must still be
expressed
through
one body to another, because vision is still so dim. 4 You can use your body
best to
help
you enlarge your perception so you can achieve real vision, of which the
physical eye
is
incapable. 5 Learning to do this is the body's only true usefulness.
T-1.VII.3.
Fantasy is a distorted form of vision. 2 Fantasies of any kind are
distortions,
because they always involve twisting perception into unreality. 3 Actions that
stem
from
distortions are literally the reactions of those who know not what they do. 4
Fantasy
is
an attempt to control reality according to false needs. 5 Twist reality in any
way and
you
are perceiving destructively. 6 Fantasies are a means of making false
associations
and
attempting to obtain pleasure from them. 7 But although you can perceive false
associations,
you can never make them real except to yourself. 8 You believe in what you
make. 9 If
you
offer miracles, you will be equally strong in your belief in them. 10 The
strength
of
your conviction will then sustain the belief of the miracle receiver. 11
Fantasies
become
totally unnecessary as the wholly satisfying nature of reality becomes apparent
to
both
giver and receiver. 12 Reality is "lost" through usurpation, which
produces tyranny.
13
As long as a single "slave" remains to walk the earth, your release
is not complete.
14
Complete restoration of the Sonship is the only goal of the miracle-minded.
T-1.VII.4.
This is a course in mind training. 2 All learning involves attention and
study
at some level. 3 Some of the later parts of the course rest too heavily on
these
earlier
sections not to require their careful study. 4 You will also need them for
preparation.
5
Without this, you may become much too fearful of what is to come to make
constructive
use of it. 6 However, as you study these earlier sections, you will begin to
see some
of
the implications that will be amplified later on.
T-1.VII.5.
A solid foundation is necessary because of the confusion between fear and
awe
to which I have already referred, and which is often made. 2 I have said that
awe is
inappropriate
in connection with the Sons of God, because you should not experience awe in
the
presence
of your equals. 3 However, it was also emphasized that awe is proper in the
Presence
of
your Creator. 4 I have been careful to clarify my role in the Atonement without
either
over-
or understating it. 5 I am also trying to do the same with yours. 6 I have
stressed
that awe is not an appropriate reaction to me because of our inherent equality.
7 Some
of
the later steps in this course, however, involve a more direct approach to God
Himself.
8 It would be unwise to start on these steps without careful preparation, or
awe will
be
confused with fear, and the experience will be more traumatic than beatific. 9
Healing
is of God in the end. 10 The means are being carefully explained to you. 11
Revelation
may
occasionally reveal the end to you, but to reach it the means are needed.
Chapter
2.
THE
SEPARATION AND THE ATONEMENT
I.
The Origins of Separation
T-2.I.1.
To extend is a fundamental aspect of God which He gave to His Son. 2 In the
creation,
God extended Himself to His creations and imbued them with the same loving Will
to
create.
3 You have not only been fully created, but have also been created perfect. 4
There
is
no emptiness in you. 5 Because of your likeness to your Creator you are
creative. 6 No
child
of God can lose this ability because it is inherent in what he is, but he can
use
it
inappropriately by projecting. 7 The inappropriate use of extension, or
projection,
occurs
when you believe that some emptiness or lack exists in you, and that you can
fill it
with
your own ideas instead of truth. 8 This process involves the following steps:
9
First, you believe that what God created can be changed by your own mind.
10
Second, you believe that what is perfect can be rendered imperfect or lacking.
11
Third, you believe that you can distort the creations of God, including
yourself.
12
Fourth, you believe that you can create yourself, and that the direction of
your own
creation
is up to you.
T-2.I.2.
These related distortions represent a picture of what actually occurred in the
separation,
or the "detour into fear." 2 None of this existed before the
separation,
nor
does it actually exist now. 3 Everything God created is like Him. 4 Extension,
as
undertaken
by God, is similar to the inner radiance that the children of the Father
inherit from
Him.
5 Its real source is internal. 6 This is as true of the Son as of the Father. 7
In
this
sense the creation includes both the creation of the Son by God, and the Son's
creations
when his mind is healed. 8 This requires God's endowment of the Son with free
will,
because
all loving creation is freely given in one continuous line, in which all
aspects are
of
the same order.
T-2.I.3.
The Garden of Eden, or the pre-separation condition, was a state of mind in
which
nothing was needed. 2 When Adam listened to the "lies of the
serpent," all he heard
was
untruth. 3 You do not have to continue to believe what is not true unless you
choose
to
do so. 4 All that can literally disappear in the twinkling of an eye because it
is
merely
a misperception. 5 What is seen in dreams seems to be very real. 6 Yet the
Bible says
that
a deep sleep fell upon Adam, and nowhere is there reference to his waking up. 7
The
world
has not yet experienced any comprehensive reawakening or rebirth. 8 Such a
rebirth is
impossible
as long as you continue to project or miscreate. 9 It still remains within you,
however,
to extend as God extended His Spirit to you. 10 In reality this is your only
choice,
because
your free will was given you for your joy in creating the perfect.
T-2.I.4.
All fear is ultimately reducible to the basic misperception that you have the
ability
to usurp the power of God. 2 Of course, you neither can nor have been able to
do this.
3
Here is the real basis for your escape from fear. 4 The escape is brought about
by
your
acceptance of the Atonement, which enables you to realize that your errors
never
really
occurred. 5 Only after the deep sleep fell upon Adam could he experience
nightmares. 6
If
a light is suddenly turned on while someone is dreaming a fearful dream, he may
initially
interpret the light itself as part of his dream and be afraid of it. 7 However,
when
he
awakens, the light is correctly perceived as the release from the dream, which
is then
no
longer accorded reality. 8 This release does not depend on illusions. 9 The
knowledge
that illuminates not only sets you free, but also shows you clearly that you
<are>
free.
T-2.I.5.
Whatever lies you may believe are of no concern to the miracle, which can heal
any
of them with equal ease. 2 It makes no distinctions among misperceptions. 3 Its
sole
concern is to distinguish between truth on the one hand, and error on the
other. 4
Some
miracles may seem to be of greater magnitude than others. 5 But remember the
first
principle
in this course; there is no order of difficulty in miracles. 6 In reality you
are
perfectly
unaffected by all expressions of lack of love. 7 These can be from yourself and
others,
from
yourself to others, or from others to you. 8 Peace is an attribute <in>
you. 9
You
cannot find it outside. 10 Illness is some form of external searching. 11
Health is
inner
peace. 12 It enables you to remain unshaken by lack of love from without and
capable,
through
your acceptance of miracles, of correcting the conditions proceeding from lack
of love
in
others.
II.
The Atonement as Defense
T-2.II.1.
You can do anything I ask. 2 I have asked you to perform miracles, and have
made
it clear that miracles are natural, corrective, healing and universal. 3 There
is
nothing
they cannot do, but they cannot be performed in the spirit of doubt or fear. 4
When
you
are afraid of anything, you are acknowledging its power to hurt you. 5 Remember
that
where
your heart is, there is your treasure also. 6 You believe in what you value. 7
If you
are
afraid, you are valuing wrongly. 8 Your understanding will then inevitably value
wrongly,
and by endowing all thoughts with equal power will inevitably destroy peace. 9
That
is
why the Bible speaks of "the peace of God which passeth
understanding." 10 This peace
is
totally incapable of being shaken by errors of any kind. 11 It denies the
ability of
anything
not of God to affect you. 12 This is the proper use of denial. 13 It is not
used to
hide
anything, but to correct error. 14 It brings all error into the light, and
since error
and
darkness are the same, it corrects error automatically.
T-2.II.2.
True denial is a powerful protective device. 2 You can and should deny any
belief
that error can hurt you. 3 This kind of denial is not a concealment but a
correction.
4
Your right mind depends on it. 5 Denial of error is a strong defense of truth,
but
denial
of truth results in miscreation, the projections of the ego. 6 In the service
of the
right
mind the denial of error frees the mind, and re-establishes the freedom of the
will. 7
When
the will is really free it cannot miscreate, because it recognizes only truth.
T-2.II.3.
You can defend truth as well as error. 2 The means are easier to understand
after
the value of the goal is firmly established. 3 It is a question of what it is
<for.> 4
Everyone
defends his treasure, and will do so automatically. 5 The real questions are,
what
do you treasure, and how much do you treasure it? 6 Once you have learned to
consider
these
questions and to bring them into all your actions, you will have little difficulty
in
clarifying
the means. 7 The means are available whenever you ask. 8 You can, however, save
time
if
you do not protract this step unduly. 9 The correct focus will shorten it
immeasurably.
T-2.II.4.
The Atonement is the only defense that cannot be used destructively because
it
is not a device you made. 2 The Atonement <principle> was in effect long
before the
Atonement
began. 3 The principle was love and the Atonement was an <act> of love. 4
Acts were
not
necessary before the separation, because belief in space and time did not
exist. 5 It
was
only after the separation that the Atonement and the conditions necessary for
its
fulfillment
were planned. 6 Then a defense so splendid was needed that it could not be
misused,
although
it could be refused. 7 Refusal could not, however, turn it into a weapon of
attack,
which
is the inherent characteristic of other defenses. 8 The Atonement thus becomes
the
only
defense that is not a two-edged sword. 9 It can only heal.
T-2.II.5.
The Atonement was built into the space-time belief to set a limit on the need
for
the belief itself, and ultimately to make learning complete. 2 The Atonement is
the
final
lesson. 3 Learning itself, like the classrooms in which it occurs, is
temporary.
4
The ability to learn has no value when change is no longer necessary. 5 The
eternally
creative
have nothing to learn. 6 You can learn to improve your perceptions, and can
become a
better
and better learner. 7 This will bring you into closer and closer accord with
the
Sonship;
but the Sonship itself is a perfect creation and perfection is not a matter of
degree.
8
Only while there is a belief in differences is learning meaningful.
T-2.II.6.
Evolution is a process in which you seem to proceed from one degree to the
next.
2 You correct your previous missteps by stepping forward. 3 This process is
actually
incomprehensible
in temporal terms, because you return as you go forward. 4 The Atonement is the
device
by
which you can free yourself from the past as you go ahead. 5 It undoes your
past
errors,
thus making it unnecessary for you to keep retracing your steps without
advancing to
your
return. 6 In this sense the Atonement saves time, but like the miracle it
serves, does
not
abolish it. 7 As long as there is need for Atonement, there is need for time. 8
But
the
Atonement as a completed plan has a unique relationship to time. 9 Until the
Atonement
is complete, its various phases will proceed in time, but the whole Atonement
stands
at
time's end. 10 At that point the bridge of return has been built.
T-2.II.7.
The Atonement is a total commitment. 2 You may still think this is associated
with
loss, a mistake all the separated Sons of God make in one way or another. 3 It
is
hard
to believe a defense that cannot attack is the best defense. 4 This is what is
meant
by
"the meek shall inherit the earth." 5 They will literally take it
over because of
their
strength. 6 A two-way defense is inherently weak precisely because it has two edges,
and
can be turned against you very unexpectedly. 7 This possibility cannot be
controlled
except
by miracles. 8 The miracle turns the defense of Atonement to your real
protection, and
as
you become more and more secure you assume your natural talent of protecting
others,
knowing
yourself as both a brother and a Son.
III.
The Altar of God
T-2.III.1.
The Atonement can only be accepted within you by releasing the inner light.
2
Since the separation, defenses have been used almost entirely to defend
<against> the
Atonement,
and thus maintain the separation. 3 This is generally seen as a need to protect
the
body.
4 The many body fantasies in which minds engage arise from the distorted belief
that
the
body can be used as a means for attaining "atonement." 5 Perceiving
the body as a
temple
is only the first step in correcting this distortion, because it alters only
part of
it.
6 It <does> recognize that Atonement in physical terms is impossible. 7
The next step,
however,
is to realize that a temple is not a structure at all. 8 Its true holiness
lies
at the inner altar around which the structure is built. 9 The emphasis on
beautiful
structures
is a sign of the fear of Atonement, and an unwillingness to reach the altar
itself. 10
The
real beauty of the temple cannot be seen with the physical eye. 11 Spiritual
sight,
on
the other hand, cannot see the structure at all because it is perfect vision.
12 It
can,
however, see the altar with perfect clarity.
T-2.III.2.
For perfect effectiveness the Atonement belongs at the center of the inner
altar,
where it undoes the separation and restores the wholeness of the mind. 2 Before
the
separation
the mind was invulnerable to fear, because fear did not exist. 3 Both the
separation
and
the fear are miscreations that must be undone for the restoration of the
temple, and
for
the opening of the altar to receive the Atonement. 4 This heals the separation
by
placing
within you the one effective defense against all separation thoughts and making
you
perfectly
invulnerable.
T-2.III.3.
The acceptance of the Atonement by everyone is only a matter of time. 2 This
may
appear to contradict free will because of the inevitability of the final
decision,
but
this is not so. 3 You can temporize and you are capable of enormous
procrastination,
but
you cannot depart entirely from your Creator, Who set the limits on your
ability to
miscreate.
4 An imprisoned will engenders a situation which, in the extreme, becomes
altogether
intolerable.
5 Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. 6 Eventually
everyone
begins
to recognize, however dimly, that there <must> be a better way. 7 As this
recognition
becomes
more firmly established, it becomes a turning point. 8 This ultimately
reawakens
spiritual
vision, simultaneously weakening the investment in physical sight. 9 The
alternating
investment
in the two levels of perception is usually experienced as conflict, which can
become
very
acute. 10 But the outcome is as certain as God.
T-2.III.4.
Spiritual vision literally cannot see error, and merely looks for Atonement.
2
All solutions the physical eye seeks dissolve. 3 Spiritual vision looks within
and
recognizes
immediately that the altar has been defiled and needs to be repaired and
protected. 4
Perfectly
aware of the right defense it passes over all others, looking past error to
truth. 5
Because
of the strength of its vision, it brings the mind into its service. 6 This
re-establishes
the power of the mind and makes it increasingly unable to tolerate delay,
realizing
that
it only adds unnecessary pain. 7 As a result, the mind becomes increasingly
sensitive
to
what it would once have regarded as very minor intrusions of discomfort.
T-2.III.5.
The children of God are entitled to the perfect comfort that comes from
perfect
trust. 2 Until they achieve this, they waste themselves and their true creative
powers
on
useless attempts to make themselves more comfortable by inappropriate means. 3
But
the
real means are already provided, and do not involve any effort at all on their
part. 4
The
Atonement is the only gift that is worthy of being offered at the altar of God,
because
of the value of the altar itself. 5 It was created perfect and is entirely
worthy of
receiving
perfection. 6 God and His creations are completely dependent on Each Other. 7
He
depends
on them <because> He created them perfect. 8 He gave them His peace so
they could not
be
shaken and could not be deceived. 9 Whenever you are afraid you <are>
deceived, and
your
mind cannot serve the Holy Spirit. 10 This starves you by denying you your
daily bread.
11
God is lonely without His Sons, and they are lonely without Him. 12 They must
learn
to
look upon the world as a means of healing the separation. 13 The Atonement is
the
guarantee
that they will ultimately succeed.
IV.
Healing as Release from Fear
T-2.IV.1.
Our emphasis is now on healing. 2 The miracle is the means, the Atonement is
the
principle, and healing is the result. 3 To speak of "a miracle of
healing" is to
combine
two orders of reality inappropriately. 4 Healing is not a miracle. 5 The
Atonement, or
the
final miracle, is a remedy and any type of healing is a result. 6 The kind of
error
to
which Atonement is applied is irrelevant. 7 All healing is essentially the
release
from
fear. 8 To undertake this you cannot be fearful yourself. 9 You do not
understand
healing
because of your own fear.
T-2.IV.2.
A major step in the Atonement plan is to undo error at all levels. 2 Sickness
or
"not-right-mindedness" is the result of level confusion, because it
always entails
the
belief that what is amiss on one level can adversely affect another. 3 We have
referred
to miracles as the means of correcting level confusion, for all mistakes must
be
corrected
at the level on which they occur. 4 Only the mind is capable of error. 5 The
body can
act
wrongly only when it is responding to misthought. 6 The body cannot create, and
the
belief
that it can, a fundamental error, produces all physical symptoms. 7 Physical
illness
represents
a belief in magic. 8 The whole distortion that made magic rests on the belief
that
there
is a creative ability in matter which the mind cannot control. 9 This error can
take
two
forms; it can be believed that the mind can miscreate in the body, or that the
body
can
miscreate in the mind. 10 When it is understood that the mind, the only level
of
creation,
cannot create beyond itself, neither type of confusion need occur.
T-2.IV.3.
Only the mind can create because spirit has already been created, and the
body
is a learning device for the mind. 2 Learning devices are not lessons in
themselves. 3
Their
purpose is merely to facilitate learning. 4 The worst a faulty use of a
learning
device
can do is to fail to facilitate learning. 5 It has no power in itself to
introduce
actual
learning errors. 6 The body, if properly understood, shares the invulnerability
of the
Atonement
to two-edged application. 7 This is not because the body is a miracle, but
because
it is not inherently open to misinterpretation. 8 The body is merely part of
your
experience
in the physical world. 9 Its abilities can be and frequently are overevaluated.
10
However,
it is almost impossible to deny its existence in this world. 11 Those who do so
are
engaging
in a particularly unworthy form of denial. 12 The term "unworthy"
here implies only
that
it is not necessary to protect the mind by denying the unmindful. 13 If one
denies
this
unfortunate aspect of the mind's power, one is also denying the power itself.
T-2.IV.4.
All material means that you accept as remedies for bodily ills are
restatements
of magic principles. 2 This is the first step in believing that the body makes
its own
illness.
3 It is a second misstep to attempt to heal it through non-creative agents. 4
It
does not follow, however, that the use of such agents for corrective purposes
is evil.
5
Sometimes the illness has a sufficiently strong hold over the mind to render a
person
temporarily
inaccessible to the Atonement. 6 In this case it may be wise to utilize a
compromise
approach to mind and body, in which something from the outside is temporarily
given
healing
belief. 7 This is because the last thing that can help the non-right-minded, or
the
sick,
is an increase in fear. 8 They are already in a fear-weakened state. 9 If they
are
prematurely
exposed to a miracle, they may be precipitated into panic. 10 This is likely to
occur
when
upside-down perception has induced the belief that miracles are frightening.
T-2.IV.5.
The value of the Atonement does not lie in the manner in which it is
expressed.
2 In fact, if it is used truly, it will inevitably be expressed in whatever way
is
most
helpful to the receiver. 3 This means that a miracle, to attain its full
efficacy,
must
be expressed in a language that the recipient can understand without fear. 4
This does
not
necessarily mean that this is the highest level of communication of which he is
capable.
5 It does mean, however, that it is the highest level of communication of which
he is
capable
<now.> 6 The whole aim of the miracle is to raise the level of
communication,
not
to lower it by increasing fear.
V.
The Function of the Miracle Worker
T-2.V.1.
Before miracle workers are ready to undertake their function in this world, it
is
essential that they fully understand the fear of release. 2 Otherwise they may
unwittingly
foster the belief that release is imprisonment, a belief that is already very
prevalent.
3 This misperception arises in turn from the belief that harm can be limited to
the
body.
4 That is because of the underlying fear that the mind can hurt itself. 5 None
of
these
errors is meaningful, because the miscreations of the mind do not really exist.
6 This
recognition
is a far better protective device than any form of level confusion, because
it
introduces correction at the level of the error. 7 It is essential to remember
that
only
the mind can create, and that correction belongs at the thought level. 8 To
amplify an
earlier
statement, spirit is already perfect and therefore does not require correction.
9
The body does not exist except as a learning device for the mind. 10 This
learning
device
is not subject to errors of its own, because it cannot create. 11 It is
obvious, then,
that
inducing the mind to give up its miscreations is the only application of
creative
ability
that is truly meaningful.
T-2.V.2.
Magic is the mindless or the miscreative use of mind. 2 Physical medications
are
forms of "spells," but if you are afraid to use the mind to heal, you
should not
attempt
to do so. 3 The very fact that you are afraid makes your mind vulnerable to
miscreation.
4 You are therefore likely to misunderstand any healing that might occur, and
because
egocentricity
and fear usually occur together, you may be unable to accept the real
Source
of the healing. 5 Under these conditions, it is safer for you to rely
temporarily on
physical
healing devices, because you cannot misperceive them as your own creations. 6
As long
as
your sense of vulnerability persists, you should not attempt to perform
miracles.
T-2.V.3.
I have already said that miracles are expressions of miracle-mindedness, and
miracle-mindedness
means right-mindedness. 2 The right-minded neither exalt nor depreciate the
mind of
the
miracle worker or the miracle receiver. 3 However, as a correction, the miracle
need
not
await the right-mindedness of the receiver. 4 In fact, its purpose is to
restore him <
to>
his right mind. 5 It is essential, however, that the miracle worker be in his
right
mind,
however briefly, or he will be unable to re-establish right-mindedness in
someone
else.
T-2.V.4.
The healer who relies on his own readiness is endangering his understanding. 2
You
are perfectly safe as long as you are completely unconcerned about your
readiness,
but
maintain a consistent trust in mine. 3 If your miracle working inclinations are
not
functioning
properly, it is always because fear has intruded on your right-mindedness and
has
turned
it upside down. 4 All forms of not-right-mindedness are the result of refusal
to
accept
the Atonement for yourself. 5 If you do accept it, you are in a position to
recognize
that
those who need healing are simply those who have not realized that
right-mindedness <
is>
healing.
T-2.V.5.
<The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement
for
himself.>
2 This means you recognize that mind is the only creative level, and that its
errors
are healed by the Atonement. 3 Once you accept this, your mind can only heal. 4
By
denying your mind any destructive potential and reinstating its purely
constructive
powers,
you place yourself in a position to undo the level confusion of others. 5 The
message
you
then give to them is the truth that their minds are similarly constructive, and
their
miscreations cannot hurt them. 6 By affirming this you release the mind from
overevaluating
its own learning device, and restore the mind to its true position as the
learner.
T-2.V.6.
It should be emphasized again that the body does not learn any more than it
creates.
2 As a learning device it merely follows the learner, but if it is falsely
endowed
with
self-initiative, it becomes a serious obstruction to the very learning it
should
facilitate.
3 Only the mind is capable of illumination. 4 Spirit is already illuminated and
the
body
in itself is too dense. 5 The mind, however, can bring its illumination to the
body by
recognizing
that it is not the learner, and is therefore unamenable to learning. 6 The
body
is, however, easily brought into alignment with a mind that has learned to look
beyond
it
toward the light.
T-2.V.7.
Corrective learning always begins with the awakening of spirit, and the
turning
away from the belief in physical sight. 2 This often entails fear, because you
are
afraid
of what your spiritual sight will show you. 3 I said before that the Holy
Spirit
cannot
see error, and is capable only of looking beyond it to the defense of
Atonement. 4
There
is no doubt that this may produce discomfort, yet the discomfort is not the
final
outcome
of the perception. 5 When the Holy Spirit is permitted to look upon the
defilement of
the
altar, He also looks immediately toward the Atonement. 6 Nothing He perceives
can
induce
fear. 7 Everything that results from spiritual awareness is merely channelized
toward
correction.
8 Discomfort is aroused only to bring the need for correction into awareness.
T-2.V.8.
The fear of healing arises in the end from an unwillingness to accept
unequivocally
that healing is necessary. 2 What the physical eye sees is not corrective, nor
can
error
be corrected by any device that can be seen physically. 3 As long as you
believe in
what
your physical sight tells you, your attempts at correction will be misdirected.
4 The
real
vision is obscured, because you cannot endure to see your own defiled altar. 5
But
since
the altar has been defiled, your state becomes doubly dangerous unless it
<is>
perceived.
T-2.V.9.
Healing is an ability that developed after the separation, before which it was
unnecessary.
2 Like all aspects of the belief in space and time, it is temporary. 3
However,
as long as time persists, healing is needed as a means of protection. 4 This is
because
healing rests on charity, and charity is a way of perceiving the perfection of
another
even
if you cannot perceive it in yourself. 5 Most of the loftier concepts of which
you
are
capable now are time-dependent. 6 Charity is really a weaker reflection of a
much
more
powerful love-encompassment that is far beyond any form of charity you can
conceive of
as
yet. 7 Charity is essential to right-mindedness in the limited sense in which
it can
now
be attained.
T-2.V.10.
Charity is a way of looking at another as if he had already gone far beyond
his
actual accomplishments in time. 2 Since his own thinking is faulty he cannot
see the
Atonement
for himself, or he would have no need of charity. 3 The charity that is
accorded him
is
both an acknowledgment that he needs help, and a recognition that he will
accept it. 4
Both
of these perceptions clearly imply their dependence on time, making it apparent
that
charity still lies within the limitations of this world. 5 I said before that
only
revelation
transcends time. 6 The miracle, as an expression of charity, can only shorten
it. 7 It
must
be understood, however, that whenever you offer a miracle to another, you are
shortening
the suffering of both of you. 8 This corrects retroactively as well as
progressively.
A.
Special Principles of Miracle Workers
T-2.V.A.11.
(1) The miracle abolishes the need for lower-order concerns. 2 Since it is
an
out-of-pattern time interval, the ordinary considerations of time and space do
not
apply.
3 When you perform a miracle, I will arrange both time and space to adjust to
it.
T-2.V.A.12.
(2) A clear distinction between what is created and what is made is
essential.
2 All forms of healing rest on this fundamental correction in level perception.
T-2.V.A.13.
(3) Never confuse right- and wrong-mindedness. 2 Responding to any form of
error
with anything except a desire to heal is an expression of this confusion.
T-2.V.A.14.
(4) The miracle is always a denial of this error and an affirmation of the
truth.
2 Only right-mindedness can correct in a way that has any real effect. 3
Pragmatically,
what has no real effect has no real existence. 4 Its effect, then, is
emptiness. 5
Being
without substantial content, it lends itself to projection.
T-2.V.A.15.
(5) The level-adjustment power of the miracle induces the right perception
for
healing. 2 Until this has occurred healing cannot be understood. 3 Forgiveness
is an
empty
gesture unless it entails correction. 4 Without this it is essentially
judgmental,
rather
than healing.
T-2.V.A.16.
(6) Miracle-minded forgiveness is <only> correction. 2 It has no element
of
judgment
at all. 3 The statement "Father forgive them for they know not what they
do"
in
no way evaluates <what> they do. 4 It is an appeal to God to heal their
minds. 5 There
is
no reference to the outcome of the error. 6 That does not matter.
T-2.V.A.17.
(7) The injunction "Be of one mind" is the statement for
revelation-readiness.
2 My request "Do this in remembrance of me" is the appeal for cooperation
from
miracle
workers. 3 The two statements are not in the same order of reality. 4 Only the
latter
involves
an awareness of time, since to remember is to recall the past in the present. 5
Time
is
under my direction, but timelessness belongs to God. 6 In time we exist for and
with
each
other. 7 In timelessness we coexist with God.
T-2.V.A.18.
(8) You can do much on behalf of your own healing and that of others if, in
a
situation calling for help, you think of it this way:
2
I am here only to be truly helpful.
3
I am here to represent Him Who sent me.
4
I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me
will
direct
me.
5
I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me.
6
I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.
VI.
Fear and Conflict
T-2.VI.1.
Being afraid seems to be involuntary; something beyond your own control. 2
Yet
I have said already that only constructive acts should be involuntary. 3 My
control
can
take over everything that does not matter, while my guidance can direct
everything
that
does, if you so choose. 4 Fear cannot be controlled by me, but it can be
self-controlled.
5 Fear prevents me from giving you my control. 6 The presence of fear shows
that you
have
raised body thoughts to the level of the mind. 7 This removes them from my
control,
and
makes you feel personally responsible for them. 8 This is an obvious confusion
of
levels.
T-2.VI.2.
I do not foster level confusion, but you must choose to correct it. 2 You
would
not excuse insane behavior on your part by saying you could not help it. 3 Why
should
you
condone insane thinking? 4 There is a confusion here that you would do well to
look at
clearly.
5 You may believe that you are responsible for what you do, but not for what
you
think. 6 The truth is that you are responsible for what you think, because it
is only
at
this level that you can exercise choice. 7 What you do comes from what you
think. 8
You
cannot separate yourself from the truth by "giving" autonomy to
behavior. 9 This is
controlled
by me automatically as soon as you place what you think under my guidance. 10
Whenever
you
are afraid, it is a sure sign that you have allowed your mind to miscreate and
have
not
allowed me to guide it.
T-2.VI.3.
It is pointless to believe that controlling the outcome of misthought can
result
in healing. 2 When you are fearful, you have chosen wrongly. 3 That is why you
feel
responsible
for it. 4 You must change your mind, not your behavior, and this <is> a
matter of
willingness.
5 You do not need guidance except at the mind level. 6 Correction belongs only
at the
level
where change is possible. 7 Change does not mean anything at the symptom level,
where
it cannot work.
T-2.VI.4.
The correction of fear <is> your responsibility. 2 When you ask for
release
from
fear, you are implying that it is not. 3 You should ask, instead, for help in
the
conditions
that have brought the fear about. 4 These conditions always entail a
willingness to be
separate.
5 At that level you <can> help it. 6 You are much too tolerant of mind
wandering,
and are passively condoning your mind's miscreations. 7 The particular result
does
not
matter, but the fundamental error does. 8 The correction is always the same. 9
Before
you
choose to do anything, ask me if your choice is in accord with mine. 10 If you
are
sure
that it is, there will be no fear.
T-2.VI.5.
Fear is always a sign of strain, arising whenever what you want conflicts
with
what you do. 2 This situation arises in two ways: First, you can choose to do
conflicting
things, either simultaneously or successively. 3 This produces conflicted
behavior,
which
is intolerable to you because the part of the mind that wants to do something
else is
outraged.
4 Second, you can behave as you think you should, but without entirely wanting
to do
so.
5 This produces consistent behavior, but entails great strain. 6 In both cases,
the
mind
and the behavior are out of accord, resulting in a situation in which you are
doing
what
you do not wholly want to do. 7 This arouses a sense of coercion that usually
produces
rage,
and projection is likely to follow. 8 Whenever there is fear, it is because you
have
not made up your mind. 9 Your mind is therefore split, and your behavior inevitably
becomes
erratic. 10 Correcting at the behavioral level can shift the error from the
first to
the
second type, but will not obliterate the fear.
T-2.VI.6.
It is possible to reach a state in which you bring your mind under my
guidance
without conscious effort, but this implies a willingness that you have not
developed
as
yet. 2 The Holy Spirit cannot ask more than you are willing to do. 3 The
strength to
do
comes from your undivided decision. 4 There is no strain in doing God's Will as
soon
as
you recognize that it is also your own. 5 The lesson here is quite simple, but
particularly
apt to be overlooked. 6 I will therefore repeat it, urging you to listen. 7
Only your
mind
can produce fear. 8 It does so whenever it is conflicted in what it wants, producing
inevitable
strain because wanting and doing are discordant. 9 This can be corrected only
by
accepting
a unified goal.
T-2.VI.7.
The first corrective step in undoing the error is to know first that the
conflict
is an expression of fear. 2 Say to yourself that you must somehow have chosen
not to
love,
or the fear could not have arisen. 3 Then the whole process of correction
becomes
nothing
more than a series of pragmatic steps in the larger process of accepting the
Atonement
as
the remedy. 4 These steps may be summarized in this way:
5
Know first that this is fear.
6
Fear arises from lack of love.
7
The only remedy for lack of love is perfect love.
8
Perfect love is the Atonement.
T-2.VI.8.
I have emphasized that the miracle, or the expression of Atonement, is always
a
sign of respect <from> the worthy <to> the worthy. 2 The
recognition of this worth is
re-established
by the Atonement. 3 It is obvious, then, that when you are afraid, you
have
placed yourself in a position where you need Atonement. 4 You have done
something
loveless,
having chosen without love. 5 This is precisely the situation for which the
Atonement
was
offered. 6 The need for the remedy inspired its establishment. 7 As long as you
recognize
only the need for the remedy, you will remain fearful. 8 However, as soon as
you
accept
the remedy, you have abolished the fear. 9 This is how true healing occurs.
T-2.VI.9.
Everyone experiences fear. 2 Yet it would take very little right thinking to
realize
why fear occurs. 3 Few appreciate the real power of the mind, and no one
remains fully
aware
of it all the time. 4 However, if you hope to spare yourself from fear there
are
some
things you must realize, and realize fully. 5 The mind is very powerful, and
never
loses
its creative force. 6 It never sleeps. 7 Every instant it is creating. 8 It is
hard to
recognize
that thought and belief combine into a power surge that can literally move
mountains.
9 It appears at first glance that to believe such power about yourself is
arrogant,
but
that is not the real reason you do not believe it. 10 You prefer to believe
that your
thoughts
cannot exert real influence because you are actually afraid of them. 11 This
may allay
awareness
of the guilt, but at the cost of perceiving the mind as impotent. 12 If you
believe
that what you think is ineffectual you may cease to be afraid of it, but you
are
hardly
likely to respect it. 13 There <are> no idle thoughts. 14 All thinking
produces form
at
some level.
VII.
Cause and Effect
T-2.VII.1.
You may still complain about fear, but you nevertheless persist in making
yourself
fearful. 2 I have already indicated that you cannot ask me to release you from
fear. 3
I
know it does not exist, but you do not. 4 If I intervened between your thoughts
and
their
results, I would be tampering with a basic law of cause and effect; the most
fundamental
law there is. 5 I would hardly help you if I depreciated the power of your own
thinking.
6 This would be in direct opposition to the purpose of this course. 7 It is
much more
helpful
to remind you that you do not guard your thoughts carefully enough. 8 You may
feel
that at this point it would take a miracle to enable you to do this, which is
perfectly
true. 9 You are not used to miracle-minded thinking, but you can be trained to
think
that
way. 10 All miracle workers need that kind of training.
T-2.VII.2.
I cannot let you leave your mind unguarded, or you will not be able to help
me.
2 Miracle working entails a full realization of the power of thought in order
to
avoid
miscreation. 3 Otherwise a miracle will be necessary to set the mind itself
straight,
a
circular process that would not foster the time collapse for which the miracle
was
intended.
4 The miracle worker must have genuine respect for true cause and effect as a
necessary
condition for the miracle to occur.
T-2.VII.3.
Both miracles and fear come from thoughts. 2 If you are not free to choose
one,
you would also not be free to choose the other. 3 By choosing the miracle you
<have>
rejected
fear, if only temporarily. 4 You have been fearful of everyone and everything.
5 You
are
afraid of God, of me and of yourself. 6 You have misperceived or miscreated Us,
and
believe
in what you have made. 7 You would not have done this if you were not afraid of
your
own
thoughts. 8 The fearful <must> miscreate, because they misperceive
creation. 9 When
you
miscreate you are in pain. 10 The cause and effect principle now becomes a real
expediter,
though only temporarily. 11 Actually, "Cause" is a term properly
belonging to God,
and
His "Effect" is His Son. 12 This entails a set of Cause and Effect
relationships
totally
different from those you introduce into miscreation. 13 The fundamental conflict
in
this
world, then, is between creation and miscreation. 14 All fear is implicit in
the
second,
and all love in the first. 15 The conflict is therefore one between love and
fear.
T-2.VII.4.
It has already been said that you believe you cannot control fear because
you
yourself made it, and your belief in it seems to render it out of your control.
2 Yet
any
attempt to resolve the error through attempting the mastery of fear is useless.
3 In
fact,
it asserts the power of fear by the very assumption that it need be mastered. 4
The
true
resolution rests entirely on mastery through love. 5 In the interim, however,
the
sense
of conflict is inevitable, since you have placed yourself in a position where
you
believe
in the power of what does not exist.
T-2.VII.5.
Nothing and everything cannot coexist. 2 To believe in one is to deny the
other.
3 Fear is really nothing and love is everything. 4 Whenever light enters
darkness,
the
darkness is abolished. 5 What you believe is true for you. 6 In this sense the
separation
<has> occurred, and to deny it is merely to use denial inappropriately. 7
However, to
concentrate
on error is only a further error. 8 The initial corrective procedure is to
recognize
temporarily
that there is a problem, but only as an indication that immediate correction is
needed.
9
This establishes a state of mind in which the Atonement can be accepted without
delay.
10 It should be emphasized, however, that ultimately no compromise is possible
between
everything and nothing. 11 Time is essentially a device by which all compromise
in
this
respect can be given up. 12 It only seems to be abolished by degrees, because
time
itself
involves intervals that do not exist. 13 Miscreation made this necessary as a
corrective
device. 14 The statement "For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten
Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting
life" needs
only
one slight correction to be meaningful in this context; "He gave it
<to> His only
begotten
Son."
T-2.VII.6.
It should especially be noted that God has only <one> Son. 2 If all His
creations
are His Sons, every one must be an integral part of the whole Sonship. 3 The
Sonship
in
its Oneness transcends the sum of its parts. 4 However, this is obscured as
long as
any
of its parts is missing. 5 That is why the conflict cannot ultimately be
resolved
until
all the parts of the Sonship have returned. 6 Only then can the meaning of
wholeness
in
the true sense be understood. 7 Any part of the Sonship can believe in error or
incompleteness
if he so chooses. 8 However, if he does so, he is believing in the existence of
nothingness.
9 The correction of this error is the Atonement.
T-2.VII.7.
I have already briefly spoken about readiness, but some additional points
might
be helpful here. 2 Readiness is only the prerequisite for accomplishment. 3 The
two
should
not be confused. 4 As soon as a state of readiness occurs, there is usually
some
degree
of desire to accomplish, but it is by no means necessarily undivided. 5 The
state does
not
imply more than a potential for a change of mind. 6 Confidence cannot develop
fully
until
mastery has been accomplished. 7 We have already attempted to correct the
fundamental
error that fear can be mastered, and have emphasized that the only real mastery
is
through
love. 8 Readiness is only the beginning of confidence. 9 You may think this
implies
that
an enormous amount of time is necessary between readiness and mastery, but let
me
remind
you that time and space are under my control.
VIII.
The Meaning of the Last Judgment
T-2.VIII.1.
One of the ways in which you can correct the magic-miracle confusion is to
remember
that you did not create yourself. 2 You are apt to forget this when you become
egocentric,
and this puts you in a position where a belief in magic is virtually
inevitable. 3
Your
will to create was given you by your Creator, Who was expressing the same Will
in His
creation.
4 Since creative ability rests in the mind, everything you create is
necessarily a
matter
of will. 5 It also follows that whatever you alone make is real in your own
sight,
though
not in the Mind of God. 6 This basic distinction leads directly into the real
meaning
of
the Last Judgment.
T-2.VIII.2.
The Last Judgment is one of the most threatening ideas in your thinking. 2
This
is because you do not understand it. 3 Judgment is not an attribute of God. 4
It was
brought
into being only after the separation, when it became one of the many learning
devices
to
be built into the overall plan. 5 Just as the separation occurred over millions
of
years,
the Last Judgment will extend over a similarly long period, and perhaps an even
longer
one. 6 Its length can, however, be greatly shortened by miracles, the device for
shortening
but not abolishing time. 7 If a sufficient number become truly miracle-minded,
this
shortening
process can be virtually immeasurable. 8 It is essential, however, that you
free
yourself
from fear quickly, because you must emerge from the conflict if you are to
bring peace
to
other minds.
T-2.VIII.3.
The Last Judgment is generally thought of as a procedure undertaken by God.
2
Actually it will be undertaken by my brothers with my help. 3 It is a final
healing
rather
than a meting out of punishment, however much you may think that punishment is
deserved.
4 Punishment is a concept totally opposed to right-mindedness, and the aim of
the
Last
Judgment is to restore right-mindedness to you. 5 The Last Judgment might be
called a
process
of right evaluation. 6 It simply means that everyone will finally come to
understand
what
is worthy and what is not. 7 After this, the ability to choose can be directed
rationally.
8 Until this distinction is made, however, the vacillations between free and
imprisoned
will cannot but continue.
T-2.VIII.4.
The first step toward freedom involves a sorting out of the false from the
true.
2 This is a process of separation in the constructive sense, and reflects the
true
meaning
of the Apocalypse. 3 Everyone will ultimately look upon his own creations and
choose
to
preserve only what is good, just as God Himself looked upon what He had created
and
knew
that it was good. 4 At this point, the mind can begin to look with love on its
own
creations
because of their worthiness. 5 At the same time the mind will inevitably disown
its
miscreations
which, without belief, will no longer exist.
T-2.VIII.5.
The term "Last Judgment" is frightening not only because it has been
projected
onto God, but also because of the association of "last" with death. 2
This is an
outstanding
example of upside-down perception. 3 If the meaning of the Last Judgment is
objectively
examined, it is quite apparent that it is really the doorway to life. 4 No one
who
lives
in fear is really alive. 5 Your own last judgment cannot be directed toward
yourself,
because
you are not your own creation. 6 You can, however, apply it meaningfully and at
any
time
to everything you have made, and retain in your memory only what is creative
and good.
7
This is what your right-mindedness cannot but dictate. 8 The purpose of time is
solely
to "give you time" to achieve this judgment. 9 It is your own perfect
judgment of your
own
perfect creations. 10 When everything you retain is lovable, there is no reason
for
fear
to remain with you. 11 This is your part in the Atonement.
Chapter
3.
THE
INNOCENT PERCEPTION
I.
Atonement without Sacrifice
T-3.I.1.
A further point must be perfectly clear before any residual fear still
associated
with miracles can disappear. 2 The crucifixion did not establish the Atonement;
the
resurrection
did. 3 Many sincere Christians have misunderstood this. 4 No one who is free of
the
belief
in scarcity could possibly make this mistake. 5 If the crucifixion is seen from
an
upside-down
point of view, it does appear as if God permitted and even encouraged one of
His Sons
to
suffer because he was good. 6 This particularly unfortunate interpretation,
which
arose
out of projection, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God. 7 Such
anti-religious
concepts enter into many religions. 8 Yet the real Christian should pause and
ask, "
How
could this be?" 9 Is it likely that God Himself would be capable of the
kind of
thinking
which His Own words have clearly stated is unworthy of His Son?
T-3.I.2.
The best defense, as always, is not to attack another's position, but rather
to
protect the truth. 2 It is unwise to accept any concept if you have to invert a
whole
frame
of reference in order to justify it. 3 This procedure is painful in its minor
applications
and genuinely tragic on a wider scale. 4 Persecution frequently results in an
attempt
to
"justify" the terrible misperception that God Himself persecuted His
Own Son on behalf
of
salvation. 5 The very words are meaningless. 6 It has been particularly
difficult to
overcome
this because, although the error itself is no harder to correct than any other,
many
have been unwilling to give it up in view of its prominent value as a defense.
7
In
milder forms a parent says, "This hurts me more than it hurts you,"
and feels
exonerated
in beating a child. 8 Can you believe our Father really thinks this way? 9 It
is so
essential
that all such thinking be dispelled that we must be sure that nothing of this
kind
remains
in your mind. 10 I was not "punished" because <you> were bad.
11 The wholly benign
lesson
the Atonement teaches is lost if it is tainted with this kind of distortion in
any
form.
T-3.I.3.
The statement "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord" is a misperception
by which
one
assigns his own "evil" past to God. 2 The "evil" past has
nothing to do with God. 3
He
did not create it and He does not maintain it. 4 God does not believe in
retribution.
5
His Mind does not create that way. 6 He does not hold your "evil"
deeds against you.
7
Is it likely that He would hold them against me? 8 Be very sure that you
recognize
how
utterly impossible this assumption is, and how entirely it arises from
projection. 9
This
kind of error is responsible for a host of related errors, including the belief
that
God
rejected Adam and forced him out of the Garden of Eden. 10 It is also why you
may
believe
from time to time that I am misdirecting you. 11 I have made every effort to
use words
that
are almost impossible to distort, but it is always possible to twist symbols
around
if you wish.
T-3.I.4.
Sacrifice is a notion totally unknown to God. 2 It arises solely from fear,
and
frightened people can be vicious. 3 Sacrificing in any way is a violation of my
injunction
that you should be merciful even as your Father in Heaven is merciful. 4 It has
been
hard
for many Christians to realize that this applies to themselves. 5 Good teachers
never
terrorize
their students. 6 To terrorize is to attack, and this results in rejection of
what the
teacher
offers. 7 The result is learning failure.
T-3.I.5.
I have been correctly referred to as "the lamb of God who taketh away the
sins
of
the world," but those who represent the lamb as blood-stained do not
understand the
meaning
of the symbol. 2 Correctly understood, it is a very simple symbol that speaks
of my
innocence.
3 The lion and the lamb lying down together symbolize that strength and
innocence are
not
in conflict, but naturally live in peace. 4 "Blessed are the pure in heart
for they
shall
see God" is another way of saying the same thing. 5 A pure mind knows the
truth
and
this is its strength. 6 It does not confuse destruction with innocence because
it
associates
innocence with strength, not with weakness.
T-3.I.6.
Innocence is incapable of sacrificing anything, because the innocent mind has
everything
and strives only to protect its wholeness. 2 It cannot project. 3 It can only
honor
other
minds, because honor is the natural greeting of the truly loved to others who
are like
them.
4 The lamb "taketh away the sins of the world" in the sense that the
state of
innocence,
or grace, is one in which the meaning of the Atonement is perfectly apparent. 5
The
Atonement
is entirely unambiguous. 6 It is perfectly clear because it exists in light. 7
Only
the
attempts to shroud it in darkness have made it inaccessible to those who do not
choose
to
see.
T-3.I.7.
The Atonement itself radiates nothing but truth. 2 It therefore epitomizes
harmlessness
and sheds only blessing. 3 It could not do this if it arose from anything but
perfect
innocence.
4 Innocence is wisdom because it is unaware of evil, and evil does not exist. 5
It is,
however,
perfectly aware of everything that is true. 6 The resurrection demonstrated
that
nothing can destroy truth. 7 Good can withstand any form of evil, as light
abolishes
forms
of darkness. 8 The Atonement is therefore the perfect lesson. 9 It is the final
demonstration
that all the other lessons I taught are true. 10 If you can accept this one
generalization
now, there will be no need to learn from many smaller lessons. 11 You are
released
from
all errors if you believe this.
T-3.I.8.
The innocence of God is the true state of the mind of His Son. 2 In this state
your
mind knows God, for God is not symbolic; He is Fact. 3 Knowing His Son as he
is,
you
realize that the Atonement, not sacrifice, is the only appropriate gift for
God's
altar,
where nothing except perfection belongs. 4 The understanding of the innocent is
truth.
5
That is why their altars are truly radiant.
II.
Miracles as True Perception
T-3.II.1.
I have stated that the basic concepts referred to in this course are not
matters
of degree. 2 Certain fundamental concepts cannot be understood in terms of
opposites.
3
It is impossible to conceive of light and darkness or everything and nothing as
joint
possibilities.
4 They are all true or all false. 5 It is essential that you realize your
thinking
will
be erratic until a firm commitment to one or the other is made. 6 A firm
commitment to
darkness
or nothingness, however, is impossible. 7 No one has ever lived who has not
experienced
<some> light and <some> thing. 8 No one, therefore, is able to deny
truth totally,
even
if he thinks he can.
T-3.II.2.
Innocence is not a partial attribute. 2 It is not real <until> it is
total. 3
The
partly innocent are apt to be quite foolish at times. 4 It is not until their
innocence
becomes a viewpoint with universal application that it becomes wisdom. 5
Innocent or
true
perception means that you never misperceive and always see truly. 6 More
simply, it
means
that you never see what does not exist, and always see what does.
T-3.II.3.
When you lack confidence in what someone will do, you are attesting to your
belief
that he is not in his right mind. 2 This is hardly a miracle-based frame of
reference.
3
It also has the disastrous effect of denying the power of the miracle. 4 The
miracle
perceives
everything as it is. 5 If nothing but the truth exists, right-minded seeing
cannot see
anything
but perfection. 6 I have said that only what God creates or what you create
with
the same Will has any real existence. 7 This, then, is all the innocent can
see. 8
They
do not suffer from distorted perception.
T-3.II.4.
You are afraid of God's Will because you have used your own mind, which He
created
in the likeness of His Own, to miscreate. 2 The mind can miscreate only when it
believes
it is not free. 3 An "imprisoned" mind is not free because it is
possessed, or held
back,
by itself. 4 It is therefore limited, and the will is not free to assert
itself. 5 To
be
one is to be of one mind or will. 6 When the Will of the Sonship and the Father
are
One,
their perfect accord is Heaven.
T-3.II.5.
Nothing can prevail against a Son of God who commends his spirit into the
Hands
of his Father. 2 By doing this the mind awakens from its sleep and remembers
its
Creator.
3 All sense of separation disappears. 4 The Son of God is part of the Holy
Trinity,
but
the Trinity Itself is One. 5 There is no confusion within Its Levels, because
They are
of
one Mind and one Will. 6 This single purpose creates perfect integration and
establishes
the peace of God. 7 Yet this vision can be perceived only by the truly
innocent. 8
Because
their hearts are pure, the innocent defend true perception instead of defending
themselves
against it. 9 Understanding the lesson of the Atonement they are without the
wish to
attack,
and therefore they see truly. 10 This is what the Bible means when it says,
"When he
shall
appear (or be perceived) we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
is."
T-3.II.6.
The way to correct distortions is to withdraw your faith in them and invest
it
only in what is true. 2 You cannot make untruth true. 3 If you are willing to accept
what
is true in everything you perceive, you let it be true for you. 4 Truth
overcomes all
error,
and those who live in error and emptiness can never find lasting solace. 5 If
you
perceive
truly you are cancelling out misperceptions in yourself and in others
simultaneously.
6
Because you see them as they are, you offer them your acceptance of their truth
so
they
can accept it for themselves. 7 This is the healing that the miracle induces.
III.
Perception versus Knowledge
T-3.III.1.
We have been emphasizing perception, and have said very little about
knowledge
as yet. 2 This is because perception must be straightened out before you can
know
anything.
3 To know is to be certain. 4 Uncertainty means that you do not know. 5
Knowledge is
power
because it is certain, and certainty is strength. 6 Perception is temporary. 7
As an
attribute
of the belief in space and time, it is subject to either fear or love. 8
Misperceptions
produce fear and true perceptions foster love, but neither brings certainty
because
all
perception varies. 9 That is why it is not knowledge. 10 True perception is the
basis
for
knowledge, but knowing is the affirmation of truth and beyond all perceptions.
T-3.III.2.
All your difficulties stem from the fact that you do not recognize yourself,
your
brother or God. 2 To recognize means to "know again," implying that
you knew
before.
3 You can see in many ways because perception involves interpretation, and this
means
that
it is not whole or consistent. 4 The miracle, being a way of perceiving, is not
knowledge.
5 It is the right answer to a question, but you do not question when you know.
6
Questioning
illusions is the first step in undoing them. 7 The miracle, or the right
answer,
corrects
them. 8 Since perceptions change, their dependence on time is obvious. 9 How
you
perceive
at any given time determines what you do, and actions must occur in time. 10
Knowledge
is
timeless, because certainty is not questionable. 11 You know when you have
ceased to
ask
questions.
T-3.III.3.
The questioning mind perceives itself in time, and therefore looks for
future
answers. 2 The closed mind believes the future and the present will be the
same. 3
This
establishes a seemingly stable state that is usually an attempt to counteract
an
underlying
fear that the future will be worse than the present. 4 This fear inhibits the
tendency
to
question at all.
T-3.III.4.
True vision is the natural perception of spiritual sight, but it is still a
correction
rather than a fact. 2 Spiritual sight is symbolic, and therefore not a device
for
knowing.
3 It is, however, a means of right perception, which brings it into the proper
domain
of
the miracle. 4 A "vision of God" would be a miracle rather than a
revelation. 5 The
fact
that perception is involved at all removes the experience from the realm of
knowledge.
6
That is why visions, however holy, do not last.
T-3.III.5.
The Bible tells you to know yourself, or to be certain. 2 Certainty is
always
of God. 3 When you love someone you have perceived him as he is, and this makes
it
possible
for you to know him. 4 Until you first perceive him as he is you cannot know
him. 5
While
you ask questions about him you are clearly implying that you do not know God.
6
Certainty
does not require action. 7 When you say you are acting on the basis of
knowledge, you
are
really confusing knowledge with perception. 8 Knowledge provides the strength
for
creative
thinking, but not for right doing. 9 Perception, miracles and doing are closely
related.
10 Knowledge is the result of revelation and induces only thought. 11 Even in
its
most
spiritualized form perception involves the body. 12 Knowledge comes from the
altar
within
and is timeless because it is certain. 13 To perceive the truth is not the same
as to
know
it.
T-3.III.6.
Right perception is necessary before God can communicate directly to His
altars,
which He established in His Sons. 2 There He can communicate His certainty, and
His
knowledge
will bring peace without question. 3 God is not a stranger to His Sons, and His
Sons
are
not strangers to each other. 4 Knowledge preceded both perception and time, and
will
ultimately
replace them. 5 That is the real meaning of "Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the
end,"
and "Before Abraham was I am." 6 Perception can and must be
stabilized, but
knowledge
<is> stable. 7 "Fear God and keep His commandments" becomes
"Know God and accept His
certainty."
T-3.III.7.
If you attack error in another, you will hurt yourself. 2 You cannot know
your
brother when you attack him. 3 Attack is always made upon a stranger. 4 You are
making
him
a stranger by misperceiving him, and so you cannot know him. 5 It is because
you
have
made him a stranger that you are afraid of him. 6 Perceive him correctly so
that you
can
know him. 7 There are no strangers in God's creation. 8 To create as He created
you
can
create only what you know, and therefore accept as yours. 9 God knows His
children
with
perfect certainty. 10 He created them by knowing them. 11 He recognizes them
perfectly.
12
When they do not recognize each other, they do not recognize Him.
IV.
Error and the Ego
T-3.IV.1.
The abilities you now possess are only shadows of your real strength. 2 All
of
your present functions are divided and open to question and doubt. 3 This is
because
you
are not certain how you will use them, and are therefore incapable of
knowledge. 4 You
are
also incapable of knowledge because you can still perceive lovelessly. 5 Perception
did
not exist until the separation introduced degrees, aspects and intervals. 6
Spirit
has
no levels, and all conflict arises from the concept of levels. 7 Only the
Levels of
the
Trinity are capable of unity. 8 The levels created by the separation cannot but
conflict.
9 This is because they are meaningless to each other.
T-3.IV.2.
Consciousness, the level of perception, was the first split introduced into
the
mind after the separation, making the mind a perceiver rather than a creator. 2
Consciousness
is correctly identified as the domain of the ego. 3 The ego is a wrong-minded
attempt
to
perceive yourself as you wish to be, rather than as you are. 4 Yet you can know
yourself
only as you are, because that is all you can be sure of. 5 Everything else
<is> open
to
question.
T-3.IV.3.
The ego is the questioning aspect of the post-separation self, which was made
rather
than created. 2 It is capable of asking questions but not of perceiving
meaningful
answers, because these would involve knowledge and cannot be perceived. 3 The
mind is
therefore
confused, because only One-mindedness can be without confusion. 4 A separated
or
divided
mind <must> be confused. 5 It is necessarily uncertain about what it is.
6 It has to
be
in conflict because it is out of accord with itself. 7 This makes its aspects
strangers
to each other, and this is the essence of the fear-prone condition, in which
attack is
always
possible. 8 You have every reason to feel afraid as you perceive yourself. 9
This
is why you cannot escape from fear until you realize that you did not and could
not
create
yourself. 10 You can never make your misperceptions true, and your creation is
beyond
your
own error. 11 That is why you must eventually choose to heal the separation.
T-3.IV.4.
Right-mindedness is not to be confused with the knowing mind, because it is
applicable
only to right perception. 2 You can be right-minded or wrong-minded, and even
this is
subject
to degrees, clearly demonstrating that knowledge is not involved. 3 The term
"
right-mindedness"
is properly used as the correction for "wrong-mindedness," and
applies to the state
of
mind that induces accurate perception. 4 It is miracle-minded because it heals
misperception,
and this is indeed a miracle in view of how you perceive yourself.
T-3.IV.5.
Perception always involves some misuse of mind, because it brings the mind
into
areas of uncertainty. 2 The mind is very active. 3 When it chooses to be
separated it
chooses
to perceive. 4 Until then it wills only to know. 5 Afterwards it can only
choose
ambiguously,
and the only way out of ambiguity is clear perception. 6 The mind returns to
its
proper
function only when it wills to know. 7 This places it in the service of spirit,
where
perception
is changed. 8 The mind chooses to divide itself when it chooses to make its own
levels.
9
But it could not entirely separate itself from spirit, because it is from
spirit
that
it derives its whole power to make or create. 10 Even in miscreation the mind
is
affirming
its Source, or it would merely cease to be. 11 This is impossible, because the
mind
belongs
to spirit which God created and which is therefore eternal.
T-3.IV.6.
The ability to perceive made the body possible, because you must perceive <
something>
and <with> something. 2 That is why perception involves an exchange or
translation,
which
knowledge does not need. 3 The interpretative function of perception, a
distorted form
of
creation, then permits you to interpret the body as yourself in an attempt to
escape
from
the conflict you have induced. 4 Spirit, which knows, could not be reconciled
with
this
loss of power, because it is incapable of darkness. 5 This makes spirit almost
inaccessible
to the mind and entirely inaccessible to the body. 6 Thereafter, spirit is
perceived
as
a threat, because light abolishes darkness merely by showing you it is not
there. 7
Truth
will always overcome error in this way. 8 This cannot be an active process of
correction
because, as I have already emphasized, knowledge does not do anything. 9 It can
be
perceived
as an attacker, but it cannot attack. 10 What you perceive as its attack is
your own
vague
recognition that knowledge can always be remembered, never having been
destroyed.
T-3.IV.7.
God and His creations remain in surety, and therefore know that no
miscreation
exists. 2 Truth cannot deal with errors that you want. 3 I was a man who
remembered
spirit
and its knowledge. 4 As a man I did not attempt to counteract error with
knowledge,
but
to correct error from the bottom up. 5 I demonstrated both the powerlessness of
the
body
and the power of the mind. 6 By uniting my will with that of my Creator, I
naturally
remembered
spirit and its real purpose. 7 I cannot unite your will with God's for you, but
I can
erase
all misperceptions from your mind if you will bring it under my guidance. 8
Only your
misperceptions
stand in your way. 9 Without them your choice is certain. 10 Sane perception
induces
sane
choosing. 11 I cannot choose for you, but I can help you make your own right
choice.
12
"Many are called but few are chosen" should be, "All are called
but few choose to
listen."
13 Therefore, they do not choose right. 14 The "chosen ones" are
merely those who
choose
right sooner. 15 Right minds can do this now, and they will find rest unto
their souls.
16
God knows you only in peace, and this <is> your reality.
V.
Beyond Perception
T-3.V.1.
I have said that the abilities you possess are only shadows of your real
strength,
and that perception, which is inherently judgmental, was introduced only after
the
separation.
2 No one has been sure of anything since. 3 I have also made it clear that the
resurrection
was the means for the return to knowledge, which was accomplished by the union
of my
will
with the Father's. 4 We can now establish a distinction that will clarify some
of our
subsequent
statements.
T-3.V.2.
Since the separation, the words "create" and "make" have
become confused. 2
When
you make something, you do so out of a specific sense of lack or need. 3 Anything
made
for
a specific purpose has no true generalizability. 4 When you make something to
fill
a
perceived lack, you are tacitly implying that you believe in separation. 5 The
ego has
invented
many ingenious thought systems for this purpose. 6 None of them is creative. 7
Inventiveness
is wasted effort even in its most ingenious form. 8 The highly specific
nature
of invention is not worthy of the abstract creativity of God's creations.
T-3.V.3.
Knowing, as we have already observed, does not lead to doing. 2 The confusion
between
your real creation and what you have made of yourself is so profound that it
has
become
literally impossible for you to know anything. 3 Knowledge is always stable,
and it is
quite
evident that you are not. 4 Nevertheless, you are perfectly stable as God
created
you.
5 In this sense, when your behavior is unstable, you are disagreeing with God's
idea
of your creation. 6 You can do this if you choose, but you would hardly want to
do it
if
you were in your right mind.
T-3.V.4.
The fundamental question you continually ask yourself cannot properly be
directed
to yourself at all. 2 You keep asking what it is you are. 3 This implies that
the
answer
is not only one you know, but is also one that is up to you to supply. 4 Yet
you
cannot
perceive yourself correctly. 5 You have no image to be perceived. 6 The word
"image"
is
always perception-related, and not a part of knowledge. 7 Images are symbolic
and
stand
for something else. 8 The idea of "changing your image" recognizes the
power of
perception,
but also implies that there is nothing stable to know.
T-3.V.5.
Knowing is not open to interpretation. 2 You may try to "interpret"
meaning,
but
this is always open to error because it refers to the <perception> of
meaning. 3 Such
incongruities
are the result of attempts to regard yourself as separated and unseparated at
the same
time.
4 It is impossible to make so fundamental a confusion without increasing your
overall
confusion still further. 5 Your mind may have become very ingenious, but as
always
happens
when method and content are separated, it is utilized in a futile attempt to
escape
from
an inescapable impasse. 6 Ingenuity is totally divorced from knowledge, because
knowledge
does not require ingenuity. 7 Ingenious thinking is <not> the truth that
shall set you
free,
but you are free of the need to engage in it when you are willing to let it go.
T-3.V.6.
Prayer is a way of asking for something. 2 It is the medium of miracles. 3 But
the
only meaningful prayer is for forgiveness, because those who have been forgiven
have
everything. 4 Once forgiveness has been accepted, prayer in the usual sense
becomes
utterly
meaningless. 5 The prayer for forgiveness is nothing more than a request that
you may
be
able to recognize what you already have. 6 In electing perception instead of
knowledge,
you
placed yourself in a position where you could resemble your Father only by
perceiving
miraculously. 7 You have lost the knowledge that you yourself are a miracle of
God. 8
Creation
is your Source and your only real function.
T-3.V.7.
The statement "God created man in his own image and likeness" needs
reinterpretation.
2 "Image" can be understood as "thought," and
"likeness" as "of a like quality." 3
God
did create spirit in His Own Thought and of a quality like to His Own. 4 There
<is>
nothing
else. 5 Perception, on the other hand, is impossible without a belief in
"more" and "
less."
6 At every level it involves selectivity. 7 Perception is a continual process
of
accepting
and rejecting, organizing and reorganizing, shifting and changing. 8 Evaluation
is an
essential
part of perception, because judgments are necessary in order to select.
T-3.V.8.
What happens to perceptions if there are no judgments and nothing but perfect
equality?
2 Perception becomes impossible. 3 Truth can only be known. 4 All of it is
equally
true,
and knowing any part of it is to know all of it. 5 Only perception involves
partial
awareness.
6 Knowledge transcends the laws governing perception, because partial knowledge
is
impossible.
7 It is all one and has no separate parts. 8 You who are really one with it
need but
know
yourself and your knowledge is complete. 9 To know God's miracle is to know
Him.
T-3.V.9.
Forgiveness is the healing of the perception of separation. 2 Correct
perception
of your brother is necessary, because minds have chosen to see themselves as
separate.
3
Spirit knows God completely. 4 That is its miraculous power. 5 The fact that
each one
has
this power completely is a condition entirely alien to the world's thinking. 6
The
world
believes that if anyone has everything, there is nothing left. 7 But God's
miracles
are
as total as His Thoughts because they <are> His Thoughts.
T-3.V.10.
As long as perception lasts prayer has a place. 2 Since perception rests on
lack,
those who perceive have not totally accepted the Atonement and given themselves
over
to
truth. 3 Perception is based on a separated state, so that anyone who perceives
at all
needs
healing. 4 Communion, not prayer, is the natural state of those who know. 5 God
and
His miracle are inseparable. 6 How beautiful indeed are the Thoughts of God who
live
in
His light! 7 Your worth is beyond perception because it is beyond doubt. 8 Do
not
perceive
yourself in different lights. 9 Know yourself in the One Light where the
miracle that
is
you is perfectly clear.
VI.
Judgment and the Authority Problem
T-3.VI.1.
We have already discussed the Last Judgment, but in insufficient detail. 2
After
the Last Judgment there will be no more. 3 Judgment is symbolic because beyond
perception
there is no judgment. 4 When the Bible says "Judge not that ye be not
judged," it
means
that if you judge the reality of others you will be unable to avoid judging
your own.
T-3.VI.2.
The choice to judge rather than to know is the cause of the loss of peace. 2
Judgment
is the process on which perception but not knowledge rests. 3 I have discussed
this
before
in terms of the selectivity of perception, pointing out that evaluation is its
obvious
prerequisite.
4 Judgment always involves rejection. 5 It never emphasizes only the
positive
aspects of what is judged, whether in you or in others. 6 What has been
perceived and
rejected,
or judged and found wanting, remains in your mind because it has been
perceived. 7
One
of the illusions from which you suffer is the belief that what you judged
against has
no
effect. 8 This cannot be true unless you also believe that what you judged
against
does
not exist. 9 You evidently do not believe this, or you would not have judged
against
it.
10 In the end it does not matter whether your judgment is right or wrong. 11
Either
way
you are placing your belief in the unreal. 12 This cannot be avoided in any
type of
judgment,
because it implies the belief that reality is yours to select <from.
T-3.VI.3.
You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from
meeting
yourself and your brothers totally without judgment. 2 When you recognize what
you are
and
what your brothers are, you will realize that judging them in any way is
without
meaning.
3 In fact, their meaning is lost to you precisely <because> you are
judging them. 4
All
uncertainty comes from the belief that you are under the coercion of judgment.
5 You
do
not need judgment to organize your life, and you certainly do not need it to
organize
yourself.
6 In the presence of knowledge all judgment is automatically suspended, and
this is
the
process that enables recognition to replace perception.
T-3.VI.4.
You are very fearful of everything you have perceived but have refused to
accept.
2 You believe that, because you have refused to accept it, you have lost
control over
it.
3 This is why you see it in nightmares, or in pleasant disguises in what seem
to be
your
happier dreams. 4 Nothing that you have refused to accept can be brought into
awareness.
5 It is not dangerous in itself, but you have made it seem dangerous to you.
T-3.VI.5.
When you feel tired, it is because you have judged yourself as capable of
being
tired. 2 When you laugh at someone, it is because you have judged him as
unworthy. 3
When
you laugh at yourself you must laugh at others, if only because you cannot
tolerate
the
idea of being more unworthy than they are. 4 All this makes you feel tired
because it
is
essentially disheartening. 5 You are not really capable of being tired, but you
are
very
capable of wearying yourself. 6 The strain of constant judgment is virtually
intolerable.
7 It is curious that an ability so debilitating would be so deeply cherished. 8
Yet
if
you wish to be the author of reality, you will insist on holding on to
judgment. 9 You
will
also regard judgment with fear, believing that it will someday be used against
you.
10
This belief can exist only to the extent that you believe in the efficacy of
judgment
as a weapon of defense for your own authority.
T-3.VI.6.
God offers only mercy. 2 Your words should reflect only mercy, because that
is
what you have received and that is what you should give. 3 Justice is a
temporary
expedient,
or an attempt to teach you the meaning of mercy. 4 It is judgmental only
because you
are
capable of injustice.
T-3.VI.7.
I have spoken of different symptoms, and at that level there is almost
endless
variation. 2 There is, however, only one cause for all of them: the authority
problem.
3
This <is> "the root of all evil." 4 Every symptom the ego makes
involves a
contradiction
in terms, because the mind is split between the ego and the Holy Spirit, so
that
whatever
the ego makes is incomplete and contradictory. 5 This untenable position is the
result
of
the authority problem which, because it accepts the one inconceivable thought
as its
premise,
can produce only ideas that are inconceivable.
T-3.VI.8.
The issue of authority is really a question of authorship. 2 When you have an
authority
problem, it is always because you believe you are the author of yourself and
project
your delusion onto others. 3 You then perceive the situation as one in which
others
are
literally fighting you for your authorship. 4 This is the fundamental error of
all
those
who believe they have usurped the power of God. 5 This belief is very
frightening to
them,
but hardly troubles God. 6 He is, however, eager to undo it, not to punish His
children,
but only because He knows that it makes them unhappy. 7 God's creations are
given
their
true Authorship, but you prefer to be anonymous when you choose to separate
yourself
from
your Author. 8 Being uncertain of your true Authorship, you believe that your
creation
was
anonymous. 9 This leaves you in a position where it sounds meaningful to
believe
that
you created yourself. 10 The dispute over authorship has left such uncertainty
in your
mind
that it may even doubt whether you really exist at all.
T-3.VI.9.
Only those who give over all desire to reject can know that their own
rejection
is impossible. 2 You have not usurped the power of God, but you <have>
lost it. 3
Fortunately,
to lose something does not mean that it has gone. 4 It merely means that you do
not
remember
where it is. 5 Its existence does not depend on your ability to identify it, or
even
to
place it. 6 It is possible to look on reality without judgment and merely know
that it
is
there.
T-3.VI.10.
Peace is a natural heritage of spirit. 2 Everyone is free to refuse to
accept
his inheritance, but he is not free to establish what his inheritance is. 3 The
problem
everyone must decide is the fundamental question of authorship. 4 All fear
comes
ultimately,
and sometimes by way of very devious routes, from the denial of Authorship. 5
The
offense
is never to God, but only to those who deny Him. 6 To deny His Authorship is to
deny
yourself
the reason for your peace, so that you see yourself only in segments. 7 This
strange
perception
<is> the authority problem.
T-3.VI.11.
There is no one who does not feel that he is imprisoned in some way. 2 If
this
is the result of his own free will he must regard his will as not free, or the
circular
reasoning in this position would be quite apparent. 3 Free will must lead to freedom.
4
Judgment always imprisons because it separates segments of reality by the
unstable
scales
of desire. 5 Wishes are not facts. 6 To wish is to imply that willing is not
sufficient.
7 Yet no one in his right mind believes that what is wished is as real as what
is
willed.
8 Instead of "Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven" say, "
<Will> ye first the Kingdom
of
Heaven," and you have said, "I know what I am and I accept my own
inheritance."
VII.
Creating versus the Self-Image
T-3.VII.1.
Every system of thought must have a starting point. 2 It begins with either
a
making or a creating, a difference we have already discussed. 3 Their
resemblance lies
in
their power as foundations. 4 Their difference lies in what rests upon them. 5
Both
are
cornerstones for systems of belief by which one lives. 6 It is a mistake to
believe
that
a thought system based on lies is weak. 7 Nothing made by a child of God is
without
power.
8 It is essential to realize this, because otherwise you will be unable to
escape
from
the prison you have made.
T-3.VII.2.
You cannot resolve the authority problem by depreciating the power of your
mind.
2 To do so is to deceive yourself, and this will hurt you because you really
understand
the strength of the mind. 3 You also realize that you cannot weaken it, any
more than
you
can weaken God. 4 The "devil" is a frightening concept because he
seems to be
extremely
powerful and extremely active. 5 He is perceived as a force in combat with God,
battling
Him for possession of His creations. 6 The devil deceives by lies, and builds
kingdoms
in
which everything is in direct opposition to God. 7 Yet he attracts men rather
than
repels
them, and they are willing to "sell" him their souls in return for
gifts of no real
worth.
8 This makes absolutely no sense.
T-3.VII.3.
We have discussed the fall or separation before, but its meaning must be
clearly
understood. 2 The separation is a system of thought real enough in time, though
not in
eternity.
3 All beliefs are real to the believer. 4 The fruit of only one tree was "
forbidden"
in the symbolic garden. 5 But God could not have forbidden it, or it could not
have <
been>
eaten. 6 If God knows His children, and I assure you that He does, would He
have put
them
in a position where their own destruction was possible? 7 The "forbidden
tree" was
named
the "tree of knowledge." 8 Yet God created knowledge and gave it
freely to His
creations.
9 The symbolism here has been given many interpretations, but you may be sure
that
any
interpretation that sees either God or His creations as capable of destroying
Their
Own
purpose is in error.
T-3.VII.4.
Eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge is a symbolic expression for
usurping
the ability for self-creating. 2 This is the only sense in which God and His
creations
are
not co-creators. 3 The belief that they are is implicit in the
"self-concept," or
the
tendency of the self to make an image of itself. 4 Images are perceived, not
known. 5
Knowledge
cannot deceive, but perception can. 6 You can perceive yourself as
self-creating, but
you
cannot do more than believe it. 7 You cannot make it true. 8 And, as I said
before,
when
you finally perceive correctly you can only be glad that you cannot. 9 Until
then,
however,
the belief that you can is the foundation stone in your thought system, and all
your
defenses
are used to attack ideas that might bring it to light. 10 You still believe you
are an
image
of your own making. 11 Your mind is split with the Holy Spirit on this point,
and
there
is no resolution while you believe the one thing that is literally
inconceivable.
12
That is why you cannot create and are filled with fear about what you make.
T-3.VII.5.
The mind can make the belief in separation very real and very fearful, and
this
belief <is> the "devil." 2 It is powerful, active, destructive
and clearly in
opposition
to God, because it literally denies His Fatherhood. 3 Look at your life and see
what
the
devil has made. 4 But realize that this making will surely dissolve in the
light of
truth,
because its foundation is a lie. 5 Your creation by God is the only Foundation
that
cannot
be shaken, because the light is in it. 6 Your starting point is truth, and you
must
return
to your Beginning. 7 Much has been seen since then, but nothing has really
happened. 8
Your
Self is still in peace, even though your mind is in conflict. 9 You have not
yet
gone
back far enough, and that is why you become so fearful. 10 As you approach the
Beginning,
you feel the fear of the destruction of your thought system upon you as if it
were
the
fear of death. 11 There is no death, but there <is> a belief in death.
T-3.VII.6.
The branch that bears no fruit will be cut off and will wither away. 2 Be
glad!
3 The light will shine from the true Foundation of life, and your own thought
system
will
stand corrected. 4 It cannot stand otherwise. 5 You who fear salvation are
choosing
death.
6 Life and death, light and darkness, knowledge and perception, are
irreconcilable. 7
To
believe that they can be reconciled is to believe that God and His Son can
<not.> 8
Only
the oneness of knowledge is free of conflict. 9 Your Kingdom is not of this
world
because
it was given you from beyond this world. 10 Only in this world is the idea of an
authority
problem meaningful. 11 The world is not left by death but by truth, and truth
can be
known
by all those for whom the Kingdom was created, and for whom it waits.
Chapter
4.
THE
ILLUSIONS OF THE EGO
Introduction
T-4.in.1.
The Bible says that you should go with a brother twice as far as he asks. 2
It
certainly does not suggest that you set him back on his journey. 3 Devotion to
a
brother
cannot set you back either. 4 It can lead only to mutual progress. 5 The result
of
genuine
devotion is inspiration, a word which properly understood is the opposite of
fatigue.
6
To be fatigued is to be dis-spirited, but to be inspired is to be in the
spirit. 7 To
be
egocentric is to be dis-spirited, but to be Self-centered in the right sense is
to be
inspired
or in spirit. 8 The truly inspired are enlightened and cannot abide in
darkness.
T-4.in.2.
You can speak from the spirit or from the ego, as you choose. 2 If you speak
from
spirit you have chosen to "Be still and know that I am God." 3 These
words are
inspired
because they reflect knowledge. 4 If you speak from the ego you are disclaiming
knowledge
instead of affirming it, and are thus dis-spiriting yourself. 5 Do not embark
on
useless
journeys, because they are indeed in vain. 6 The ego may desire them, but
spirit
cannot
embark on them because it is forever unwilling to depart from its Foundation.
T-4.in.3.
The journey to the cross should be the last "useless journey." 2 Do
not dwell
upon
it, but dismiss it as accomplished. 3 If you can accept it as your own last
useless
journey, you are also free to join my resurrection. 4 Until you do so your life
is
indeed
wasted. 5 It merely re-enacts the separation, the loss of power, the futile
attempts
of
the ego at reparation, and finally the crucifixion of the body, or death. 6
Such
repetitions
are endless until they are voluntarily given up. 7 Do not make the pathetic
error of "
clinging
to the old rugged cross." 8 The only message of the crucifixion is that
you can
overcome
the cross. 9 Until then you are free to crucify yourself as often as you
choose. 10
This
is not the gospel I intended to offer you. 11 We have another journey to
undertake,
and
if you will read these lessons carefully they will help prepare you to
undertake it.
I.
Right Teaching and Right Learning
T-4.I.1.
A good teacher clarifies his own ideas and strengthens them by teaching them.
2
Teacher and pupil are alike in the learning process. 3 They are in the same
order of
learning,
and unless they share their lessons conviction will be lacking. 4 A good
teacher must
believe
in the ideas he teaches, but he must meet another condition; he must believe in
the
students to whom he offers the ideas.
T-4.I.2.
Many stand guard over their ideas because they want to protect their thought
systems
as they are, and learning means change. 2 Change is always fearful to the
separated,
because
they cannot conceive of it as a move towards healing the separation. 3 They
always
perceive
it as a move toward further separation, because the separation was their first
experience
of change. 4 You believe that if you allow no change to enter into your ego you
will
find
peace. 5 This profound confusion is possible only if you maintain that the same
thought
system can stand on two foundations. 6 Nothing can reach spirit from the ego,
and
nothing
can reach the ego from spirit. 7 Spirit can neither strengthen the ego nor
reduce the
conflict
within it. 8 The ego <is> a contradiction. 9 Your self and God's Self
<are> in
opposition.
10 They are opposed in source, in direction and in outcome. 11 They are
fundamentally
irreconcilable,
because spirit cannot perceive and the ego cannot know. 12 They are
therefore
not in communication and can never be in communication. 13 Nevertheless, the
ego can
learn,
even though its maker can be misguided. 14 He cannot, however, make the totally
lifeless
out of the life-given.
T-4.I.3.
Spirit need not be taught, but the ego must be. 2 Learning is ultimately
perceived
as frightening because it leads to the relinquishment, not the destruction, of
the ego
to
the light of spirit. 3 This is the change the ego must fear, because it does
not
share
my charity. 4 My lesson was like yours, and because I learned it I can teach
it. 5 I
will
never attack your ego, but I am trying to teach you how its thought system
arose. 6
When
I remind you of your true creation, your ego cannot but respond with fear.
T-4.I.4.
Teaching and learning are your greatest strengths now, because they enable you
to
change your mind and help others to change theirs. 2 Refusing to change your
mind
will
not prove that the separation has not occurred. 3 The dreamer who doubts the
reality
of
his dream while he is still dreaming is not really healing his split mind. 4
You dream
of
a separated ego and believe in a world that rests upon it. 5 This is very real
to
you.
6 You cannot undo it by not changing your mind about it. 7 If you are willing
to
renounce
the role of guardian of your thought system and open it to me, I will correct
it very
gently
and lead you back to God.
T-4.I.5.
Every good teacher hopes to give his students so much of his own learning that
they
will one day no longer need him. 2 This is the one true goal of the teacher. 3
It
is
impossible to convince the ego of this, because it goes against all of its own
laws. 4
But
remember that laws are set up to protect the continuity of the system in which
the
lawmaker
believes. 5 It is natural for the ego to try to protect itself once you have
made it,
but
it is not natural for you to want to obey its laws unless <you> believe
them. 6 The
ego
cannot make this choice because of the nature of its origin. 7 You can, because
of the
nature
of yours.
T-4.I.6.
Egos can clash in any situation, but spirit cannot clash at all. 2 If you
perceive
a teacher as merely "a larger ego" you will be afraid, because to
enlarge an ego would
be
to increase anxiety about separation. 3 I will teach with you and live with you
if
you
will think with me, but my goal will always be to absolve you finally from the
need
for
a teacher. 4 This is the opposite of the ego-oriented teacher's goal. 5 He is
concerned
with the effect of his ego on other egos, and therefore interprets their interaction
as
a means of ego preservation. 6 I would not be able to devote myself to teaching
if I
believed
this, and you will not be a devoted teacher as long as you believe it. 7 I am
constantly
being perceived as a teacher either to be exalted or rejected, but I do not
accept
either
perception for myself.
T-4.I.7.
Your worth is not established by teaching or learning. 2 Your worth is
established
by God. 3 As long as you dispute this everything you do will be fearful,
particularly
any
situation that lends itself to the belief in superiority and inferiority. 4
Teachers
must
be patient and repeat their lessons until they are learned. 5 I am willing to
do this,
because
I have no right to set your learning limits for you. 6 Again,--nothing you do
or
think or wish or make is necessary to establish your worth. 7 This point is not
debatable
except in delusions. 8 Your ego is never at stake because God did not create
it. 9
Your
spirit is never at stake because He did. 10 Any confusion on this point is delusional,
and
no form of devotion is possible as long as this delusion lasts.
T-4.I.8.
The ego tries to exploit all situations into forms of praise for itself in
order
to overcome its doubts. 2 It will remain doubtful as long as you believe in its
existence.
3 You who made it cannot trust it, because in your right mind you realize it is
not
real.
4 The only sane solution is not to try to change reality, which is indeed a
fearful
attempt,
but to accept it as it is. 5 You are part of reality, which stands unchanged
beyond
the
reach of your ego but within easy reach of spirit. 6 When you are afraid, be
still and
know
that God is real, and you are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. 7 Do
not
let
your ego dispute this, because the ego cannot know what is as far beyond its
reach
as
you are.
T-4.I.9.
God is not the author of fear. 2 You are. 3 You have chosen to create unlike
Him,
and have therefore made fear for yourself. 4 You are not at peace because you
are not
fulfilling
your function. 5 God gave you a very lofty function that you are not meeting.
6
Your ego has chosen to be afraid instead of meeting it. 7 When you awaken you
will
not
be able to understand this, because it is literally incredible. 8 <Do not
believe the
incredible
now.> 9 Any attempt to increase its believableness is merely to postpone the
inevitable.
10 The word "inevitable" is fearful to the ego, but joyous to the
spirit. 11 God is
inevitable,
and you cannot avoid Him any more than He can avoid you.
T-4.I.10.
The ego is afraid of the spirit's joy, because once you have experienced it
you
will withdraw all protection from the ego, and become totally without
investment in
fear.
2 Your investment is great now because fear is a witness to the separation, and
your
ego
rejoices when you witness to it. 3 Leave it behind! 4 Do not listen to it and
do not
preserve
it. 5 Listen only to God, Who is as incapable of deception as is the spirit He
created.
6
Release yourself and release others. 7 Do not present a false and unworthy
picture
of
yourself to others, and do not accept such a picture of them yourself.
T-4.I.11.
The ego has built a shabby and unsheltering home for you, because it cannot
build
otherwise. 2 Do not try to make this impoverished house stand. 3 Its weakness
is your
strength.
4 Only God could make a home that is worthy of His creations, who have chosen
to
leave
it empty by their own dispossession. 5 Yet His home will stand forever, and is
ready
for
you when you choose to enter it. 6 Of this you can be wholly certain. 7 God is
as
incapable
of creating the perishable as the ego is of making the eternal.
T-4.I.12.
Of your ego you can do nothing to save yourself or others, but of your spirit
you
can do everything for the salvation of both. 2 Humility is a lesson for the ego,
not
for the spirit. 3 Spirit is beyond humility, because it recognizes its radiance
and
gladly
sheds its light everywhere. 4 The meek shall inherit the earth because their
egos are
humble,
and this gives them truer perception. 5 The Kingdom of Heaven is the spirit's
right,
whose
beauty and dignity are far beyond doubt, beyond perception, and stand forever
as the
mark
of the Love of God for His creations, who are wholly worthy of Him and only of
Him. 6
Nothing
else is sufficiently worthy to be a gift for a creation of God Himself.
T-4.I.13.
I will substitute for your ego if you wish, but never for your spirit. 2 A
father
can safely leave a child with an elder brother who has shown himself
responsible, but
this
involves no confusion about the child's origin. 3 The brother can protect the
child's
body
and his ego, but he does not confuse himself with the father because he does
this. 4 I
can
be entrusted with your body and your ego only because this enables you not to
be
concerned
with them, and lets me teach you their unimportance. 5 I could not understand
their
importance
to you if I had not once been tempted to believe in them myself. 6 Let us
undertake to
learn
this lesson together so we can be free of them together. 7 I need devoted
teachers
who share my aim of healing the mind. 8 Spirit is far beyond the need of your
protection
or mine. 9 Remember this:
10
In this world you need not have tribulation because I have overcome the world.
11
That
is why you should be of good cheer.
II.
The Ego and False Autonomy
T-4.II.1.
It is reasonable to ask how the mind could ever have made the ego. 2 In fact,
it
is the best question you could ask. 3 There is, however, no point in giving an
answer
in terms of the past because the past does not matter, and history would not
exist if
the
same errors were not being repeated in the present. 4 Abstract thought applies
to
knowledge
because knowledge is completely impersonal, and examples are irrelevant to its
understanding.
5 Perception, however, is always specific, and therefore quite concrete.
T-4.II.2.
Everyone makes an ego or a self for himself, which is subject to enormous
variation
because of its instability. 2 He also makes an ego for everyone else he
perceives,
which
is equally variable. 3 Their interaction is a process that alters both, because
they
were
not made by or with the Unalterable. 4 It is important to realize that this
alteration
can
and does occur as readily when the interaction takes place in the mind as when
it
involves
physical proximity. 5 Thinking about another ego is as effective in changing
relative
perception
as is physical interaction. 6 There could be no better example that the ego is
only an
idea
and not a fact.
T-4.II.3.
Your own state of mind is a good example of how the ego was made. 2 When you
threw
knowledge away it is as if you never had it. 3 This is so apparent that one
need only
recognize
it to see that it does happen. 4 If this occurs in the present, why is it surprising
that
it occurred in the past? 5 Surprise is a reasonable response to the unfamiliar,
though
hardly
to something that occurs with such persistence. 6 But do not forget that the
mind
need not work that way, even though it does work that way now.
T-4.II.4.
Think of the love of animals for their offspring, and the need they feel to
protect
them. 2 That is because they regard them as part of themselves. 3 No one
dismisses
something
he considers part of himself. 4 You react to your ego much as God does to His
creations,--with
love, protection and charity. 5 Your reactions to the self you made are not
surprising.
6 In fact, they resemble in many ways how you will one day react to your real
creations,
which are as timeless as you are. 7 The question is not how you respond to the
ego,
but
what you believe you are. 8 Belief is an ego function, and as long as your
origin is
open
to belief you are regarding it from an ego viewpoint. 9 When teaching is no
longer
necessary
you will merely know God. 10 Belief that there is another way of perceiving is
the
loftiest
idea of which ego thinking is capable. 11 That is because it contains a hint of
recognition
that the ego is not the Self.
T-4.II.5.
Undermining the ego's thought system must be perceived as painful, even
though
this is anything but true. 2 Babies scream in rage if you take away a knife or
scissors,
although they may well harm themselves if you do not. 3 In this sense you are
still a
baby.
4 You have no sense of real self-preservation, and are likely to decide that
you
need
precisely what would hurt you most. 5 Yet whether or not you recognize it now,
you
have
agreed to cooperate in the effort to become both harmless and helpful,
attributes that
must
go together. 6 Your attitudes even toward this are necessarily conflicted,
because
all
attitudes are ego-based. 7 This will not last. 8 Be patient a while and
remember
that
the outcome is as certain as God.
T-4.II.6.
Only those who have a real and lasting sense of abundance can be truly
charitable.
2 This is obvious when you consider what is involved. 3 To the ego, to give
anything
implies
that you will have to do without it. 4 When you associate giving with
sacrifice, you
give
only because you believe that you are somehow getting something better, and can
therefore
do without the thing you give. 5 "Giving to get" is an inescapable
law of the ego,
which
always evaluates itself in relation to other egos. 6 It is therefore
continually
preoccupied
with the belief in scarcity that gave rise to it. 7 Its whole perception of
other egos
as
real is only an attempt to convince itself that <it> is real. 8
"Self-esteem" in ego
terms
means nothing more than that the ego has deluded itself into accepting its
reality,
and is therefore temporarily less predatory. 9 This "self-esteem" is
always
vulnerable
to stress, a term which refers to any perceived threat to the ego's existence.
T-4.II.7.
The ego literally lives by comparisons. 2 Equality is beyond its grasp, and
charity
becomes impossible. 3 The ego never gives out of abundance, because it was made
as a
substitute
for it. 4 That is why the concept of "getting" arose in the ego's
thought system. 5
Appetites
are "getting" mechanisms, representing the ego's need to confirm
itself. 6 This is as
true
of body appetites as it is of the so-called "higher ego needs." 7
Body appetites are
not
physical in origin. 8 The ego regards the body as its home, and tries to
satisfy
itself
through the body. 9 But the idea that this is possible is a decision of the
mind,
which
has become completely confused about what is really possible.
T-4.II.8.
The ego believes it is completely on its own, which is merely another way of
describing
how it thinks it originated. 2 This is such a fearful state that it can only
turn to
other
egos and try to unite with them in a feeble attempt at identification, or
attack them
in
an equally feeble show of strength. 3 It is not free, however, to open the
premise to
question,
because the premise is its foundation. 4 The ego is the mind's belief that it
is
completely
on its own. 5 The ego's ceaseless attempts to gain the spirit's acknowledgment
and
thus
establish its own existence are useless. 6 Spirit in its knowledge is unaware
of the
ego.
7 It does not attack it; it merely cannot conceive of it at all. 8 While the
ego is
equally
unaware of spirit, it does perceive itself as being rejected by something
greater than
itself.
9 This is why self-esteem in ego terms must be delusional. 10 The creations of
God
do not create myths, although creative effort can be turned to mythology. 11 It
can do
so,
however, only under one condition; what it makes is then no longer creative. 12
Myths
are entirely perceptual, and so ambiguous in form and characteristically
good-and-evil
in
nature that the most benevolent of them is not without fearful connotations.
T-4.II.9.
Myths and magic are closely associated, since myths are usually related to
ego
origins, and magic to the powers the ego ascribes to itself. 2 Mythological
systems
generally
include some account of "the creation," and associate this with its
particular form of
magic.
3 The so-called "battle for survival" is only the ego's struggle to
preserve
itself,
and its interpretation of its own beginning. 4 This beginning is usually
associated
with
physical birth, because it is hard to maintain that the ego existed before that
point
in
time. 5 The more "religiously" ego-oriented may believe that the soul
existed before,
and
will continue to exist after a temporary lapse into ego life. 6 Some even
believe that
the
soul will be punished for this lapse. 7 However, salvation does not apply to
spirit,
which
is not in danger and does not need to be salvaged.
T-4.II.10.
Salvation is nothing more than "right-mindedness," which is not the
One-mindedness
of the Holy Spirit, but which must be achieved before One-mindedness is
restored. 2
Right-mindedness
leads to the next step automatically, because right perception is uniformly
without
attack,
and therefore wrong-mindedness is obliterated. 3 The ego cannot survive without
judgment,
and is laid aside accordingly. 4 The mind then has only one direction in which
it can
move.
5 Its direction is always automatic, because it cannot but be dictated by the
thought
system to which it adheres.
T-4.II.11.
It cannot be emphasized too often that correcting perception is merely a
temporary
expedient. 2 It is necessary only because misperception is a block to
knowledge, while
accurate
perception is a steppingstone towards it. 3 The whole value of right
perception
lies in the inevitable realization that <all> perception is unnecessary.
4 This
removes
the block entirely. 5 You may ask how this is possible as long as you appear to
be
living
in this world. 6 That is a reasonable question. 7 You must be careful, however,
that
you
really understand it. 8 Who is the "you" who are living in this
world? 9 Spirit is
immortal,
and immortality is a constant state. 10 It is as true now as it ever was or
ever will
be,
because it implies no change at all. 11 It is not a continuum, nor is it
understood
by
being compared to an opposite. 12 Knowledge never involves comparisons. 13 That
is
its
main difference from everything else the mind can grasp.
III.
Love without Conflict
T-4.III.1.
It is hard to understand what "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you"
really
means.
2 This is because it is not understandable to the ego, which interprets it as
if
something
outside is inside, and this does not mean anything. 3 The word
"within" is unnecessary.
4
The Kingdom of Heaven <is> you. 5 What else <but> you did the
Creator create, and
what
else <but> you is His Kingdom? 6 This is the whole message of the
Atonement; a message
which
in its totality transcends the sum of its parts. 7 You, too, have a Kingdom
that
your
spirit created. 8 It has not ceased to create because of the ego's illusions. 9
Your
creations
are no more fatherless than you are. 10 Your ego and your spirit will never be
co-creators,
but your spirit and your Creator will always be. 11 Be confident that your
creations
are
as safe as you are.
12
The Kingdom is perfectly united and perfectly protected, and the ego will not
prevail
against it. 13 Amen.
T-4.III.2.
This is written in the form of a prayer because it is useful in moments of
temptation.
2 It is a declaration of independence. 3 You will find it very helpful if you
understand
it fully. 4 The reason you need my help is because you have denied your own
Guide and
therefore
need guidance. 5 My role is to separate the true from the false, so truth can
break
through
the barriers the ego has set up and can shine into your mind. 6 Against our
united
strength
the ego cannot prevail.
T-4.III.3.
It is surely apparent by now why the ego regards spirit as its
"enemy." 2
The
ego arose from the separation, and its continued existence depends on your
continuing
belief
in the separation. 3 The ego must offer you some sort of reward for maintaining
this
belief.
4 All it can offer is a sense of temporary existence, which begins with its own
beginning
and ends with its own ending. 5 It tells you this life is your existence
because it is
its
own. 6 Against this sense of temporary existence spirit offers you the
knowledge of
permanence
and unshakable being. 7 No one who has experienced the revelation of this
can
ever fully believe in the ego again. 8 How can its meager offering to you
prevail
against
the glorious gift of God?
T-4.III.4.
You who identify with your ego cannot believe God loves you. 2 You do not
love
what you made, and what you made does not love you. 3 Being made out of the denial
of
the
Father, the ego has no allegiance to its maker. 4 You cannot conceive of the
real
relationship
that exists between God and His creations because of your hatred for the self
you made.
5
You project onto the ego the decision to separate, and this conflicts with the
love
you
feel for the ego because you made it. 6 No love in this world is without this
ambivalence,
and since no ego has experienced love without ambivalence the concept is beyond
its
understanding.
7 Love will enter immediately into any mind that truly wants it, but it must
want it
truly.
8 This means that it wants it without ambivalence, and this kind of wanting is
wholly
without
the ego's "drive to get."
T-4.III.5.
There is a kind of experience so different from anything the ego can offer
that
you will never want to cover or hide it again. 2 It is necessary to repeat that
your
belief
in darkness and hiding is why the light cannot enter. 3 The Bible gives many
references
to the immeasurable gifts which are for you, but for which you must ask. 4 This
is not
a
condition as the ego sets conditions. 5 It is the glorious condition of what
you are.
T-4.III.6.
No force except your own will is strong enough or worthy enough to guide you.
2
In this you are as free as God, and must remain so forever. 3 Let us ask the
Father
in
my name to keep you mindful of His Love for you and yours for Him. 4 He has
never
failed
to answer this request, because it asks only for what He has already willed. 5
Those
who
call truly are always answered. 6 Thou shalt have no other gods before Him
because
there
<are> none.
T-4.III.7.
It has never really entered your mind to give up every idea you ever had
that
opposes knowledge. 2 You retain thousands of little scraps of fear that prevent
the
Holy
One from entering. 3 Light cannot penetrate through the walls you make to block
it,
and
it is forever unwilling to destroy what you have made. 4 No one can see through
a wall,
but
I can step around it. 5 Watch your mind for the scraps of fear, or you will be
unable
to ask me to do so. 6 I can help you only as our Father created us. 7 I will
love you
and
honor you and maintain complete respect for what you have made, but I will not
uphold
it
unless it is true. 8 I will never forsake you any more than God will, but I
must wait
as
long as you choose to forsake yourself. 9 Because I wait in love and not in
impatience,
you
will surely ask me truly. 10 I will come in response to a single unequivocal
call.
T-4.III.8.
Watch carefully and see what it is you are really asking for. 2 Be very
honest
with yourself in this, for we must hide nothing from each other. 3 If you will
really
try
to do this, you have taken the first step toward preparing your mind for the
Holy One
to
enter. 4 We will prepare for this together, for once He has come, you will be
ready to
help
me make other minds ready for Him. 5 How long will you deny Him His Kingdom?
T-4.III.9.
In your own mind, though denied by the ego, is the declaration of your
release.
2 <God has given you everything.> 3 This one fact means the ego does not
exist, and
this
makes it profoundly afraid. 4 In the ego's language, "to have" and
"to be" are
different,
but they are identical to the Holy Spirit. 5 The Holy Spirit knows that you
both <
have>
everything and <are> everything. 6 Any distinction in this respect is
meaningful only
when
the idea of "getting," which implies a lack, has already been
accepted. 7 That is
why
we make no distinction between <having> the Kingdom of God and
<being> the Kingdom of
God.
T-4.III.10.
The calm being of God's Kingdom, which in your sane mind is perfectly
conscious,
is ruthlessly banished from the part of the mind the ego rules. 2 The ego is
desperate
because it opposes literally invincible odds, whether you are asleep or awake.
3
Consider
how much vigilance you have been willing to exert to protect your ego, and how
little
to
protect your right mind. 4 Who but the insane would undertake to believe what
is not
true,
and then protect this belief at the cost of truth?
IV.
This Need Not Be
T-4.IV.1.
If you cannot hear the Voice for God, it is because you do not choose to
listen.
2 That you <do> listen to the voice of your ego is demonstrated by your
attitudes,
your
feelings and your behavior. 3 Yet this is what you want. 4 This is what you are
fighting
to keep, and what you are vigilant to save. 5 Your mind is filled with schemes
to save
the
face of your ego, and you do not seek the face of Christ. 6 The glass in which
the
ego
seeks to see its face is dark indeed. 7 How can it maintain the trick of its
existence
except
with mirrors? 8 But where you look to find yourself is up to you.
T-4.IV.2.
I have said that you cannot change your mind by changing your behavior, but I
have
also said, and many times, that you <can> change your mind. 2 When your
mood tells
you
that you have chosen wrongly, and this is so whenever you are not joyous, then
<
know
this need not be.> 3 In every case you have thought wrongly about some brother
God
created,
and are perceiving images your ego makes in a darkened glass. 4 Think honestly
what
you
have thought that God would not have thought, and what you have not thought
that God
would
have you think. 5 Search sincerely for what you have done and left undone
accordingly,
and
then change your mind to think with God's. 6 This may seem hard to do, but it
is
much
easier than trying to think against it. 7 Your mind is one with God's. 8
Denying this
and
thinking otherwise has held your ego together, but has literally split your
mind. 9 As
a
loving brother I am deeply concerned with your mind, and urge you to follow my
example
as you look at yourself and at your brother, and see in both the glorious
creations of
a
glorious Father.
T-4.IV.3.
When you are sad, <know this need not be.> 2 Depression comes from a
sense of
being
deprived of something you want and do not have. 3 Remember that you are
deprived
of
nothing except by your own decisions, and then decide otherwise.
T-4.IV.4.
When you are anxious, realize that anxiety comes from the capriciousness of
the
ego, and <know this need not be.> 2 You can be as vigilant against the
ego's dictates
as
for them.
T-4.IV.5.
When you feel guilty, remember that the ego has indeed violated the laws of
God,
but <you> have not. 2 Leave the "sins" of the ego to me. 3 That
is what Atonement is
for.
4 But until you change your mind about those whom your ego has hurt, the
Atonement
cannot
release you. 5 While you feel guilty your ego is in command, because only the
ego can
experience
guilt. 6 <This need not be.
T-4.IV.6.
Watch your mind for the temptations of the ego, and do not be deceived by it.
2
It offers you nothing. 3 When you have given up this voluntary dis-spiriting,
you
will
see how your mind can focus and rise above fatigue and heal. 4 Yet you are not
sufficiently
vigilant against the demands of the ego to disengage yourself. 5 <This need
not be.
T-4.IV.7.
The habit of engaging with God and His creations is easily made if you
actively
refuse to let your mind slip away. 2 The problem is not one of concentration;
it is
the
belief that no one, including yourself, is worth consistent effort. 3 Side with
me
consistently
against this deception, and do not permit this shabby belief to pull you back.
4 The
disheartened
are useless to themselves and to me, but only the ego can <be>
disheartened.
T-4.IV.8.
Have you really considered how many opportunities you have had to gladden
yourself,
and how many of them you have refused? 2 There is no limit to the power of a
Son of
God,
but he can limit the expression of his power as much as he chooses. 3 Your mind
and
mine
can unite in shining your ego away, releasing the strength of God into
everything you
think
and do. 4 Do not settle for anything less than this, and refuse to accept
anything but
this
as your goal. 5 Watch your mind carefully for any beliefs that hinder its
accomplishment,
and step away from them. 6 Judge how well you have done this by your own
feelings,
for
this is the one right use of judgment. 7 Judgment, like any other defense, can
be used
to
attack or protect; to hurt or to heal. 8 The ego <should> be brought to
judgment and
found
wanting there. 9 Without your own allegiance, protection and love, the ego
cannot
exist.
10 Let it be judged truly and you must withdraw allegiance, protection and love
from
it.
T-4.IV.9.
You are a mirror of truth, in which God Himself shines in perfect light. 2 To
the
ego's dark glass you need but say, "I will not look there because I know
these
images
are not true." 3 Then let the Holy One shine on you in peace, knowing that
this and
only
this must be. 4 His Mind shone on you in your creation and brought your mind
into
being.
5 His Mind still shines on you and must shine through you. 6 Your ego cannot
prevent
Him
from shining on you, but it can prevent you from letting Him shine through you.
T-4.IV.10.
The First Coming of Christ is merely another name for the creation, for
Christ
is the Son of God. 2 The Second Coming of Christ means nothing more than the
end of
the
ego's rule and the healing of the mind. 3 I was created like you in the First,
and I
have
called you to join with me in the Second. 4 I am in charge of the Second
Coming, and
my
judgment, which is used only for protection, cannot be wrong because it never
attacks.
5
Yours may be so distorted that you believe I was mistaken in choosing you. 6 I
assure
you
this is a mistake of your ego. 7 Do not mistake it for humility. 8 Your ego is
trying
to convince you that it is real and I am not, because if I am real, I am no
more real
than
you are. 9 That knowledge, and I assure you that it <is> knowledge, means
that Christ
has
come into your mind and healed it.
T-4.IV.11.
I do not attack your ego. 2 I do work with your higher mind, the home of the
Holy
Spirit, whether you are asleep or awake, just as your ego does with your lower
mind,
which is its home. 3 I am your vigilance in this, because you are too confused
to
recognize
your own hope. 4 I am not mistaken. 5 Your mind will elect to join with mine,
and
together
we are invincible. 6 You and your brother will yet come together in my name,
and your
sanity
will be restored. 7 I raised the dead by knowing that life is an eternal
attribute of
everything
that the living God created. 8 Why do you believe it is harder for me to
inspire the
dis-spirited
or to stabilize the unstable? 9 I do not believe that there is an order of
difficulty
in
miracles; you do. 10 I have called and you will answer. 11 I understand that
miracles
are
natural, because they are expressions of love. 12 My calling you is as natural
as your
answer,
and as inevitable.
V.
The Ego-Body Illusion
T-4.V.1.
All things work together for good. 2 There are no exceptions except in the
ego's
judgment. 3 The ego exerts maximal vigilance about what it permits into
awareness, and
this
is not the way a balanced mind holds together. 4 The ego is thrown further off
balance
because it keeps its primary motivation from your awareness, and raises control
rather
than
sanity to predominance. 5 The ego has every reason to do this, according to the
thought
system which gave rise to it and which it serves. 6 Sane judgment would
inevitably
judge
against the ego, and must be obliterated by the ego in the interest of its
self-preservation.
T-4.V.2.
A major source of the ego's off-balanced state is its lack of discrimination
between
the body and the Thoughts of God. 2 Thoughts of God are unacceptable to the
ego,
because
they clearly point to the nonexistence of the ego itself. 3 The ego therefore
either
distorts
them or refuses to accept them. 4 It cannot, however, make them cease to be. 5
It
therefore
tries to conceal not only "unacceptable" body impulses, but also the
Thoughts of God,
because
both are threatening to it. 6 Being concerned primarily with its own
preservation in
the
face of threat, the ego perceives them as the same. 7 By perceiving them as the
same,
the
ego attempts to save itself from being swept away, as it would surely be in the
presence
of knowledge.
T-4.V.3.
Any thought system that confuses God and the body must be insane. 2 Yet this
confusion
is essential to the ego, which judges only in terms of threat or non-threat to
itself.
3
In one sense the ego's fear of God is at least logical, since the idea of Him
does
dispel
the ego. 4 But fear of the body, with which the ego identifies so closely,
makes no
sense
at all.
T-4.V.4.
The body is the ego's home by its own election. 2 It is the only
identification
with which the ego feels safe, since the body's vulnerability is its own best
argument
that
you cannot be of God. 3 This is the belief that the ego sponsors eagerly. 4 Yet
the
ego hates the body, because it cannot accept it as good enough to be its home.
5 Here
is
where the mind becomes actually dazed. 6 Being told by the ego that it is
really part
of
the body and that the body is its protector, the mind is also told that the
body
cannot
protect it. 7 Therefore, the mind asks, "Where can I go for
protection?" to which the
ego
replies, "Turn to me." 8 The mind, and not without cause, reminds the
ego that it has
itself
insisted that it is identified with the body, so there is no point in turning
to <it>
for
protection. 9 The ego has no real answer to this because there is none, but it
does
have
a typical solution. 10 It obliterates the question from the mind's awareness.
11 Once
out
of awareness the question can and does produce uneasiness, but it cannot be
answered
because
it cannot be asked.
T-4.V.5.
This is the question that <must> be asked: "Where can I go for
protection?" 2
"Seek
and ye shall find" does not mean that you should seek blindly and
desperately for
something
you would not recognize. 3 Meaningful seeking is consciously undertaken, consciously
organized
and consciously directed. 4 The goal must be formulated clearly and kept in
mind. 5
Learning
and wanting to learn are inseparable. 6 You learn best when you believe what
you are
trying
to learn is of value to you. 7 However, not everything you may want to learn
has
lasting
value. 8 Indeed, many of the things you want to learn may be chosen
<because> their
value
will not last.
T-4.V.6.
The ego thinks it is an advantage not to commit itself to anything that is
eternal,
because the eternal must come from God. 2 Eternalness is the one function the
ego has
tried
to develop, but has systematically failed to achieve. 3 The ego compromises
with
the
issue of the eternal, just as it does with all issues touching on the real
question in
any
way. 4 By becoming involved with tangential issues, it hopes to hide the real
question
and keep it out of mind. 5 The ego's characteristic busyness with nonessentials
is for
precisely
that purpose. 6 Preoccupations with problems set up to be incapable of
solution
are favorite ego devices for impeding learning progress. 7 In all these
diversionary
tactics,
however, the one question that is never asked by those who pursue them is,
"What for?
"
8 This is the question that <you> must learn to ask in connection with
everything. 9
What
is the purpose? 10 Whatever it is, it will direct your efforts automatically.
11 When
you
make a decision of purpose, then, you have made a decision about your future
effort; a
decision
that will remain in effect unless you change your mind.
VI.
The Rewards of God
T-4.VI.1.
The ego does not recognize the real source of "threat," and if you
associate
yourself
with the ego, you do not understand the situation as it is. 2 Only your
allegiance to
it
gives the ego any power over you. 3 I have spoken of the ego as if it were a
separate
thing,
acting on its own. 4 This was necessary to persuade you that you cannot dismiss
it
lightly,
and must realize how much of your thinking is ego-directed. 5 We cannot safely
let it
go
at that, however, or you will regard yourself as necessarily conflicted as long
as
you
are here, or as long as you believe that you are here. 6 The ego is nothing
more than
a
part of your belief about yourself. 7 Your other life has continued without
interruption,
and has been and always will be totally unaffected by your attempts to
dissociate it.
T-4.VI.2.
In learning to escape from illusions, your debt to your brother is something
you
must never forget. 2 It is the same debt that you owe to me. 3 Whenever you act
egotistically
towards another, you are throwing away the graciousness of your indebtedness
and the
holy
perception it would produce. 4 The term "holy" can be used here
because, as you learn
how
much you are indebted to the whole Sonship, which includes me, you come as
close to
knowledge
as perception can. 5 The gap is then so small that knowledge can easily flow
across it
and
obliterate it forever.
T-4.VI.3.
You have very little trust in me as yet, but it will increase as you turn
more
and more often to me instead of to your ego for guidance. 2 The results will
convince
you
increasingly that this choice is the only sane one you can make. 3 No one who
learns
from
experience that one choice brings peace and joy while another brings chaos and
disaster
needs additional convincing. 4 Learning through rewards is more effective than
learning
through pain, because pain is an ego illusion, and can never induce more than a
temporary
effect. 5 The rewards of God, however, are immediately recognized as eternal. 6
Since
this
recognition is made by you and not the ego, the recognition itself establishes
that
you
and your ego cannot be identical. 7 You may believe that you have already
accepted
this
difference, but you are by no means convinced as yet. 8 The fact that you
believe you
must
escape from the ego shows this; but you cannot escape from the ego by humbling
it or
controlling
it or punishing it.
T-4.VI.4.
The ego and the spirit do not know each other. 2 The separated mind cannot
maintain
the separation except by dissociating. 3 Having done this, it denies all truly
natural
impulses,
not because the ego is a separate thing, but because you want to believe that
<you>
are. 4 The ego is a device for maintaining this belief, but it is still only
your
decision
to use the device that enables it to endure.
T-4.VI.5.
How can you teach someone the value of something he has deliberately thrown
away?
2 He must have thrown it away because he did not value it. 3 You can only show
him
how
miserable he is without it, and slowly bring it nearer so he can learn how his
misery
lessens
as he approaches it. 4 This teaches him to associate his misery with its
absence, and
the
opposite of misery with its presence. 5 It gradually becomes desirable as he
changes
his
mind about its worth. 6 I am teaching you to associate misery with the ego and
joy
with
the spirit. 7 You have taught yourself the opposite. 8 You are still free to
choose,
but
can you really want the rewards of the ego in the presence of the rewards of
God?
T-4.VI.6.
My trust in you is greater than yours in me at the moment, but it will not
always
be that way. 2 Your mission is very simple. 3 You are asked to live so as to
demonstrate
that you are not an ego, and I do not choose God's channels wrongly. 4 The Holy
One
shares
my trust, and accepts my Atonement decisions because my will is never out of
accord
with
His. 5 I have said before that I am in charge of the Atonement. 6 This is only
because
I
completed my part in it as a man, and can now complete it through others. 7 My
chosen
channels
cannot fail, because I will lend them my strength as long as theirs is wanting.
T-4.VI.7.
I will go with you to the Holy One, and through my perception He can bridge
the
little gap. 2 Your gratitude to your brother is the only gift I want. 3 I will
bring
it
to God for you, knowing that to know your brother <is> to know God. 4 If
you are
grateful
to your brother, you are grateful to God for what He created. 5 Through your
gratitude
you
come to know your brother, and one moment of real recognition makes everyone
your
brother
because each of them is of your Father. 6 Love does not conquer all things, but
it
does
set all things right. 7 Because you are the Kingdom of God I can lead you back
to your
own
creations. 8 You do not recognize them now, but what has been dissociated is
still
there.
T-4.VI.8.
As you come closer to a brother you approach me, and as you withdraw from him
I
become distant to you. 2 Salvation is a collaborative venture. 3 It cannot be
undertaken
successfully by those who disengage themselves from the Sonship, because they
are
disengaging
themselves from me. 4 God will come to you only as you will give Him to your
brothers.
5
Learn first of them and you will be ready to hear God. 6 That is because the
function
of
love is one.
VII.
Creation and Communication
T-4.VII.1.
It is clear that while the content of any particular ego illusion does not
matter,
its correction is more helpful in a specific context. 2 Ego illusions are quite
specific,
although the mind is naturally abstract. 3 Part of the mind becomes concrete,
however,
when
it splits. 4 The concrete part believes in the ego, because the ego depends on
the
concrete. 5 The ego is the part of the mind that believes your existence is
defined by
separation.
T-4.VII.2.
Everything the ego perceives is a separate whole, without the relationships
that
imply being. 2 The ego is thus against communication, except insofar as it is
utilized
to
establish separateness rather than to abolish it. 3 The communication system of
the
ego
is based on its own thought system, as is everything else it dictates. 4 Its
communication
is controlled by its need to protect itself, and it will disrupt communication
when it
experiences
threat. 5 This disruption is a reaction to a specific person or persons. 6
The
specificity of the ego's thinking, then, results in spurious generalization
which is
really
not abstract at all. 7 It merely responds in certain specific ways to
everything it
perceives
as related.
T-4.VII.3.
In contrast, spirit reacts in the same way to everything it knows is true,
and
does not respond at all to anything else. 2 Nor does it make any attempt to
establish
what
is true. 3 It knows that what is true is everything that God created. 4 It is
in
complete
and direct communication with every aspect of creation, because it is in
complete and
direct
communication with its Creator. 5 This communication is the Will of God. 6
Creation
and
communication are synonymous. 7 God created every mind by communicating His
Mind to it,
thus
establishing it forever as a channel for the reception of His Mind and Will. 8
Since
only beings of a like order can truly communicate, His creations naturally
communicate
with
Him and like Him. 9 This communication is perfectly abstract, since its quality
is
universal
in application and not subject to any judgment, any exception or any
alteration.
10 God created you by this and for this. 11 The mind can distort its function,
but it
cannot
endow itself with functions it was not given. 12 That is why the mind cannot
totally
lose the ability to communicate, even though it may refuse to utilize it on
behalf of
being.
T-4.VII.4.
Existence as well as being rest on communication. 2 Existence, however, is
specific
in how, what and with whom communication is judged to be worth undertaking. 3
Being is
completely
without these distinctions. 4 It is a state in which the mind is in
communication
with everything that is real. 5 To whatever extent you permit this state to be
curtailed
you are limiting your sense of your own reality, which becomes total only by
recognizing
all reality in the glorious context of its real relationship to you. 6 This is
your
reality.
7 Do not desecrate it or recoil from it. 8 It is your real home, your real temple
and
your
real Self.
T-4.VII.5.
God, Who encompasses all being, created beings who have everything
individually,
but who want to share it to increase their joy. 2 Nothing real can be increased
except
by sharing. 3 That is why God created you. 4 Divine Abstraction takes joy in
sharing.
5
That is what creation means. 6 "How," "what" and "to
whom" are irrelevant, because
real
creation gives everything, since it can create only like itself. 7 Remember
that in
the
Kingdom there is no difference between <having> and <being,> as
there is in existence.
8
In the state of being the mind gives everything always.
T-4.VII.6.
The Bible repeatedly states that you should praise God. 2 This hardly means
that
you should tell Him how wonderful He is. 3 He has no ego with which to accept
such
praise,
and no perception with which to judge it. 4 But unless you take your part in
the
creation,
His joy is not complete because yours is incomplete. 5 And this He does know. 6
He
knows
it in His Own Being and its experience of His Son's experience. 7 The constant
going
out
of His Love is blocked when His channels are closed, and He is lonely when the
minds
He
created do not communicate fully with Him.
T-4.VII.7.
God has kept your Kingdom for you, but He cannot share His joy with you
until
you know it with your whole mind. 2 Revelation is not enough, because it is
only
communication
<from> God. 3 God does not need revelation returned to Him, which would
clearly be
impossible,
but He does want it brought to others. 4 This cannot be done with the actual
revelation;
its content cannot be expressed, because it is intensely personal to the mind
that
receives
it. 5 It can, however, be returned by that mind to other minds, through the
attitudes
the
knowledge from the revelation brings.
T-4.VII.8.
God is praised whenever any mind learns to be wholly helpful. 2 This is
impossible
without being wholly harmless, because the two beliefs must coexist. 3 The
truly
helpful
are invulnerable, because they are not protecting their egos and so nothing can
hurt
them.
4 Their helpfulness is their praise of God, and He will return their praise of
Him
because
they are like Him, and they can rejoice together. 5 God goes out to them and
through
them,
and there is great joy throughout the Kingdom. 6 Every mind that is changed
adds to
this
joy with its individual willingness to share in it. 7 The truly helpful are
God's
miracle
workers, whom I direct until we are all united in the joy of the Kingdom. 8 I
will
direct
you to wherever you can be truly helpful, and to whoever can follow my guidance
through
you.
Chapter
5.
HEALING
AND WHOLENESS
Introduction
T-5.in.1.
To heal is to make happy. 2 I have told you to think how many opportunities
you
have had to gladden yourself, and how many you have refused. 3 This is the same
as
telling
you that you have refused to heal yourself. 4 The light that belongs to you is
the
light
of joy. 5 Radiance is not associated with sorrow. 6 Joy calls forth an integrated
willingness
to share it, and promotes the mind's natural impulse to respond as one. 7 Those
who
attempt
to heal without being wholly joyous themselves call forth different kinds of
responses
at
the same time, and thus deprive others of the joy of responding wholeheartedly.
T-5.in.2.
To be wholehearted you must be happy. 2 If fear and love cannot coexist, and
if
it is impossible to be wholly fearful and remain alive, the only possible whole
state
is
that of love. 3 There is no difference between love and joy. 4 Therefore, the
only
possible
whole state is the wholly joyous. 5 To heal or to make joyous is therefore the
same as
to
integrate and to make one. 6 That is why it makes no difference to what part or
by
what
part of the Sonship the healing is offered. 7 Every part benefits, and benefits
equally.
T-5.in.3.
You are being blessed by every beneficent thought of any of your brothers
anywhere.
2 You should want to bless them in return, out of gratitude. 3 You need not
know them
individually,
or they you. 4 The light is so strong that it radiates throughout the
Sonship
and returns thanks to the Father for radiating His joy upon it. 5 Only God's
holy
children
are worthy channels of His beautiful joy, because only they are beautiful
enough to
hold
it by sharing it. 6 It is impossible for a child of God to love his neighbor
except as
himself.
7 That is why the healer's prayer is:
8
Let me know this brother as I know myself.
I.
The Invitation to the Holy Spirit
T-5.I.1.
Healing is a thought by which two minds perceive their oneness and become glad.
2
This gladness calls to every part of the Sonship to rejoice with them, and lets
God
go
out into them and through them. 3 Only the healed mind can experience
revelation with
lasting
effect, because revelation is an experience of pure joy. 4 If you do not choose
to be
wholly
joyous, your mind cannot have what it does not choose to be. 5 Remember that
spirit
knows
no difference between <having> and <being.> 6 The higher mind thinks
according to the
laws
spirit obeys, and therefore honors only the laws of God. 7 To spirit getting is
meaningless
and giving is all. 8 Having everything, spirit holds everything by giving it,
and thus
creates
as the Father created. 9 While this kind of thinking is totally alien to having
things,
even to the lower mind it is quite comprehensible in connection with ideas. 10
If
you share a physical possession, you do divide its ownership. 11 If you share
an idea,
however,
you do not lessen it. 12 All of it is still yours although all of it has been
given
away. 13 Further, if the one to whom you give it accepts it as his, he
reinforces it
in
your mind and thus increases it. 14 If you can accept the concept that the
world is
one
of ideas, the whole belief in the false association the ego makes between
giving and
losing
is gone.
T-5.I.2.
Let us start our process of reawakening with just a few simple concepts:
2
Thoughts increase by being given away.
3
The more who believe in them the stronger they become.
4
Everything is an idea.
5
How, then, can giving and losing be associated?
T-5.I.3.
This is the invitation to the Holy Spirit. 2 I have said already that I can
reach
up and bring the Holy Spirit down to you, but I can bring Him to you only at
your own
invitation.
3 The Holy Spirit is in your right mind, as He was in mine. 4 The Bible says,
"May
the
mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus," and uses this as a
blessing. 5 It is
the
blessing of miracle-mindedness. 6 It asks that you may think as I thought, joining
with
me in Christ thinking.
T-5.I.4.
The Holy Spirit is the only part of the Holy Trinity that has a symbolic
function.
2 He is referred to as the Healer, the Comforter and the Guide. 3 He is also
described
as something "separate," apart from the Father and from the Son. 4 I
myself said, "If
I
go I will send you another Comforter and he will abide with you." 5 His
symbolic
function
makes the Holy Spirit difficult to understand, because symbolism is open to
different
interpretations.
6 As a man and also one of God's creations, my right thinking, which came from
the
Holy
Spirit or the Universal Inspiration, taught me first and foremost that this
Inspiration
is for all. 7 I could not have It myself without knowing this. 8 The word
"know" is
proper
in this context, because the Holy Spirit is so close to knowledge that He calls
it
forth;
or better, allows it to come. 9 I have spoken before of the higher or
"true"
perception,
which is so near to truth that God Himself can flow across the little gap. 10
Knowledge
is always ready to flow everywhere, but it cannot oppose. 11 Therefore you can
obstruct
it, although you can never lose it.
T-5.I.5.
The Holy Spirit is the Christ Mind which is aware of the knowledge that lies
beyond
perception. 2 He came into being with the separation as a protection, inspiring
the
Atonement
principle at the same time. 3 Before that there was no need for healing, for no
one
was
comfortless. 4 The Voice of the Holy Spirit is the Call to Atonement, or the
restoration
of the integrity of the mind. 5 When the Atonement is complete and the whole
Sonship
is
healed there will be no Call to return. 6 But what God creates is eternal. 7
The Holy
Spirit
will remain with the Sons of God, to bless their creations and keep them in the
light
of
joy.
T-5.I.6.
God honored even the miscreations of His children because they had made them.
2
But He also blessed His children with a way of thinking that could raise their
perceptions
so high they could reach almost back to Him. 3 The Holy Spirit is the Mind of
the
Atonement.
4 He represents a state of mind close enough to One-mindedness that transfer to
it is
at
last possible. 5 Perception is not knowledge, but it can be transferred to
knowledge,
or
cross over into it. 6 It might even be more helpful here to use the literal
meaning
of
transferred or "carried over," since the last step is taken by God.
T-5.I.7.
The Holy Spirit, the shared Inspiration of all the Sonship, induces a kind of
perception
in which many elements are like those in the Kingdom of Heaven itself: 2 First,
its
universality
is perfectly clear, and no one who attains it could believe for one instant
that
sharing
it involves anything but gain. 3 Second, it is incapable of attack and is
therefore
truly
open. 4 This means that although it does not engender knowledge, it does not
obstruct
it
in any way. 5 Finally, it points the way beyond the healing that it brings, and
leads
the
mind beyond its own integration toward the paths of creation. 6 It is at this
point
that
sufficient quantitative change occurs to produce a real qualitative shift.
II.
The Voice for God
T-5.II.1.
Healing is not creating; it is reparation. 2 The Holy Spirit promotes healing
by
looking beyond it to what the children of God were before healing was needed,
and
will
be when they have been healed. 3 This alteration of the time sequence should be
quite
familiar,
because it is very similar to the shift in the perception of time that the
miracle
introduces.
4 The Holy Spirit is the motivation for miracle-mindedness; the decision to
heal the
separation
by letting it go. 5 Your will is still in you because God placed it in your
mind, and
although
you can keep it asleep you cannot obliterate it. 6 God Himself keeps your will
alive
by
transmitting it from His Mind to yours as long as there is time. 7 The miracle
itself
is
a reflection of this union of Will between Father and Son.
T-5.II.2.
The Holy Spirit is the spirit of joy. 2 He is the Call to return with which
God
blessed the minds of His separated Sons. 3 This is the vocation of the mind. 4
The
mind
had no calling until the separation, because before that it had only being, and
would
not
have understood the Call to right thinking. 5 The Holy Spirit is God's Answer
to the
separation;
the means by which the Atonement heals until the whole mind returns to
creating.
T-5.II.3.
The principle of Atonement and the separation began at the same time. 2 When
the
ego was made, God placed in the mind the Call to joy. 3 This Call is so strong
that
the
ego always dissolves at Its sound. 4 That is why you must choose to hear one of
two
voices
within you. 5 One you made yourself, and that one is not of God. 6 But the
other is
given
you by God, Who asks you only to listen to it. 7 The Holy Spirit is in you in a
very
literal
sense. 8 His is the Voice that calls you back to where you were before and will
be
again.
9 It is possible even in this world to hear only that Voice and no other. 10 It
takes
effort
and great willingness to learn. 11 It is the final lesson that I learned, and
God's
Sons are as equal as learners as they are as sons.
T-5.II.4.
You <are> the Kingdom of Heaven, but you have let the belief in darkness
enter
your mind and so you need a new light. 2 The Holy Spirit is the radiance that
you must
let
banish the idea of darkness. 3 His is the glory before which dissociation falls
away,
and the Kingdom of Heaven breaks through into its own. 4 Before the separation
you
did
not need guidance. 5 You knew as you will know again, but as you do not know now.
T-5.II.5.
God does not guide, because He can share only perfect knowledge. 2 Guidance
is
evaluative, because it implies there is a right way and also a wrong way, one
to be
chosen
and the other to be avoided. 3 By choosing one you give up the other. 4 The
choice for
the
Holy Spirit is the choice for God. 5 God is not in you in a literal sense; you
are
part
of Him. 6 When you chose to leave Him He gave you a Voice to speak for Him
because He
could
no longer share His knowledge with you without hindrance. 7 Direct
communication was
broken
because you had made another voice.
T-5.II.6.
The Holy Spirit calls you both to remember and to forget. 2 You have chosen
to
be in a state of opposition in which opposites are possible. 3 As a result,
there are
choices
you must make. 4 In the holy state the will is free, so that its creative power
is
unlimited
and choice is meaningless. 5 Freedom to choose is the same power as freedom to
create,
but
its application is different. 6 Choosing depends on a split mind. 7 The Holy
Spirit
is
one way of choosing. 8 God did not leave His children comfortless, even though
they
chose
to leave Him. 9 The voice they put in their minds was not the Voice for His
Will, for
which
the Holy Spirit speaks.
T-5.II.7.
The Voice of the Holy Spirit does not command, because It is incapable of
arrogance.
2 It does not demand, because It does not seek control. 3 It does not overcome,
because
It does not attack. 4 It merely reminds. 5 It is compelling only because of
what It
reminds
you <of.> 6 It brings to your mind the other way, remaining quiet even in
the midst of
the
turmoil you may make. 7 The Voice for God is always quiet, because It speaks of
peace.
8 Peace is stronger than war because it heals. 9 War is division, not increase.
10 No
one
gains from strife. 11 What profiteth it a man if he gain the whole world and
lose
his
own soul? 12 If you listen to the wrong voice you <have> lost sight of
your soul. 13
You
cannot lose it, but you can not know it. 14 It is therefore "lost" to
you until you
choose
right.
T-5.II.8.
The Holy Spirit is your Guide in choosing. 2 He is in the part of your mind
that
always speaks for the right choice, because He speaks for God. 3 He is your
remaining
communication
with God, which you can interrupt but cannot destroy. 4 The Holy Spirit is the
way in
which
God's Will is done on earth as it is in Heaven. 5 Both Heaven and earth are in
you,
because
the call of both is in your mind. 6 The Voice for God comes from your own
altars to
Him.
7 These altars are not things; they are devotions. 8 Yet you have other
devotions now.
9
Your divided devotion has given you the two voices, and you must choose at
which
altar
you want to serve. 10 The call you answer now is an evaluation because it is a
decision.
11 The decision is very simple. 12 It is made on the basis of which call is
worth
more
to you.
T-5.II.9.
My mind will always be like yours, because we were created as equals. 2 It
was
only my decision that gave me all power in Heaven and earth. 3 My only gift to
you is
to
help you make the same decision. 4 This decision is the choice to share it,
because
the
decision itself <is> the decision to share. 5 It is made by giving, and
is therefore
the
one choice that resembles true creation. 6 I am your model for decision. 7 By
deciding
for
God I showed you that this decision can be made, and that you can make it.
T-5.II.10.
I have assured you that the Mind that decided for me is also in you, and
that
you can let it change you just as it changed me. 2 This Mind is unequivocal,
because
it
hears only one Voice and answers in only one way. 3 You are the light of the
world
with
me. 4 Rest does not come from sleeping but from waking. 5 The Holy Spirit is
the Call
to
awaken and be glad. 6 The world is very tired, because it is the idea of weariness.
7
Our
task is the joyous one of waking it to the Call for God. 8 Everyone will answer
the
Call
of the Holy Spirit, or the Sonship cannot be as One. 9 What better vocation
could
there
be for any part of the Kingdom than to restore it to the perfect integration
that can
make
it whole? 10 Hear only this through the Holy Spirit within you, and teach your
brothers
to listen as I am teaching you.
T-5.II.11.
When you are tempted by the wrong voice, call on me to remind you how to
heal
by sharing my decision and making it stronger. 2 As we share this goal, we
increase
its
power to attract the whole Sonship, and to bring it back into the oneness in
which it
was
created. 3 Remember that "yoke" means "join together," and
"burden" means "message." 4
Let
us restate "My yoke is easy and my burden light" in this way;
"Let us join together,
for
my message is light."
T-5.II.12.
I have enjoined you to behave as I behaved, but we must respond to the same
Mind
to do this. 2 This Mind is the Holy Spirit, Whose Will is for God always. 3 He
teaches
you
how to keep me as the model for your thought, and to behave like me as a
result. 4
The
power of our joint motivation is beyond belief, but not beyond accomplishment.
5 What
we
can accomplish together has no limits, because the Call for God is the Call to
the
unlimited.
6 Child of God, my message is for you, to hear and give away as you answer the
Holy
Spirit
within you.
III.
The Guide to Salvation
T-5.III.1.
The way to recognize your brother is by recognizing the Holy Spirit in him.
2
I have already said that the Holy Spirit is the Bridge for the transfer of
perception
to
knowledge, so we can use the terms as if they were related, because in His Mind
they
are.
3 This relationship must be in His Mind because, unless it were, the separation
between
the two ways of thinking would not be open to healing. 4 He is part of the Holy
Trinity,
because His Mind is partly yours and also partly God's. 5 This needs
clarification,
not
in statement but in experience.
T-5.III.2.
The Holy Spirit is the idea of healing. 2 Being thought, the idea gains as
it
is shared. 3 Being the Call <for> God, it is also the idea <of>
God. 4 Since you are
part
of God it is also the idea of yourself, as well as of all His creations. 5 The idea
of
the
Holy Spirit shares the property of other ideas because it follows the laws of
the
universe
of which it is a part. 6 It is strengthened by being given away. 7 It increases
in you
as
you give it to your brother. 8 Your brother does not have to be aware of the
Holy
Spirit
in himself or in you for this miracle to occur. 9 He may have dissociated the
Call for
God,
just as you have. 10 This dissociation is healed in both of you as you become
aware
of the Call for God in him, and thus acknowledge Its being.
T-5.III.3.
There are two diametrically opposed ways of seeing your brother. 2 They must
both
be in your mind, because you are the perceiver. 3 They must also be in his,
because
you are perceiving him. 4 See him through the Holy Spirit in his mind, and you
will
recognize
Him in yours. 5 What you acknowledge in your brother you are acknowledging in
yourself,
and
what you share you strengthen.
T-5.III.4.
The Voice of the Holy Spirit is weak in you. 2 That is why you must share It.
3
It must be increased in strength before you can hear It. 4 It is impossible to
hear
It
in yourself while It is so weak in your mind. 5 It is not weak in Itself, but
It is
limited
by your unwillingness to hear It. 6 If you make the mistake of looking for the
Holy
Spirit
in yourself alone your thoughts will frighten you because, by adopting the
ego's
viewpoint,
you are undertaking an ego-alien journey with the ego as guide. 7 This is bound
to
produce
fear.
T-5.III.5.
Delay is of the ego, because time is its concept. 2 Both time and delay are
meaningless
in eternity. 3 I have said before that the Holy Spirit is God's Answer to the
ego. 4
Everything
of which the Holy Spirit reminds you is in direct opposition to the ego's notions,
because
true and false perceptions are themselves opposed. 5 The Holy Spirit has the
task of
undoing
what the ego has made. 6 He undoes it at the same level on which the ego
operates, or
the
mind would be unable to understand the change.
T-5.III.6.
I have repeatedly emphasized that one level of the mind is not
understandable
to another. 2 So it is with the ego and the Holy Spirit; with time and
eternity. 3
Eternity
is an idea of God, so the Holy Spirit understands it perfectly. 4 Time is a
belief of
the
ego, so the lower mind, which is the ego's domain, accepts it without question.
5 The
only
aspect of time that is eternal is <now.
T-5.III.7.
The Holy Spirit is the Mediator between the interpretations of the ego and
the
knowledge of the spirit. 2 His ability to deal with symbols enables Him to work
with
the
ego's beliefs in its own language. 3 His ability to look beyond symbols into
eternity
enables
Him to understand the laws of God, for which He speaks. 4 He can therefore
perform the
function
of reinterpreting what the ego makes, not by destruction but by understanding.
5
Understanding is light, and light leads to knowledge. 6 The Holy Spirit is in
light
because
He is in you who are light, but you yourself do not know this. 7 It is therefore
the
task
of the Holy Spirit to reinterpret you on behalf of God.
T-5.III.8.
You cannot understand yourself alone. 2 This is because you have no meaning
apart
from your rightful place in the Sonship, and the rightful place of the Sonship
is God.
3
This is your life, your eternity and your Self. 4 It is of this that the Holy
Spirit
reminds
you. 5 It is this that the Holy Spirit sees. 6 This vision frightens the ego
because
it
is so calm. 7 Peace is the ego's greatest enemy because, according to its
interpretation
of reality, war is the guarantee of its survival. 8 The ego becomes strong in
strife.
9
If you believe there is strife you will react viciously, because the idea of
danger
has
entered your mind. 10 The idea itself is an appeal to the ego. 11 The Holy
Spirit is
as
vigilant as the ego to the call of danger, opposing it with His strength just
as the
ego
welcomes it. 12 The Holy Spirit counters this welcome by welcoming peace. 13
Eternity
and
peace are as closely related as are time and war.
T-5.III.9.
Perception derives meaning from relationships. 2 Those you accept are the
foundations
of your beliefs. 3 The separation is merely another term for a split mind. 4
The ego
is
the symbol of separation, just as the Holy Spirit is the symbol of peace. 5 What
you
perceive
in others you are strengthening in yourself. 6 You may let your mind
misperceive, but
the
Holy Spirit lets your mind reinterpret its own misperceptions.
T-5.III.10.
The Holy Spirit is the perfect Teacher. 2 He uses only what your mind
already
understands to teach you that you do not understand it. 3 The Holy Spirit can
deal
with
a reluctant learner without going counter to his mind, because part of it is
still for
God.
4 Despite the ego's attempts to conceal this part, it is still much stronger
than
the
ego, although the ego does not recognize it. 5 The Holy Spirit recognizes it
perfectly
because
it is His Own dwelling place; the place in the mind where He is at home. 6 You
are
at home there, too, because it is a place of peace, and peace is of God. 7 You
who are
part
of God are not at home except in His peace. 8 If peace is eternal, you are at
home
only
in eternity.
T-5.III.11.
The ego made the world as it perceives it, but the Holy Spirit, the
reinterpreter
of what the ego made, sees the world as a teaching device for bringing you
home. 2 The
Holy
Spirit must perceive time, and reinterpret it into the timeless. 3 He must work
through
opposites, because He must work with and for a mind that is in opposition. 4
Correct
and
learn, and be open to learning. 5 You have not made truth, but truth can still
set you
free.
6 Look as the Holy Spirit looks, and understand as He understands. 7 His
understanding
looks back to God in remembrance of me. 8 He is in communion with God always,
and He
is
part of you. 9 He is your Guide to salvation, because He holds the remembrance
of
things
past and to come, and brings them to the present. 10 He holds this gladness
gently in
your
mind, asking only that you increase it in His Name by sharing it to increase
His joy
in
you.
IV.
Teaching and Healing
T-5.IV.1.
What fear has hidden still is part of you. 2 Joining the Atonement is the way
out
of fear. 3 The Holy Spirit will help you reinterpret everything that you
perceive
as
fearful, and teach you that only what is loving is true. 4 Truth is beyond your
ability
to destroy, but entirely within your ability to accept. 5 It belongs to you
because,
as
an extension of God, you created it with Him. 6 It is yours because it is part
of you,
just
as you are part of God because He created you. 7 Nothing that is good can be
lost
because
it comes from the Holy Spirit, the Voice for creation. 8 Nothing that is not
good was
ever
created, and therefore cannot be protected. 9 The Atonement is the guarantee of
the
safety
of the Kingdom, and the union of the Sonship is its protection. 10 The ego
cannot
prevail
against the Kingdom because the Sonship is united. 11 In the presence of those
who
hear
the Holy Spirit's Call to be as one, the ego fades away and is undone.
T-5.IV.2.
What the ego makes it keeps to itself, and so it is without strength. 2 Its
existence
is unshared. 3 It does not die; it was merely never born. 4 Physical birth is
not a
beginning;
it is a continuing. 5 Everything that continues has already been born. 6 It
will
increase
as you are willing to return the unhealed part of your mind to the higher part,
returning
it undivided to creation. 7 I have come to give you the foundation, so your own
thoughts
can make you really free. 8 You have carried the burden of unshared ideas that
are too
weak
to increase, but having made them you did not realize how to undo them. 9 You
cannot
cancel out your past errors alone. 10 They will not disappear from your mind
without
the
Atonement, a remedy not of your making. 11 The Atonement must be understood as
a pure
act
of sharing. 12 That is what I meant when I said it is possible even in this
world to
listen
to one Voice. 13 If you are part of God and the Sonship is One, you cannot be
limited
to
the self the ego sees.
T-5.IV.3.
Every loving thought held in any part of the Sonship belongs to every part. 2
It
is shared <because> it is loving. 3 Sharing is God's way of creating, and
also yours.
4
The ego can keep you in exile from the Kingdom, but in the Kingdom itself it
has no
power.
5 Ideas of the spirit do not leave the mind that thinks them, nor can they
conflict
with
each other. 6 However, ideas of the ego can conflict because they occur at
different
levels
and also include opposite thoughts at the same level. 7 <It is impossible to
share
opposing
thoughts.> 8 You can share only the thoughts that are of God and that He
keeps for you.
9
And of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. 10 The rest remains with you until the
Holy
Spirit
has reinterpreted them in the light of the Kingdom, making them, too, worthy of
being
shared.
11 When they have been sufficiently purified He lets you give them away. 12 The
decision
to share them <is> their purification.
T-5.IV.4.
I heard one Voice because I understood that I could not atone for myself
alone.
2 Listening to one Voice implies the decision to share It in order to hear It
yourself.
3 The Mind that was in me is still irresistibly drawn to every mind created by
God,
because
God's Wholeness is the Wholeness of His Son. 4 You cannot be hurt, and do not
want to
show
your brother anything except your wholeness. 5 Show him that he cannot hurt you
and
hold
nothing against him, or you hold it against yourself. 6 This is the meaning of
"
turning
the other cheek."
T-5.IV.5.
Teaching is done in many ways, above all by example. 2 Teaching should be
healing,
because it is the sharing of ideas and the recognition that to share ideas is
to
strengthen
them. 3 I cannot forget my need to teach what I have learned, which arose in me
<
because>
I learned it. 4 I call upon you to teach what you have learned, because by so
doing
you
can depend on it. 5 Make it dependable in my name because my name is the Name
of God's
Son.
6 What I learned I give you freely, and the Mind that was in me rejoices as you
choose
to hear it.
T-5.IV.6.
The Holy Spirit atones in all of us by undoing, and thus lifts the burden you
have
placed in your mind. 2 By following Him you are led back to God where you
belong,
and
how can you find the way except by taking your brother with you? 3 My part in
the
Atonement
is not complete until you join it and give it away. 4 As you teach so shall you
learn.
5
I will never leave you or forsake you, because to forsake you would be to
forsake
myself
and God Who created me. 6 You forsake yourself and God if you forsake any of
your
brothers.
7 You must learn to see them as they are, and understand they belong to God as
you do.
8
How could you treat your brother better than by rendering unto God the things
that
are
God's?
T-5.IV.7.
The Atonement gives you the power of a healed mind, but the power to create
is
of God. 2 Therefore, those who have been forgiven must devote themselves first
to
healing
because, having received the idea of healing, they must give it to hold it. 3
The full
power
of creation cannot be expressed as long as any of God's ideas is withheld from
the
Kingdom. 4 The joint will of the Sonship is the only creator that can create
like the
Father,
because only the complete can think completely, and the thinking of God lacks
nothing.
5
Everything you think that is not through the Holy Spirit <is> lacking.
T-5.IV.8.
How can you who are so holy suffer? 2 All your past except its beauty is gone,
and
nothing is left but a blessing. 3 I have saved all your kindnesses and every
loving
thought you ever had. 4 I have purified them of the errors that hid their
light, and
kept
them for you in their own perfect radiance. 5 They are beyond destruction and
beyond
guilt.
6 They came from the Holy Spirit within you, and we know what God creates is
eternal.
7
You can indeed depart in peace because I have loved you as I loved myself. 8
You go
with
my blessing and for my blessing. 9 Hold it and share it, that it may always be
ours.
10
I place the peace of God in your heart and in your hands, to hold and share. 11
The
heart
is pure to hold it, and the hands are strong to give it. 12 We cannot lose. 13
My
judgment
is as strong as the wisdom of God, in Whose Heart and Hands we have our being.
14 His
quiet
children are His blessed Sons. 15 The Thoughts of God are with you.
V.
The Ego's Use of Guilt
T-5.V.1.
Perhaps some of our concepts will become clearer and more personally
meaningful
if the ego's use of guilt is clarified. 2 The ego has a purpose, just as the
Holy
Spirit
has. 3 The ego's purpose is fear, because only the fearful can be egotistic. 4
The
ego's
logic is as impeccable as that of the Holy Spirit, because your mind has the
means at
its
disposal to side with Heaven or earth, as it elects. 5 But again, remember that
both
are
in you.
T-5.V.2.
In Heaven there is no guilt, because the Kingdom is attained through the
Atonement,
which releases you to create. 2 The word "create" is appropriate here
because, once
what
you have made is undone by the Holy Spirit, the blessed residue is restored and
therefore
continues in creation. 3 What is truly blessed is incapable of giving rise to
guilt,
and
must give rise to joy. 4 This makes it invulnerable to the ego because its
peace is
unassailable.
5 It is invulnerable to disruption because it is whole. 6 Guilt is
<always>
disruptive.
7 Anything that engenders fear is divisive because it obeys the law of division.
8 If
the
ego is the symbol of the separation, it is also the symbol of guilt. 9 Guilt is
more
than merely not of God. 10 It is the symbol of attack on God. 11 This is a
totally
meaningless
concept except to the ego, but do not underestimate the power of the ego's
belief in
it.
12 This is the belief from which all guilt really stems.
T-5.V.3.
The ego is the part of the mind that believes in division. 2 How could part of
God
detach itself without believing it is attacking Him? 3 We spoke before of the
authority
problem as based on the concept of usurping God's power. 4 The ego believes
that this
is
what you did because it believes that it <is> you. 5 If you identify with
the ego, you
must
perceive yourself as guilty. 6 Whenever you respond to your ego you will
experience
guilt, and you will fear punishment. 7 The ego is quite literally a fearful
thought. 8
However
ridiculous the idea of attacking God may be to the sane mind, never forget that
the
ego is not sane. 9 It represents a delusional system, and speaks for it. 10
Listening
to the ego's voice means that you believe it is possible to attack God, and
that a
part
of Him has been torn away by you. 11 Fear of retaliation from without follows,
because
the
severity of the guilt is so acute that it must be projected.
T-5.V.4.
Whatever you accept into your mind has reality for you. 2 It is your
acceptance
of it that makes it real. 3 If you enthrone the ego in your mind, your allowing
it to
enter
makes it your reality. 4 This is because the mind is capable of creating
reality or
making
illusions. 5 I said before that you must learn to think with God. 6 To think
with Him
is
to think like Him. 7 This engenders joy, not guilt, because it is natural. 8
Guilt is
a
sure sign that your thinking is unnatural. 9 Unnatural thinking will always be
attended
with guilt, because it is the belief in sin. 10 The ego does not perceive sin
as a
lack
of love, but as a positive act of assault. 11 This is necessary to the ego's
survival
because,
as soon as you regard sin as a lack, you will automatically attempt to remedy
the
situation.
12 And you will succeed. 13 The ego regards this as doom, but you must learn to
regard
it as freedom.
T-5.V.5.
The guiltless mind cannot suffer. 2 Being sane, the mind heals the body
because
<it> has been healed. 3 The sane mind cannot conceive of illness because
it cannot
conceive
of attacking anyone or anything. 4 I said before that illness is a form of
magic. 5 It
might
be better to say that it is a form of magical solution. 6 The ego believes that
by
punishing itself it will mitigate the punishment of God. 7 Yet even in this it
is
arrogant.
8 It attributes to God a punishing intent, and then takes this intent as its
own
prerogative.
9 It tries to usurp all the functions of God as it perceives them, because it
recognizes
that only total allegiance can be trusted.
T-5.V.6.
The ego cannot oppose the laws of God any more than you can, but it can
interpret
them according to what it wants, just as you can. 2 That is why the question,
"What do
you
want?" must be answered. 3 You are answering it every minute and every
second, and
each
moment of decision is a judgment that is anything but ineffectual. 4 Its
effects will
follow
automatically until the decision is changed. 5 Remember, though, that the
alternatives
themselves
are unalterable. 6 The Holy Spirit, like the ego, is a decision. 7 Together
they
constitute all the alternatives the mind can accept and obey. 8 The Holy Spirit
and
the
ego are the only choices open to you. 9 God created one, and so you cannot
eradicate
it.
10 You made the other, and so you can. 11 Only what God creates is irreversible
and
unchangeable.
12 What you made can always be changed because, when you do not think like God,
you
are
not really thinking at all. 13 Delusional ideas are not real thoughts, although
you
can
believe in them. 14 But you are wrong. 15 The function of thought comes from
God and
is
in God. 16 As part of His Thought, you <cannot> think apart from Him.
T-5.V.7.
Irrational thought is disordered thought. 2 God Himself orders your thought
because
your thought was created by Him. 3 Guilt feelings are always a sign that you do
not
know
this. 4 They also show that you believe you can think apart from God, and want
to. 5
Every
disordered thought is attended by guilt at its inception, and maintained by
guilt in
its
continuance. 6 Guilt is inescapable by those who believe they order their own
thoughts,
and
must therefore obey their dictates. 7 This makes them feel responsible for
their
errors
without recognizing that, by accepting this responsibility, they are reacting
irresponsibly.
8 If the sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement
for
himself,
and I assure you that it is, then the responsibility for <what> is atoned
for cannot
be
yours. 9 The dilemma cannot be resolved except by accepting the solution of
undoing.
10
You <would> be responsible for the effects of all your wrong thinking if
it could not
be
undone. 11 The purpose of the Atonement is to save the past in purified form
only. 12
If
you accept the remedy for disordered thought, a remedy whose efficacy is beyond
doubt,
how
can its symptoms remain?
T-5.V.8.
The continuing decision to remain separated is the only possible reason for
continuing
guilt feelings. 2 We have said this before, but did not emphasize the
destructive
results
of the decision. 3 Any decision of the mind will affect both behavior and
experience.
4
What you want you expect. 5 This is not delusional. 6 Your mind <does>
make your
future,
and it will turn it back to full creation at any minute if it accepts the
Atonement
first.
7 It will also return to full creation the instant it has done so. 8 Having
given up
its
disordered thought, the proper ordering of thought becomes quite apparent.
VI.
Time and Eternity
T-5.VI.1.
God in His knowledge is not waiting, but His Kingdom is bereft while
<you>
wait.
2 All the Sons of God are waiting for your return, just as you are waiting for
theirs.
3
Delay does not matter in eternity, but it is tragic in time. 4 You have elected
to
be
in time rather than eternity, and therefore believe you <are> in time. 5
Yet your
election
is both free and alterable. 6 You do not belong in time. 7 Your place is only
in
eternity,
where God Himself placed you forever.
T-5.VI.2.
Guilt feelings are the preservers of time. 2 They induce fears of retaliation
or
abandonment, and thus ensure that the future will be like the past. 3 This is
the
ego's
continuity. 4 It gives the ego a false sense of security by believing that you
cannot
escape
from it. 5 But you can and must. 6 God offers you the continuity of eternity in
exchange.
7 When you choose to make this exchange, you will simultaneously exchange guilt
for
joy,
viciousness for love, and pain for peace. 8 My role is only to unchain your
will and
set
it free. 9 Your ego cannot accept this freedom, and will oppose it at every
possible
moment
and in every possible way. 10 And as its maker, you recognize what it can do
because
you
gave it the power to do it.
T-5.VI.3.
Remember the Kingdom always, and remember that you who are part of the
Kingdom
cannot be lost. 2 The Mind that was in me <is> in you, for God creates
with perfect
fairness.
3 Let the Holy Spirit remind you always of His fairness, and let me teach you
how to
share
it with your brothers. 4 How else can the chance to claim it for yourself be
given you?
5
The two voices speak for different interpretations of the same thing
simultaneously;
or
almost simultaneously, for the ego always speaks first. 6 Alternate interpretations
were
unnecessary until the first one was made.
T-5.VI.4.
The ego speaks in judgment, and the Holy Spirit reverses its decision, much
as
a higher court has the power to reverse a lower court's decisions in this
world. 2 The
ego's
decisions are always wrong, because they are based on the error they were made
to
uphold.
3 Nothing the ego perceives is interpreted correctly. 4 Not only does the ego
cite
Scripture for its purpose, but it even interprets Scripture as a witness for itself.
5
The
Bible is a fearful thing in the ego's judgment. 6 Perceiving it as frightening,
it
interprets
it fearfully. 7 Being afraid, you do not appeal to the Higher Court because you
believe
its judgment would also be against you.
T-5.VI.5.
There are many examples of how the ego's interpretations are misleading, but
a
few will suffice to show how the Holy Spirit can reinterpret them in His Own
light.
T-5.VI.6.
"As ye sow, so shall ye reap" He interprets to mean what you consider
worth
cultivating
you will cultivate in yourself. 2 Your judgment of what is worthy makes it
worthy for
you.
T-5.VI.7.
"Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord" is easily reinterpreted if you
remember
that
ideas increase only by being shared. 2 The statement emphasizes that vengeance
cannot
be
shared. 3 Give it therefore to the Holy Spirit, Who will undo it in you because
it
does
not belong in your mind, which is part of God.
T-5.VI.8.
"I will visit the sins of the fathers unto the third and fourth
generation,"
as
interpreted by the ego, is particularly vicious. 2 It becomes merely an attempt
to
guarantee
the ego's own survival. 3 To the Holy Spirit, the statement means that in later
generations
He can still reinterpret what former generations had misunderstood, and thus
release
the
thoughts from the ability to produce fear.
T-5.VI.9.
"The wicked shall perish" becomes a statement of Atonement, if the
word "
perish"
is understood as "be undone." 2 Every loveless thought must be
undone, a word the ego
cannot
even understand. 3 To the ego, to be undone means to be destroyed. 4 The ego
will
not be destroyed because it is part of your thought, but because it is
uncreative and
therefore
unsharing, it will be reinterpreted to release you from fear. 5 The part of
your mind
that
you have given to the ego will merely return to the Kingdom, where your whole
mind
belongs.
6 You can delay the completion of the Kingdom, but you cannot introduce the
concept
of
fear into it.
T-5.VI.10.
You need not fear the Higher Court will condemn you. 2 It will merely
dismiss
the case against you. 3 There can be no case against a child of God, and every
witness
to
guilt in God's creations is bearing false witness to God Himself. 4 Appeal
everything
you believe gladly to God's Own Higher Court, because it speaks for Him and
therefore
speaks
truly. 5 It will dismiss the case against you, however carefully you have built
it up.
6
The case may be fool-proof, but it is not God-proof. 7 The Holy Spirit will not
hear
it,
because He can only witness truly. 8 His verdict will always be "thine is
the Kingdom,
"
because He was given to you to remind you of what you are.
T-5.VI.11.
When I said "I am come as a light into the world," I meant that I
came to
share
the light with you. 2 Remember my reference to the ego's dark glass, and remember
also
that
I said, "Do not look there." 3 It is still true that where you look
to find
yourself
is up to you. 4 Your patience with your brother is your patience with yourself.
5 Is
not
a child of God worth patience? 6 I have shown you infinite patience because my
will is
that
of our Father, from Whom I learned of infinite patience. 7 His Voice was in me
as
It
is in you, speaking for patience towards the Sonship in the Name of its
Creator.
T-5.VI.12.
Now you must learn that only infinite patience produces immediate effects. 2
This
is the way in which time is exchanged for eternity. 3 Infinite patience calls
upon
infinite
love, and by producing results <now> it renders time unnecessary. 4 We
have
repeatedly
said that time is a learning device to be abolished when it is no longer
useful. 5 The
Holy
Spirit, Who speaks for God in time, also knows that time is meaningless. 6 He
reminds
you of this in every passing moment of time, because it is His special function
to
return
you to eternity and remain to bless your creations there. 7 He is the only
blessing
you
can truly give, because He is truly blessed. 8 Because He has been given you
freely by
God,
you must give Him as you received Him.
VII.
The Decision for God
T-5.VII.1.
Do you really believe you can make a voice that can drown out God's? 2 Do
you
really believe you can devise a thought system that can separate you from Him?
3 Do
you
really believe you can plan for your safety and joy better than He can? 4 You
need be
neither
careful nor careless; you need merely cast your cares upon Him because He
careth for
you.
5 You are His care because He loves you. 6 His Voice reminds you always that
all hope
is
yours because of His care. 7 You cannot choose to escape His care because that
is
not
His Will, but you can choose to accept His care and use the infinite power of
His care
for
all those He created by it.
T-5.VII.2.
There have been many healers who did not heal themselves. 2 They have not
moved
mountains by their faith because their faith was not whole. 3 Some of them have
healed
the
sick at times, but they have not raised the dead. 4 Unless the healer heals
himself,
he
cannot believe that there is no order of difficulty in miracles. 5 He has not
learned
that every mind God created is equally worthy of being healed <because>
God created it
whole.
6 You are merely asked to return to God the mind as He created it. 7 He asks
you
only
for what He gave, knowing that this giving will heal you. 8 Sanity is
wholeness,
and
the sanity of your brothers is yours.
T-5.VII.3.
Why should you listen to the endless insane calls you think are made upon
you,
when you can know the Voice for God is in you? 2 God commended His Spirit to
you, and
asks
that you commend yours to Him. 3 He wills to keep it in perfect peace, because
you
are
of one mind and spirit with Him. 4 Excluding yourself from the Atonement is the
ego's
last-ditch defense of its own existence. 5 It reflects both the ego's need to
separate,
and
your willingness to side with its separateness. 6 This willingness means that
you
do
not want to be healed.
T-5.VII.4.
But the time is now. 2 You have not been asked to work out the plan of
salvation
yourself because, as I told you before, the remedy could not be of your making.
3 God
Himself
gave you the perfect Correction for everything you made that is not in accord
with His
holy
Will. 4 I am making His plan perfectly explicit to you, and will also tell you
of
your
part in it, and how urgent it is to fulfill it. 5 God weeps at the
"sacrifice" of His
children
who believe they are lost to Him.
T-5.VII.5.
Whenever you are not wholly joyous, it is because you have reacted with a
lack
of love to one of God's creations. 2 Perceiving this as "sin" you
become defensive
because
you expect attack. 3 The decision to react in this way is yours, and can
therefore be
undone.
4 It cannot be undone by repentance in the usual sense, because this implies
guilt. 5
If
you allow yourself to feel guilty, you will reinforce the error rather than
allow it
to
be undone for you.
T-5.VII.6.
Decision cannot be difficult. 2 This is obvious, if you realize that you
must
already have decided not to be wholly joyous if that is how you feel. 3
Therefore, the
first
step in the undoing is to recognize that you actively decided wrongly, but can
as
actively
decide otherwise. 4 Be very firm with yourself in this, and keep yourself
fully
aware that the undoing process, which does not come from you, is nevertheless
within
you
because God placed it there. 5 Your part is merely to return your thinking to
the
point
at which the error was made, and give it over to the Atonement in peace. 6 Say
this to
yourself
as sincerely as you can, remembering that the Holy Spirit will respond fully
to
your slightest invitation:
7
I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace.
8
I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise.
9
I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace.
10
I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of
my
wrong
decision if I will let Him.
11
I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me.
Chapter
6.
THE
LESSONS OF LOVE
Introduction
T-6.in.1.
The relationship of anger to attack is obvious, but the relationship of anger
to
fear is not always so apparent. 2 Anger always involves projection of
separation,
which
must ultimately be accepted as one's own responsibility, rather than being
blamed on
others.
3 Anger cannot occur unless you believe that you have been attacked, that your
attack
is
justified in return, and that you are in no way responsible for it. 4 Given
these
three
wholly irrational premises, the equally irrational conclusion that a brother is
worthy
of
attack rather than of love must follow. 5 What can be expected from insane
premises
except
an insane conclusion? 6 The way to undo an insane conclusion is to consider the
sanity
of
the premises on which it rests. 7 You cannot <be> attacked, attack
<has> no
justification,
and you <are> responsible for what you believe.
T-6.in.2.
You have been asked to take me as your model for learning, since an extreme
example
is a particularly helpful learning device. 2 Everyone teaches, and teaches all
the
time.
3 This is a responsibility you inevitably assume the moment you accept any
premise at
all,
and no one can organize his life without some thought system. 4 Once you have
developed
a thought system of any kind, you live by it and teach it. 5 Your capacity for
allegiance
to a thought system may be misplaced, but it is still a form of faith and can
be
redirected.
I.
The Message of the Crucifixion
T-6.I.1.
For learning purposes, let us consider the crucifixion again. 2 I did not
dwell
on it before because of the fearful connotations you may associate with it. 3
The only
emphasis
laid upon it so far has been that it was not a form of punishment. 4 Nothing,
however,
can be explained in negative terms only. 5 There is a positive interpretation
of the
crucifixion
that is wholly devoid of fear, and therefore wholly benign in what it teaches,
if it
is
properly understood.
T-6.I.2.
The crucifixion is nothing more than an extreme example. 2 Its value, like the
value
of any teaching device, lies solely in the kind of learning it facilitates. 3
It
can
be, and has been, misunderstood. 4 This is only because the fearful are apt to
perceive
fearfully. 5 I have already told you that you can always call on me to share my
decision,
and thus make it stronger. 6 I have also told you that the crucifixion was the
last
useless
journey the Sonship need take, and that it represents release from fear to
anyone who
understands
it. 7 While I emphasized only the resurrection before, the purpose of the
crucifixion
and
how it actually led to the resurrection was not clarified then. 8 Nevertheless,
it has
a
definite contribution to make to your own life, and if you will consider it
without
fear,
it will help you understand your own role as a teacher.
T-6.I.3.
You have probably reacted for years as if you were being crucified. 2 This is
a
marked tendency of the separated, who always refuse to consider what they have
done to
themselves.
3 Projection means anger, anger fosters assault, and assault promotes fear.
4
The real meaning of the crucifixion lies in the <apparent> intensity of
the assault
of
some of the Sons of God upon another. 5 This, of course, is impossible, and
must be
fully
understood <as> impossible. 6 Otherwise, I cannot serve as a model for
learning.
T-6.I.4.
Assault can ultimately be made only on the body. 2 There is little doubt that
one
body can assault another, and can even destroy it. 3 Yet if destruction itself
is
impossible,
anything that is destructible cannot be real. 4 Its destruction, therefore,
does not
justify
anger. 5 To the extent to which you believe that it does, you are accepting
false
premises
and teaching them to others. 6 The message the crucifixion was intended to
teach was
that
it is not necessary to perceive any form of assault in persecution, because you
cannot
<be>
persecuted. 7 If you respond with anger, you must be equating yourself with the
destructible,
and are therefore regarding yourself insanely.
T-6.I.5.
I have made it perfectly clear that I am like you and you are like me, but our
fundamental
equality can be demonstrated only through joint decision. 2 You are free to
perceive
yourself as persecuted if you choose. 3 When you do choose to react that way,
however,
you might remember that I was persecuted as the world judges, and did not share
this
evaluation
for myself. 4 And because I did not share it, I did not strengthen it. 5 I
therefore
offered
a different interpretation of attack, and one which I want to share with you. 6
If you
will
believe it, you will help me teach it.
T-6.I.6.
As I have said before, "As you teach so shall you learn." 2 If you
react as if
you
are persecuted, you are teaching persecution. 3 This is not a lesson a Son of
God
should
want to teach if he is to realize his own salvation. 4 Rather, teach your own
perfect
immunity,
which is the truth in you, and realize that it cannot <be>assailed. 5 Do
not try to
protect
it yourself, or you are believing that it is assailable. 6 You are not asked to
be
crucified,
which was part of my own teaching contribution. 7 You are merely asked to
follow my
example
in the face of much less extreme temptations to misperceive, and not to accept
them as
false
justifications for anger. 8 There can be no justification for the
unjustifiable.
9
Do not believe there is, and do not teach that there is. 10 Remember always
that what
you
believe you will teach. 11 Believe with me, and we will become equal as
teachers.
T-6.I.7.
Your resurrection is your reawakening. 2 I am the model for rebirth, but
rebirth
itself is merely the dawning on your mind of what is already in it. 3 God
placed it
there
Himself, and so it is true forever. 4 I believed in it, and therefore accepted
it as
true
for me. 5 Help me to teach it to our brothers in the name of the Kingdom of
God, but
first
believe that it is true for you, or you will teach amiss. 6 My brothers slept
during
the
so-called "agony in the garden," but I could not be angry with them
because I knew I
could
not <be> abandoned.
T-6.I.8.
I am sorry when my brothers do not share my decision to hear only one Voice,
because
it weakens them as teachers and as learners. 2 Yet I know they cannot really
betray
themselves
or me, and that it is still on them that I must build my church. 3 There is no
choice
in
this, because only you can be the foundation of God's church. 4 A church is
where an
altar
is, and the presence of the altar is what makes the church holy. 5 A church
that does
not
inspire love has a hidden altar that is not serving the purpose for which God
intended
it.
6 I must found His church on you, because those who accept me as a model are
literally
my disciples. 7 Disciples are followers, and if the model they follow has
chosen to
save
them pain in all respects, they are unwise not to follow him.
T-6.I.9.
I elected, for your sake and mine, to demonstrate that the most outrageous
assault,
as judged by the ego, does not matter. 2 As the world judges these things, but
not as
God
knows them, I was betrayed, abandoned, beaten, torn, and finally killed. 3 It
was
clear
that this was only because of the projection of others onto me, since I had not
harmed
anyone
and had healed many.
T-6.I.10.
We are still equal as learners, although we do not need to have equal
experiences.
2 The Holy Spirit is glad when you can learn from mine, and be reawakened by
them. 3
That
is their only purpose, and that is the only way in which I can be perceived as
the way,
the
truth and the life. 4 When you hear only one Voice you are never called on to
sacrifice.
5 On the contrary, by being able to hear the Holy Spirit in others you can
learn from
their
experiences, and can gain from them without experiencing them directly
yourself.
6
That is because the Holy Spirit is One, and anyone who listens is inevitably
led to
demonstrate
His way for all.
T-6.I.11.
You are not persecuted, nor was I. 2 You are not asked to repeat my
experiences
because the Holy Spirit, Whom we share, makes this unnecessary. 3 To use my
experiences
constructively, however, you must still follow my example in how to perceive
them. 4
My
brothers and yours are constantly engaged in justifying the unjustifiable. 5 My
one
lesson,
which I must teach as I learned it, is that no perception that is out of accord
with
the
judgment of the Holy Spirit can be justified. 6 I undertook to show this was
true in
an
extreme case, merely because it would serve as a good teaching aid to those
whose
temptation
to give in to anger and assault would not be so extreme. 7 I will with God that
none
of
His Sons should suffer.
T-6.I.12.
The crucifixion cannot be shared because it is the symbol of projection, but
the
resurrection is the symbol of sharing because the reawakening of every Son of
God is
necessary
to enable the Sonship to know its Wholeness. 2 Only this is knowledge.
T-6.I.13.
The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear:
2
Teach only love, for that is what you are.
T-6.I.14.
If you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a
weapon
for assault rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended. 2 The
Apostles
often misunderstood it, and for the same reason that anyone misunderstands it.
3 Their
own
imperfect love made them vulnerable to projection, and out of their own fear
they
spoke
of the "wrath of God" as His retaliatory weapon. 4 Nor could they
speak of the
crucifixion
entirely without anger, because their sense of guilt had made them angry.
T-6.I.15.
These are some of the examples of upside-down thinking in the New Testament,
although
its gospel is really only the message of love. 2 If the Apostles had not felt
guilty,
they
never could have quoted me as saying, "I come not to bring peace but a
sword." 3 This
is
clearly the opposite of everything I taught. 4 Nor could they have described my
reactions
to Judas as they did, if they had really understood me. 5 I could not have
said, "
Betrayest
thou the Son of man with a kiss?" unless I believed in betrayal. 6 The
whole message
of
the crucifixion was simply that I did not. 7 The "punishment" I was
said to have
called
forth upon Judas was a similar mistake. 8 Judas was my brother and a Son of
God, as
much
a part of the Sonship as myself. 9 Was it likely that I would condemn him when
I was
ready
to demonstrate that condemnation is impossible?
T-6.I.16.
As you read the teachings of the Apostles, remember that I told them myself
that
there was much they would understand later, because they were not wholly ready
to
follow
me at the time. 2 I do not want you to allow any fear to enter into the thought
system
toward
which I am guiding you. 3 I do not call for martyrs but for teachers. 4 No one
is
punished for sins, and the Sons of God are not sinners. 5 Any concept of
punishment
involves
the projection of blame, and reinforces the idea that blame is justified. 6 The
result
is
a lesson in blame, for all behavior teaches the beliefs that motivate it. 7 The
crucifixion
was the result of clearly opposed thought systems; the perfect symbol of the
"conflict
"
between the ego and the Son of God. 8 This conflict seems just as real now, and
its
lessons
must be learned now as well as then.
T-6.I.17.
I do not need gratitude, but you need to develop your weakened ability to be
grateful,
or you cannot appreciate God. 2 He does not need your appreciation, but
<you> do. 3
You
cannot love what you do not appreciate, for fear makes appreciation impossible.
4 When
you
are afraid of what you are you do not appreciate it, and will therefore reject
it.
5
As a result, you will teach rejection.
T-6.I.18.
The power of the Sons of God is present all the time, because they were
created
as creators. 2 Their influence on each other is without limit, and must be used
for
their
joint salvation. 3 Each one must learn to teach that all forms of rejection are
meaningless.
4 The separation is the notion of rejection. 5 As long as you teach this you
will
believe
it. 6 This is not as God thinks, and you must think as He thinks if you are to
know
Him
again.
T-6.I.19.
Remember that the Holy Spirit is the Communication Link between God the
Father
and His separated Sons. 2 If you will listen to His Voice you will know that
you
cannot
either hurt or be hurt, and that many need your blessing to help them hear this
for
themselves.
3 When you perceive only this need in them, and do not respond to any other,
you will
have
learned of me and will be as eager to share your learning as I am.
II.
The Alternative to Projection
T-6.II.1.
Any split in mind must involve a rejection of part of it, and this <is>
the
belief
in separation. 2 The Wholeness of God, which is His peace, cannot be
appreciated
except
by a whole mind that recognizes the Wholeness of God's creation. 3 By this
recognition
it
knows its Creator. 4 Exclusion and separation are synonymous, as are separation
and
dissociation.
5 We have said before that the separation was and is dissociation, and that
once it
occurs
projection becomes its main defense, or the device that keeps it going. 6 The
reason,
however,
may not be so obvious as you think.
T-6.II.2.
What you project you disown, and therefore do not believe is yours. 2 You are
excluding
yourself by the very judgment that you are different from the one on whom you
project.
3 Since you have also judged against what you project, you continue to attack
it
because you continue to keep it separated. 4 By doing this unconsciously, you
try to
keep
the fact that you attacked yourself out of awareness, and thus imagine that you
have
made
yourself safe.
T-6.II.3.
Yet projection will always hurt you. 2 It reinforces your belief in your own
split
mind, and its only purpose is to keep the separation going. 3 It is solely a
device of
the
ego to make you feel different from your brothers and separated from them. 4
The
ego
justifies this on the grounds that it makes you seem "better" than
they are, thus
obscuring
your equality with them still further. 5 Projection and attack are inevitably
related,
because
projection is always a means of justifying attack. 6 Anger without projection
is
impossible. 7 The ego uses projection only to destroy your perception of both
yourself
and
your brothers. 8 The process begins by excluding something that exists in you
but
which
you do not want, and leads directly to excluding you from your brothers.
T-6.II.4.
We have learned, however, that there <is> an alternative to projection. 2
Every
ability of the ego has a better use, because its abilities are directed by the
mind,
which
has a better Voice. 3 The Holy Spirit extends and the ego projects. 4 As their
goals
are
opposed, so is the result.
T-6.II.5.
The Holy Spirit begins by perceiving you as perfect. 2 Knowing this
perfection
is shared He recognizes it in others, thus strengthening it in both. 3 Instead
of
anger
this arouses love for both, because it establishes inclusion. 4 Perceiving
equality,
the
Holy Spirit perceives equal needs. 5 This invites Atonement automatically,
because
Atonement
is the one need in this world that is universal. 6 To perceive yourself this
way is
the
only way in which you can find happiness in the world. 7 That is because it is
the
acknowledgment
that you are not in this world, for the world <is> unhappy.
T-6.II.6.
How else can you find joy in a joyless place except by realizing that you are
not
there? 2 You cannot be anywhere God did not put you, and God created you as
part of
Him.
3 That is both where you are and what you are. 4 It is completely unalterable.
5
It
is total inclusion. 6 You cannot change it now or ever. 7 It is forever true. 8
It is
not
a belief, but a Fact. 9 Anything that God created is as true as He is. 10 Its
truth
lies
only in its perfect inclusion in Him Who alone is perfect. 11 To deny this is
to deny
yourself
and Him, since it is impossible to accept one without the other.
T-6.II.7.
The perfect equality of the Holy Spirit's perception is the reflection of the
perfect
equality of God's knowing. 2 The ego's perception has no counterpart in God,
but
the Holy Spirit remains the Bridge between perception and knowledge. 3 By
enabling you
to
use perception in a way that reflects knowledge, you will ultimately remember
it. 4
The
ego would prefer to believe that this memory is impossible, yet it is
<your>
perception
the Holy Spirit guides. 5 Your perception will end where it began. 6 Everything
meets
in
God, because everything was created by Him and in Him.
T-6.II.8.
God created His Sons by extending His Thought, and retaining the extensions
of
His Thought in His Mind. 2 All His Thoughts are thus perfectly united within
themselves
and with each other. 3 The Holy Spirit enables you to perceive this wholeness
<now.> 4
God
created you to create. 5 You cannot extend His Kingdom until you know of its
wholeness.
T-6.II.9.
Thoughts begin in the mind of the thinker, from which they reach outward. 2
This
is as true of God's Thinking as it is of yours. 3 Because your mind is split,
you can
perceive
as well as think. 4 Yet perception cannot escape the basic laws of mind. 5 You
perceive
from your mind and project your perceptions outward. 6 Although perception of
any kind
is
unreal, you made it and the Holy Spirit can therefore use it well. 7 He can
inspire
perception
and lead it toward God. 8 This convergence seems to be far in the future only
because
your
mind is not in perfect alignment with the idea, and therefore does not want it
now.
T-6.II.10.
The Holy Spirit uses time, but does not believe in it. 2 Coming from God He
uses
everything for good, but He does not believe in what is not true. 3 Since the
Holy
Spirit
is in your mind, your mind can also believe only what is true. 4 The Holy
Spirit can
speak
only for this, because He speaks for God. 5 He tells you to return your whole
mind to
God,
because it has never left Him. 6 If it has never left Him, you need only
perceive it
as
it is to be returned. 7 The full awareness of the Atonement, then, is the
recognition
that
<the separation never occurred.> 8 The ego cannot prevail against this
because it is
an
explicit statement that the ego never occurred.
T-6.II.11.
The ego can accept the idea that return is necessary because it can so
easily
make the idea seem difficult. 2 Yet the Holy Spirit tells you that even return
is
unnecessary,
because what never happened cannot be difficult. 3 However, you can
<make> the idea
of
return both necessary and difficult. 4 Yet it is surely clear that the perfect
need
nothing,
and you cannot experience perfection as a difficult accomplishment, because
that is
what
you are. 5 This is the way in which you must perceive God's creations, bringing
all of
your
perceptions into the one line the Holy Spirit sees. 6 This line is the direct
line
of
communication with God, and lets your mind converge with His. 7 There is no
conflict
anywhere
in this perception, because it means that all perception is guided by the Holy
Spirit,
Whose Mind is fixed on God. 8 Only the Holy Spirit can resolve conflict,
because
only the Holy Spirit is conflict-free. 9 He perceives only what is true in your
mind,
and
extends outward only to what is true in other minds.
T-6.II.12.
The difference between the ego's projection and the Holy Spirit's extension
is
very simple. 2 The ego projects to exclude, and therefore to deceive. 3 The
Holy
Spirit
extends by recognizing Himself in every mind, and thus perceives them as one. 4
Nothing
conflicts in this perception, because what the Holy Spirit perceives is all the
same.
5
Wherever He looks He sees Himself, and because He is united He offers the whole
Kingdom
always. 6 This is the one message God gave to Him and for which He must speak,
because
that
is what He is. 7 The peace of God lies in that message, and so the peace of God
lies
in you. 8 The great peace of the Kingdom shines in your mind forever, but it
must
shine
outward to make you aware of it.
T-6.II.13.
The Holy Spirit was given you with perfect impartiality, and only by
recognizing
Him impartially can you recognize Him at all. 2 The ego is legion, but the Holy
Spirit
is
One. 3 No darkness abides anywhere in the Kingdom, but your part is only to
allow no
darkness
to abide in your own mind. 4 This alignment with light is unlimited, because
it
is in alignment with the light of the world. 5 Each of us is the light of the
world,
and
by joining our minds in this light we proclaim the Kingdom of God together and
as one.
III.
The Relinquishment of Attack
T-6.III.1.
As we have already emphasized, every idea begins in the mind of the thinker.
2
Therefore, what extends from the mind is still in it, and from <what> it
extends it
knows
itself. 3 The word "knows" is correct here, because the Holy Spirit
still holds
knowledge
safe in your mind through His impartial perception. 4 By attacking nothing, He
presents
no barrier to the communication of God. 5 Therefore, being is never threatened.
6 Your
Godlike
mind can never be defiled. 7 The ego never was and never will be part of it,
but
through the ego you can hear and teach and learn what is not true. 8 You have
taught
yourself
to believe that you are not what you are. 9 You cannot teach what you have not
learned,
and
what you teach you strengthen in yourself because you are sharing it. 10 Every
lesson
you teach you are learning.
T-6.III.2.
That is why you must teach only one lesson. 2 If you are to be conflict-free
yourself,
you must learn only from the Holy Spirit and teach only by Him. 3 You are
only
love, but when you deny this, you make what you are something you must learn to
remember.
4 I said before that the message of the crucifixion was, "Teach only love,
for that
is
what you are." 5 This is the one lesson that is perfectly unified, because
it is the
only
lesson that is one. 6 Only by teaching it can you learn it. 7 "As you
teach so will
you
learn." 8 If that is true, and it is true indeed, do not forget that what
you teach is
teaching
you. 9 And what you project or extend you believe.
T-6.III.3.
The only safety lies in extending the Holy Spirit, because as you see His
gentleness
in others your own mind perceives itself as totally harmless. 2 Once it can
accept
this
fully, it sees no need to protect itself. 3 The protection of God then dawns
upon it,
assuring
it that it is perfectly safe forever. 4 The perfectly safe are wholly benign. 5
They
bless
because they know that they are blessed. 6 Without anxiety the mind is wholly
kind,
and
because it extends beneficence it is beneficent. 7 Safety is the complete
relinquishment
of attack. 8 No compromise is possible in this. 9 Teach attack in any form and
you
have
learned it, and it will hurt you. 10 Yet this learning is not immortal, and you
can
unlearn
it by not teaching it.
T-6.III.4.
Since you cannot <not> teach, your salvation lies in teaching the exact
opposite
of everything the ego believes. 2 This is how you will learn the truth that
will set
you
free, and will keep you free as others learn it of you. 3 The only way to have
peace
is
to teach peace. 4 By teaching peace you must learn it yourself, because you
cannot
teach
what you still dissociate. 5 Only thus can you win back the knowledge that you
threw
away.
6 An idea that you share you must have. 7 It awakens in your mind through the
conviction
of teaching it. 8 Everything you teach you are learning. 9 Teach only love, and
learn
that
love is yours and you are love.
IV.
The Only Answer
T-6.IV.1.
Remember that the Holy Spirit is the Answer, not the question. 2 The ego
always
speaks first. 3 It is capricious and does not mean its maker well. 4 It
believes, and
correctly,
that its maker may withdraw his support from it at any moment. 5 If it meant
you well
it
would be glad, as the Holy Spirit will be glad when He has brought you home and
you
no
longer need His guidance. 6 The ego does not regard itself as part of you. 7
Herein
lies
its primary error, the foundation of its whole thought system.
T-6.IV.2.
When God created you He made you part of Him. 2 That is why attack within the
Kingdom
is impossible. 3 You made the ego without love, and so it does not love you. 4
You
could not remain within the Kingdom without love, and since the Kingdom
<is> love, you
believe
that you are without it. 5 This enables the ego to regard itself as separate
and
outside its maker, thus speaking for the part of your mind that believes
<you> are
separate
and outside the Mind of God. 6 The ego, then, raised the first question that was
ever
asked,
but one it can never answer. 7 That question, "What are you?" was the
beginning of
doubt.
8 The ego has never answered any questions since, although it has raised a
great many.
9
The most inventive activities of the ego have never done more than obscure the
question,
because you have the answer and <the ego is afraid of you.
T-6.IV.3.
You cannot understand the conflict until you fully understand the basic fact
that
the ego cannot know anything. 2 The Holy Spirit does not speak first, <but
He always
answers.>
3 Everyone has called upon Him for help at one time or another and in one way
or
another,
and has been answered. 4 Since the Holy Spirit answers truly He answers for all
time,
which
means that everyone has the answer <now.
T-6.IV.4.
The ego cannot hear the Holy Spirit, but it does believe that part of the
mind
that made it is against it. 2 It interprets this as a justification for
attacking its
maker.
3 It believes that the best defense is attack, and wants <you> to believe
it. 4
Unless
you do believe it you will not side with it, and the ego feels badly in need of
allies,
though
not of brothers. 5 Perceiving something alien to itself in your mind, the ego
turns
to the body as its ally, because the body is <not> part of you. 6 This
makes the body
the
ego's friend. 7 It is an alliance frankly based on separation. 8 If you side
with this
alliance
you will be afraid, because you are siding with an alliance of fear.
T-6.IV.5.
The ego uses the body to conspire against your mind, and because the ego
realizes
that its "enemy" can end them both merely by recognizing they are not
part of you,
they
join in the attack together. 2 This is perhaps the strangest perception of all,
if you
consider
what it really involves. 3 The ego, which is not real, attempts to persuade
the
mind, which <is> real, that the mind is the ego's learning device; and
further, that
the
body is more real than the mind is. 4 No one in his right mind could possibly believe
this,
and no one in his right mind does believe it.
T-6.IV.6.
Hear, then, the one answer of the Holy Spirit to all the questions the ego
raises:
You are a child of God, a priceless part of His Kingdom, which He created as
part of
Him.
2 Nothing else exists and only this is real. 3 You have chosen a sleep in which
you
have
had bad dreams, but the sleep is not real and God calls you to awake. 4 There
will be
nothing
left of your dream when you hear Him, because you will awaken. 5 Your dreams
contain
many
of the ego's symbols and they have confused you. 6 Yet that was only because
you were
asleep
and did not know. 7 When you wake you will see the truth around you and in you,
and
you
will no longer believe in dreams because they will have no reality for you. 8
Yet the
Kingdom
and all that you have created there will have great reality for you, because
they are
beautiful
and true.
T-6.IV.7.
In the Kingdom, where you are and what you are is perfectly certain. 2 There
is
no doubt, because the first question was never asked. 3 Having finally been
wholly
answered,
<it has never been.> 4 <Being> alone lives in the Kingdom, where
everything lives in
God
without question. 5 The time spent on questioning in the dream has given way to
creation
and to its eternity. 6 You are as certain as God because you are as true as He
is, but
what
was once certain in your mind has become only the ability for certainty.
T-6.IV.8.
The introduction of abilities into being was the beginning of uncertainty,
because
abilities are potentials, not accomplishments. 2 Your abilities are useless in
the
presence
of God's accomplishments, and also of yours. 3 Accomplishments are results that
have
been
achieved. 4 When they are perfect, abilities are meaningless. 5 It is curious
that the
perfect
must now be perfected. 6 In fact, it is impossible. 7 Remember, however, that
when
you put yourself in an impossible situation you believe that the impossible
<is>
possible.
T-6.IV.9.
Abilities must be developed before you can use them. 2 This is not true of
anything
that God created, but it is the kindest solution possible for what you made. 3
In an
impossible
situation, you can develop your abilities to the point where they can get you
out of
it.
4 You have a Guide to how to develop them, but you have no commander except
yourself.
5
This leaves you in charge of the Kingdom, with both a Guide to find it and a
means to
keep
it. 6 You have a model to follow who will strengthen your command, and never
detract
from it in any way. 7 You therefore retain the central place in your imagined
enslavement,
which in itself demonstrates that you are not enslaved.
T-6.IV.10.
You are in an impossible situation only because you think it is possible to
be
in one. 2 You <would> be in an impossible situation if God showed you
your perfection,
and
proved to you that you were wrong. 3 This would demonstrate that the perfect
are
inadequate
to bring themselves to the awareness of their perfection, and thus side with
the
belief
that those who have everything need help and are therefore helpless. 4 This is
the
kind
of "reasoning" in which the ego engages. 5 God, Who knows that His
creations are
perfect,
does not affront them. 6 This would be as impossible as the ego's notion that
it has
affronted
Him.
T-6.IV.11.
That is why the Holy Spirit never commands. 2 To command is to assume
inequality,
which the Holy Spirit demonstrates does not exist. 3 Fidelity to premises is a
law of
mind,
and everything God created is faithful to His laws. 4 Fidelity to other laws is
also
possible, however, not because the laws are true, but because you made them. 5
What
would
be gained if God proved to you that you have thought insanely? 6 Can God lose
His Own
certainty?
7 I have frequently said that what you teach you are. 8 Would you have God
teach you
that
you have sinned? 9 If He confronted the self you made with the truth He created
for
you,
what could you be but afraid? 10 You would doubt your right mind, which is the
only
place
where you can find the sanity He gave you.
T-6.IV.12.
God does not teach. 2 To teach is to imply a lack, which God knows is not
there.
3 God is not conflicted. 4 Teaching aims at change, but God created only the
changeless.
5 The separation was not a loss of perfection, but a failure in communication.
6 A
harsh
and strident form of communication arose as the ego's voice. 7 It could not
shatter
the
peace of God, but it could shatter <yours.> 8 God did not blot it out,
because to
eradicate
it would be to attack it. 9 Being questioned, He did not question. 10 He merely
gave
the
Answer. 11 His Answer is your Teacher.
V.
The Lessons of the Holy Spirit
T-6.V.1.
Like any good teacher, the Holy Spirit knows more than you do now, but He
teaches
only to make you equal with Him. 2 You had already taught yourself wrongly,
having
believed
what was not true. 3 You did not believe in your own perfection. 4 Would God
teach you
that
you had made a split mind, when He knows your mind only as whole? 5 What God
does
know
is that His communication channels are not open to Him, so that He cannot
impart His
joy
and know that His children are wholly joyous. 6 Giving His joy is an ongoing
process,
not
in time but in eternity. 7 God's extending outward, though not His
completeness, is
blocked
when the Sonship does not communicate with Him as one. 8 So He thought,
"My children
sleep
and must be awakened."
T-6.V.2.
How can you wake children in a more kindly way than by a gentle Voice that
will
not frighten them, but will merely remind them that the night is over and the
light
has
come? 2 You do not inform them that the nightmares that frightened them so
badly are
not
real, because children believe in magic. 3 You merely reassure them that they
are safe
<now.>
4 Then you train them to recognize the difference between sleeping and waking,
so
they will understand they need not be afraid of dreams. 5 And so when bad
dreams come,
they
will themselves call on the light to dispel them.
T-6.V.3.
A wise teacher teaches through approach, not avoidance. 2 He does not
emphasize
what you must avoid to escape from harm, but what you need to learn to have
joy. 3
Consider
the fear and confusion a child would experience if he were told, "Do not
do this
because
it will hurt you and make you unsafe; but if you do that instead, you will
escape from
harm
and be safe, and then you will not be afraid." 4 It is surely better to
use only
three
words: "Do only that!" 5 This simple statement is perfectly clear,
easily understood
and
very easily remembered.
T-6.V.4.
The Holy Spirit never itemizes errors because He does not frighten children,
and
those who lack wisdom <are> children. 2 Yet He always answers their call,
and His
dependability
makes them more certain. 3 Children <do> confuse fantasy and reality, and
they are
frightened
because they do not recognize the difference. 4 The Holy Spirit makes no
distinction
among
dreams. 5 He merely shines them away. 6 His light is always the Call to awaken,
whatever
you have been dreaming. 7 Nothing lasting lies in dreams, and the Holy Spirit,
shining
with
the light from God Himself, speaks only for what lasts forever.
A.
To Have, Give All to All
T-6.V.A.1.
When your body and your ego and your dreams are gone, you will know that you
will
last forever. 2 Perhaps you think this is accomplished through death, but
nothing
is
accomplished through death, because death is nothing. 3 Everything is
accomplished
through
life, and life is of the mind and in the mind. 4 The body neither lives nor
dies,
because
it cannot contain you who are life. 5 If we share the same mind, you can
overcome
death
because I did. 6 Death is an attempt to resolve conflict by not deciding at
all. 7
Like
any other impossible solution the ego attempts, <it will not work.
T-6.V.A.2.
God did not make the body, because it is destructible, and therefore not of
the
Kingdom. 2 The body is the symbol of what you think you are. 3 It is clearly a
separation
device, and therefore does not exist. 4 The Holy Spirit, as always, takes what
you
have
made and translates it into a learning device. 5 Again as always, He
reinterprets what
the
ego uses as an argument for separation into a demonstration against it. 6 If
the
mind
can heal the body, but the body cannot heal the mind, then the mind must be
stronger
than
the body. 7 Every miracle demonstrates this.
T-6.V.A.3.
I have said that the Holy Spirit is the motivation for miracles. 2 He always
tells
you that only the mind is real, because only the mind can be shared. 3 The body
is
separate, and therefore cannot be part of you. 4 To be of one mind is
meaningful, but
to
be one body is meaningless. 5 By the laws of mind, then, the body is
meaningless.
T-6.V.A.4.
To the Holy Spirit, there is no order of difficulty in miracles. 2 This is
familiar
enough to you by now, but it has not yet become believable. 3 Therefore, you do
not
understand
it and cannot use it. 4 We have too much to accomplish on behalf of the Kingdom
to let
this
crucial concept slip away. 5 It is a real foundation stone of the thought
system I
teach
and want you to teach. 6 You cannot perform miracles without believing it,
because
it is a belief in perfect equality. 7 Only one equal gift can be offered to the
equal
Sons
of God, and that is full appreciation. 8 Nothing more and nothing less. 9
Without a
range,
order of difficulty is meaningless, and there must be no range in what you
offer to
your
brother.
T-6.V.A.5.
The Holy Spirit, Who leads to God, translates communication into being, just
as
He ultimately translates perception into knowledge. 2 You do not lose what you
communicate.
3 The ego uses the body for attack, for pleasure and for pride. 4 The insanity
of
this
perception makes it a fearful one indeed. 5 The Holy Spirit sees the body only
as a
means
of communication, and because communicating is sharing it becomes communion. 6
Perhaps
you
think that fear as well as love can be communicated; and therefore can be
shared. 7
Yet
this is not so real as it may appear. 8 Those who communicate fear are
promoting
attack,
and attack always breaks communication, making it impossible. 9 Egos do join
together
in
temporary allegiance, but always for what each one can get <separately.>
10 The Holy
Spirit
communicates only what each one can give to all. 11 He never takes anything
back,
because
He wants you to keep it. 12 Therefore, His teaching begins with the lesson:
13
To have, give all to all.
T-6.V.A.6.
This is a very preliminary step, and the only one you must take for yourself.
2
It is not even necessary that you complete the step yourself, but it is
necessary
that
you turn in that direction. 3 Having chosen to go that way, you place yourself
in
charge
of the journey, where you and only you must remain. 4 This step may appear to
exacerbate
conflict rather than resolve it, because it is the beginning step in reversing
your
perception
and turning it right-side up. 5 This conflicts with the upside-down perception
you
have
not yet abandoned, or the change in direction would not have been necessary. 6
Some
remain
at this step for a long time, experiencing very acute conflict. 7 At this point
they
may
try to accept the conflict, rather than take the next step towards its
resolution. 8
Having
taken the first step, however, they will be helped. 9 Once they have chosen
what they
cannot
complete alone, they are no longer alone.
B.
To Have Peace, Teach Peace to Learn It
T-6.V.B.1.
All who believe in separation have a basic fear of retaliation and
abandonment.
2 They believe in attack and rejection, so that is what they perceive and teach
and
learn.
3 These insane ideas are clearly the result of dissociation and projection. 4
What
you
teach you are, but it is quite apparent that you can teach wrongly, and can
therefore
teach
yourself wrong. 5 Many thought I was attacking them, even though it was
apparent I was
not.
6 An insane learner learns strange lessons. 7 What you must recognize is that
when
you
do not share a thought system, you are weakening it. 8 Those who believe in it
therefore
perceive this as an attack on them. 9 This is because everyone identifies
himself with
his
thought system, and every thought system centers on what you believe you are.
10 If
the
center of the thought system is true, only truth extends from it. 11 But if a
lie
is
at its center, only deception proceeds from it.
T-6.V.B.2.
All good teachers realize that only fundamental change will last, but they
do
not begin at that level. 2 Strengthening motivation for change is their first
and
foremost
goal. 3 It is also their last and final one. 4 Increasing motivation for change
in the
learner
is all that a teacher need do to guarantee change. 5 Change in motivation is a
change
of mind, and this will inevitably produce fundamental change because the mind
<is>
fundamental.
T-6.V.B.3.
The first step in the reversal or undoing process is the undoing of the
getting
concept. 2 Accordingly, the Holy Spirit's first lesson was "To have, give
all to all."
3
I said that this is apt to increase conflict temporarily, and we can clarify
this
still
further now. 4 At this point, the equality of <having> and <being>
is not yet
perceived.
5 Until it is, <having> appears to be the opposite of <giving.> 6
Therefore, the
first
lesson seems to contain a contradiction, since it is being learned by a
conflicted
mind.
7 This means conflicting motivation, and so the lesson cannot be learned
consistently
as
yet. 8 Further, the mind of the learner projects its own conflict, and thus
does not
perceive
consistency in the minds of others, making him suspicious of their motivation.
9
This is the real reason why, in many respects, the first lesson is the hardest
to
learn.
10 Still strongly aware of the ego in yourself, and responding primarily to the
ego
in
others, you are being taught to react to both as if what you do believe is not
true.
T-6.V.B.4.
Upside down as always, the ego perceives the first lesson as insane. 2 In
fact,
this is its only alternative since the other possibility, which would be much
less
acceptable
to it, would obviously be that <it> is insane. 3 The ego's judgment, here
as always,
is
predetermined by what it is. 4 The fundamental change will still occur with the
change
of
mind in the thinker. 5 Meanwhile, the increasing clarity of the Holy Spirit's
Voice
makes
it impossible for the learner not to listen. 6 For a time, then, he is
receiving
conflicting
messages and accepting both.
T-6.V.B.5.
The way out of conflict between two opposing thought systems is clearly to
choose
one and relinquish the other. 2 If you identify with your thought system, and
you
cannot
escape this, and if you accept two thought systems which are in complete
disagreement,
peace
of mind is impossible. 3 If you teach both, which you will surely do as long as
you
accept both, you are teaching conflict and learning it. 4 Yet you do want
peace, or
you
would not have called upon the Voice for peace to help you. 5 Its lesson is not
insane;
the
conflict is.
T-6.V.B.6.
There can be no conflict between sanity and insanity. 2 Only one is true,
and
therefore only one is real. 3 The ego tries to persuade you that it is up to
you to
decide
which voice is true, but the Holy Spirit teaches you that truth was created by
God,
and
your decision cannot change it. 4 As you begin to realize the quiet power of
the Holy
Spirit's
Voice, and Its perfect consistency, it must dawn on your mind that you are
trying to
undo
a decision that was irrevocably made for you. 5 That is why I suggested before
that
you
remind yourself to allow the Holy Spirit to decide for God for you.
T-6.V.B.7.
You are not asked to make insane decisions, although you can think you are.
2
It must, however, be insane to believe that it is up to you to decide what
God's
creations
are. 3 The Holy Spirit perceives the conflict exactly as it is. 4 Therefore,
His
second
lesson is:
5
To have peace, teach peace to learn it.
T-6.V.B.8.
This is still a preliminary step, since <having> and <being> are
still not
equated.
2 It is, however, more advanced than the first step, which is really only the
beginning
of the thought reversal. 3 The second step is a positive affirmation of what
you want.
4
This, then, is a step in the direction out of conflict, since it means that
alternatives
have been considered, and one has been chosen as more desirable. 5
Nevertheless, the
term
"more desirable" still implies that the desirable has degrees. 6
Therefore, although
this
step is essential for the ultimate decision, it is clearly not the final one. 7
Lack
of
order of difficulty in miracles has not yet been accepted, because nothing is
difficult
that is <wholly> desired. 8 To desire wholly is to create, and creating
cannot be
difficult
if God Himself created you as a creator.
T-6.V.B.9.
The second step, then, is still perceptual, although it is a giant step
toward
the unified perception that reflects God's knowing. 2 As you take this step and
hold
this
direction, you will be pushing toward the center of your thought system, where
the
fundamental
change will occur. 3 At the second step progress is intermittent, but the
second step
is
easier than the first because it follows. 4 Realizing that it <must>
follow is a
demonstration
of a growing awareness that the Holy Spirit will lead you on.
C.
Be Vigilant Only for God and His Kingdom
T-6.V.C.1.
We said before that the Holy Spirit is evaluative, and must be. 2 He sorts
out
the true from the false in your mind, and teaches you to judge every thought
you allow
to
enter it in the light of what God put there. 3 Whatever is in accord with this
light
He
retains, to strengthen the Kingdom in you. 4 What is partly in accord with it
He
accepts
and purifies. 5 But what is out of accord entirely He rejects by judging
against. 6
This
is how He keeps the Kingdom perfectly consistent and perfectly unified. 7 Remember,
however,
that what the Holy Spirit rejects the ego accepts. 8 This is because they are
in
fundamental
disagreement about everything, being in fundamental disagreement about what you
are. 9
The
ego's beliefs on this crucial issue vary, and that is why it promotes different
moods.
10 The Holy Spirit never varies on this point, and so the one mood He engenders
is
joy.
11 He protects it by rejecting everything that does not foster joy, and so He
alone
can
keep you wholly joyous.
T-6.V.C.2.
The Holy Spirit does not teach you to judge others, because He does not want
you
to teach error and learn it yourself. 2 He would hardly be consistent if He
allowed
you
to strengthen what you must learn to avoid. 3 In the mind of the thinker, then,
He
<is>
judgmental, but only in order to unify the mind so it can perceive without
judgment.
4
This enables the mind to teach without judgment, and therefore to learn to
<be>
without
judgment. 5 The undoing is necessary only in your mind, so that you will not
project,
instead
of extend. 6 God Himself has established what you can extend with perfect
safety. 7
Therefore,
the Holy Spirit's third lesson is:
8
Be vigilant only for God and His Kingdom.
T-6.V.C.3.
This is a major step toward fundamental change. 2 Yet it still has an aspect
of
thought reversal, since it implies that there is something you must be vigilant
<
against.>
3 It has advanced far from the first lesson, which is merely the beginning of
the
thought
reversal, and also from the second, which is essentially the identification of
what is
more
desirable. 4 This step, which follows from the second as the second follows
from
the
first, emphasizes the dichotomy between the desirable and the undesirable. 5 It
therefore
makes the ultimate choice inevitable.
T-6.V.C.4.
While the first step seems to increase conflict and the second may still
entail
conflict to some extent, this step calls for consistent vigilance against it. 2
I have
already
told you that you can be as vigilant against the ego as for it. 3 This lesson
teaches
not only that you can be, but that you <must> be. 4 It does not concern
itself with
order
of difficulty, but with clear-cut priority for vigilance. 5 This lesson is
unequivocal
in
that it teaches there must be no exceptions, although it does not deny that the
temptation
to make exceptions will occur. 6 Here, then, your consistency is called on
despite
chaos.
7 Yet chaos and consistency cannot coexist for long, since they are mutually
exclusive.
8 As long as you must be vigilant against anything, however, you are not
recognizing
this
mutual exclusiveness, and still believe that you can choose either one. 9 By
teaching
<what>
to choose, the Holy Spirit will ultimately teach you that you need not choose
at
all.
10 This will finally liberate your mind from choice, and direct it towards
creation
within
the Kingdom.
T-6.V.C.5.
Choosing through the Holy Spirit will lead you to the Kingdom. 2 You create
by
your true being, but what you are you must learn to remember. 3 The way to
remember it
is
inherent in the third step, which brings together the lessons implied in the
others,
and
goes beyond them towards real integration. 4 If you allow yourself to have in
your
mind
only what God put there, you are acknowledging your mind as God created it. 5
Therefore,
you are accepting it as it is. 6 Since it is whole, you are teaching peace
<because>
you
believe in it. 7 The final step will still be taken for you by God, but by the
third
step
the Holy Spirit has prepared you for God. 8 He is getting you ready for the
translation
of <having> into <being> by the very nature of the steps you must
take with Him.
T-6.V.C.6.
You learn first that <having> rests on giving, and not on getting. 2 Next
you
learn that you learn what you teach, and that you want to learn peace. 3 This
is the
condition
for identifying with the Kingdom, since it is the condition <of> the
Kingdom. 4 You
have
believed that you are without the Kingdom, and have therefore excluded yourself
from
it
in your belief. 5 It is therefore essential to teach you that you must be
included,
and
that the belief that you are not is the only thing that you must exclude.
T-6.V.C.7.
The third step is thus one of protection for your mind, allowing you to
identify
only with the center, where God placed the altar to Himself. 2 Altars are
beliefs, but
God
and His creations are beyond belief because they are beyond question. 3 The
Voice
for
God speaks only for belief beyond question, which is the preparation for
<being>
without
question. 4 As long as belief in God and His Kingdom is assailed by any doubts
in your
mind,
His perfect accomplishment is not apparent to you. 5 This is why you must be
vigilant
on God's behalf. 6 The ego speaks against His creation, and therefore engenders
doubt.
7
You cannot go beyond belief until you believe fully.
T-6.V.C.8.
To teach the whole Sonship without exception demonstrates that you perceive
its
wholeness, and have learned that it is one. 2 Now you must be vigilant to hold
its
oneness
in your mind because, if you let doubt enter, you will lose awareness of its
wholeness
and
will be unable to teach it. 3 The wholeness of the Kingdom does not depend on
your
perception,
but your awareness of its wholeness does. 4 It is only your awareness that
needs
protection,
since being cannot be assailed. 5 Yet a real sense of being cannot be yours
while you
are
doubtful of what you are. 6 This is why vigilance is essential. 7 Doubts about
being
must not enter your mind, or you cannot know what you are with certainty. 8
Certainty
is
of God for you. 9 Vigilance is not necessary for truth, but it is necessary
against
illusions.
T-6.V.C.9.
Truth is without illusions and therefore within the Kingdom. 2 Everything
outside
the Kingdom is illusion. 3 When you threw truth away you saw yourself as if you
were
without
it. 4 By making another kingdom that you valued, you did not keep <only>
the Kingdom
of
God in your mind, and thus placed part of your mind outside it. 5 What you made
has
imprisoned
your will, and given you a sick mind that must be healed. 6 Your vigilance
against
this
sickness is the way to heal it. 7 Once your mind is healed it radiates health,
and
thereby
teaches healing. 8 This establishes you as a teacher who teaches like me. 9
Vigilance
was
required of me as much as of you, and those who choose to teach the same thing
must be
in
agreement about what they believe.
T-6.V.C.10.
The third step, then, is a statement of what you want to believe, and
entails
a willingness to relinquish everything else. 2 The Holy Spirit will enable you
to take
this
step, if you follow Him. 3 Your vigilance is the sign that you <want> Him
to guide
you.
4 Vigilance does require effort, but only until you learn that effort itself is
unnecessary.
5 You have exerted great effort to preserve what you made because it was not
true. 6
Therefore,
you must now turn your effort against it. 7 Only this can cancel out the need
for
effort,
and call upon the being which you both <have> and <are.> 8 This
recognition is wholly
without
effort since it is already true and needs no protection. 9 It is in the perfect
safety
of God. 10 Therefore, inclusion is total and creation is without limit.
Chapter
7.
THE
GIFTS OF THE KINGDOM
I.
The Last Step
T-7.I.1.
The creative power of God and His creations is limitless, but they are not in
reciprocal
relationship. 2 You communicate fully with God, as He does with you. 3 This is
an
ongoing
process in which you share, and because you share it, you are inspired to
create like
God.
4 Yet in creation you are not in a reciprocal relation to God, since He created
you
but
you did not create Him. 5 I have already told you that only in this respect
your
creative
power differs from His. 6 Even in this world there is a parallel. 7 Parents
give birth
to
children, but children do not give birth to parents. 8 They do, however, give
birth
to
their children, and thus give birth as their parents do.
T-7.I.2.
If you created God and He created you, the Kingdom could not increase through
its
own creative thought. 2 Creation would therefore be limited, and you would not
be
co-creator
with God. 3 As God's creative Thought proceeds from Him to you, so must your
creative
thought
proceed from you to your creations. 4 Only in this way can all creative power
extend
outward.
5 God's accomplishments are not yours, but yours are like His. 6 He created the
Sonship
and you increase it. 7 You have the power to add to the Kingdom, though not to
add to
the
Creator of the Kingdom. 8 You claim this power when you become vigilant only
for God
and
His Kingdom. 9 By accepting this power as yours you have learned to remember
what you
are.
T-7.I.3.
Your creations belong in you, as you belong in God. 2 You are part of God, as
your
sons are part of His Sons. 3 To create is to love. 4 Love extends outward
simply
because
it cannot be contained. 5 Being limitless it does not stop. 6 It creates
forever, but
not
in time. 7 God's creations have always been, because He has always been. 8 Your
creations
have always been, because you can create only as God creates. 9 Eternity is
yours,
because
He created you eternal.
T-7.I.4.
The ego, on the other hand, always demands reciprocal rights, because it is
competitive
rather than loving. 2 It is always willing to strike a bargain, but it cannot
understand
that to be like another means that no bargains are possible. 3 To gain you must
give,
not
bargain. 4 To bargain is to limit giving, and this is not God's Will. 5 To will
with
God
is to create like Him. 6 God does not limit His gifts in any way. 7 You
<are> His
gifts,
and so your gifts must be like His. 8 Your gifts to the Kingdom must be like
His
gifts
to you.
T-7.I.5.
I gave only love to the Kingdom because I believed that was what I was. 2 What
you
believe you are determines your gifts, and if God created you by extending
Himself
as
you, you can only extend yourself as He did. 3 Only joy increases forever,
since joy
and
eternity are inseparable. 4 God extends outward beyond limits and beyond time,
and you
who
are co-creator with Him extend His Kingdom forever and beyond limit. 5 Eternity
is
the
indelible stamp of creation. 6 The eternal are in peace and joy forever.
T-7.I.6.
To think like God is to share His certainty of what you are, and to create
like
Him is to share the perfect Love He shares with you. 2 To this the Holy Spirit
leads
you,
that your joy may be complete because the Kingdom of God is whole. 3 I have
said that
the
last step in the reawakening of knowledge is taken by God. 4 This is true, but
it
is
hard to explain in words because words are symbols, and nothing that is true
need be
explained.
5 However, the Holy Spirit has the task of translating the useless into the
useful,
the
meaningless into the meaningful, and the temporary into the timeless. 6 He can
therefore
tell you something about this last step.
T-7.I.7.
God does not take steps, because His accomplishments are not gradual. 2 He
does
not teach, because His creations are changeless. 3 He does nothing last,
because He
created
first and for always. 4 It must be understood that the word "first"
as applied to Him
is
not a time concept. 5 He is first in the sense that He is the First in the Holy
Trinity
Itself. 6 He is the Prime Creator, because He created His co-creators. 7
Because He
did,
time applies neither to Him nor to what He created. 8 The "last step"
that God will
take
was therefore true in the beginning, is true now, and will be true forever. 9
What is
timeless
is always there, because its being is eternally changeless. 10 It does not
change by
increase,
because it was forever created to increase. 11 If you perceive it as not
increasing
you
do not know what it is. 12 You also do not know Who created it. 13 God does not
reveal
this
to you because it was never hidden. 14 His light was never obscured, because it
is
His
Will to share it. 15 How can what is fully shared be withheld and then
revealed?
II.
The Law of the Kingdom
T-7.II.1.
To heal is the only kind of thinking in this world that resembles the Thought
of
God, and because of the elements they share, can transfer easily to it. 2 When
a
brother
perceives himself as sick, he is perceiving himself as not whole, and therefore
in
need.
3 If you, too, see him this way, you are seeing him as if he were absent from
the
Kingdom
or separated from it, thus making the Kingdom itself obscure to both of you. 4
Sickness
and separation are not of God, but the Kingdom is. 5 If you obscure the
Kingdom, you
are
perceiving what is not of God.
T-7.II.2.
To heal, then, is to correct perception in your brother and yourself by
sharing
the Holy Spirit with him. 2 This places you both within the Kingdom, and
restores its
wholeness
in your mind. 3 This reflects creation, because it unifies by increasing and
integrates
by extending. 4 What you project or extend is real for you. 5 This is an
immutable law
of
the mind in this world as well as in the Kingdom. 6 However, the content is
different
in this world, because the thoughts it governs are very different from the
Thoughts in
the
Kingdom. 7 Laws must be adapted to circumstances if they are to maintain order.
8
The
outstanding characteristic of the laws of mind as they operate in this world is
that
by
obeying them, and I assure you that you must obey them, you can arrive at
diametrically
opposed results. 9 This is because the laws have been adapted to the
circumstances of
this
world, in which diametrically opposed outcomes seem possible because you can
respond
to
two conflicting voices.
T-7.II.3.
Outside the Kingdom, the law that prevails inside is adapted to "What you
project
you believe." 2 This is its teaching form, because outside the Kingdom
learning is
essential.
3 This form implies that you will learn what you are from what you have
projected
onto
others, and therefore believe they are. 4 In the Kingdom there is no teaching
or
learning,
because there is no belief. 5 There is only certainty. 6 God and His Sons, in
the
surety
of being, know that what you extend you are. 7 That form of the law is not adapted
at
all,
being the law of creation. 8 God Himself created the law by creating <by>
it. 9 And
His
Sons, who create like Him, follow it gladly, knowing that the increase of the
Kingdom
depends
on it, just as their own creation did.
T-7.II.4.
Laws must be communicated if they are to be helpful. 2 In effect, they must
be
translated for those who speak different languages. 3 Nevertheless, a good
translator,
although
he must alter the form of what he translates, never changes the meaning. 4 In
fact,
his whole purpose is to change the form so that the original meaning is
retained. 5
The
Holy Spirit is the Translator of the laws of God to those who do not understand
them.
6
You could not do this yourself because a conflicted mind cannot be faithful to
one
meaning,
and will therefore change the meaning to preserve the form.
T-7.II.5.
The Holy Spirit's purpose in translating is exactly the opposite. 2 He
translates
only to preserve the original meaning in all respects and in all languages. 3
Therefore,
He opposes the idea that differences in form are meaningful, emphasizing always
that
<these
differences do not matter.> 4 The meaning of His message is always the same;
only
the
meaning matters. 5 God's law of creation does not involve the use of truth to
convince
His Sons of truth. 6 The extension of truth, which <is> the law of the
Kingdom, rests
only
on the knowledge of what truth is. 7 This is your inheritance and requires no
learning
at
all, but when you disinherited yourself you became a learner of necessity.
T-7.II.6.
No one questions the connection of learning and memory. 2 Learning is
impossible
without memory since it must be consistent to be remembered. 3 That is why the
Holy
Spirit's
teaching is a lesson in remembering. 4 I said before that He teaches
remembering and
forgetting,
but the forgetting is only to make the remembering consistent. 5 You forget in
order
to
remember better. 6 You will not understand His translations while you listen to
two
ways
of interpreting them. 7 Therefore you must forget or relinquish one to
understand the
other.
8 This is the only way you can learn consistency, so that you can finally
<be>
consistent.
T-7.II.7.
What can the perfect consistency of the Kingdom mean to those who are
confused?
2 It is apparent that confusion interferes with meaning, and therefore prevents
the
learner
from appreciating it. 3 There is no confusion in the Kingdom, because there is
only
one
meaning. 4 This meaning comes from God and <is> God. 5 Because it is also
you, you
share
it and extend it as your Creator did. 6 This needs no translation because it is
perfectly
understood, but it does need extension because it <means> extension. 7
Communication
is
perfectly direct and perfectly united. 8 It is totally free, because nothing
discordant
ever enters. 9 That is why it is the Kingdom of God. 10 It belongs to Him and
is
therefore
like Him. 11 That is its reality, and nothing can assail it.
III.
The Reality of the Kingdom
T-7.III.1.
The Holy Spirit teaches one lesson, and applies it to all individuals in all
situations.
2 Being conflict-free, He maximizes all efforts and all results. 3 By
teaching
the power of the Kingdom of God Himself, He teaches you that all power is
yours. 4 Its
application
does not matter. 5 It is always maximal. 6 Your vigilance does not
establish
it as yours, but it does enable you to use it always and in all ways. 7 When I
said "I
am
with you always," I meant it literally. 8 I am not absent to anyone in any
situation.
9
Because I am always with you, <you> are the way, the truth and the life.
10 You did
not
make this power, any more than I did. 11 It was created to be shared, and
therefore
cannot
be meaningfully perceived as belonging to anyone at the expense of another. 12
Such a
perception
makes it meaningless by eliminating or overlooking its real and only meaning.
T-7.III.2.
God's meaning waits in the Kingdom, because that is where He placed it. 2 It
does
not wait in time. 3 It merely rests in the Kingdom because it belongs there, as
you
do. 4 How can you who are God's meaning perceive yourself as absent from it? 5
You can
see
yourself as separated from your meaning only by experiencing yourself as
unreal. 6
This
is why the ego is insane; it teaches that you are not what you are. 7 That is
so
contradictory
it is clearly impossible. 8 It is therefore a lesson you cannot really learn,
and
therefore
cannot really teach. 9 Yet you are always teaching. 10 You must, therefore, be
teaching
something else, even though the ego does not know what it is. 11 The ego, then,
is
always
being undone, and does suspect your motives. 12 Your mind cannot be unified in
allegiance
to the ego, because the mind does not belong to it. 13 Yet what is
"treacherous" to
the
ego is faithful to peace. 14 The ego's "enemy" is therefore your
friend.
T-7.III.3.
I said before that the ego's friend is not part of you, because the ego
perceives
itself at war and therefore in need of allies. 2 You who are not at war must
look for
brothers
and recognize all whom you see as brothers, because only equals are at peace. 3
Because
God's equal Sons have everything, they cannot compete. 4 Yet if they perceive
any of
their
brothers as anything other than their perfect equals, the idea of competition
has
entered
their minds. 5 Do not underestimate your need to be vigilant <against>
this idea,
because
all your conflicts come from it. 6 It <is> the belief that conflicting
interests are
possible,
and therefore you have accepted the impossible as true. 7 Is that different
from
saying
you perceive yourself as unreal?
T-7.III.4.
To be in the Kingdom is merely to focus your full attention on it. 2 As long
as
you believe you can attend to what is not true, you are accepting conflict as
your
choice.
3 Is it really a choice? 4 It seems to be, but seeming and reality are hardly
the
same.
5 You who <are> the Kingdom are not concerned with seeming. 6 Reality is
yours
because
you are reality. 7 This is how <having> and <being> are ultimately
reconciled, not in
the
Kingdom, but in your mind. 8 The altar there is the only reality. 9 The altar
is
perfectly
clear in thought, because it is a reflection of perfect Thought. 10 Your right
mind
sees
only brothers, because it sees only in its own light.
T-7.III.5.
God has lit your mind Himself, and keeps your mind lit by His light because
His
light is what your mind is. 2 This is totally beyond question, and when you
question
it
you are answered. 3 The Answer merely undoes the question by establishing the
fact
that
to question reality is to question meaninglessly. 4 That is why the Holy Spirit
never
questions.
5 His sole function is to undo the questionable and thus lead to certainty. 6
The
certain
are perfectly calm, because they are not in doubt. 7 They do not raise questions,
because
nothing questionable enters their minds. 8 This holds them in perfect serenity,
because
this is what they share, knowing what they are.
IV.
Healing as the Recognition of Truth
T-7.IV.1.
Truth can only <be> recognized and <need> only be recognized. 2
Inspiration
is
of the Holy Spirit, and certainty is of God according to His laws. 3 Both,
therefore,
come
from the same Source, since inspiration comes from the Voice for God and
certainty
comes
from the laws of God. 4 Healing does not come directly from God, Who knows His
creations
as perfectly whole. 5 Yet healing is still of God, because it proceeds from His
Voice
and
from His laws. 6 It is their result, in a state of mind that does not know Him.
7 The
state
is unknown to Him and therefore does not exist, but those who sleep are
unaware. 8
Because
they are unaware, they do not know.
T-7.IV.2.
The Holy Spirit must work <through> you to teach you He is <in>
you. 2 This
is
an intermediary step toward the knowledge that you are in God because you are
part of
Him.
3 The miracles the Holy Spirit inspires can have no order of difficulty,
because
every
part of creation is of one order. 4 This is God's Will and yours. 5 The laws of
God
establish
this, and the Holy Spirit reminds you of it. 6 When you heal, you are
remembering the
laws
of God and forgetting the laws of the ego. 7 I said before that forgetting is
merely a
way
of remembering better. 8 It is therefore not the opposite of remembering when
it is
properly
perceived. 9 Perceived improperly, it induces a perception of conflict with
something
else, as all incorrect perception does. 10 Properly perceived, it can be used
as a way
out
of conflict, as all proper perception can.
T-7.IV.3.
The ego does not want to teach everyone all it has learned, because that
would
defeat its purpose. 2 Therefore it does not really learn at all. 3 The Holy
Spirit
teaches
you to use what the ego has made, to teach the opposite of what the ego has
"learned."
4
The kind of learning is as irrelevant as is the particular ability that was
applied
to
the learning. 5 All you need do is make the effort to learn, for the Holy
Spirit has a
unified
goal for the effort. 6 If different abilities are applied long enough to one
goal,
the abilities themselves become unified. 7 This is because they are channelized
in
one
direction, or in one way. 8 Ultimately, then, they all contribute to one
result, and
by
so doing, their similarity rather than their differences is emphasized.
T-7.IV.4.
All abilities should therefore be given over to the Holy Spirit, Who
understands
how to use them properly. 2 He uses them only for healing, because He knows you
only
as
whole. 3 By healing you learn of wholeness, and by learning of wholeness you
learn to
remember
God. 4 You have forgotten Him, but the Holy Spirit understands that your
forgetting
must
be translated into a way of remembering.
T-7.IV.5.
The ego's goal is as unified as the Holy Spirit's, and it is because of this
that
their goals can never be reconciled in any way or to any extent. 2 The ego
always
seeks
to divide and separate. 3 The Holy Spirit always seeks to unify and heal. 4 As
you
heal
you are healed, because the Holy Spirit sees no order of difficulty in healing.
5
Healing
is the way to undo the belief in differences, being the only way of perceiving
the
Sonship
as one. 6 This perception is therefore in accord with the laws of God, even in
a state
of
mind that is out of accord with His. 7 The strength of right perception is so
great
that
it brings the mind into accord with His, because it serves His Voice, which is
in all
of
you.
T-7.IV.6.
To think you can oppose the Will of God is a real delusion. 2 The ego
believes
that it can, and that it can offer you its own "will" as a gift. 3
<You do not want it.
>
4 It is not a gift. 5 It is nothing at all. 6 God has given you a gift that you
both
<have>
and <are.> 7 When you do not use it, you forget that you have it. 8 By
not
remembering
it, you do not know what you are. 9 Healing, then, is a way of approaching
knowledge
by
thinking in accordance with the laws of God, and recognizing their
universality. 10
Without
this recognition, you have made the laws meaningless to you. 11 Yet the laws
are not
meaningless,
since all meaning is contained by them and in them.
T-7.IV.7.
Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, because that is where the laws of God
operate
truly, and they can operate only truly because they are the laws of truth. 2
But seek
this
only, because you can find nothing else. 3 There <is> nothing else. 4 God
is All in
all
in a very literal sense. 5 All being is in Him Who is all Being. 6 You are
therefore
in
Him since your being is His. 7 Healing is a way of forgetting the sense of
danger the
ego
has induced in you, by not recognizing its existence in your brother. 8 This
strengthens
the Holy Spirit in both of you, because it is a refusal to acknowledge fear. 9
Love
needs
only this invitation. 10 It comes freely to all the Sonship, being what the
Sonship is.
11
By your awakening to it, you are merely forgetting what you are not. 12 This
enables
you to remember what you are.
V.
Healing and the Changelessness of Mind
T-7.V.1.
The body is nothing more than a framework for developing abilities, which is
quite
apart from what they are used for. 2 <That> is a decision. 3 The effects
of the ego's
decision
in this matter are so apparent that they need no elaboration, but the Holy
Spirit's
decision
to use the body only for communication has such a direct connection with
healing that
it
does need clarification. 4 The unhealed healer obviously does not understand
his own
vocation.
T-7.V.2.
Only minds communicate. 2 Since the ego cannot obliterate the impulse to
communicate
because it is also the impulse to create, it can only teach you that the body
can both
communicate
and create, and therefore does not need the mind. 3 The ego thus tries to
teach
you that the body can act like the mind, and is therefore self-sufficient. 4
Yet we
have
learned that behavior is not the level for either teaching or learning, since
you can
act
in accordance with what you do not believe. 5 To do this, however, will weaken
you as
a
teacher and a learner because, as has been repeatedly emphasized, you teach
what you <
do>
believe. 6 An inconsistent lesson will be poorly taught and poorly learned. 7
If you
teach
both sickness <and> healing, you are both a poor teacher and a poor
learner.
T-7.V.3.
Healing is the one ability everyone can develop and must develop if he is to
be
healed. 2 Healing is the Holy Spirit's form of communication in this world, and
the
only
one He accepts. 3 He recognizes no other, because He does not accept the ego's
confusion
of mind and body. 4 Minds can communicate, but they cannot hurt. 5 The body in
the
service
of the ego can hurt other bodies, but this cannot occur unless the body has
already
been
confused with the mind. 6 This situation, too, can be used either for healing
or for
magic,
but you must remember that magic always involves the belief that healing is
harmful.
7
This belief is its totally insane premise, and so it proceeds accordingly.
T-7.V.4.
Healing only strengthens. 2 Magic always tries to weaken. 3 Healing perceives
nothing
in the healer that everyone else does not share with him. 4 Magic always sees
something
"special" in the healer, which he believes he can offer as a gift to
someone who does
not
have it. 5 He may believe that the gift comes from God to him, but it is quite
evident
that
he does not understand God if he thinks he has something that others lack.
T-7.V.5.
The Holy Spirit does not work by chance, and healing that is of Him
<always>
works.
2 Unless the healer always heals by Him the results will vary. 3 Yet healing
itself
is
consistent, since only consistency is conflict-free, and only the conflict-free
are
whole.
4 By accepting exceptions and acknowledging that he can sometimes heal and
sometimes
not,
the healer is obviously accepting inconsistency. 5 He is therefore in conflict,
and
is
teaching conflict. 6 Can anything of God not be for all and for always? 7 Love
is
incapable
of any exceptions. 8 Only if there is fear does the idea of exceptions seem to
be
meaningful.
9 Exceptions are fearful because they are made by fear. 10 The "fearful
healer" is a
contradiction
in terms, and is therefore a concept that only a conflicted mind could possibly
perceive
as meaningful.
T-7.V.6.
Fear does not gladden. 2 Healing does. 3 Fear always makes exceptions. 4
Healing
never does. 5 Fear produces dissociation, because it induces separation. 6
Healing
always
produces harmony, because it proceeds from integration. 7 It is predictable
because it
can
be counted on. 8 Everything that is of God can be counted on, because
everything of
God
is wholly real. 9 Healing can be counted on because it is inspired by His
Voice,
and
is in accord with His laws. 10 Yet if healing is consistent it cannot be
inconsistently
understood. 11 Understanding means consistency because God means consistency.
12 Since
that
is His meaning, it is also yours. 13 Your meaning cannot be out of accord with
His,
because
your whole meaning and your only meaning comes from His and is like His. 14
God
cannot be out of accord with Himself, and you cannot be out of accord with Him.
15 You
cannot
separate your Self from your Creator, Who created you by sharing His Being with
you.
T-7.V.7.
The unhealed healer wants gratitude from his brothers, but he is not grateful
to
them. 2 That is because he thinks he is giving something to them, and is not
receiving
something
equally desirable in return. 3 His teaching is limited because he is learning
so
little. 4 His healing lesson is limited by his own ingratitude, which is a
lesson in
sickness.
5 True learning is constant, and so vital in its power for change that a Son
of
God can recognize his power in one instant and change the world in the next. 6
That is
because,
by changing his mind, he has changed the most powerful device that was ever
given
him for change. 7 This in no way contradicts the changelessness of mind as God
created
it,
but you think that you have changed it as long as you learn through the ego. 8
This
places
you in a position of needing to learn a lesson that seems contradictory;--you
must
learn to change your mind about your mind. 9 Only by this can you learn that it
<is>
changeless.
T-7.V.8.
When you heal, that is exactly what you <are> learning. 2 You are
recognizing
the
changeless mind in your brother by realizing that he could not have changed his
mind.
3
That is how you perceive the Holy Spirit in him. 4 It is only the Holy Spirit
in him
that
never changes His Mind. 5 He himself may think he can, or he would not perceive
himself
as sick. 6 He therefore does not know what his Self is. 7 If you see only the
changeless
in him you have not really changed him. 8 By changing your mind about his
<for> him,
you
help him undo the change his ego thinks it has made in him.
T-7.V.9.
As you can hear two voices, so you can see in two ways. 2 One way shows you an
image,
or an idol that you may worship out of fear, but will never love. 3 The other
shows
you only truth, which you will love because you will understand it. 4
Understanding is
appreciation,
because what you understand you can identify with, and by making it part
of
you, you have accepted it with love. 5 That is how God Himself created you; in
understanding,
in appreciation and in love. 6 The ego is totally unable to understand this,
because
it
does not understand what it makes, does not appreciate it and does not love it.
7 It
incorporates
to take away. 8 It literally believes that every time it deprives someone of
something,
it
has increased. 9 I have spoken often of the increase of the Kingdom by your
creations,
which can only be created as you were. 10 The whole glory and perfect joy that
<is>
the
Kingdom lies in you to give. 11 Do you not want to give it?
T-7.V.10.
You cannot forget the Father because I am with you, and I cannot forget Him.
2
To forget me is to forget yourself and Him Who created you. 3 Our brothers are
forgetful.
4 That is why they need your remembrance of me and of Him Who created me. 5
Through
this
remembrance, you can change their minds about themselves, as I can change
yours. 6
Your
mind is so powerful a light that you can look into theirs and enlighten them,
as I can
enlighten
yours. 7 I do not want to share my body in communion because this is to share
nothing.
8 Would I try to share an illusion with the most holy children of a most holy
Father?
9 Yet I do want to share my mind with you because we are of one Mind, and that
Mind
is
ours. 10 See only this Mind everywhere, because only this is everywhere and in
everything.
11 It is everything because it encompasses all things within itself. 12 Blessed
are
you
who perceive only this, because you perceive only what is true.
T-7.V.11.
Come therefore unto me, and learn of the truth in you. 2 The mind we share is
shared
by all our brothers, and as we see them truly they will be healed. 3 Let your
mind
shine with mine upon their minds, and by our gratitude to them make them aware
of the
light
in them. 4 This light will shine back upon you and on the whole Sonship,
because this
is
your proper gift to God. 5 He will accept it and give it to the Sonship,
because it is
acceptable
to Him and therefore to His Sons. 6 This is true communion with the Holy
Spirit,
Who sees the altar of God in everyone, and by bringing it to your appreciation,
He
calls
upon you to love God and His creation. 7 You can appreciate the Sonship only as
one. 8
This
is part of the law of creation, and therefore governs all thought.
VI.
From Vigilance to Peace
T-7.VI.1.
Although you can love the Sonship only as one, you can perceive it as
fragmented.
2 It is impossible, however, to see something in part of it that you will not
attribute
to all of it. 3 That is why attack is never discrete, and why it must be
relinquished
entirely.
4 If it is not relinquished entirely it is not relinquished at all. 5 Fear and
love
make
or create, depending on whether the ego or the Holy Spirit begets or inspires
them,
but
they <will> return to the mind of the thinker and they will affect his
total
perception.
6 That includes his concept of God, of His creations and of his own. 7 He will
not
appreciate
any of Them if he regards Them fearfully. 8 He will appreciate all of Them if
he
regards
Them with love.
T-7.VI.2.
The mind that accepts attack cannot love. 2 That is because it believes it
can
destroy love, and therefore does not understand what love is. 3 If it does not
understand
what love is, it cannot perceive itself as loving. 4 This loses the awareness
of being,
induces
feelings of unreality and results in utter confusion. 5 Your thinking has done
this
because of its power, but your thinking can also save you from this because its
power
is not of your making. 6 Your ability to direct your thinking as you choose is
part of
its
power. 7 If you do not believe you can do this you have denied the power of
your
thought,
and thus rendered it powerless in your belief.
T-7.VI.3.
The ingeniousness of the ego to preserve itself is enormous, but it stems
from
the very power of the mind the ego denies. 2 This means that the ego attacks
what is
preserving
it, which must result in extreme anxiety. 3 That is why the ego never recognizes
what
it
is doing. 4 It is perfectly logical but clearly insane. 5 The ego draws upon
the one
source
that is totally inimical to its existence <for> its existence. 6 Fearful
of perceiving
the
power of this source, it is forced to depreciate it. 7 This threatens its own
existence,
a state which it finds intolerable. 8 Remaining logical but still insane, the
ego
resolves
this completely insane dilemma in a completely insane way. 9 It does not
perceive <its
>
existence as threatened by projecting the threat onto <you,> and
perceiving your being
as
nonexistent. 10 This ensures its continuance if you side with it, by
guaranteeing
that
you will not know your own safety.
T-7.VI.4.
The ego cannot afford to know anything. 2 Knowledge is total, and the ego
does
not believe in totality. 3 This unbelief is its origin, and while the ego does
not
love
you it <is> faithful to its own antecedents, begetting as it was
begotten. 4 Mind
always
reproduces as it was produced. 5 Produced by fear, the ego reproduces fear. 6
This is
its
allegiance, and this allegiance makes it treacherous to love because you
<are> love. 7
Love
is your power, which the ego must deny. 8 It must also deny everything this
power
gives
you <because> it gives you everything. 9 No one who has everything wants
the ego. 10
Its
own maker, then, does not want it. 11 Rejection is therefore the only decision
the ego
could
possibly encounter, if the mind that made it knew itself. 12 And if it
recognized
any
part of the Sonship, it <would> know itself.
T-7.VI.5.
The ego therefore opposes all appreciation, all recognition, all sane
perception
and all knowledge. 2 It perceives their threat as total, because it senses that
all
commitments
the mind makes are total. 3 Forced, therefore, to detach itself from you, it is
willing
to attach itself to anything else. 4 But there <is> nothing else. 5 The
mind can,
however,
make up illusions, and if it does so it will believe in them, because that is
how it
made
them.
T-7.VI.6.
The Holy Spirit undoes illusions without attacking them, because He cannot
perceive
them at all. 2 They therefore do not exist for Him. 3 He resolves the apparent
conflict
they engender by perceiving conflict as meaningless. 4 I have said before that
the
Holy
Spirit perceives the conflict exactly as it is, and it <is> meaningless.
5 The Holy
Spirit
does not want you to understand conflict; He wants you to realize that, because
conflict
is meaningless, it is not understandable. 6 As I have already said,
understanding
brings
appreciation and appreciation brings love. 7 Nothing else can be understood,
because
nothing
else is real and therefore nothing else has meaning.
T-7.VI.7.
If you will keep in mind what the Holy Spirit offers you, you cannot be
vigilant
for anything <but> God and His Kingdom. 2 The only reason you may find
this hard to
accept
is because you may still think there is something else. 3 Belief does not
require
vigilance
unless it is conflicted. 4 If it is, there are conflicting components within it
that
have
led to a state of war, and vigilance has therefore become essential. 5
Vigilance has
no
place in peace. 6 It is necessary against beliefs that are not true, and would
never
have
been called upon by the Holy Spirit if you had not believed the untrue. 7 When
you
believe
something, you have made it true for you. 8 When you believe what God does not
know,
your
thought seems to contradict His, and this makes it appear as if you are
attacking Him.
T-7.VI.8.
I have repeatedly emphasized that the ego does believe it can attack God, and
tries
to persuade you that you have done this. 2 If the mind cannot attack, the ego
proceeds
perfectly logically to the belief that you must be a body. 3 By not seeing you
as you
are,
it can see itself as it wants to be. 4 Aware of its weakness the ego wants your
allegiance,
but not as you really are. 5 The ego therefore wants to engage your mind in its
own
delusional
system, because otherwise the light of your understanding would dispel it. 6 It
wants
no
part of truth, because the ego itself is not true. 7 If truth is total, the
untrue
cannot
exist. 8 Commitment to either must be total; they cannot coexist in your mind
without
splitting
it. 9 If they cannot coexist in peace, and if you want peace, you must give up
the
idea
of conflict entirely and for all time. 10 This requires vigilance only as long
as you
do
not recognize what is true. 11 While you believe that two totally contradictory
thought
systems share truth, your need for vigilance is apparent.
T-7.VI.9.
Your mind is dividing its allegiance between two kingdoms, and you are
totally
committed to neither. 2 Your identification with the Kingdom is totally beyond
question
except by you, when you are thinking insanely. 3 What you are is not
established by
your
perception, and is not influenced by it at all. 4 Perceived problems in
identification
at
any level are not problems of fact. 5 They are problems of understanding, since
their
presence implies a belief that what you are is up to you to decide. 6 The ego
believes
this
totally, being fully committed to it. 7 It is not true. 8 The ego therefore is
totally
committed to untruth, perceiving in total contradiction to the Holy Spirit and
to the
knowledge
of God.
T-7.VI.10.
You can be perceived with meaning only by the Holy Spirit because your being
<is>
the knowledge of God. 2 Any belief you accept apart from this will obscure
God's
Voice
in you, and will therefore obscure God to you. 3 Unless you perceive His
creation
truly
you cannot know the Creator, since God and His creation are not separate. 4 The
Oneness
of the Creator and the creation is your wholeness, your sanity and your
limitless
power.
5 This limitless power is God's gift to you, because it is what you are. 6 If
you
dissociate
your mind from it you are perceiving the most powerful force in the universe as
if it
were
weak, because you do not believe you are part of it.
T-7.VI.11.
Perceived without your part in it, God's creation is seen as weak, and those
who
see themselves as weakened do attack. 2 The attack must be blind, however,
because
there
is nothing to attack. 3 Therefore they make up images, perceive them as
unworthy and
attack
them for their unworthiness. 4 That is all the world of the ego is. 5 Nothing.
6 It
has
no meaning. 7 It does not exist. 8 Do not try to understand it because, if you
do, you
are
believing that it can be understood and is therefore capable of being
appreciated
and
loved. 9 That would justify its existence, which cannot be justified. 10 You
cannot
make
the meaningless meaningful. 11 This can only be an insane attempt.
T-7.VI.12.
Allowing insanity to enter your mind means that you have not judged sanity
as
wholly desirable. 2 If you want something else you will make something else,
but
because
it is something else, it will attack your thought system and divide your
allegiance. 3
You
cannot create in this divided state, and you must be vigilant against this
divided
state
because only peace can be extended. 4 Your divided mind is blocking the extension
of
the
Kingdom, and its extension is your joy. 5 If you do not extend the Kingdom, you
are
not
thinking with your Creator and creating as He created.
T-7.VI.13.
In this depressing state the Holy Spirit reminds you gently that you are sad
because
you are not fulfilling your function as co-creator with God, and are therefore
depriving
yourself of joy. 2 This is not God's choice but yours. 3 If your mind could be
out of
accord
with God's, you would be willing without meaning. 4 Yet because God's Will is
unchangeable,
no conflict of will is possible. 5 This is the Holy Spirit's perfectly
consistent
teaching.
6 Creation, not separation, is your will <because> it is God's, and
nothing that
opposes
this means anything at all. 7 Being a perfect accomplishment, the Sonship can
only
accomplish
perfectly, extending the joy in which it was created, and identifying itself
with both
its
Creator and its creations, knowing They are One.
VII.
The Totality of the Kingdom
T-7.VII.1.
Whenever you deny a blessing to a brother <you> will feel deprived,
because
denial
is as total as love. 2 It is as impossible to deny part of the Sonship as it is
to
love
it in part. 3 Nor is it possible to love it totally at times. 4 You cannot be
totally
committed
sometimes. 5 Denial has no power in itself, but you can give it the power of
your mind,
whose
power is without limit. 6 If you use it to deny reality, reality is gone for
you.
7
<Reality> cannot be partly appreciated. 8 That is why denying any part of
it means
you
have lost the awareness of all of it. 9 Yet denial is a defense, and so it is
as
capable
of being used positively as well as negatively. 10 Used negatively it will be
destructive,
because it will be used for attack. 11 But in the service of the Holy Spirit,
it can
help
you recognize part of reality, and thus appreciate all of it. 12 Mind is too
powerful
to
be subject to exclusion. 13 You will never be able to exclude yourself from
your
thoughts.
T-7.VII.2.
When a brother acts insanely, he is offering you an opportunity to bless him.
2
His need is yours. 3 You need the blessing you can offer him. 4 There is no way
for
you
to have it except by giving it. 5 This is the law of God, and it has no
exceptions. 6
What
you deny you lack, not because it is lacking, but because you have denied it in
another
and are therefore not aware of it in yourself. 7 Every response you make is
determined
by
what you think you are, and what you want to be <is> what you think you
are. 8 What
you
want to be, then, must determine every response you make.
T-7.VII.3.
You do not need God's blessing because that you have forever, but you do
need
yours. 2 The ego's picture of you is deprived, unloving and vulnerable. 3 You
cannot
love
this. 4 Yet you can very easily escape from this image by leaving it behind. 5
You are
not
there and that is not you. 6 Do not see this picture in anyone, or you have
accepted
it <as> you. 7 All illusions about the Sonship are dispelled together as
they were
made
together. 8 Teach no one that he is what you would not want to be. 9 Your
brother is
the
mirror in which you see the image of yourself as long as perception lasts. 10
And
perception
will last until the Sonship knows itself as whole. 11 You made perception and
it must
last
as long as you want it.
T-7.VII.4.
Illusions are investments. 2 They will last as long as you value them. 3
Values
are relative, but they are powerful because they are mental judgments. 4 The
only way
to
dispel illusions is to withdraw all investment from them, and they will have no
life
for
you because you will have put them out of your mind. 5 While you include them
in it,
you
are giving life to them. 6 Except there is nothing there to receive your gift.
T-7.VII.5.
The gift of life is yours to give, because it was given you. 2 You are
unaware
of your gift because you do not give it. 3 You cannot make nothing live, since
nothing
cannot
be enlivened. 4 Therefore, you are not extending the gift you both <have>
and <
are,>
and so you do not know your being. 5 All confusion comes from not extending
life,
because
that is not the Will of your Creator. 6 You can do nothing apart from Him, and
you <do
>
do nothing apart from Him. 7 Keep His way to remember yourself, and teach His
way lest
you
forget yourself. 8 Give only honor to the Sons of the living God, and count
yourself
among them gladly.
T-7.VII.6.
Only honor is a fitting gift for those whom God Himself created worthy of
honor,
and whom He honors. 2 Give them the appreciation God accords them always,
because
they
are His beloved Sons in whom He is well pleased. 3 You cannot be apart from
them
because
you are not apart from Him. 4 Rest in His Love and protect your rest by loving.
5 But
love
everything He created, of which you are a part, or you cannot learn of His
peace and
accept
His gift for yourself and as yourself. 6 You cannot know your own perfection
until you
have
honored all those who were created like you.
T-7.VII.7.
One child of God is the only teacher sufficiently worthy to teach another. 2
One
Teacher is in all minds and He teaches the same lesson to all. 3 He always
teaches
you
the inestimable worth of every Son of God, teaching it with infinite patience
born of
the
infinite Love for which He speaks. 4 Every attack is a call for His patience,
since
His
patience can translate attack into blessing. 5 Those who attack do not know
they are
blessed.
6 They attack because they believe they are deprived. 7 Give, therefore, of
your
abundance,
and teach your brothers theirs. 8 Do not share their illusions of scarcity, or
you
will
perceive yourself as lacking.
T-7.VII.8.
Attack could never promote attack unless you perceived it as a means of
depriving
you of something you want. 2 Yet you cannot lose anything unless you do not
value it,
and
therefore do not want it. 3 This makes you feel deprived of it, and by
projecting your
own
rejection you then believe that others are taking it from you. 4 You must be
fearful
if you believe that your brother is attacking you to tear the Kingdom of Heaven
from
you.
5 This is the ultimate basis for all the ego's projection.
T-7.VII.9.
Being the part of your mind that does not believe it is responsible for
itself,
and being without allegiance to God, the ego is incapable of trust. 2
Projecting its
insane
belief that you have been treacherous to your Creator, it believes that your
brothers,
who
are as incapable of this as you are, are out to take God from you. 3 Whenever a
brother
attacks another, that <is> what he believes. 4 Projection always sees
your wishes in
others.
5 If you choose to separate yourself from God, that is what you will think
others are
doing
to you.
T-7.VII.10.
You <are> the Will of God. 2 Do not accept anything else as your will, or
you
are denying what you are. 3 Deny this and you will attack, believing you have
been
attacked.
4 But see the Love of God in you, and you will see it everywhere because it
<is>
everywhere.
5 See His abundance in everyone, and you will know that you are in Him with
them. 6
They
are part of you, as you are part of God. 7 You are as lonely without
understanding
this
as God Himself is lonely when His Sons do not know Him. 8 The peace of God is
understanding
this. 9 There is only one way out of the world's thinking, just as there was
only one
way
into it. 10 Understand totally by understanding totality.
T-7.VII.11.
Perceive any part of the ego's thought system as wholly insane, wholly
delusional
and wholly undesirable, and you have correctly evaluated all of it. 2 This
correction
enables
you to perceive any part of creation as wholly real, wholly perfect and wholly
desirable.
3 Wanting this only you will <have> this only, and giving this only you
will <be>
only
this. 4 The gifts you offer to the ego are always experienced as sacrifices,
but the
gifts
you offer to the Kingdom are gifts to you. 5 They will always be treasured by
God
because
they belong to His beloved Sons, who belong to Him. 6 All power and glory are
yours
because
the Kingdom is His.
VIII.
The Unbelievable Belief
T-7.VIII.1.
We have said that without projection there can be no anger, but it is also
true
that without extension there can be no love. 2 These reflect a fundamental law
of the
mind,
and therefore one that always operates. 3 It is the law by which you create and
were
created.
4 It is the law that unifies the Kingdom, and keeps it in the Mind of God. 5 To
the
ego,
the law is perceived as a means of getting rid of something it does not want. 6
To
the
Holy Spirit, it is the fundamental law of sharing, by which you give what you
value in
order
to keep it in your mind. 7 To the Holy Spirit it is the law of extension. 8 To
the
ego it is the law of deprivation. 9 It therefore produces abundance or
scarcity,
depending
on how you choose to apply it. 10 This choice is up to you, but it is not up to
you to
decide
whether or not you will utilize the law. 11 Every mind must project or extend,
because
that is how it lives, and every mind is life.
T-7.VIII.2.
The ego's use of projection must be fully understood before the inevitable
association
between projection and anger can be finally undone. 2 The ego always tries to
preserve
conflict.
3 It is very ingenious in devising ways that seem to diminish conflict,
because
it does not want you to find conflict so intolerable that you will insist on
giving it
up.
4 The ego therefore tries to persuade you that <it> can free you of
conflict, lest
you
give the ego up and free yourself. 5 Using its own warped version of the laws
of God,
the
ego utilizes the power of the mind only to defeat the mind's real purpose. 6 It
projects
conflict from your mind to other minds, in an attempt to persuade you that you
have
gotten
rid of the problem.
T-7.VIII.3.
There are two major errors involved in this attempt. 2 First, strictly
speaking,
conflict cannot be projected because it cannot be shared. 3 Any attempt to keep
part
of
it and get rid of another part does not really mean anything. 4 Remember that a
conflicted
teacher is a poor teacher and a poor learner. 5 His lessons are confused, and
their
transfer
value is limited by his confusion. 6 The second error is the idea that you can
get rid
of
something you do not want by giving it away. 7 Giving it is how you
<keep> it. 8 The
belief
that by seeing it outside you have excluded it from within is a complete
distortion
of the power of extension. 9 That is why those who project are vigilant for
their own
safety.
10 They are afraid that their projections will return and hurt them. 11
Believing
they
have blotted their projections from their own minds, they also believe their
projections
are trying to creep back in. 12 Since the projections have not left their
minds, they
are
forced to engage in constant activity in order not to recognize this.
T-7.VIII.4.
You cannot perpetuate an illusion about another without perpetuating it
about
yourself. 2 There is no way out of this, because it is impossible to fragment
the mind.
3
To fragment is to break into pieces, and mind cannot attack or be attacked. 4
The
belief
that it can, an error the ego always makes, underlies its whole use of
projection. 5
It
does not understand what mind is, and therefore does not understand what
<you> are. 6
Yet
its existence is dependent on your mind, because the ego is your belief. 7 The
ego is
a
confusion in identification. 8 Never having had a consistent model, it never
developed
consistently.
9 It is the product of the misapplication of the laws of God by distorted
minds
that are misusing their power.
T-7.VIII.5.
<Do not be afraid of the ego.> 2 It depends on your mind, and as you made
it
by believing in it, so you can dispel it by withdrawing belief from it. 3 Do
not
project
the responsibility for your belief in it onto anyone else, or you will preserve
the
belief.
4 When you are willing to accept sole responsibility for the ego's existence
you will
have
laid aside all anger and all attack, because they come from an attempt to
project
responsibility
for your own errors. 5 But having accepted the errors as yours, do not keep
them. 6
Give
them over quickly to the Holy Spirit to be undone completely, so that all their
effects
will vanish from your mind and from the Sonship as a whole.
T-7.VIII.6.
The Holy Spirit will teach you to perceive beyond your belief, because
truth
is beyond belief and His perception is true. 2 The ego can be completely
forgotten at
any
time, because it is a totally incredible belief, and no one can keep a belief
he has
judged
to be unbelievable. 3 The more you learn about the ego, the more you realize that
it
cannot
be believed. 4 The incredible cannot be understood because it is unbelievable.
5 The
meaninglessness
of perception based on the unbelievable is apparent, but it may not be
recognized as
being
beyond belief, because it is made <by> belief.
T-7.VIII.7.
The whole purpose of this course is to teach you that the ego is
unbelievable
and will forever be unbelievable. 2 You who made the ego by believing the
unbelievable
cannot
make this judgment alone. 3 By accepting the Atonement for yourself, you are
deciding
against the belief that you can be alone, thus dispelling the idea of
separation and
affirming
your true identification with the whole Kingdom as literally part of you. 4
This
identification
is as beyond doubt as it is beyond belief. 5 Your wholeness has no limits
because
being
is infinity.
IX.
The Extension of the Kingdom
T-7.IX.1.
Only you can limit your creative power, but God wills to release it. 2 He no
more
wills you to deprive yourself of your creations than He wills to deprive
Himself of
His.
3 Do not withhold your gifts to the Sonship, or you withhold yourself from God!
4
Selfishness
is of the ego, but Self-fullness is of spirit because that is how God created
it. 5
The
Holy Spirit is in the part of the mind that lies between the ego and the
spirit,
mediating
between them always in favor of the spirit. 6 To the ego this is partiality,
and it
responds
as if it were being sided against. 7 To spirit this is truth, because it knows
its
fullness
and cannot conceive of any part from which it is excluded.
T-7.IX.2.
Spirit knows that the awareness of all its brothers is included in its own,
as
it is included in God. 2 The power of the whole Sonship and of its Creator is
therefore
spirit's own fullness, rendering its creations equally whole and equal in
perfection.
3
The ego cannot prevail against a totality that includes God, and any totality
<must>
include
God. 4 Everything He created is given all His power, because it is part of Him
and
shares
His Being with Him. 5 Creating is the opposite of loss, as blessing is the
opposite of
sacrifice.
6 Being <must> be extended. 7 That is how it retains the knowledge of
itself.
8
Spirit yearns to share its being as its Creator did. 9 Created by sharing, its
will
is
to create. 10 It does not wish to contain God, but wills to extend His Being.
T-7.IX.3.
The extension of God's Being is spirit's only function. 2 Its fullness cannot
be
contained, any more than can the fullness of its Creator. 3 Fullness is
extension. 4
The
ego's whole thought system blocks extension, and thus blocks your only
function. 5
It
therefore blocks your joy, so that you perceive yourself as unfulfilled. 6
Unless you
create
you <are> unfulfilled, but God does not know unfulfillment and therefore
you must
create.
7 You may not know your own creations, but this can no more interfere with
their
reality
than your unawareness of your spirit can interfere with its being.
T-7.IX.4.
The Kingdom is forever extending because it is in the Mind of God. 2 You do
not
know your joy because you do not know your own Self-fullness. 3 Exclude any
part of
the
Kingdom from yourself and you are not whole. 4 A split mind cannot perceive its
fullness,
and needs the miracle of its wholeness to dawn upon it and heal it. 5 This
reawakens
the
wholeness in it, and restores it to the Kingdom because of its acceptance of
wholeness.
6
The full appreciation of the mind's Self-fullness makes selfishness impossible
and
extension
inevitable. 7 That is why there is perfect peace in the Kingdom. 8 Spirit is
fulfilling
its function, and only complete fulfillment is peace.
T-7.IX.5.
Your creations are protected for you because the Holy Spirit, Who is in your
mind,
knows of them and can bring them into your awareness whenever you will let Him.
2
They
are there as part of your own being, because your fulfillment includes them. 3
The
creations
of every Son of God are yours, since every creation belongs to everyone, being
created
for
the Sonship as a whole.
T-7.IX.6.
You have not failed to increase the inheritance of the Sons of God, and thus
have
not failed to secure it for yourself. 2 Since it was the Will of God to give it
to you,
He
gave it forever. 3 Since it was His Will that you have it forever, He gave you
the
means
for keeping it. 4 <And you have done so.> 5 Disobeying God's Will is
meaningful only
to
the insane. 6 In truth it is impossible. 7 Your Self-fullness is as boundless
as God's.
8
Like His, It extends forever and in perfect peace. 9 Its radiance is so intense
that
It
creates in perfect joy, and only the whole can be born of Its Wholeness.
T-7.IX.7.
Be confident that you have never lost your Identity and the extensions which
maintain
It in wholeness and peace. 2 Miracles are an expression of this confidence. 3
They are
reflections
of both your proper identification with your brothers, and of your
awareness
that your identification is maintained by extension. 4 The miracle is a lesson
in
total
perception. 5 By including any part of totality in the lesson, you have
included the
whole.
X.
The Confusion of Pain and Joy
T-7.X.1.
The Kingdom is the result of premises, just as this world is. 2 You may have
carried
the ego's reasoning to its logical conclusion, which is total confusion about
everything.
3 If you really saw this result you could not want it. 4 The only reason you
could
possibly
want any part of it is because you do not see the whole of it. 5 You are
willing to
look
at the ego's premises, but not at their logical outcome. 6 Is it not possible
that you
have
done the same thing with the premises of God? 7 Your creations are the logical
outcome
of His premises. 8 His thinking has established them for you. 9 They are
exactly where
they
belong. 10 They belong in your mind as part of your identification with His,
but
your
state of mind and your recognition of what is in it depend on what you believe
about
your
mind. 11 Whatever these beliefs may be, they are the premises that will
determine what
you
accept into your mind.
T-7.X.2.
It is surely clear that you can both accept into your mind what is not there,
and
deny what is. 2 Yet the function God Himself gave your mind through His you may
deny,
but
you cannot prevent. 3 It is the logical outcome of what you are. 4 The ability
to see
a
logical outcome depends on the willingness to see it, but its truth has nothing
to do
with
your willingness. 5 Truth is God's Will. 6 Share His Will and you share what He
knows.
7
Deny His Will as yours, and you are denying His Kingdom <and> yours.
T-7.X.3.
The Holy Spirit will direct you only so as to avoid pain. 2 Surely no one
would
object to this goal if he recognized it. 3 The problem is not whether what the
Holy
Spirit
says is true, but whether you want to listen to what He says. 4 You no more
recognize
what
is painful than you know what is joyful, and are, in fact, very apt to confuse
the two.
5
The Holy Spirit's main function is to teach you to tell them apart. 6 What is
joyful
to
you is painful to the ego, and as long as you are in doubt about what you are,
you
will
be confused about joy and pain. 7 This confusion is the cause of the whole idea
of
sacrifice.
8 Obey the Holy Spirit, and you will be giving up the ego. 9 But you will be
sacrificing
nothing. 10 On the contrary, you will be gaining everything. 11 If you believed
this,
there
would be no conflict.
T-7.X.4.
That is why you need to demonstrate the obvious to yourself. 2 It is not
obvious
to you. 3 You believe that doing the opposite of God's Will can be better for
you. 4
You
also believe that it is possible to <do> the opposite of God's Will. 5
Therefore, you
believe
that an impossible choice is open to you, and one which is both fearful and
desirable.
6
Yet God wills. 7 He does not wish. 8 Your will is as powerful as His because it
<is>
His.
9 The ego's wishes do not mean anything, because the ego wishes for the
impossible.
10
You can wish for the impossible, but you can will only with God. 11 This is the
ego's
weakness
and your strength.
T-7.X.5.
The Holy Spirit always sides with you and with your strength. 2 As long as you
avoid
His guidance in any way, you want to be weak. 3 Yet weakness is frightening. 4
What
else, then, can this decision mean except that you want to be fearful? 5 The
Holy
Spirit
never asks for sacrifice, but the ego always does. 6 When you are confused
about this
distinction
in motivation, it can only be due to projection. 7 Projection is a confusion in
motivation,
and given this confusion, trust becomes impossible. 8 No one gladly obeys a
guide he
does
not trust, but this does not mean that the guide is untrustworthy. 9 In this
case, it
always
means that the follower is. 10 However, this, too, is merely a matter of his
own
belief.
11 Believing that he can betray, he believes that everything can betray him. 12
Yet
this
is only because he has elected to follow false guidance. 13 Unable to follow
this
guidance
without fear, he associates fear with guidance, and refuses to follow any
guidance at
all.
14 If the result of this decision is confusion, this is hardly surprising.
T-7.X.6.
The Holy Spirit is perfectly trustworthy, as you are. 2 God Himself trusts you,
and
therefore your trustworthiness is beyond question. 3 It will always remain
beyond
question,
however much you may question it. 4 I said before that you are the Will of God.
5 His
Will
is not an idle wish, and your identification with His Will is not optional,
since
it
is what you are. 6 Sharing His Will with me is not really open to choice,
though it
may
seem to be. 7 The whole separation lies in this error. 8 The only way out of
the error
is
to decide that you do not have to decide anything. 9 Everything has been given
you
by
God's decision. 10 That is His Will, and you cannot undo it.
T-7.X.7.
Even the relinquishment of your false decision-making prerogative, which the
ego
guards so jealously, is not accomplished by your wish. 2 It was accomplished
for you
by
the Will of God, Who has not left you comfortless. 3 His Voice will teach you
how to
distinguish
between pain and joy, and will lead you out of the confusion you have made. 4
There is
no
confusion in the mind of a Son of God, whose will must be the Will of the
Father,
because
the Father's Will <is> His Son.
T-7.X.8.
Miracles are in accord with the Will of God, Whose Will you do not know
because
you are confused about what <you> will. 2 This means that you are
confused about what
you
are. 3 If you are God's Will and do not accept His Will, you are denying joy. 4
The
miracle
is therefore a lesson in what joy is. 5 Being a lesson in sharing it is a
lesson in
love,
which <is> joy. 6 Every miracle is thus a lesson in truth, and by
offering truth you
are
learning the difference between pain and joy.
XI.
The State of Grace
T-7.XI.1.
The Holy Spirit will always guide you truly, because your joy is His. 2 This
is
His Will for everyone because He speaks for the Kingdom of God, which
<is> joy. 3
Following
Him is therefore the easiest thing in the world, and the only thing that is
easy,
because
it is not of the world. 4 It is therefore natural. 5 The world goes against
your
nature,
being out of accord with God's laws. 6 The world perceives orders of difficulty
in
everything.
7 This is because the ego perceives nothing as wholly desirable. 8 By
demonstrating
to
yourself there is no order of difficulty in miracles, you will convince
yourself that,
in
your natural state, there is no difficulty at all <because> it is a state
of grace.
T-7.XI.2.
Grace is the natural state of every Son of God. 2 When he is not in a state
of
grace, he is out of his natural environment and does not function well. 3
Everything
he
does becomes a strain, because he was not created for the environment that he
has made.
4
He therefore cannot adapt to it, nor can he adapt it to him. 5 There is no
point in
trying.
6 A Son of God is happy only when he knows he is with God. 7 That is the only
environment
in which he will not experience strain, because that is where he belongs. 8 It
is also
the
only environment that is worthy of him, because his own worth is beyond
anything he
can
make.
T-7.XI.3.
Consider the kingdom you have made and judge its worth fairly. 2 Is it worthy
to
be a home for a child of God? 3 Does it protect his peace and shine love upon
him? 4
Does
it keep his heart untouched by fear, and allow him to give always, without any
sense
of loss? 5 Does it teach him that this giving is his joy, and that God Himself
thanks
him
for his giving? 6 That is the only environment in which you can be happy. 7 You
cannot
make
it, any more than you can make yourself. 8 It has been created for you, as you
were
created for it. 9 God watches over His children and denies them nothing. 10 Yet
when
they
deny Him they do not know this, because they deny themselves everything. 11 You
who
could
give the Love of God to everything you see and touch and remember, are
literally
denying
Heaven to yourself.
T-7.XI.4.
I call upon you to remember that I have chosen you to teach the Kingdom
<to>
the
Kingdom. 2 There are no exceptions to this lesson, because the lack of
exceptions <is>
the
lesson. 3 Every Son who returns to the Kingdom with this lesson in his heart
has
healed
the Sonship and given thanks to God. 4 Everyone who learns this lesson has
become the
perfect
teacher, because he has learned it of the Holy Spirit.
T-7.XI.5.
When a mind has only light, it knows only light. 2 Its own radiance shines
all
around it, and extends out into the darkness of other minds, transforming them
into
majesty.
3 The Majesty of God is there, for you to recognize and appreciate and know. 4
Recognizing
the Majesty of God as your brother is to accept your own inheritance. 5 God
gives only
equally.
6 If you recognize His gift in anyone, you have acknowledged what He has given
you.
7 Nothing is so easy to recognize as truth. 8 This is the recognition that is
immediate,
clear and natural. 9 You have trained yourself not to recognize it, and this
has been
very
difficult for you.
T-7.XI.6.
Out of your natural environment you may well ask, "What is truth?"
since
truth
is the environment by which and for which you were created. 2 You do not know
yourself,
because
you do not know your Creator. 3 You do not know your creations because you do
not
know your brothers, who created them with you. 4 I have already said that only
the
whole
Sonship is worthy to be co-creator with God, because only the whole Sonship can
create
like
Him. 5 Whenever you heal a brother by recognizing his worth, you are
acknowledging
his
power to create and yours. 6 He cannot have lost what you recognize, and you
must
have
the glory you see in him. 7 He is a co-creator with God with you. 8 Deny his creative
power,
and you are denying yours and that of God Who created you.
T-7.XI.7.
You cannot deny part of truth. 2 You do not know your creations because you
do
not know their creator. 3 You do not know yourself because you do not know
yours. 4
Your
creations cannot establish your reality, any more than you can establish God's.
5 But
you
can <know> Both. 6 Being is known by sharing. 7 Because God shared His
Being with you,
you
can know Him. 8 But you must also know all He created, to know what they have
shared.
9 Without your Father you will not know your fatherhood. 10 The Kingdom of God
includes
all His Sons and their children, who are as like the Sons as they are like the
Father.
11
Know, then, the Sons of God, and you will know all creation.
Chapter
8.
THE
JOURNEY BACK
I.
The Direction of the Curriculum
T-8.I.1.
Knowledge is not the motivation for learning this course. 2 Peace is. 3 This
is
the prerequisite for knowledge only because those who are in conflict are not
peaceful,
and
peace is the condition of knowledge because it is the condition of the Kingdom.
4
Knowledge
can be restored only when you meet its conditions. 5 This is not a bargain made
by God,
Who
makes no bargains. 6 It is merely the result of your misuse of His laws on
behalf
of
an imaginary will that is not His. 7 Knowledge <is> His Will. 8 If you
are opposing
His
Will, how can you have knowledge? 9 I have told you what knowledge offers you,
but
perhaps
you do not yet regard this as wholly desirable. 10 If you did you would not be
so
ready
to throw it away when the ego asks for your allegiance.
T-8.I.2.
The distractions of the ego may seem to interfere with your learning, but the
ego
has no power to distract you unless you give it the power to do so. 2 The ego's
voice
is
an hallucination. 3 You cannot expect it to say "I am not real." 4
Yet you are not
asked
to dispel your hallucinations alone. 5 You are merely asked to evaluate them in
terms
of
their results to you. 6 If you do not want them on the basis of loss of peace,
they
will
be removed from your mind for you.
T-8.I.3.
Every response to the ego is a call to war, and war does deprive you of peace.
2
Yet in this war there is no opponent. 3 This is the reinterpretation of reality
that
you
must make to secure peace, and the only one you need ever make. 4 Those whom
you
perceive
as opponents are part of your peace, which you are giving up by attacking them.
5 How
can
you have what you give up? 6 You share to have, but you do not give it up
yourself. 7
When
you give up peace, you are excluding yourself from it. 8 This is a condition so
alien
to
the Kingdom that you cannot understand the state that prevails within it.
T-8.I.4.
Your past learning must have taught you the wrong things, simply because it
has
not made you happy. 2 On this basis alone its value should be questioned. 3 If
learning
aims at change, and that is always its purpose, are you satisfied with the
changes
your
learning has brought you? 4 Dissatisfaction with learning outcomes is a sign of
learning
failure, since it means that you did not get what you wanted.
T-8.I.5.
The curriculum of the Atonement is the opposite of the curriculum you have
established
for yourself, but so is its outcome. 2 If the outcome of yours has made you
unhappy,
and
if you want a different one, a change in the curriculum is obviously necessary.
3 The
first
change to be introduced is a change in direction. 4 A meaningful curriculum
cannot be
inconsistent.
5 If it is planned by two teachers, each believing in diametrically opposed
ideas, it
cannot
be integrated. 6 If it is carried out by these two teachers simultaneously,
each
one
merely interferes with the other. 7 This leads to fluctuation, but not to
change. 8
The
volatile have no direction. 9 They cannot choose one because they cannot
relinquish
the
other, even if it does not exist. 10 Their conflicted curriculum teaches them
that
<all>
directions exist, and gives them no rationale for choice.
T-8.I.6.
The total senselessness of such a curriculum must be fully recognized before a
real
change in direction becomes possible. 2 You cannot learn simultaneously from
two
teachers
who are in total disagreement about everything. 3 Their joint curriculum
presents an
impossible
learning task. 4 They are teaching you entirely different things in entirely different
ways,
which might be possible except that both are teaching you about yourself. 5
Your
reality
is unaffected by both, but if you listen to both, your mind will be split about
what
your
reality is.
II.
The Difference between Imprisonment and Freedom
T-8.II.1.
There <is> a rationale for choice. 2 Only one Teacher knows what your
reality
is.
3 If learning to remove the obstacles to that knowledge is the purpose of the
curriculum,
you must learn it of Him. 4 The ego does not know what it is trying to teach. 5
It is
trying
to teach you what you are without knowing what you are. 6 It is expert only in
confusion.
7 It does not understand anything else. 8 As a teacher, then, the ego is
totally
confused
and totally confusing. 9 Even if you could disregard the Holy Spirit entirely,
which
is
impossible, you could still learn nothing from the ego, because the ego knows
nothing.
T-8.II.2.
Is there any possible reason for choosing a teacher such as this? 2 Does the
total
disregard of anything it teaches make anything but sense? 3 Is this the teacher
to
whom
a Son of God should turn to find himself? 4 The ego has never given you a
sensible
answer
to anything. 5 Simply on the grounds of your own experience with its teaching,
should
not
this alone disqualify it as your future teacher? 6 Yet the ego has done more
harm to
your
learning than this alone. 7 Learning is joyful if it leads you along your
natural path,
and
facilitates the development of what you have. 8 When you are taught against
your
nature,
however, you will lose by your learning because your learning will imprison
you. 9
Your
will is <in> your nature, and therefore cannot go against it.
T-8.II.3.
The ego cannot teach you anything as long as your will is free, because you
will
not listen to it. 2 It is not your will to be imprisoned because your will is
free. 3
That
is why the ego is the denial of free will. 4 It is never God Who coerces you,
because
He
shares His Will with you. 5 His Voice teaches only in accordance with His Will,
but
that
is not the Holy Spirit's lesson because that is what you <are.> 6 The
lesson is that
your
will and God's cannot be out of accord because they are one. 7 This is the
undoing of
everything
the ego tries to teach. 8 It is not, then, only the direction of the curriculum
that
must
be unconflicted, but also the content.
T-8.II.4.
The ego tries to teach that you want to oppose God's Will. 2 This unnatural
lesson
cannot be learned, and the attempt to learn it is a violation of your own
freedom,
making
you afraid of your will <because> it is free. 3 The Holy Spirit opposes
any
imprisoning
of the will of a Son of God, knowing that the Will of the Son is the Father's.
4 The
Holy
Spirit leads you steadily along the path of freedom, teaching you how to
disregard or
look
beyond everything that would hold you back.
T-8.II.5.
We have said that the Holy Spirit teaches you the difference between pain and
joy.
2 That is the same as saying He teaches you the difference between imprisonment
and
freedom. 3 You cannot make this distinction without Him because you have taught
yourself
that imprisonment is freedom. 4 Believing them to be the same, how can you tell
them
apart?
5 Can you ask the part of your mind that taught you to believe they are the
same, to
teach
you how they are different?
T-8.II.6.
The Holy Spirit's teaching takes only <one> direction and has only
<one> goal.
2
His direction is freedom and His goal is God. 3 Yet He cannot conceive of God
without
you, because it is not God's Will to <be> without you. 4 When you have
learned that
your
will is God's, you could no more will to be without Him than He could will to
be
without
you. 5 This is freedom and this is joy. 6 Deny yourself this and you are
denying God
His
Kingdom, because He created you for this.
T-8.II.7.
When I said, "All power and glory are yours because the Kingdom is
His," this
is
what I meant: The Will of God is without limit, and all power and glory lie
within
it.
2 It is boundless in strength and in love and in peace. 3 It has no boundaries
because
its extension is unlimited, and it encompasses all things because it created
all
things.
4 By creating all things, it made them part of itself. 5 You are the Will of
God
because
that is how you were created. 6 Because your Creator creates only like Himself,
you
are
like Him. 7 You are part of Him Who is all power and glory, and are therefore
as
unlimited
as He is.
T-8.II.8.
To what else except all power and glory can the Holy Spirit appeal to restore
God's
Kingdom? 2 His appeal, then, is merely to what the Kingdom is, and for its own
acknowledgment
of what it is. 3 When you acknowledge this you bring the acknowledgment
automatically
to
everyone, because you <have> acknowledged everyone. 4 By your recognition
you awaken
theirs,
and through theirs yours is extended. 5 Awakening runs easily and gladly
through the
Kingdom,
in answer to the Call for God. 6 This is the natural response of every Son of
God to
the
Voice for his Creator, because It is the Voice for his creations and for his
own
extension.
III.
The Holy Encounter
T-8.III.1.
Glory to God in the highest, and to you because He has so willed it. 2 Ask
and
it shall be given you, because it has already <been> given. 3 Ask for
light and learn
that
you <are> light. 4 If you want understanding and enlightenment you will
learn it,
because
your decision to learn it is the decision to listen to the Teacher Who knows of
light,
and
can therefore teach it to you. 5 There is no limit on your learning because
there
is
no limit on your mind. 6 There is no limit on His teaching because He was
created to
teach.
7 Understanding His function perfectly He fulfills it perfectly, because that
is His
joy
and yours.
T-8.III.2.
To fulfill the Will of God perfectly is the only joy and peace that can be
fully
known, because it is the only function that can be fully experienced. 2 When
this is
accomplished,
then, there is no other experience. 3 Yet the wish for other experience will
block
its
accomplishment, because God's Will cannot be forced upon you, being an
experience of
total
willingness. 4 The Holy Spirit understands how to teach this, but you do not. 5
That
is
why you need Him, and why God gave Him to you. 6 Only His teaching will release
your
will
to God's, uniting it with His power and glory and establishing them as yours. 7
You
share
them as God shares them, because this is the natural outcome of their being.
T-8.III.3.
The Will of the Father and of the Son are One, by Their extension. 2 Their
extension
is the result of Their Oneness, holding Their unity together by extending Their
joint
Will.
3 This is perfect creation by the perfectly created, in union with the perfect
Creator.
4 The Father must give fatherhood to His Son, because His Own Fatherhood must
be
extended
outward. 5 You who belong in God have the holy function of extending His
Fatherhood by
placing
no limits upon it. 6 Let the Holy Spirit teach you how to do this, for you can
know
what it means only of God Himself.
T-8.III.4.
When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. 2 As you see him you
will
see yourself. 3 As you treat him you will treat yourself. 4 As you think of him
you
will
think of yourself. 5 Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or
lose
yourself.
6 Whenever two Sons of God meet, they are given another chance at salvation. 7
Do not
leave
anyone without giving salvation to him and receiving it yourself. 8 For I am
always
there with you, in remembrance of <you.
T-8.III.5.
The goal of the curriculum, regardless of the teacher you choose, is "Know
thyself."
2 There is nothing else to seek. 3 Everyone is looking for himself and for the
power
and
glory he thinks he has lost. 4 Whenever you are with anyone, you have another
opportunity
to find them. 5 Your power and glory are in him because they are yours. 6 The
ego
tries
to find them in yourself alone, because it does not know where to look. 7 The
Holy
Spirit
teaches you that if you look only at yourself you cannot find yourself, because
that
is
not what you are. 8 Whenever you are with a brother, you are learning what you
are
because
you are teaching what you are. 9 He will respond either with pain or with joy,
depending
on which teacher you are following. 10 He will be imprisoned or released
according to
your
decision, and so will you. 11 Never forget your responsibility to him, because
it is
your
responsibility to yourself. 12 Give him his place in the Kingdom and you will
have
yours.
T-8.III.6.
The Kingdom cannot be found alone, and you who are the Kingdom cannot find
yourself
alone. 2 To achieve the goal of the curriculum, then, you cannot listen to the
ego,
whose
purpose is to defeat its own goal. 3 The ego does not know this, because it
does not
know
anything. 4 But you can know it, and you will know it if you are willing to
look at
what
the ego would make of you. 5 This is your responsibility, because once you have
really
looked
at it you <will> accept the Atonement for yourself. 6 What other choice
could
you
make? 7 Having made this choice you will understand why you once believed that,
when
you
met someone else, you thought he <was> someone else. 8 And every holy
encounter in
which
you enter fully will teach you this is not so.
T-8.III.7.
You can encounter only part of yourself because you are part of God, Who is
everything.
2 His power and glory are everywhere, and you cannot be excluded from them. 3
The ego
teaches
that your strength is in you alone. 4 The Holy Spirit teaches that all strength
is
in God and <therefore> in you. 5 God wills no one suffer. 6 He does not
will anyone
to
suffer for a wrong decision, including you. 7 That is why He has given you the
means
for
undoing it. 8 Through His power and glory all your wrong decisions are undone
completely,
releasing you and your brother from every imprisoning thought any part of the
Sonship
holds.
9 Wrong decisions have no power, because they are not true. 10 The imprisonment
they
seem to produce is no more true than they are.
T-8.III.8.
Power and glory belong to God alone. 2 So do you. 3 God gives whatever
belongs
to Him because He gives of Himself, and everything belongs to Him. 4 Giving of
yourself
is the function He gave you. 5 Fulfilling it perfectly will let you remember what
you
<have>
of Him, and by this you will remember also what you <are> in Him. 6 You
cannot be
powerless
to do this, because this is your power. 7 Glory is God's gift to you, because
that
is what He is. 8 See this glory everywhere to remember what you are.
IV.
The Gift of Freedom
T-8.IV.1.
If God's Will for you is complete peace and joy, unless you experience only
this
you must be refusing to acknowledge His Will. 2 His Will does not vacillate,
being
changeless
forever. 3 When you are not at peace it can only be because you do not believe
you are
in
Him. 4 Yet He is All in all. 5 His peace is complete, and you must be included
in it.
6
His laws govern you because they govern everything. 7 You cannot exempt
yourself
from
His laws, although you can disobey them. 8 Yet if you do, and only if you do,
you will
feel
lonely and helpless, because you are denying yourself everything.
T-8.IV.2.
I am come as a light into a world that does deny itself everything. 2 It does
this
simply by dissociating itself from everything. 3 It is therefore an illusion of
isolation,
maintained by fear of the same loneliness that <is> its illusion. 4 I
said that I am
with
you always, even unto the end of the world. 5 That is why I am the light of the
world.
6
If I am with you in the loneliness of the world, the loneliness is gone. 7 You
cannot
maintain
the illusion of loneliness if you are not alone. 8 My purpose, then, is still
to
overcome the world. 9 I do not attack it, but my light must dispel it because of
what
it
is. 10 Light does not attack darkness, but it does shine it away. 11 If my
light goes
with
you everywhere, you shine it away with me. 12 The light becomes ours, and you
cannot
abide
in darkness any more than darkness can abide wherever you go. 13 The
remembrance of me
is
the remembrance of yourself, and of Him Who sent me to you.
T-8.IV.3.
You were in darkness until God's Will was done completely by any part of the
Sonship.
2 When this was done, it was perfectly accomplished by all. 3 How else could it
be
perfectly
accomplished? 4 My mission was simply to unite the will of the Sonship with the
Will
of
the Father by being aware of the Father's Will myself. 5 This is the awareness
I came
to
give you, and your problem in accepting it is the problem of this world. 6
Dispelling
it
is salvation, and in this sense I <am> the salvation of the world. 7 The
world must
therefore
despise and reject me, because the world <is> the belief that love is
impossible. 8 If
you
will accept the fact that I am with you, you are denying the world and
accepting
God.
9 My will is His, and your decision to hear me is the decision to hear His
Voice and
abide
in His Will. 10 As God sent me to you so will I send you to others. 11 And I
will go
to
them with you, so we can teach them peace and union.
T-8.IV.4.
Do you not think the world needs peace as much as you do? 2 Do you not want
to
give it to the world as much as you want to receive it? 3 For unless you do,
you will
not
receive it. 4 If you want to have it of me, you must give it. 5 Healing does
not come
from
anyone else. 6 You must accept guidance from within. 7 The guidance must be
what you
want,
or it will be meaningless to you. 8 That is why healing is a collaborative
venture. 9
I
can tell you what to do, but you must collaborate by believing that I know what
you
should
do. 10 Only then will your mind choose to follow me. 11 Without this choice you
could
not
be healed because you would have decided against healing, and this rejection of
my
decision
for you makes healing impossible.
T-8.IV.5.
Healing reflects our joint will. 2 This is obvious when you consider what
healing
is for. 3 Healing is the way in which the separation is overcome. 4 Separation
is
overcome
by union. 5 It cannot be overcome by separating. 6 The decision to unite must
be
unequivocal,
or the mind itself is divided and not whole. 7 Your mind is the means by which
you
determine
your own condition, because mind is the mechanism of decision. 8 It is the
power by
which
you separate or join, and experience pain or joy accordingly. 9 My decision
cannot
overcome
yours, because yours is as powerful as mine. 10 If it were not so the Sons of
God
would
be unequal. 11 All things are possible through our joint decision, but mine
alone
cannot
help you. 12 Your will is as free as mine, and God Himself would not go against
it. 13
I
cannot will what God does not will. 14 I can offer my strength to make yours
invincible,
but I cannot oppose your decision without competing with it and thereby
violating
God's
Will for you.
T-8.IV.6.
Nothing God created can oppose your decision, as nothing God created can
oppose
His Will. 2 God gave your will its power, which I can only acknowledge in honor
of His.
3
If you want to be like me I will help you, knowing that we are alike. 4 If you
want
to
be different, I will wait until you change your mind. 5 I can teach you, but
only you
can
choose to listen to my teaching. 6 How else can it be, if God's Kingdom is
freedom? 7
Freedom
cannot be learned by tyranny of any kind, and the perfect equality of all God's
Sons
cannot
be recognized through the dominion of one mind over another. 8 God's Sons are
equal in
will,
all being the Will of their Father. 9 This is the only lesson I came to teach.
T-8.IV.7.
If your will were not mine it would not be our Father's. 2 This would mean
you
have imprisoned yours, and have not let it be free. 3 Of yourself you can do
nothing,
because
of yourself you <are> nothing. 4 I am nothing without the Father and you
are nothing
without
me, because by denying the Father you deny yourself. 5 I will always remember
you, and
in
my remembrance of you lies your remembrance of yourself. 6 In our remembrance
of
each
other lies our remembrance of God. 7 And in this remembrance lies your freedom
because
your
freedom is in Him. 8 Join, then, with me in praise of Him and you whom He
created.
9
This is our gift of gratitude to Him, which He will share with all His
creations, to
whom
He gives equally whatever is acceptable to Him. 10 Because it is acceptable to
Him it
is
the gift of freedom, which is His Will for all His Sons. 11 By offering freedom
you
will
be free.
T-8.IV.8.
Freedom is the only gift you can offer to God's Sons, being an acknowledgment
of
what they are and what He is. 2 Freedom is creation, because it is love. 3 Whom
you
seek
to imprison you do not love. 4 Therefore, when you seek to imprison anyone,
including
yourself,
you do not love him and you cannot identify with him. 5 When you imprison
yourself
you
are losing sight of your true identification with me and with the Father. 6
Your
identification
is with the Father <and> with the Son. 7 It cannot be with One and not
the Other. 8 If
you
are part of One you must be part of the Other, because They are One. 9 The Holy
Trinity
is holy <because> It is One. 10 If you exclude yourself from this union,
you are
perceiving
the Holy Trinity as separated. 11 You must be included in It, because It is
everything.
12
Unless you take your place in It and fulfill your function as part of It, the
Holy
Trinity
is as bereft as you are. 13 No part of It can be imprisoned if Its truth is to
be
known.
V.
The Undivided Will of the Sonship
T-8.V.1.
Can you be separated from your identification and be at peace? 2 Dissociation
is
not a solution; it is a delusion. 3 The delusional believe that truth will
assail them,
and
they do not recognize it because they prefer the delusion. 4 Judging truth as
something
they do not want, they perceive their illusions which block knowledge. 5 Help
them by
offering
them your unified mind on their behalf, as I am offering you mine on behalf of
yours.
6
Alone we can do nothing, but together our minds fuse into something whose power
is far
beyond
the power of its separate parts. 7 By not being separate, the Mind of God is
established
in ours and as ours. 8 This Mind is invincible because it is undivided.
T-8.V.2.
The undivided will of the Sonship is the perfect creator, being wholly in the
likeness
of God, Whose Will it is. 2 You cannot be exempt from it if you are to
understand what
it
is and what you are. 3 By the belief that your will is separate from mine, you
are
exempting
yourself from the Will of God which <is> yourself. 4 Yet to heal is still
to make
whole.
5 Therefore, to heal is to unite with those who are like you, because
perceiving this
likeness
is to recognize the Father. 6 If your perfection is in Him and only in Him,
how
can you know it without recognizing Him? 7 The recognition of God is the
recognition
of
yourself. 8 There is no separation of God and His creation. 9 You will realize
this
when
you understand that there is no separation between your will and mine. 10 Let
the Love
of
God shine upon you by your acceptance of me. 11 My reality is yours and His. 12
By
joining
your mind with mine you are signifying your awareness that the Will of God is
One.
T-8.V.3.
God's Oneness and ours are not separate, because His Oneness encompasses ours.
2
To join with me is to restore His power to you because we are sharing it. 3 I
offer
you
only the recognition of His power in you, but in that lies all truth. 4 As we
unite,
we
unite with Him. 5 Glory be to the union of God and His holy Sons! 6 All glory
lies in
Them
<because> They are united. 7 The miracles we do bear witness to the Will
of the Father
for
His Son, and to our joy in uniting with His Will for us.
T-8.V.4.
When you unite with me you are uniting without the ego, because I have
renounced
the ego in myself and therefore cannot unite with yours. 2 Our union is therefore
the
way
to renounce the ego in you. 3 The truth in both of us is beyond the ego. 4 Our
success
in
transcending the ego is guaranteed by God, and I share this confidence for both
of
us
and all of us. 5 I bring God's peace back to all His children because I
received it of
Him
for us all. 6 Nothing can prevail against our united wills because nothing can
prevail
against God's.
T-8.V.5.
Would you know the Will of God for you? 2 Ask it of me who know it for you and
you
will find it. 3 I will deny you nothing, as God denies me nothing. 4 Ours is
simply
the
journey back to God Who is our home. 5 Whenever fear intrudes anywhere along
the
road
to peace, it is because the ego has attempted to join the journey with us and
cannot
do
so. 6 Sensing defeat and angered by it, the ego regards itself as rejected and
becomes
retaliative.
7 You are invulnerable to its retaliation because I am with you. 8 On this
journey
you have chosen me as your companion <instead> of the ego. 9 Do not
attempt to
hold
on to both, or you will try to go in different directions and will lose the
way.
T-8.V.6.
The ego's way is not mine, but it is also not yours. 2 The Holy Spirit has one
direction
for all minds, and the one He taught me is yours. 3 Let us not lose sight of
His
direction through illusions, for only illusions of another direction can
obscure the
one
for which God's Voice speaks in all of us. 4 Never accord the ego the power to
interfere
with the journey. 5 It has none, because the journey is the way to what is
true. 6
Leave
all illusions behind, and reach beyond all attempts of the ego to hold you
back. 7 I
go
before you because I am beyond the ego. 8 Reach, therefore, for my hand because
you
want
to transcend the ego. 9 My strength will never be wanting, and if you choose to
share
it
you will do so. 10 I give it willingly and gladly, because I need you as much
as you
need
me.
VI.
The Treasure of God
T-8.VI.1.
We are the joint will of the Sonship, whose Wholeness is for all. 2 We begin
the
journey back by setting out together, and gather in our brothers as we continue
together.
3 Every gain in our strength is offered for all, so they too can lay aside
their
weakness
and add their strength to us. 4 God's welcome waits for us all, and He will
welcome us
as
I am welcoming you. 5 Forget not the Kingdom of God for anything the world has
to
offer.
T-8.VI.2.
The world can add nothing to the power and the glory of God and His holy Sons,
but
it can blind the Sons to the Father if they behold it. 2 You cannot behold the
world
and know God. 3 Only one is true. 4 I am come to tell you that the choice of
which is
true
is not yours to make. 5 If it were, you would have destroyed yourself. 6 Yet
God did
not
will the destruction of His creations, having created them for eternity. 7 His
Will
has
saved you, not from yourself but from your illusion of yourself. 8 He has saved
you <
for>
yourself.
T-8.VI.3.
Let us glorify Him Whom the world denies, for over His Kingdom the world has
no
power. 2 No one created by God can find joy in anything except the eternal; not
because
he is deprived of anything else, but because nothing else is worthy of him. 3
What God
and
His Sons create is eternal, and in this and this only is their joy.
T-8.VI.4.
Listen to the story of the prodigal son, and learn what God's treasure is and
yours:
This son of a loving father left his home and thought he had squandered
everything
for nothing of any value, although he had not understood its worthlessness at
the time.
2
He was ashamed to return to his father, because he thought he had hurt him. 3
Yet
when
he came home the father welcomed him with joy, because the son himself
<was> his
father's
treasure. 4 He wanted nothing else.
T-8.VI.5.
God wants only His Son because His Son is His only treasure. 2 You want your
creations
as He wants His. 3 Your creations are your gift to the Holy Trinity, created in
gratitude
for your creation. 4 They do not leave you any more than you left your Creator,
but
they
extend your creation as God extended Himself to you. 5 Can the creations of God
Himself
take joy in what is not real? 6 And what is real except the creations of God
and those
that
are created like His? 7 Your creations love you as you love your Father for the
gift
of creation. 8 There is no other gift that is eternal, and therefore there is
no other
gift
that is true. 9 How, then, can you accept anything else or give anything else,
and
expect
joy in return? 10 And what else but joy would you want? 11 You made neither
yourself
nor your function. 12 You made only the decision to be unworthy of both. 13 Yet
you
cannot
make yourself unworthy because you are the treasure of God, and what He values
is
valuable.
14 There can be no question of its worth, because its value lies in God's sharing
Himself
with it and establishing its value forever.
T-8.VI.6.
Your function is to add to God's treasure by creating yours. 2 His Will
<to>
you
is His Will <for> you. 3 He would not withhold creation from you because
His joy is in
it.
4 You cannot find joy except as God does. 5 His joy lay in creating you, and He
extends
His Fatherhood to you so that you can extend yourself as He did. 6 You do not
understand
this because you do not understand Him. 7 No one who does not accept his
function can
understand
what it is, and no one can accept his function unless he knows what <he>
is. 8
Creation
is the Will of God. 9 His Will created you to create. 10 Your will was not
created
separate
from His, and so you must will as He wills.
T-8.VI.7.
An "unwilling will" does not mean anything, being a contradiction in
terms
that
actually means nothing. 2 When you think you are unwilling to will with God,
you are
not
thinking. 3 God's Will <is> Thought. 4 It cannot be contradicted
<by> thought. 5 God
does
not contradict Himself, and His Sons, who are like Him, cannot contradict
themselves
or
Him. 6 Yet their thought is so powerful that they can even imprison the mind of
God's
Son,
if they so choose. 7 This choice does make the Son's function unknown to him,
but
never
to his Creator. 8 And because it is not unknown to his Creator, it is forever
knowable
to
him.
T-8.VI.8.
There is no question but one you should ever ask of yourself;--"Do I want
to
know
my Father's Will for me?" 2 He will not hide it. 3 He has revealed it to
me because I
asked
it of Him, and learned of what He had already given. 4 Our function is to work
together,
because apart from each other we cannot function at all. 5 The whole power of
God's
Son
lies in all of us, but not in any of us alone. 6 God would not have us be alone
because
<He> does not will to be alone. 7 That is why He created His Son, and
gave him the
power
to create with Him. 8 Our creations are as holy as we are, and we are the Sons
of God
Himself,
as holy as He is. 9 Through our creations we extend our love, and thus increase
the
joy
of the Holy Trinity. 10 You do not understand this, because you who are God's
Own
treasure
do not regard yourself as valuable. 11 Given this belief, you cannot understand
anything.
T-8.VI.9.
I share with God the knowledge of the value He puts upon you. 2 My devotion
to
you is of Him, being born of my knowledge of myself and Him. 3 We cannot be
separated.
4
Whom God has joined cannot be separated, and God has joined all His Sons with
Himself.
5
Can you be separated from your life and your being? 6 The journey to God is
merely
the
reawakening of the knowledge of where you are always, and what you are forever.
7 It
is
a journey without distance to a goal that has never changed. 8 Truth can only
be
experienced.
9 It cannot be described and it cannot be explained. 10 I can make you aware of
the
conditions
of truth, but the experience is of God. 11 Together we can meet its conditions,
but
truth
will dawn upon you of itself.
T-8.VI.10.
What God has willed for you <is> yours. 2 He has given His Will to His
treasure,
whose treasure it is. 3 Your heart lies where your treasure is, as His does. 4
You
who
are beloved of God are wholly blessed. 5 Learn this of me, and free the holy
will of
all
those who are as blessed as you are.
VII.
The Body as a Means of Communication
T-8.VII.1.
Attack is always physical. 2 When attack in any form enters your mind you
are
equating yourself with a body, since this is the ego's interpretation of the
body. 3
You
do not have to attack physically to accept this interpretation. 4 You are
accepting it
simply
by the belief that attack can get you something you want. 5 If you did not
believe
this, the idea of attack would have no appeal for you. 6 When you equate yourself
with
a
body you will always experience depression. 7 When a child of God thinks of
himself
in
this way he is belittling himself, and seeing his brothers as similarly
belittled. 8
Since
he can find himself only in them, he has cut himself off from salvation.
T-8.VII.2.
Remember that the Holy Spirit interprets the body only as a means of
communication.
2 Being the Communication Link between God and His separated Sons, the Holy
Spirit
interprets
everything you have made in the light of what He is. 3 The ego separates
through the
body.
4 The Holy Spirit reaches through it to others. 5 You do not perceive your
brothers
as
the Holy Spirit does, because you do not regard bodies solely as a means of
joining
minds
and uniting them with yours and mine. 6 This interpretation of the body will
change
your
mind entirely about its value. 7 Of itself it has none.
T-8.VII.3.
If you use the body for attack, it is harmful to you. 2 If you use it only
to
reach the minds of those who believe they are bodies, and teach them
<through> the
body
that this is not so, you will understand the power of the mind that is in you.
3 If
you
use the body for this and only for this, you cannot use it for attack. 4 In the
service
of uniting it becomes a beautiful lesson in communion, which has value until
communion
<is.>
5 This is God's way of making unlimited what you have limited. 6 The Holy
Spirit
does
not see the body as you do, because He knows the only reality of anything is
the
service
it renders God on behalf of the function He gives it.
T-8.VII.4.
Communication ends separation. 2 Attack promotes it. 3 The body is beautiful
or
ugly, peaceful or savage, helpful or harmful, according to the use to which it
is
put.
4 And in the body of another you will see the use to which you have put yours.
5 If
the
body becomes a means you give to the Holy Spirit to use on behalf of union of
the
Sonship,
you will not see anything physical except as what it is. 6 Use it for truth and
you
will
see it truly. 7 Misuse it and you will misunderstand it, because you have
already done
so
<by> misusing it. 8 Interpret anything apart from the Holy Spirit and you
will
mistrust
it. 9 This will lead you to hatred and attack and loss of peace.
T-8.VII.5.
Yet all loss comes only from your own misunderstanding. 2 Loss of any kind
is
impossible. 3 But when you look upon a brother as a physical entity, his power
and
glory
are "lost" to you and so are yours. 4 You have attacked him, but you
must have
attacked
yourself first. 5 Do not see him this way for your own salvation, which must
bring him
his.
6 Do not allow him to belittle himself in your mind, but give him freedom from
his
belief
in littleness, and thus escape from yours. 7 As part of you, he is holy. 8 As
part
of me, you are. 9 To communicate with part of God Himself is to reach beyond
the
Kingdom
to its Creator, through His Voice which He has established as part of you.
T-8.VII.6.
Rejoice, then, that of yourself you can do nothing. 2 You are not <of>
yourself.
3 He of Whom you are has willed your power and glory for you, with which you
can
perfectly
accomplish His holy Will for you when you accept it for yourself. 4 He has not
withdrawn
His gifts from you, but you believe you have withdrawn them from Him. 5 Let no
Son of
God
remain hidden for His Name's sake, because His Name is yours.
T-8.VII.7.
The Bible says, "The Word (or thought) was made flesh." 2 Strictly
speaking
this
is impossible, since it seems to involve the translation of one order of
reality into
another.
3 Different orders of reality merely appear to exist, just as different orders
of
miracles
do. 4 Thought cannot be made into flesh except by belief, since thought is not
physical.
5 Yet thought is communication, for which the body can be used. 6 This is the
only
natural
use to which it can be put. 7 To use the body unnaturally is to lose sight of
the Holy
Spirit's
purpose, and thus to confuse the goal of His curriculum.
T-8.VII.8.
There is nothing so frustrating to a learner as a curriculum he cannot learn.
2
His sense of adequacy suffers, and he must become depressed. 3 Being faced with
an
impossible
learning situation is the most depressing thing in the world. 4 In fact, it is
ultimately
why the world itself is depressing. 5 The Holy Spirit's curriculum is never
depressing,
because
it is a curriculum of joy. 6 Whenever the reaction to learning is depression,
it
is because the true goal of the curriculum has been lost sight of.
T-8.VII.9.
In this world, not even the body is perceived as whole. 2 Its purpose is
seen
as fragmented into many functions with little or no relationship to each other,
so
that
it appears to be ruled by chaos. 3 Guided by the ego, it <is.> 4 Guided
by the Holy
Spirit,
it is not. 5 It becomes a means by which the part of the mind you tried to
separate <
from>
spirit can reach beyond its distortions and return <to> spirit. 6 The
ego's temple
thus
becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, where devotion to Him replaces devotion
to the
ego.
7 In this sense the body does become a temple to God; His Voice abides in it by
directing
the use to which it is put.
T-8.VII.10.
Healing is the result of using the body solely for communication. 2 Since
this
is natural it heals by making whole, which is also natural. 3 All mind is
whole, and
the
belief that part of it is physical, or not mind, is a fragmented or sick
interpretation.
4 Mind cannot be made physical, but it can be made manifest <through> the
physical if
it
uses the body to go beyond itself. 5 By reaching out, the mind extends itself.
6 It
does
not stop at the body, for if it does it is blocked in its purpose. 7 A mind
that has
been
blocked has allowed itself to be vulnerable to attack, because it has turned
against
itself.
T-8.VII.11.
The removal of blocks, then, is the only way to guarantee help and healing.
2
Help and healing are the normal expressions of a mind that is working through
the
body,
but not <in> it. 3 If the mind believes the body is its goal it will distort
its
perception
of the body, and by blocking its own extension beyond it, will induce illness
by
fostering
separation. 4 Perceiving the body as a separate entity cannot but foster
illness,
because
it is not true. 5 A medium of communication loses its usefulness if it is used
for
anything
else. 6 To use a medium of communication as a medium of attack is an obvious
confusion
in
purpose.
T-8.VII.12.
To communicate is to join and to attack is to separate. 2 How can you do
both
simultaneously with the same thing and not suffer? 3 Perception of the body can
be
unified
only by one purpose. 4 This releases the mind from the temptation to see the
body in
many
lights, and gives it over entirely to the One Light in which it can be really
understood.
5 To confuse a learning device with a curriculum goal is a fundamental
confusion that
blocks
the understanding of both. 6 Learning must lead beyond the body to the
re-establishment
of the power of the mind in it. 7 This can be accomplished only if the mind
extends to
other
minds, and does not arrest itself in its extension. 8 This arrest is the cause
of
all
illness, because only extension is the mind's function.
T-8.VII.13.
The opposite of joy is depression. 2 When your learning promotes depression
instead
of joy, you cannot be listening to God's joyous Teacher and learning His
lessons.
3 To see a body as anything except a means of communication is to limit your
mind and
to
hurt yourself. 4 Health is therefore nothing more than united purpose. 5 If the
body
is
brought under the purpose of the mind, it becomes whole because the mind's
purpose
is
one. 6 Attack can only be an assumed purpose of the body, because apart from
the mind
the
body has no purpose at all.
T-8.VII.14.
You are not limited by the body, and thought cannot be made flesh. 2 Yet
mind
can be manifested through the body if it goes beyond it and does not interpret
it as
limitation.
3 Whenever you see another as limited to or by the body, you are imposing this
limit
on
yourself. 4 Are you willing to accept this, when your whole purpose for
learning
should
be to escape from limitations? 5 To conceive of the body as a means of attack
and to
believe
that joy could possibly result, is a clear-cut indication of a poor learner. 6
He has
accepted
a learning goal in obvious contradiction to the unified purpose of the
curriculum, and
one
that is interfering with his ability to accept its purpose as his own.
T-8.VII.15.
Joy is unified purpose, and unified purpose is only God's. 2 When yours is
unified
it is His. 3 Believe you can interfere with His purpose, and you need
salvation. 4 You
have
condemned yourself, but condemnation is not of God. 5 Therefore it is not true.
6
No
more are any of its seeming results. 7 When you see a brother as a body, you
are
condemning
him because you have condemned yourself. 8 Yet if all condemnation is unreal,
and it
must
be unreal since it is a form of attack, then it can <have> no results.
T-8.VII.16.
Do not allow yourself to suffer from imagined results of what is not true.
2
Free your mind from the belief that this is possible. 3 In its complete
impossibility
lies
your only hope for release. 4 But what other hope would you want? 5 Freedom from
illusions
lies only in not believing them. 6 There is no attack, but there <is>
unlimited
communication
and therefore unlimited power and wholeness. 7 The power of wholeness is
extension. 8
Do
not arrest your thought in this world, and you will open your mind to creation
in God.
VIII.
The Body as Means or End
T-8.VIII.1.
Attitudes toward the body are attitudes toward attack. 2 The ego's
definitions
of anything are childish, and are always based on what it believes the thing is
<for.>
3
This is because it is incapable of true generalizations, and equates what it
sees
with
the function it ascribes to it. 4 It does not equate it with what it
<is.> 5 To the
ego
the body is to attack <with.> 6 Equating you with the body, it teaches
that <you> are
to
attack with. 7 The body, then, is not the source of its own health. 8 The
body's
condition
lies solely in your interpretation of its function. 9 Functions are part of
being
since
they arise from it, but the relationship is not reciprocal. 10 The whole does
define
the
part, but the part does not define the whole. 11 Yet to know in part is to know
entirely
because of the fundamental difference between knowledge and perception. 12 In
perception
the whole is built up of parts that can separate and reassemble in different
constellations.
13 But knowledge never changes, so its constellation is permanent. 14 The idea
of
part-whole
relationships has meaning only at the level of perception, where change is
possible.
15
Otherwise, there is no difference between the part and whole.
T-8.VIII.2.
The body exists in a world that seems to contain two voices fighting for
its
possession. 2 In this perceived constellation the body is seen as capable of
shifting
its
allegiance from one to the other, making the concepts of both health and
sickness
meaningful.
3 The ego makes a fundamental confusion between means and end as it always
does. 4
Regarding
the body as an end, the ego has no real use for it because it is <not> an
end. 5 You
must
have noticed an outstanding characteristic of every end that the ego has
accepted as
its
own. 6 When you have achieved it, <it has not satisfied you.> 7 This is
why the ego is
forced
to shift ceaselessly from one goal to another, so that you will continue to
hope
it
can yet offer you something.
T-8.VIII.3.
It has been particularly difficult to overcome the ego's belief in the body
as
an end, because it is synonymous with the belief in attack as an end. 2 The ego
has
a
profound investment in sickness. 3 If you are sick, how can you object to the
ego's
firm
belief that you are not invulnerable? 4 This is an appealing argument from the
ego's
point
of view, because it obscures the obvious attack that underlies the sickness. 5
If you
recognized
this and also decided against attack, you could not give this false witness to
the
ego's
stand.
T-8.VIII.4.
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. 2 This witness, then,
appears
to
be innocent and trustworthy because you have not seriously cross-examined him.
3 If
you
had, you would not consider sickness such a strong witness on behalf of the
ego's
views.
4 A more honest statement would be that those who want the ego are predisposed
to
defend
it. 5 Therefore, their choice of witnesses should be suspect from the
beginning. 6 The
ego
does not call upon witnesses who would disagree with its case, nor does the
Holy
Spirit.
7 I have said that judgment is the function of the Holy Spirit, and one He is
perfectly
equipped to fulfill. 8 The ego as a judge gives anything but an impartial
judgment. 9
When
the ego calls on a witness, it has already made the witness an ally.
T-8.VIII.5.
It is still true that the body has no function of itself, because it is not
an
end. 2 The ego, however, establishes it as an end because, as such, its true
function
is obscured. 3 This is the purpose of everything the ego does. 4 Its sole aim
is to
lose
sight of the function of everything. 5 A sick body does not make any sense. 6
It could
not
make sense because sickness is not what the body is for. 7 Sickness is
meaningful
only
if the two basic premises on which the ego's interpretation of the body rests
are true;
that
the body is for attack, and that you are a body. 8 Without these premises
sickness
is inconceivable.
T-8.VIII.6.
Sickness is a way of demonstrating that you can be hurt. 2 It is a witness
to
your frailty, your vulnerability, and your extreme need to depend on external
guidance.
3
The ego uses this as its best argument for your need for <its> guidance.
4 It
dictates
endless prescriptions for avoiding catastrophic outcomes. 5 The Holy Spirit,
perfectly
aware
of the same situation, does not bother to analyze it at all. 6 If data are
meaningless
there is no point in analyzing them. 7 The function of truth is to collect
information
that
is true. 8 <Any> way you handle error results in nothing. 9 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 in order to judge
them
truly.
T-8.VIII.7.
A learning device is not a teacher. 2 It cannot tell you how you feel. 3
You
do not know how you feel because you have accepted the ego's confusion, and you
therefore
believe that a learning device <can> tell you how you feel. 4 Sickness is
merely
another
example of your insistence on asking guidance of a teacher who does not know
the
answer.
5 The ego is incapable of knowing how you feel. 6 When I said that the ego does
not
know
anything, I said the one thing about the ego that is wholly true. 7 But there
is a
corollary;
if only knowledge has being and the ego has no knowledge, then the ego has no
being.
T-8.VIII.8.
You might well ask how the voice of something that does not exist can be so
insistent.
2 Have you thought about the distorting power of something you want, even if
it
is not real? 3 There are many instances of how what you want distorts
perception. 4
No
one can doubt the ego's skill in building up false cases. 5 Nor can anyone
doubt your
willingness
to listen until you choose not to accept anything except truth. 6 When you lay
the ego
aside,
it will be gone. 7 The Holy Spirit's Voice is as loud as your willingness to
listen.
8 It cannot be louder without violating your freedom of choice, which the Holy
Spirit
seeks
to restore, never to undermine.
T-8.VIII.9.
The Holy Spirit teaches you to use your body only to reach your brothers,
so
He can teach His message through you. 2 This will heal them and therefore heal
you. 3
Everything
used in accordance with its function as the Holy Spirit sees it cannot be sick.
4
Everything
used otherwise is. 5 Do not allow the body to be a mirror of a split mind. 6 Do
not
let
it be an image of your own perception of littleness. 7 Do not let it reflect
your
decision
to attack. 8 Health is seen as the natural state of everything when
interpretation is
left
to the Holy Spirit, Who perceives no attack on anything. 9 Health is the result
of
relinquishing
all attempts to use the body lovelessly. 10 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.
IX.
Healing as Corrected Perception
T-8.IX.1.
I said before that the Holy Spirit is the Answer. 2 He is the Answer to
everything,
because He knows what the answer to everything is. 3 The ego does not know what
a
real
question is, although it asks an endless number. 4 Yet you can learn this as
you learn
to
question the value of the ego, and thus establish your ability to evaluate its
questions.
5 When the ego tempts you to sickness do not ask the Holy Spirit to heal the
body,
for
this would merely be to accept the ego's belief that the body is the proper aim
of
healing.
6 Ask, rather, that the Holy Spirit teach you the right <perception> of
the body, for
perception
alone can be distorted. 7 Only perception can be sick, because only
perception
can be wrong.
T-8.IX.2.
Wrong perception is the wish that things be as they are not. 2 The reality of
everything
is totally harmless, because total harmlessness is the condition of its
reality.
3 It is also the condition of your awareness of its reality. 4 You do not have
to
seek
reality. 5 It will seek you and find you when you meet its conditions. 6 Its
conditions
are part of what it is. 7 And this part only is up to you. 8 The rest is of
itself. 9
You
need do so little because your little part is so powerful that it will bring
the whole
to
you. 10 Accept, then, your little part, and let the whole be yours.
T-8.IX.3.
Wholeness heals because it is of the mind. 2 All forms of sickness, even unto
death,
are physical expressions of the fear of awakening. 3 They are attempts to
reinforce
sleeping out of fear of waking. 4 This is a pathetic way of trying not to see
by
rendering
the faculties for seeing ineffectual. 5 "Rest in peace" is a blessing
for the living,
not
the dead, because rest comes from waking, not from sleeping. 6 Sleep is
withdrawing;
waking
is joining. 7 Dreams are illusions of joining, because they reflect the ego's
distorted
notions about what joining is. 8 Yet the Holy Spirit, too, has use for sleep,
and can
use
dreams on behalf of waking if you will let Him.
T-8.IX.4.
How you wake is the sign of how you have used sleep. 2 To whom did you give
it?
3 Under which teacher did you place it? 4 Whenever you wake dispiritedly, it
was not
given
to the Holy Spirit. 5 Only when you awaken joyously have you utilized sleep
according
to
His purpose. 6 You can indeed be "drugged" by sleep, if you have
misused it on behalf
of
sickness. 7 Sleep is no more a form of death than death is a form of
unconsciousness.
8
Complete unconsciousness is impossible. 9 You can rest in peace only because
you are
awake.
T-8.IX.5.
Healing is release from the fear of waking and the substitution of the
decision
to wake. 2 The decision to wake is the reflection of the will to love, since
all
healing
involves replacing fear with love. 3 The Holy Spirit cannot distinguish among
degrees
of
error, for if He taught that one form of sickness is more serious than another,
He
would
be teaching that one error can be more real than another. 4 His function is to
distinguish
only between the false and the true, replacing the false with the true.
T-8.IX.6.
The ego, which always wants to weaken the mind, tries to separate it from the
body
in an attempt to destroy it. 2 Yet the ego actually believes that it is
protecting
it.
3 This is because the ego believes that mind is dangerous, and that to make
mindless
is to heal. 4 But to make mindless is impossible, since it would mean to make
nothing
out
of what God created. 5 The ego despises weakness, even though it makes every
effort to
induce
it. 6 The ego wants only what it hates. 7 To the ego this is perfectly
sensible.
8
Believing in the power of attack, the ego wants attack.
T-8.IX.7.
The Bible enjoins you to be perfect, to heal all errors, to take no thought
of
the body as separate and to accomplish all things in my name. 2 This is not my name
alone,
for ours is a shared identification. 3 The Name of God's Son is One, and you
are
enjoined
to do the works of love because we share this Oneness. 4 Our minds are whole
because
they
are one. 5 If you are sick you are withdrawing from me. 6 Yet you cannot
withdraw from
me
alone. 7 You can only withdraw from yourself <and> me.
T-8.IX.8.
You have surely begun to realize that this is a very practical course, and
one
that means exactly what it says. 2 I would not ask you to do things you cannot
do, and
it
is impossible that I could do things you cannot do. 3 Given this, and given
this
quite
literally, nothing can prevent you from doing exactly what I ask, and
everything
argues
<for> your doing it. 4 I give you no limits because God lays none upon
you. 5 When you
limit
yourself we are not of one mind, and that is sickness. 6 Yet sickness is not of
the
body, but of the mind. 7 All forms of sickness are signs that the mind is
split, and
does
not accept a unified purpose.
T-8.IX.9.
The unification of purpose, then, is the Holy Spirit's only way of healing. 2
This
is because it is the only level at which healing means anything. 3 The
re-establishing
of meaning in a chaotic thought system <is> the way to heal it. 4 Your
task is only to
meet
the conditions for meaning, since meaning itself is of God. 5 Yet your return
to
meaning
is essential to His, because your meaning is part of His. 6 Your healing, then,
is
part
of His health, since it is part of His Wholeness. 7 He cannot lose this, but
you <can>
not
know it. 8 Yet it is still His Will for you, and His Will must stand forever
and in
all
things.
Chapter
9.
THE
ACCEPTANCE OF THE ATONEMENT
I.
The Acceptance of Reality
T-9.I.1.
Fear of the Will of God is one of the strangest beliefs the human mind has
ever
made. 2 It could not possibly have occurred unless the mind were already
profoundly
split,
making it possible for it to be afraid of what it really is. 3 Reality cannot
"
threaten"
anything except illusions, since reality can only uphold truth. 4 The very fact
that
the
Will of God, which is what you are, is perceived as fearful, demonstrates that
you <
are>
afraid of what you are. 5 It is not, then, the Will of God of which you are
afraid,
but
yours.
T-9.I.2.
Your will is not the ego's, and that is why the ego is against you. 2 What
seems
to be the fear of God is really the fear of your own reality. 3 It is
impossible to
learn
anything consistently in a state of panic. 4 If the purpose of this course is
to help
you
remember what you are, and if you believe that what you are is fearful, then it
must
follow
that you will not learn this course. 5 Yet the reason for the course is that
you do
not
know what you are.
T-9.I.3.
If you do not know what your reality is, why would you be so sure that it is
fearful?
2 The association of truth and fear, which would be highly artificial at most,
is
particularly
inappropriate in the minds of those who do not know what truth is. 3 All this
could
mean
is that you are arbitrarily associating something beyond your awareness with
something
you
do not want. 4 It is evident, then, that you are judging something of which you
are
totally
unaware. 5 You have set up this strange situation so that it is impossible to
escape
from it without a Guide Who <does> know what your reality is. 6 The
purpose of this
Guide
is merely to remind you of what you want. 7 He is not attempting to force an
alien
will
upon you. 8 He is merely making every possible effort, within the limits you
impose on
Him,
to re-establish your own will in your awareness.
T-9.I.4.
You have imprisoned your will beyond your own awareness, where it remains, but
cannot
help you. 2 When I said that the Holy Spirit's function is to sort out the true
from
the false in your mind, I meant that He has the power to look into what you
have
hidden
and recognize the Will of God there. 3 His recognition of this Will can make it
real
to
you because He is in your mind, and therefore He is your reality. 4 If, then,
His
perception
of your mind brings its reality to you, He <is> helping you to remember
what you are.
5
The only source of fear in this process is what you think you will lose. 6 Yet
it is
only
what the Holy Spirit sees that you can possibly have.
T-9.I.5.
I have emphasized many times that the Holy Spirit will never call upon you to
sacrifice
anything. 2 But if you ask the sacrifice of reality of yourself, the Holy
Spirit must
remind
you that this is not God's Will because it is not yours. 3 There is no
difference
between
your will and God's. 4 If you did not have a split mind, you would recognize
that
willing
is salvation because it is communication.
T-9.I.6.
It is impossible to communicate in alien tongues. 2 You and your Creator can
communicate
through creation, because that, and only that is Your joint Will. 3 A divided
mind
cannot
communicate, because it speaks for different things to the same mind. 4 This
loses the
ability
to communicate simply because confused communication does not mean anything. 5
A
message cannot be communicated unless it makes sense. 6 How sensible can your
messages
be,
when you ask for what you do not want? 7 Yet as long as you are afraid of your
will,
that
is precisely what you are asking for.
T-9.I.7.
You may insist that the Holy Spirit does not answer you, but it might be wiser
to
consider the kind of questioner you are. 2 You do not ask only for what you
want. 3
This
is because you are afraid you might receive it, and you would. 4 That is why
you
persist
in asking the teacher who could not possibly give you what you want. 5 Of him
you can
never
learn what it is, and this gives you the illusion of safety. 6 Yet you cannot
be safe
<from>
truth, but only <in> truth. 7 Reality is the only safety. 8 Your will is
your
salvation
because it is the same as God's. 9 The separation is nothing more than the
belief that
it
is different.
T-9.I.8.
No right mind can believe that its will is stronger than God's. 2 If, then, a
mind
believes that its will is different from His, it can only decide either that
there is
no
God or that God's Will is fearful. 3 The former accounts for the atheist and
the
latter
for the martyr, who believes that God demands sacrifices. 4 Either of these
insane
decisions
will induce panic, because the atheist believes he is alone, and the martyr
believes
that
God is crucifying him. 5 Yet no one really wants either abandonment or
retaliation,
even
though many may seek both. 6 Can you ask the Holy Spirit for "gifts"
such as these,
and
actually expect to receive them? 7 He cannot give you something you do not
want. 8
When
you ask the Universal Giver for what you do not want, you are asking for what
cannot
be
given because it was never created. 9 It was never created, because it was
never your
will
for <you.
T-9.I.9.
Ultimately everyone must remember the Will of God, because ultimately everyone
must
recognize himself. 2 This recognition is the recognition that his will and
God's
are
one. 3 In the presence of truth, there are no unbelievers and no sacrifices. 4
In the
security
of reality, fear is totally meaningless. 5 To deny what is can only
<seem> to be
fearful.
6 Fear cannot be real without a cause, and God is the only Cause. 7 God is Love
and
you
do want Him. 8 This <is> your will. 9 Ask for this and you will be
answered, because
you
will be asking only for what belongs to you.
T-9.I.10.
When you ask the Holy Spirit for what would hurt you He cannot answer because
nothing
can hurt you, and so you are asking for nothing. 2 Any wish that stems from the
ego
is a wish for nothing, and to ask for it is not a request. 3 It is merely a
denial
in
the form of a request. 4 The Holy Spirit is not concerned with form, being
aware only
of
meaning. 5 The ego cannot ask the Holy Spirit for anything, because there is
complete
communication
failure between them. 6 Yet <you> can ask for everything of the Holy
Spirit, because
your
requests to Him are real, being of your right mind. 7 Would the Holy Spirit
deny the
Will
of God? 8 And could He fail to recognize it in His Son?
T-9.I.11.
You do not recognize the enormous waste of energy you expend in denying truth.
2
What would you say of someone who persists in attempting the impossible,
believing
that
to achieve it is to succeed? 3 The belief that you must have the impossible in
order
to
be happy is totally at variance with the principle of creation. 4 God could not
will
that
happiness depended on what you could never have. 5 The fact that God is Love
does not
require
belief, but it does require acceptance. 6 It is indeed possible for you to deny
facts,
although
it is impossible for you to change them. 7 If you hold your hands over your
eyes,
you will not see because you are interfering with the laws of seeing. 8 If you
deny
love,
you will not know it because your cooperation is the law of its being. 9 You
cannot
change
laws you did not make, and the laws of happiness were created for you, not by
you.
T-9.I.12.
Any attempt to deny what <is> must be fearful, and if the attempt is
strong
it
will induce panic. 2 Willing against reality, though impossible, can be made
into a
very
persistent goal even though you do not want it. 3 But consider the result of
this
strange
decision. 4 You are devoting your mind to what you do not want. 5 How real can
this
devotion
be? 6 If you do not want it, it was never created. 7 If it were never created,
it is
nothing.
8 Can you really devote yourself to nothing?
T-9.I.13.
God in His devotion to you created you devoted to everything, and gave you
what
you are devoted <to.> 2 Otherwise you would not have been created
perfect. 3 Reality
is
everything, and you have everything because you are real. 4 You cannot make the
unreal
because
the absence of reality is fearful, and fear cannot be created. 5 As long as you
believe
that fear is possible, you will not create. 6 Opposing orders of reality make
reality
meaningless, and reality <is> meaning.
T-9.I.14.
Remember, then, that God's Will is already possible, and nothing else will
ever
be. 2 This is the simple acceptance of reality, because only that is real. 3
You
cannot
distort reality and know what it is. 4 And if you do distort reality you will
experience
anxiety, depression and ultimately panic, because you are trying to make
yourself
unreal.
5 When you feel these things, do not try to look beyond yourself for truth, for
truth
can
only be within you. 6 Say, therefore:
7
Christ is in me, and where He is God must be, for Christ is part of Him.
II.
The Answer to Prayer
T-9.II.1.
Everyone who ever tried to use prayer to ask for something has experienced
what
appears to be failure. 2 This is not only true in connection with specific
things that
might
be harmful, but also in connection with requests that are strictly in line with
this
course. 3 The latter in particular might be incorrectly interpreted as
"proof" that
the
course does not mean what it says. 4 You must remember, however, that the
course
states,
and repeatedly, that its purpose is the escape from fear.
T-9.II.2.
Let us suppose, then, that what you ask of the Holy Spirit is what you really
want,
but you are still afraid of it. 2 Should this be the case, your attainment of
it
would
no longer <be> what you want. 3 This is why certain specific forms of
healing are not
achieved,
even when the state of healing is. 4 An individual may ask for physical healing
because
he is fearful of bodily harm. 5 At the same time, if he were healed physically,
the
threat
to his thought system might be considerably more fearful to him than its
physical
expression.
6 In this case he is not really asking for release from fear, but for the
removal of
a
symptom that he himself selected. 7 This request is, therefore, not for healing
at all.
T-9.II.3.
The Bible emphasizes that all prayer is answered, and this is indeed true. 2
The
very fact that the Holy Spirit has been asked for anything will ensure a
response. 3
Yet
it is equally certain that no response given by Him will ever be one that would
increase
fear. 4 It is possible that His answer will not be heard. 5 It is impossible,
however,
that
it will be lost. 6 There are many answers you have already received but have
not
yet
heard. 7 I assure you that they are waiting for you.
T-9.II.4.
If you would know your prayers are answered, never doubt a Son of God. 2 Do
not
question him and do not confound him, for your faith in him is your faith in
yourself.
3
If you would know God and His Answer, believe in me whose faith in you cannot
be
shaken.
4 Can you ask of the Holy Spirit truly, and doubt your brother? 5 Believe his
words
are
true because of the truth that is in him. 6 You will unite with the truth in
him, and
his
words will <be> true. 7 As you hear him you will hear me. 8 Listening to
truth is the
only
way you can hear it now, and finally know it.
T-9.II.5.
The message your brother gives you is up to you. 2 What does he say to you? 3
What
would you have him say? 4 Your decision about him determines the message you
receive.
5 Remember that the Holy Spirit is in him, and His Voice speaks to you through
him. 6
What
can so holy a brother tell you except truth? 7 But are you listening to it? 8
Your
brother
may not know who he is, but there is a light in his mind that does know. 9 This
light
can shine into yours, giving truth to his words and making you able to hear them.
10
His words are the Holy Spirit's answer to you. 11 Is your faith in him strong
enough
to
let you hear?
T-9.II.6.
You can no more pray for yourself alone than you can find joy for yourself
alone.
2 Prayer is the restatement of inclusion, directed by the Holy Spirit under the
laws
of
God. 3 Salvation is of your brother. 4 The Holy Spirit extends from your mind
to his,
and
answers <you.> 5 You cannot hear the Voice for God in yourself alone,
because you are
not
alone. 6 And His answer is only for what you are. 7 You will not know the trust
I have
in
you unless you extend it. 8 You will not trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
or
believe
that it is for you unless you hear it in others. 9 It must be for your brother
<
because>
it is for you. 10 Would God have created a Voice for you alone? 11 Could you
hear His
answer
except as He answers all of God's Sons? 12 Hear of your brother what you would
have
me hear of you, for you would not want me to be deceived.
T-9.II.7.
I love you for the truth in you, as God does. 2 Your deceptions may deceive
you,
but they cannot deceive me. 3 Knowing what you are, I cannot doubt you. 4 I
hear only
the
Holy Spirit in you, Who speaks to me through you. 5 If you would hear me, hear
my
brothers
in whom God's Voice speaks. 6 The answer to all prayers lies in them. 7 You
will be
answered
as you hear the answer in everyone. 8 Do not listen to anything else or you
will not
hear
truly.
T-9.II.8.
Believe in your brothers because I believe in you, and you will learn that my
belief
in you is justified. 2 Believe in me <by> believing in them, for the sake
of
what
God gave them. 3 They will answer you if you learn to ask only truth of them. 4
Do not
ask
for blessings without blessing them, for only in this way can you learn how
blessed
you
are. 5 By following this way you are seeking the truth in you. 6 This is not
going
beyond
yourself but toward yourself. 7 Hear only God's Answer in His Sons, and you are
answered.
T-9.II.9.
To disbelieve is to side against, or to attack. 2 To believe is to accept,
and
to side with. 3 To believe is not to be credulous, but to accept and
appreciate. 4
What
you do not believe you do not appreciate, and you cannot be grateful for what
you do
not
value. 5 There is a price you will pay for judgment, because judgment is the
setting
of
a price. 6 And as you set it you will pay it.
T-9.II.10.
If paying is equated with getting, you will set the price low but demand a
high
return. 2 You will have forgotten, however, that to price is to value, so that
your
return
is in proportion to your judgment of worth. 3 If paying is associated with
giving it
cannot
be perceived as loss, and the reciprocal relationship of giving and receiving
will be
recognized.
4 The price will then be set high, because of the value of the return. 5 The
price
for
getting is to lose sight of value, making it inevitable that you will not value
what
you
receive. 6 Valuing it little, you will not appreciate it and you will not want
it.
T-9.II.11.
Never forget, then, that you set the value on what you receive, and price it
by
what you give. 2 To believe that it is possible to get much for little is to
believe
that
you can bargain with God. 3 God's laws are always fair and perfectly
consistent. 4
By
giving you receive. 5 But to receive is to accept, not to get. 6 It is
impossible
not
to have, but it is possible not to know you have. 7 The recognition of having
is the
willingness
for giving, and only by this willingness can you recognize what you have. 8
What you
give
is therefore the value you put on what you have, being the exact measure of the
value
you
put upon it. 9 And this, in turn, is the measure of how much you want it.
T-9.II.12.
You can ask of the Holy Spirit, then, only by giving to Him, and you can
give
to Him only where you recognize Him. 2 If you recognize Him in everyone,
consider how
much
you will be asking of Him, and how much you will receive. 3 He will deny you
nothing
because
you have denied Him nothing, and so you can share everything. 4 This is the
way, and
the
only way to have His answer, because His answer is all you can ask for and
want. 5 Say,
then,
to everyone:
6
Because I will to know myself, I see you as God's Son and my brother.
III.
The Correction of Error
T-9.III.1.
The alertness of the ego to the errors of other egos is not the kind of
vigilance
the Holy Spirit would have you maintain. 2 Egos are critical in terms of the
kind of "
sense"
they stand for. 3 They understand this kind of sense, because it is sensible to
them.
4
To the Holy Spirit it makes no sense at all.
T-9.III.2.
To the ego it is kind and right and good to point out errors and
"correct"
them.
2 This makes perfect sense to the ego, which is unaware of what errors are and
what
correction
is. 3 Errors are of the ego, and correction of errors lies in the
relinquishment of
the
ego. 4 When you correct a brother, you are telling him that he is wrong. 5 He
may be
making
no sense at the time, and it is certain that, if he is speaking from the ego,
he will
not
be making sense. 6 But your task is still to tell him he is right. 7 You do not
tell
him
this verbally, if he is speaking foolishly. 8 He needs correction at another
level,
because
his error is at another level. 9 He is still right, because he is a Son of God.
10 His
ego
is always wrong, no matter what it says or does.
T-9.III.3.
If you point out the errors of your brother's ego you must be seeing through
yours,
because the Holy Spirit does not perceive his errors. 2 This <must> be
true,
since
there is no communication between the ego and the Holy Spirit. 3 The ego makes
no
sense,
and the Holy Spirit does not attempt to understand anything that arises from
it. 4
Since
He does not understand it, He does not judge it, knowing that nothing the ego
makes
means
anything.
T-9.III.4.
When you react at all to errors, you are not listening to the Holy Spirit. 2
He
has merely disregarded them, and if you attend to them you are not hearing Him.
3 If
you
do not hear Him, you are listening to your ego and making as little sense as
the
brother
whose errors you perceive. 4 This cannot be correction. 5 Yet it is more than
merely a
lack
of correction for him. 6 It is the giving up of correction in yourself.
T-9.III.5.
When a brother behaves insanely, you can heal him only by perceiving the
sanity
in him. 2 If you perceive his errors and accept them, you are accepting yours.
3 If
you
want to give yours over to the Holy Spirit, you must do this with his. 4 Unless
this
becomes
the one way in which you handle all errors, you cannot understand how all
errors are
undone.
5 How is this different from telling you that what you teach you learn? 6 Your
brother
is as right as you are, and if you think he is wrong you are condemning
yourself.
T-9.III.6.
<You> cannot correct yourself. 2 Is it possible, then, for you to correct
another?
3 Yet you can see him truly, because it is possible for you to see yourself
truly. 4
It
is not up to you to change your brother, but merely to accept him as he is. 5
His
errors
do not come from the truth that is in him, and only this truth is yours. 6 His
errors
cannot
change this, and can have no effect at all on the truth in you. 7 To perceive
errors
in
anyone, and to react to them as if they were real, is to make them real to you.
8 You
will
not escape paying the price for this, not because you are being punished for
it, but
because
you are following the wrong guide and will therefore lose your way.
T-9.III.7.
Your brother's errors are not of him, any more than yours are of you. 2
Accept
his errors as real, and you have attacked yourself. 3 If you would find your
way and
keep
it, see only truth beside you for you walk together. 4 The Holy Spirit in you
forgives
all
things in you and in your brother. 5 His errors are forgiven with yours. 6
Atonement
is no more separate than love. 7 Atonement cannot be separate because it comes
from
love.
8 Any attempt you make to correct a brother means that you believe correction
by you
is
possible, and this can only be the arrogance of the ego. 9 Correction is of
God, Who
does
not know of arrogance.
T-9.III.8.
The Holy Spirit forgives everything because God created everything. 2 Do not
undertake
His function, or you will forget yours. 3 Accept only the function of healing
in
time, because that is what time is for. 4 God gave you the function to create
in
eternity.
5 You do not need to learn that, but you do need to learn to want it. 6 For
that all
learning
was made. 7 This is the Holy Spirit's use of an ability that you do not need,
but that
you
made. 8 Give it to Him! 9 You do not understand how to use it. 10 He will teach
you
how
to see yourself without condemnation, by learning how to look on everything
without
it.
11 Condemnation will then not be real to you, and all your errors will be
forgiven.
IV.
The Holy Spirit's Plan of Forgiveness
T-9.IV.1.
Atonement is for all, because it is the way to undo the belief that anything
is
for you alone. 2 To forgive is to overlook. 3 Look, then, beyond error and do
not let
your
perception rest upon it, for you will believe what your perception holds. 4
Accept as
true
only what your brother is, if you would know yourself. 5 Perceive what he is
not and
you
cannot know what you are, because you see him falsely. 6 Remember always that
your
Identity
is shared, and that Its sharing is Its reality.
T-9.IV.2.
You have a part to play in the Atonement, but the plan of the Atonement is
beyond
you. 2 You do not understand how to overlook errors, or you would not make
them. 3 It
would
merely be further error to believe either that you do not make them, or that
you can
correct
them without a Guide to correction. 4 And if you do not follow this Guide, your
errors
will
not be corrected. 5 The plan is not yours because of your limited ideas about
what
you
are. 6 This sense of limitation is where all errors arise. 7 The way to undo
them,
therefore,
is not <of> you but <for> you.
T-9.IV.3.
The Atonement is a lesson in sharing, which is given you because <you have
forgotten
how to do it.> 2 The Holy Spirit merely reminds you of the natural use of
your
abilities.
3 By reinterpreting the ability to attack into the ability to share, He
translates
what
you have made into what God created. 4 If you would accomplish this through Him
you
cannot
look on your abilities through the eyes of the ego, or you will judge them as
<it>
does.
5 All their harmfulness lies in the ego's judgment. 6 All their helpfulness
lies in
the
judgment of the Holy Spirit.
T-9.IV.4.
The ego, too, has a plan of forgiveness because you are asking for one,
though
not of the right teacher. 2 The ego's plan, of course, makes no sense and will
not
work.
3 By following its plan you will merely place yourself in an impossible
situation, to
which
the ego always leads you. 4 The ego's plan is to have you see error clearly
first,
and
then overlook it. 5 Yet how can you overlook what you have made real? 6 By
seeing
it
clearly, you have made it real and <cannot> overlook it. 7 This is where
the ego is
forced
to appeal to "mysteries," insisting that you must accept the
meaningless to save
yourself.
8 Many have tried to do this in my name, forgetting that my words make perfect
sense
because
they come from God. 9 They are as sensible now as they ever were, because they
speak
of
ideas that are eternal.
T-9.IV.5.
Forgiveness that is learned of me does not use fear to undo fear. 2 Nor does
it
make real the unreal and then destroy it. 3 Forgiveness through the Holy Spirit
lies
simply
in looking beyond error from the beginning, and thus keeping it unreal for you.
4 Do
not
let any belief in its realness enter your mind, or you will also believe that
you must
undo
what you have made in order to be forgiven. 5 What has no effect does not
exist,
and
to the Holy Spirit the effects of error are nonexistent. 6 By steadily and
consistently
cancelling out all its effects, everywhere and in all respects, He teaches that
the
ego
does not exist and proves it.
T-9.IV.6.
Follow the Holy Spirit's teaching in forgiveness, then, because forgiveness
is
His function and He knows how to fulfill it perfectly. 2 That is what I meant
when I
said
that miracles are natural, and when they do not occur something has gone wrong.
3
Miracles
are merely the sign of your willingness to follow the Holy Spirit's plan of
salvation,
recognizing
that you do not understand what it is. 4 His work is not your function, and
unless
you accept this you cannot learn what your function is.
T-9.IV.7.
The confusion of functions is so typical of the ego that you should be quite
familiar
with it by now. 2 The ego believes that all functions belong to it, even though
it has
no
idea what they are. 3 This is more than mere confusion. 4 It is a particularly
dangerous
combination of grandiosity and confusion that makes the ego likely to attack
anyone
and
anything for no reason at all. 5 This is exactly what the ego does. 6 It is
unpredictable
in its responses, because it has no idea of what it perceives.
T-9.IV.8.
If you have no idea what is happening, how appropriately can you expect to
react?
2 You might ask yourself, regardless of how you may account for the reaction,
whether
its
unpredictability places the ego in a sound position as your guide. 3 Let me
repeat
that
the ego's qualifications as a guide are singularly unfortunate, and that it is
a
remarkably
poor choice as a teacher of salvation. 4 Anyone who elects a totally insane
guide must
be
totally insane himself. 5 Nor is it true that you do not realize the guide is
insane.
6
You realize it because I realize it, and you have judged it by the same
standard I
have.
T-9.IV.9.
The ego literally lives on borrowed time, and its days are numbered. 2 Do not
fear
the Last Judgment, but welcome it and do not wait, for the ego's time is
"borrowed
"
from your eternity. 3 This is the Second Coming that was made for you as the
First was
created.
4 The Second Coming is merely the return of sense. 5 Can this possibly be
fearful?
T-9.IV.10.
What can be fearful but fantasy, and who turns to fantasy unless he despairs
of
finding satisfaction in reality? 2 Yet it is certain that you will never find
satisfaction
in fantasy, so that your only hope is to change your mind about reality. 3 Only
if the
decision
that reality is fearful is wrong can God be right. 4 And I assure you that God
<is>
right. 5 Be glad, then, that you have been wrong, but this was only because you
did
not know who you were. 6 Had you known, you could no more have been wrong than God
can.
T-9.IV.11.
The impossible can happen only in fantasy. 2 When you search for reality in
fantasies
you will not find it. 3 The symbols of fantasy are of the ego, and of these you
will
find
many. 4 But do not look for meaning in them. 5 They have no more meaning than
the
fantasies
into which they are woven. 6 Fairy tales can be pleasant or fearful, but no one
calls
them
true. 7 Children may believe them, and so, for a while, the tales are true for
them. 8
Yet
when reality dawns, the fantasies are gone. 9 Reality has not gone in the
meanwhile.
10
The Second Coming is the awareness of reality, not its return.
T-9.IV.12.
Behold, my child, reality is here. 2 It belongs to you and me and God, and
is
perfectly satisfying to all of Us. 3 Only this awareness heals, because it is
the
awareness
of truth.
V.
The Unhealed Healer
T-9.V.1.
The ego's plan for forgiveness is far more widely used than God's. 2 This is
because
it is undertaken by unhealed healers, and is therefore of the ego. 3 Let us
consider
the
unhealed healer more carefully now. 4 By definition, he is trying to give what
he has
not
received. 5 If an unhealed healer is a theologian, for example, he may begin
with the
premise,
"I am a miserable sinner, and so are you." 6 If he is a
psychotherapist, he is more
likely
to start with the equally incredible belief that attack is real for both
himself and
the
patient, but that it does not matter for either of them.
T-9.V.2.
I have repeatedly said that beliefs of the ego cannot be shared, and this is
why
they are unreal. 2 How, then, can "uncovering" them make them real? 3
Every healer who
searches
fantasies for truth must be unhealed, because he does not know where to look
for
truth, and therefore does not have the answer to the problem of healing.
T-9.V.3.
There is an advantage to bringing nightmares into awareness, but only to teach
that
they are not real, and that anything they contain is meaningless. 2 The
unhealed
healer
cannot do this because he does not believe it. 3 All unhealed healers follow
the ego's
plan
for forgiveness in one form or another. 4 If they are theologians they are
likely
to
condemn themselves, teach condemnation and advocate a fearful solution. 5
Projecting
condemnation
onto God, they make Him appear retaliative, and fear His retribution. 6 What
they have
done
is merely to identify with the ego, and by perceiving what <it> does,
condemn
themselves
because of this confusion. 7 It is understandable that there have been revolts
against
this
concept, but to revolt against it is still to believe in it.
T-9.V.4.
Some newer forms of the ego's plan are as unhelpful as the older ones, because
form
does not matter and the content has not changed. 2 In one of the newer forms,
for
example,
a psychotherapist may interpret the ego's symbols in a nightmare, and then use
them
to
prove that the nightmare is real. 3 Having made it real, he then attempts to
dispel
its
effects by depreciating the importance of the dreamer. 4 This would be a
healing
approach
if the dreamer were also identified as unreal. 5 Yet if the dreamer is equated
with
the
mind, the mind's corrective power through the Holy Spirit is denied. 6 This is
a
contradiction
even in the ego's terms, and one which it usually notes even in its confusion.
T-9.V.5.
If the way to counteract fear is to reduce the importance of the mind, how can
this
build ego strength? 2 Such evident inconsistencies account for why no one has
really
explained what happens in psychotherapy. 3 Nothing really does. 4 Nothing real
has
happened
to the unhealed healer, and he must learn from his own teaching. 5 His ego will
always
seek
to get something from the situation. 6 The unhealed healer therefore does not
know
how
to give, and consequently cannot share. 7 He cannot correct because he is not
working
correctively. 8 He believes that it is up to him to teach the patient what is
real,
although
he does not know it himself.
T-9.V.6.
What, then, should happen? 2 When God said, "Let there be light,"
there <was>
light.
3 Can you find light by analyzing darkness, as the psychotherapist does, or
like the
theologian,
by acknowledging darkness in yourself and looking for a distant light to remove
it,
while
emphasizing the distance? 4 Healing is not mysterious. 5 Nothing will change
unless it
is
understood, since light <is> understanding. 6 A "miserable
sinner" cannot be healed
without
magic, nor can an "unimportant mind" esteem itself without magic.
T-9.V.7.
Both forms of the ego's approach, then, must arrive at an impasse; the
characteristic
"impossible situation" to which the ego always leads. 2 It may help
someone to point
out
where he is heading, but the point is lost unless he is also helped to change
his
direction.
3 The unhealed healer cannot do this for him, since he cannot do it for
himself. 4
The
only meaningful contribution the healer can make is to present an example of
one whose
direction
has been changed <for> him, and who no longer believes in nightmares of
any
kind.
5 The light in his mind will therefore answer the questioner, who must decide
with
God
that there is light <because> he sees it. 6 And by his acknowledgment the
healer knows
it
is there. 7 That is how perception ultimately is translated into knowledge. 8
The
miracle
worker begins by perceiving light, and translates his perception into sureness
by
continually
extending it and accepting its acknowledgment. 9 Its effects assure him it is
there.
T-9.V.8.
A therapist does not heal; <he lets healing be.> 2 He can point to
darkness
but
he cannot bring light of himself, for light is not of him. 3 Yet, being
<for> him, it
must
also be for his patient. 4 The Holy Spirit is the only Therapist. 5 He makes
healing
clear
in any situation in which He is the Guide. 6 You can only let Him fulfill His
function.
7
He needs no help for this. 8 He will tell you exactly what to do to help anyone
He
sends
to you for help, and will speak to him through you if you do not interfere. 9
Remember
that
you choose the guide for helping, and the wrong choice will not help. 10 But
remember
also that the right one will. 11 Trust Him, for help is His function, and He is
of God.
12
As you awaken other minds to the Holy Spirit through Him, and not yourself, you
will
understand that you are not obeying the laws of this world. 13 But the laws you
are
obeying
work. 14 "The good is what works" is a sound though insufficient
statement. 15 Only
the
good <can> work. 16 Nothing else works at all.
T-9.V.9.
This course offers a very direct and a very simple learning situation, and
provides
the Guide Who tells you what to do. 2 If you do it, you will see that it works.
3 Its
results
are more convincing than its words. 4 They will convince you that the words are
true.
5
By following the right Guide, you will learn the simplest of all lessons:
6
By their fruits ye shall know them, and they shall know themselves.
VI.
The Acceptance of Your Brother
T-9.VI.1.
How can you become increasingly aware of the Holy Spirit in you except by His
effects?
2 You cannot see Him with your eyes nor hear Him with your ears. 3 How, then,
can
you perceive Him at all? 4 If you inspire joy and others react to you with joy,
even
though
you are not experiencing joy yourself there must be something in you that is
capable
of
producing it. 5 If it is in you and can produce joy, and if you see that it
does
produce
joy in others, you must be dissociating it in yourself.
T-9.VI.2.
It seems to you that the Holy Spirit does not produce joy consistently in you
only
because you do not consistently arouse joy in others. 2 Their reactions to you
are
your
evaluations of His consistency. 3 When you are inconsistent you will not always
give
rise to joy, and so you will not always recognize His consistency. 4 What you
offer to
your
brother you offer to Him, because He cannot go beyond your offering in His
giving.
5
This is not because He limits His giving, but simply because you have limited
your
receiving.
6 The decision to receive is the decision to accept.
T-9.VI.3.
If your brothers are part of you, will you accept them? 2 Only they can teach
you
what you are, for your learning is the result of what you taught them. 3 What
you
call
upon in them you call upon in yourself. 4 And as you call upon it in them it
becomes
real
to you. 5 God has but one Son, knowing them all as One. 6 Only God Himself is
more
than
they but they are not less than He is. 7 Would you know what this means? 8 If
what you
do
to my brother you do to me, and if you do everything for yourself because we
are
part
of you, everything we do belongs to you as well. 9 Everyone God created is part
of you
and
shares His glory with you. 10 His glory belongs to Him, but it is equally
yours. 11
You
cannot, then, be less glorious than He is.
T-9.VI.4.
God is more than you only because He created you, but not even this would He
keep
from you. 2 Therefore you can create as He did, and your dissociation will not
alter
this.
3 Neither God's light nor yours is dimmed because you do not see. 4 Because the
Sonship
must create as one, you remember creation whenever you recognize part of
creation. 5
Each
part you remember adds to your wholeness because each part <is> whole. 6
Wholeness is
indivisible,
but you cannot learn of your wholeness until you see it everywhere. 7 You can
know
yourself
only as God knows His Son, for knowledge is shared with God. 8 When you awake
in Him
you
will know your magnitude by accepting His limitlessness as yours. 9 But
meanwhile you
will
judge it as you judge your brother's, and will accept it as you accept his.
T-9.VI.5.
You are not yet awake, but you can learn how to awaken. 2 Very simply, the
Holy
Spirit teaches you to awaken others. 3 As you see them waken you will learn
what
waking
means, and because you have chosen to wake them, their gratitude and their
appreciation
of what you have given them will teach you its value. 4 They will become the
witnesses
to
your reality, as you were created witnesses to God's. 5 Yet when the Sonship
comes
together
and accepts its Oneness it will be known by its creations, who witness to its
reality
as
the Son does to the Father.
T-9.VI.6.
Miracles have no place in eternity, because they are reparative. 2 Yet while
you
still need healing, your miracles are the only witnesses to your reality that
you can
recognize.
3 You cannot perform a miracle for yourself, because miracles are a way of
giving
acceptance
and receiving it. 4 In time the giving comes first, though they are
simultaneous in
eternity,
where they cannot be separated. 5 When you have learned they are the same, the
need
for
time is over.
T-9.VI.7.
Eternity is one time, its only dimension being "always." 2 This
cannot mean
anything
to you until you remember God's open Arms, and finally know His open Mind. 3
Like Him,
<you>
are "always"; in His Mind and with a mind like His. 4 In your open
mind are your
creations,
in perfect communication born of perfect understanding. 5 Could you but accept
one of
them
you would not want anything the world has to offer. 6 Everything else would be
totally
meaningless. 7 God's meaning is incomplete without you, and you are incomplete
without
your
creations. 8 Accept your brother in this world and accept nothing else, for in
him
you
will find your creations because he created them with you. 9 You will never
know
that
you are co-creator with God until you learn that your brother is co-creator
with you.
VII.
The Two Evaluations
T-9.VII.1.
God's Will is your salvation. 2 Would He not have given you the means to
find
it? 3 If He wills you to have it, He must have made it possible and easy to
obtain it.
4
Your brothers are everywhere. 5 You do not have to seek far for salvation. 6
Every
minute
and every second gives you a chance to save yourself. 7 Do not lose these
chances, not
because
they will not return, but because delay of joy is needless. 8 God wills you
perfect
happiness now. 9 Is it possible that this is not also your will? 10 And is it
possible
that
this is not also the will of your brothers?
T-9.VII.2.
Consider, then, that in this joint will you are all united, and in this only.
2
There may be disagreement on anything else, but not on this. 3 This, then, is
where
peace
abides. 4 And you abide in peace when you so decide. 5 Yet you cannot abide in
peace
unless
you accept the Atonement, because the Atonement <is> the way to peace. 6
The reason is
very
simple, and so obvious that it is often overlooked. 7 The ego is afraid of the
obvious,
since obviousness is the essential characteristic of reality. 8 Yet <you>
cannot
overlook
it unless you are not looking.
T-9.VII.3.
It is perfectly obvious that if the Holy Spirit looks with love on all He
perceives,
He looks with love on you. 2 His evaluation of you is based on His knowledge of
what
you
are, and so He evaluates you truly. 3 And this evaluation must be in your mind,
because
He is. 4 The ego is also in your mind, because you have accepted it there. 5
Its
evaluation
of you, however, is the exact opposite of the Holy Spirit's, because the ego
does not
love
you. 6 It is unaware of what you are, and wholly mistrustful of everything it
perceives
because its perceptions are so shifting. 7 The ego is therefore capable of
suspiciousness
at best and viciousness at worst. 8 That is its range. 9 It cannot exceed it
because
of
its uncertainty. 10 And it can never go beyond it because it can never
<be> certain.
T-9.VII.4.
You, then, have two conflicting evaluations of yourself in your mind, and
they
cannot both be true. 2 You do not yet realize how completely different these
evaluations
are, because you do not understand how lofty the Holy Spirit's perception of
you
really
is. 3 He is not deceived by anything you do, because He never forgets what you
are. 4
The
ego is deceived by everything you do, especially when you respond to the Holy
Spirit,
because
at such times its confusion increases. 5 The ego is, therefore, particularly
likely to
attack
you when you react lovingly, because it has evaluated you as unloving and you
are
going against its judgment. 6 The ego will attack your motives as soon as they
become
clearly
out of accord with its perception of you. 7 This is when it will shift abruptly
from
suspiciousness
to viciousness, since its uncertainty is increased. 8 Yet it is surely
pointless to
attack
in return. 9 What can this mean except that you are agreeing with the ego's
evaluation
of
what you are?
T-9.VII.5.
If you choose to see yourself as unloving you will not be happy. 2 You are
condemning
yourself and must therefore regard yourself as inadequate. 3 Would you look to
the ego
to
help you escape from a sense of inadequacy it has produced, and must maintain
for
its
existence? 4 Can you escape from its evaluation of you by using its methods for
keeping
this picture intact?
T-9.VII.6.
You cannot evaluate an insane belief system from within it. 2 Its range
precludes
this. 3 You can only go beyond it, look back from a point where sanity exists
and <see
the
contrast.> 4 Only by this contrast can insanity be judged as insane. 5 With
the
grandeur
of God in you, you have chosen to be little and to lament your littleness. 6
Within
the
system that dictated this choice the lament is inevitable. 7 Your littleness is
taken
for
granted there and you do not ask, "Who granted it?" 8 The question is
meaningless
within
the ego's thought system, because it would open the whole thought system to
question.
T-9.VII.7.
I have said that the ego does not know what a real question is. 2 Lack of
knowledge
of any kind is always associated with unwillingness to know, and this produces
a total
lack
of knowledge simply because knowledge is total. 3 Not to question your
littleness
therefore
is to deny all knowledge, and keep the ego's whole thought system intact. 4 You
cannot
retain
part of a thought system, because it can be questioned only at its foundation.
5
And
this must be questioned from beyond it, because within it its foundation does
stand.
6
The Holy Spirit judges against the reality of the ego's thought system merely
because
He knows its foundation is not true. 7 Therefore, nothing that arises from it
means
anything.
8 He judges every belief you hold in terms of where it comes from. 9 If it
comes from
God,
He knows it to be true. 10 If it does not, He knows that it is meaningless.
T-9.VII.8.
Whenever you question your value, say:
2
God Himself is incomplete without me.
3
Remember this when the ego speaks, and you will not hear it. 4 The truth about
you is
so
lofty that nothing unworthy of God is worthy of you. 5 Choose, then, what you
want
in
these terms, and accept nothing that you would not offer to God as wholly
fitting for
Him.
6 You do not want anything else. 7 Return your part to Him, and He will give
you all
of
Himself in exchange for the return of what belongs to Him and renders Him
complete.
VIII.
Grandeur versus Grandiosity
T-9.VIII.1.
Grandeur is of God, and only of Him. 2 Therefore it is in you. 3 Whenever
you
become aware of it, however dimly, you abandon the ego automatically, because
in the
presence
of the grandeur of God the meaninglessness of the ego becomes perfectly
apparent. 4
When
this occurs, even though it does not understand it, the ego believes that its
"enemy"
has
struck, and attempts to offer gifts to induce you to return to its
"protection." 5
Self-inflation
is the only offering it can make. 6 The grandiosity of the ego is its
alternative to
the
grandeur of God. 7 Which will you choose?
T-9.VIII.2.
Grandiosity is always a cover for despair. 2 It is without hope because it
is
not real. 3 It is an attempt to counteract your littleness, based on the belief
that
the
littleness is real. 4 Without this belief grandiosity is meaningless, and you
could
not
possibly want it. 5 The essence of grandiosity is competitiveness, because it
always
involves
attack. 6 It is a delusional attempt to outdo, but not to undo. 7 We said
before that
the
ego vacillates between suspiciousness and viciousness. 8 It remains suspicious
as long
as
you despair of yourself. 9 It shifts to viciousness when you decide not to
tolerate
self-abasement
and seek relief. 10 Then it offers you the illusion of attack as a
"solution."
T-9.VIII.3.
The ego does not understand the difference between grandeur and grandiosity,
because
it sees no difference between miracle impulses and ego-alien beliefs of its
own.
2 I told you that the ego is aware of threat to its existence, but makes no
distinctions
between these two very different kinds of threat. 3 Its profound sense of
vulnerability
renders it incapable of judgment except in terms of attack. 4 When the ego
experiences
threat,
its only decision is whether to attack now or to withdraw to attack later. 5 If
you
accept its offer of grandiosity it will attack immediately. 6 If you do not, it
will
wait.
T-9.VIII.4.
The ego is immobilized in the presence of God's grandeur, because His
grandeur
establishes your freedom. 2 Even the faintest hint of your reality literally
drives
the
ego from your mind, because you will give up all investment in it. 3 Grandeur
is
totally
without illusions, and because it is real it is compellingly convincing. 4 Yet
the
conviction
of reality will not remain with you unless you do not allow the ego to attack
it. 5
The
ego will make every effort to recover and mobilize its energies against your
release.
6
It will tell you that you are insane, and argue that grandeur cannot be a real
part of
you
because of the littleness in which it believes. 7 Yet your grandeur is not
delusional
because you did not make it. 8 You made grandiosity and are afraid of it
because it is
a
form of attack, but your grandeur is of God, Who created it out of His Love.
T-9.VIII.5.
From your grandeur you can only bless, because your grandeur is your
abundance.
2 By blessing you hold it in your mind, protecting it from illusions and
keeping
yourself
in the Mind of God. 3 Remember always that you cannot be anywhere except in the
Mind
of
God. 4 When you forget this, you <will> despair and you <will>
attack.
T-9.VIII.6.
The ego depends solely on your willingness to tolerate it. 2 If you are
willing
to look upon your grandeur you cannot despair, and therefore you cannot want
the ego.
3
Your grandeur is God's answer to the ego, because it is true. 4 Littleness and
grandeur
cannot coexist, nor is it possible for them to alternate. 5 Littleness and
grandiosity
can
and must alternate, since both are untrue and are therefore on the same level.
6
Being
the level of shift, it is experienced as shifting and extremes are its
essential
characteristic.
T-9.VIII.7.
Truth and littleness are denials of each other because grandeur is truth. 2
Truth
does not vacillate; it is always true. 3 When grandeur slips away from you, you
have
replaced it with something you have made. 4 Perhaps it is the belief in
littleness;
perhaps
it is the belief in grandiosity. 5 Yet it must be insane because it is not
true. 6
Your
grandeur will never deceive you, but your illusions always will. 7 Illusions
are
deceptions.
8 You cannot triumph, but you <are> exalted. 9 And in your exalted state
you seek
others
like you and rejoice with them.
T-9.VIII.8.
It is easy to distinguish grandeur from grandiosity, because love is
returned
and pride is not. 2 Pride will not produce miracles, and will therefore deprive
you of
the
true witnesses to your reality. 3 Truth is not obscure nor hidden, but its
obviousness
to you lies in the joy you bring to its witnesses, who show it to you. 4 They
attest
to
your grandeur, but they cannot attest to pride because pride is not shared. 5
God
wants
you to behold what He created because it is His joy.
T-9.VIII.9.
Can your grandeur be arrogant when God Himself witnesses to it? 2 And what
can
be real that has no witnesses? 3 What good can come of it? 4 And if no good can
come
of
it the Holy Spirit cannot use it. 5 What He cannot transform to the Will of God
does
not
exist at all. 6 Grandiosity is delusional, because it is used to replace your
grandeur.
7
Yet what God has created cannot be replaced. 8 God is incomplete without you
because
His
grandeur is total, and you cannot be missing from it.
T-9.VIII.10.
You are altogether irreplaceable in the Mind of God. 2 No one else can
fill
your part in it, and while you leave your part of it empty your eternal place
merely
waits
for your return. 3 God, through His Voice, reminds you of it, and God Himself
keeps
your
extensions safe within it. 4 Yet you do not know them until you return to them.
5 You
cannot
replace the Kingdom, and you cannot replace yourself. 6 God, Who knows your
value,
would
not have it so, and so it is not so. 7 Your value is in God's Mind, and
therefore not
in
yours alone. 8 To accept yourself as God created you cannot be arrogance,
because it
is
the denial of arrogance. 9 To accept your littleness <is> arrogant,
because it means
that
you believe your evaluation of yourself is truer than God's.
T-9.VIII.11.
Yet if truth is indivisible, your evaluation of yourself must <be> God's.
2
You did not establish your value and it needs no defense. 3 Nothing can attack
it nor
prevail
over it. 4 It does not vary. 5 It merely <is.> 6 Ask the Holy Spirit what
it is and He
will
tell you, but do not be afraid of His answer, because it comes from God. 7 It
is
an
exalted answer because of its Source, but the Source is true and so is Its
answer. 8
Listen
and do not question what you hear, for God does not deceive. 9 He would have
you
replace
the ego's belief in littleness with His Own exalted Answer to what you are, so
that
you
can cease to question it and know it for what it is.
Chapter
10.
THE
IDOLS OF SICKNESS
Introduction
T-10.in.1.
Nothing beyond yourself can make you fearful or loving, because nothing
<is>
beyond
you. 2 Time and eternity are both in your mind, and will conflict until you
perceive
time solely as a means to regain eternity. 3 You cannot do this as long as you
believe
that
anything happening to you is caused by factors outside yourself. 4 You must
learn
that
time is solely at your disposal, and that nothing in the world can take this
responsibility
from you. 5 You can violate God's laws in your imagination, but you cannot
escape from
them.
6 They were established for your protection and are as inviolate as your
safety.
T-10.in.2.
God created nothing beside you and nothing beside you exists, for you are
part
of Him. 2 What except Him can exist? 3 Nothing beyond Him can happen, because
nothing
except
Him is real. 4 Your creations add to Him as you do, but nothing is added that
is
different
because everything has always been. 5 What can upset you except the ephemeral,
and how
can
the ephemeral be real if you are God's only creation and He created you
eternal? 6
Your
holy mind establishes everything that happens to you. 7 Every response you make
to
everything
you perceive is up to you, because your mind determines your perception of it.
T-10.in.3.
God does not change His Mind about you, for He is not uncertain of Himself.
2
And what He knows can be known, because He does not know it only for Himself. 3
He
created
you for Himself, but He gave you the power to create for yourself so you would
be like
Him.
4 That is why your mind is holy. 5 Can anything exceed the Love of God? 6 Can
anything,
then, exceed your will? 7 Nothing can reach you from beyond it because, being
in God,
you
encompass everything. 8 Believe this, and you will realize how much is up to
you. 9
When
anything threatens your peace of mind, ask yourself, "Has God changed His
Mind
about
me?" 10 Then accept His decision, for it is indeed changeless, and refuse
to change
your
mind about yourself. 11 God will never decide against you, or He would be
deciding
against
Himself.
I.
At Home in God
T-10.I.1.
You do not know your creations simply because you would decide against them
as
long as your mind is split, and to attack what you have created is impossible.
2 But
remember
that <it <is as impossible for God.> 3 The law of creation is that you
love your
creations
as yourself, because they are part of you. 4 Everything that was created is
therefore
perfectly
safe, because the laws of God protect it by His Love. 5 Any part of your mind
that
does
not know this has banished itself from knowledge, because it has not met its
conditions.
6 Who could have done this but you? 7 Recognize this gladly, for in this
recognition
lies
the realization that your banishment is not of God, and therefore does not
exist.
T-10.I.2.
You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening
to
reality. 2 Is it your decision to do so? 3 You recognize from your own
experience that
what
you see in dreams you think is real while you are asleep. 4 Yet the instant you
waken
you realize that everything that seemed to happen in the dream did not happen
at all.
5
You do not think this strange, even though all the laws of what you awaken to
were
violated
while you slept. 6 Is it not possible that you merely shifted from one dream to
another,
without really waking?
T-10.I.3.
Would you bother to reconcile what happened in conflicting dreams, or would
you
dismiss both together if you discovered that reality is in accord with neither?
2 You
do
not remember being awake. 3 When you hear the Holy Spirit you may feel better
because
loving
then seems possible to you, but you do not remember yet that it once was so. 4
And it
is
in this remembering that you will know it can be so again. 5 What is possible
has not
yet
been accomplished. 6 Yet what has once been is so now, if it is eternal. 7 When
you
remember,
you will know that what you remember is eternal, and therefore is now.
T-10.I.4.
You will remember everything the instant you desire it wholly, for if to
desire
wholly is to create, you will have willed away the separation, returning your
mind
simultaneously
to your Creator and your creations. 2 Knowing Them you will have no wish to
sleep, but
only
the desire to waken and be glad. 3 Dreams will be impossible because you will
want
only
truth, and being at last your will, it will be yours.
II.
The Decision to Forget
T-10.II.1.
Unless you first know something you cannot dissociate it. 2 Knowledge must
precede
dissociation, so that dissociation is nothing more than a decision to forget. 3
What
has
been forgotten then appears to be fearful, but only because the dissociation is
an
attack
on truth. 4 You are fearful <because> you have forgotten. 5 And you have
replaced your
knowledge
by an awareness of dreams because you are afraid of your dissociation, not of
what
you have dissociated. 6 When what you have dissociated is accepted, it ceases
to
be
fearful.
T-10.II.2.
Yet to give up the dissociation of reality brings more than merely lack of
fear.
2 In this decision lie joy and peace and the glory of creation. 3 Offer the
Holy
Spirit
only your willingness to remember, for He retains the knowledge of God and of
yourself
for
you, waiting for your acceptance. 4 Give up gladly everything that would stand
in
the
way of your remembering, for God is in your memory. 5 His Voice will tell you
that you
are
part of Him when you are willing to remember Him and know your own reality
again. 6
Let
nothing in this world delay your remembering of Him, for in this remembering is
the
knowledge
of yourself.
T-10.II.3.
To remember is merely to restore to your mind <what is already there.> 2
You
do
not make what you remember; you merely accept again what is already there, but
was
rejected.
3 The ability to accept truth in this world is the perceptual counterpart of
creating
in
the Kingdom. 4 God will do His part if you will do yours, and His return in
exchange
for
yours is the exchange of knowledge for perception. 5 Nothing is beyond His Will
for
you.
6 But signify your will to remember Him, and behold! 7 He will give you
everything
but
for the asking.
T-10.II.4.
When you attack, you are denying yourself. 2 You are specifically teaching
yourself
that you are not what you are. 3 Your denial of reality precludes the
acceptance of
God's
gift, because you have accepted something else in its place. 4 If you
understand that
this
is always an attack on truth, and truth is God, you will realize why it is
always
fearful.
5 If you further recognize that you are part of God, you will understand why it
is
that
you always attack yourself first.
T-10.II.5.
All attack is Self attack. 2 It cannot be anything else. 3 Arising from your
own
decision not to be what you are, it is an attack on your identification. 4
Attack
is
thus the way in which your identification is lost, because when you attack, you
must
have
forgotten what you are. 5 And if your reality is God's, when you attack you are
not
remembering
Him. 6 This is not because He is gone, but because you are actively choosing
not to
remember
Him.
T-10.II.6.
If you realized the complete havoc this makes of your peace of mind you
could
not make such an insane decision. 2 You make it only because you still believe
it can
get
you something you want. 3 It follows, then, that you want something other than
peace
of
mind, but you have not considered what it must be. 4 Yet the logical outcome of
your
decision
is perfectly clear, if you will only look at it. 5 By deciding against your
reality,
you
have made yourself vigilant <against> God and His Kingdom. 6 And it is
this vigilance
that
makes you afraid to remember Him.
III.
The God of Sickness
T-10.III.1.
You have not attacked God and you do love Him. 2 Can you change your
reality?
3 No one can will to destroy himself. 4 When you think you are attacking
yourself, it
is
a sure sign that you hate what you <think> you are. 5 And this, and only
this, can
be
attacked by you. 6 What you think you are can be very hateful, and what this strange
image
makes you do can be very destructive. 7 Yet the destruction is no more real
than the
image,
although those who make idols do worship them. 8 The idols are nothing, but
their
worshippers
are the Sons of God in sickness. 9 God would have them released from their
sickness
and
returned to His Mind. 10 He will not limit your power to help them, because He
has
given
it to you. 11 Do not be afraid of it, because it is your salvation.
T-10.III.2.
What Comforter can there be for the sick children of God except His power
through
you? 2 Remember that it does not matter where in the Sonship He is accepted. 3
He is
always
accepted for all, and when your mind receives Him the remembrance of Him
awakens
throughout
the Sonship. 4 Heal your brothers simply by accepting God for them. 5 Your
minds are
not
separate, and God has only one channel for healing because He has but one Son.
6 God's
remaining
Communication Link with all His children joins them together, and them to Him.
7
To be aware of this is to heal them because it is the awareness that no one is
separate,
and so no one is sick.
T-10.III.3.
To believe that a Son of God can be sick is to believe that part of God can
suffer.
2 Love cannot suffer, because it cannot attack. 3 The remembrance of love
therefore
brings invulnerability with it. 4 Do not side with sickness in the presence of
a Son
of
God even if he believes in it, for your acceptance of God in him acknowledges
the Love
of
God he has forgotten. 5 Your recognition of him as part of God reminds him of
the
truth
about himself, which he is denying. 6 Would you strengthen his denial of God
and thus
lose
sight of yourself? 7 Or would you remind him of his wholeness and remember your
Creator
with him?
T-10.III.4.
To believe a Son of God is sick is to worship the same idol he does. 2 God
created
love, not idolatry. 3 All forms of idolatry are caricatures of creation, taught
by
sick
minds too divided to know that creation shares power and never usurps it. 4
Sickness
is
idolatry, because it is the belief that power can be taken from you. 5 Yet this
is
impossible,
because you are part of God, Who is all power. 6 A sick god must be an idol,
made in
the
image of what its maker thinks he is. 7 And that is exactly what the ego does
perceive
in
a Son of God; a sick god, self-created, self-sufficient, very vicious and very
vulnerable.
8 Is this the idol you would worship? 9 Is this the image you would be vigilant
to
save?
10 Are you really afraid of losing this?
T-10.III.5.
Look calmly at the logical conclusion of the ego's thought system and judge
whether
its offering is really what you want, for this <is> what it offers you. 2
To
obtain
this you are willing to attack the Divinity of your brothers, and thus lose sight
of
yours.
3 And you are willing to keep it hidden, to protect an idol you think will save
you
from
the dangers for which it stands, but which do not exist.
T-10.III.6.
There are no idolaters in the Kingdom, but there is great appreciation for
everything
that God created, because of the calm knowledge that each one is part of Him. 2
God's
Son
knows no idols, but he does know his Father. 3 Health in this world is the
counterpart
of
value in Heaven. 4 It is not my merit that I contribute to you but my love, for
you
do
not value yourself. 5 When you do not value yourself you become sick, but my
value of
you
can heal you, because the value of God's Son is one. 6 When I said, "My
peace I give
unto
you," I meant it. 7 Peace comes from God through me to you. 8 It is for
you although
you
may not ask for it.
T-10.III.7.
When a brother is sick it is because he is not asking for peace, and
therefore
does not know he has it. 2 The acceptance of peace is the denial of illusion,
and
sickness
<is> an illusion. 3 Yet every Son of God has the power to deny illusions
anywhere in
the
Kingdom, merely by denying them completely in himself. 4 I can heal you because
I know
you.
5 I know your value for you, and it is this value that makes you whole. 6 A
whole
mind
is not idolatrous, and does not know of conflicting laws. 7 I will heal you
merely
because
I have only one message, and it is true. 8 Your faith in it will make you whole
when
you
have faith in me.
T-10.III.8.
I do not bring God's message with deception, and you will learn this as you
learn
that you always receive as much as you accept. 2 You could accept peace now for
everyone,
and offer them perfect freedom from all illusions because you heard His Voice.
3 But
have
no other gods before Him or you will not hear. 4 God is not jealous of the gods
you
make,
but you are. 5 You would save them and serve them, because you believe that
they made
you.
6 You think they are your father, because you are projecting onto them the
fearful
fact
that you made them to replace God. 7 Yet when they seem to speak to you,
remember
that
nothing can replace God, and whatever replacements you have attempted are
nothing.
T-10.III.9.
Very simply, then, you may believe you are afraid of nothingness, but you
are
really afraid of nothing. 2 And in that awareness you are healed. 3 You will
hear the
god
you listen to. 4 You made the god of sickness, and by making him you made
yourself
able
to hear him. 5 Yet you did not create him, because he is not the Will of the
Father. 6
He
is therefore not eternal and will be unmade for you the instant you signify
your
willingness
to accept only the eternal.
T-10.III.10.
If God has but one Son, there is but one God. 2 You share reality with Him,
because
reality is not divided. 3 To accept other gods before Him is to place other
images
before yourself. 4 You do not realize how much you listen to your gods, and how
vigilant
you are on their behalf. 5 Yet they exist only because you honor them. 6 Place
honor
where
it is due, and peace will be yours. 7 It is your inheritance from your real
Father. 8
You
cannot make your Father, and the father you made did not make you. 9 Honor is
not due
to
illusions, for to honor them is to honor nothing. 10 Yet fear is not due them
either,
for
nothing cannot be fearful. 11 You have chosen to fear love because of its
perfect
harmlessness,
and because of this fear you have been willing to give up your own perfect
helpfulness
and your own perfect Help.
T-10.III.11.
Only at the altar of God will you find peace. 2 And this altar is in you
because
God put it there. 3 His Voice still calls you to return, and He will be heard
when you
place
no other gods before Him. 4 You can give up the god of sickness for your
brothers;
in
fact, you would have to do so if you give him up for yourself. 5 For if you see
the
god
of sickness anywhere, you have accepted him. 6 And if you accept him you will
bow
down
and worship him, because he was made as God's replacement. 7 He is the belief
that you
can
choose which god is real. 8 Although it is clear this has nothing to do with
reality,
it is equally clear that it has everything to do with reality as you perceive
it.
IV.
The End of Sickness
T-10.IV.1.
All magic is an attempt at reconciling the irreconcilable. 2 All religion is
the
recognition that the irreconcilable cannot be reconciled. 3 Sickness and
perfection
are
irreconcilable. 4 If God created you perfect, you <are> perfect. 5 If you
believe
you
can be sick, you have placed other gods before Him. 6 God is not at war with
the god
of
sickness you made, but you are. 7 He is the symbol of deciding against God, and
you
are
afraid of him because he cannot be reconciled with God's Will. 8 If you attack
him,
you
will make him real to you. 9 But if you refuse to worship him in whatever form
he may
appear
to you, and wherever you think you see him, he will disappear into the
nothingness out
of
which he was made.
T-10.IV.2.
Reality can dawn only on an unclouded mind. 2 It is always there to be
accepted,
but its acceptance depends on your willingness to have it. 3 To know reality
must
involve
the willingness to judge unreality for what it is. 4 To overlook nothingness is
merely
to
judge it correctly, and because of your ability to evaluate it truly, to let it
go.
5
Knowledge cannot dawn on a mind full of illusions, because truth and illusions
are
irreconcilable.
6 Truth is whole, and cannot be known by part of a mind.
T-10.IV.3.
The Sonship cannot be perceived as partly sick, because to perceive it that
way
is not to perceive it at all. 2 If the Sonship is One, it is One in all
respects. 3
Oneness
cannot be divided. 4 If you perceive other gods your mind is split, and you
will not
be
able to limit the split, because it is the sign that you have removed part of
your
mind
from God's Will. 5 This means it is out of control. 6 To be out of control is
to be
out
of reason, and then the mind does become unreasonable. 7 By defining the mind
wrongly,
you
perceive it as functioning wrongly.
T-10.IV.4.
God's laws will keep your mind at peace because peace is His Will, and His
laws
are established to uphold it. 2 His are the laws of freedom, but yours are the
laws of
bondage.
3 Since freedom and bondage are irreconcilable, their laws cannot be
understood
together. 4 The laws of God work only for your good, and there are no other
laws
beside
His. 5 Everything else is merely lawless and therefore chaotic. 6 Yet God
Himself has
protected
everything He created by His laws. 7 Everything that is not under them does not
exist.
8
"Laws of chaos" is a meaningless term. 9 Creation is perfectly
lawful, and the
chaotic
is without meaning because it is without God. 10 You have "given"
your peace to the
gods
you made, but they are not there to take it from you, and you cannot give it to
them.
T-10.IV.5.
You are not free to give up freedom, but only to deny it. 2 You cannot do
what
God did not intend, because what He did not intend does not happen. 3 Your gods
do not
bring
chaos; you are endowing them with chaos, and accepting it of them. 4 All this
has
never
been. 5 Nothing but the laws of God has ever been, and nothing but His Will
will
ever
be. 6 You were created through His laws and by His Will, and the manner of your
creation
established you a creator. 7 What you have made is so unworthy of you that you
could
hardly
want it, if you were willing to see it as it is. 8 You will see nothing at all.
9 And
your
vision will automatically look beyond it, to what is in you and all around you.
10
Reality
cannot break through the obstructions you interpose, but it will envelop you
completely
when you let them go.
T-10.IV.6.
When you have experienced the protection of God, the making of idols becomes
inconceivable.
2 There are no strange images in the Mind of God, and what is not in His
Mind
cannot be in yours, because you are of one mind and that mind belongs to Him. 3
It
is
yours <because> it belongs to Him, for to Him ownership is sharing. 4 And
if it is
so
for Him, it is so for you. 5 His definitions <are> His laws, for by them
He
established
the universe as what it is. 6 No false gods you attempt to interpose between
yourself
and
your reality affect truth at all. 7 Peace is yours because God created you. 8
And He
created
nothing else.
T-10.IV.7.
The miracle is the act of a Son of God who has laid aside all false gods,
and
calls on his brothers to do likewise. 2 It is an act of faith, because it is
the
recognition
that his brother can do it. 3 It is a call to the Holy Spirit in his mind, a
call that
is
strengthened by joining. 4 Because the miracle worker has heard God's Voice, he
strengthens
It in a sick brother by weakening his belief in sickness, which he does not
share. 5
The
power of one mind can shine into another, because all the lamps of God were lit
by the
same
spark. 6 It is everywhere and it is eternal.
T-10.IV.8.
In many only the spark remains, for the Great Rays are obscured. 2 Yet God
has
kept the spark alive so that the Rays can never be completely forgotten. 3 If
you but
see
the little spark you will learn of the greater light, for the Rays are there
unseen. 4
Perceiving
the spark will heal, but knowing the light will create. 5 Yet in the
returning
the little light must be acknowledged first, for the separation was a descent
from
magnitude
to littleness. 6 But the spark is still as pure as the Great Light, because it
is the
remaining
call of creation. 7 Put all your faith in it, and God Himself will answer you.
V.
The Denial of God
T-10.V.1.
The rituals of the god of sickness are strange and very demanding. 2 Joy is
never
permitted, for depression is the sign of allegiance to him. 3 Depression means
that
you
have forsworn God. 4 Many are afraid of blasphemy, but they do not understand
what it
means.
5 They do not realize that to deny God is to deny their own Identity, and in
this
sense
the wages of sin <is> death. 6 The sense is very literal; denial of life
perceives its
opposite,
as all forms of denial replace what is with what is not. 7 No one can really
do
this, but that you can think you can and believe you have is beyond dispute.
T-10.V.2.
Do not forget, however, that to deny God will inevitably result in projection,
and
you will believe that others and not yourself have done this to you. 2 You must
receive
the message you give because it is the message you want. 3 You may believe that
you
judge
your brothers by the messages they give you, but you have judged them by the
message
you
give to them. 4 Do not attribute your denial of joy to them, or you cannot see
the
spark
in them that would bring joy to you. 5 It is the denial of the spark that
brings
depression,
for whenever you see your brothers without it, you are denying God.
T-10.V.3.
Allegiance to the denial of God is the ego's religion. 2 The god of sickness
obviously
demands the denial of health, because health is in direct opposition to its own
survival.
3 But consider what this means to you. 4 Unless you are sick you cannot keep
the gods
you
made, for only in sickness could you possibly want them. 5 Blasphemy, then, is
<
self-destructive,>
not God-destructive. 6 It means that you are willing not to know yourself in
order
to
be sick. 7 This is the offering your god demands because, having made him out
of your
insanity,
he is an insane idea. 8 He has many forms, but although he may seem to be many
different
things he is but one idea;--the denial of God.
T-10.V.4.
Sickness and death seemed to enter the mind of God's Son against His Will. 2
The
"attack on God" made His Son think he was Fatherless, and out of his
depression he
made
the god of depression. 3 This was his alternative to joy, because he would not
accept
the
fact that, although he was a creator, he had been created. 4 Yet the Son
<is> helpless
without
the Father, Who alone is his Help.
T-10.V.5.
I said before that of yourself you can do nothing, but you are not <of>
yourself.
2 If you were, what you have made would be true, and you could never escape. 3
It is
because
you did not make yourself that you need be troubled over nothing. 4 Your gods
are
nothing,
because your Father did not create them. 5 You cannot make creators who are
unlike
your
Creator, any more than He could have created a Son who was unlike Him. 6 If
creation
is
sharing, it cannot create what is unlike itself. 7 It can share only what it
is. 8
Depression
is isolation, and so it could not have been created.
T-10.V.6.
Son of God, you have not sinned, but you have been much mistaken. 2 Yet this
can
be corrected and God will help you, knowing that you could not sin against Him.
3 You
denied
Him because you loved Him, knowing that if you recognized your love for Him,
you could
not
deny Him. 4 Your denial of Him therefore means that you love Him, and that you
know
He
loves you. 5 Remember that what you deny you must have once known. 6 And if you
accept
denial, you can accept its undoing.
T-10.V.7.
Your Father has not denied you. 2 He does not retaliate, but He does call to
you
to return. 3 When you think He has not answered your call, you have not
answered His.
4
He calls to you from every part of the Sonship, because of His Love for His
Son. 5 If
you
hear His message He has answered you, and you will learn of Him if you hear
aright. 6
The
Love of God is in everything He created, for His Son is everywhere. 7 Look with
peace
upon
your brothers, and God will come rushing into your heart in gratitude for your
gift to
Him.
T-10.V.8.
Do not look to the god of sickness for healing but only to the God of love,
for
healing is the acknowledgment of Him. 2 When you acknowledge Him you will know
that He
has
never ceased to acknowledge you, and that in His acknowledgment of you lies
your
being.
3 You are not sick and you cannot die. 4 But you can confuse yourself with
things
that
do. 5 Remember, though, that to do this is blasphemy, for it means that you are
looking
without love on God and His creation, from which He cannot be separated.
T-10.V.9.
Only the eternal can be loved, for love does not die. 2 What is of God is His
forever,
and you are of God. 3 Would He allow Himself to suffer? 4 And would He offer
His
Son anything that is not acceptable to Him? 5 If you will accept yourself as
God
created
you, you will be incapable of suffering. 6 Yet to do this you must acknowledge
Him as
your
Creator. 7 This is not because you will be punished otherwise. 8 It is merely
because
your
acknowledgment of your Father is the acknowledgment of yourself as you are. 9
Your
Father
created you wholly without sin, wholly without pain and wholly without
suffering of
any
kind. 10 If you deny Him you bring sin, pain and suffering into your own mind
because
of
the power He gave it. 11 Your mind is capable of creating worlds, but it can
also deny
what
it creates because it is free.
T-10.V.10.
You do not realize how much you have denied yourself, and how much God, in
His
Love, would not have it so. 2 Yet He would not interfere with you, because He
would
not
know His Son if he were not free. 3 To interfere with you would be to attack
Himself,
and
God is not insane. 4 When you deny Him <you> are insane. 5 Would you have
Him share
your
insanity? 6 God will never cease to love His Son, and His Son will never cease
to love
Him.
7 That was the condition of His Son's creation, fixed forever in the Mind of
God.
8
To know that is sanity. 9 To deny it is insanity. 10 God gave Himself to you in
your
creation,
and His gifts are eternal. 11 Would you deny yourself to Him?
T-10.V.11.
Out of your gifts to Him the Kingdom will be restored to His Son. 2 His Son
removed
himself from His gift by refusing to accept what had been created for him, and
what he
had
created in the Name of his Father. 3 Heaven waits for his return, for it was
created
as the dwelling place of God's Son. 4 You are not at home anywhere else, or in
any
other
condition. 5 Do not deny yourself the joy that was created for you for the
misery you
have
made for yourself. 6 God has given you the means for undoing what you have
made. 7
Listen,
and you will learn how to remember what you are.
T-10.V.12.
If God knows His children as wholly sinless, it is blasphemous to perceive
them
as guilty. 2 If God knows His children as wholly without pain, it is
blasphemous to
perceive
suffering anywhere. 3 If God knows His children to be wholly joyous, it is
blasphemous
to
feel depressed. 4 All of these illusions, and the many other forms that
blasphemy
may
take, are refusals to accept creation as it is. 5 If God created His Son
perfect, that
is
how you must learn to see him to learn of his reality. 6 And as part of the
Sonship,
that
is how you must see yourself to learn of yours.
T-10.V.13.
Do not perceive anything God did not create or you are denying Him. 2 His is
the
only Fatherhood, and it is yours only because He has given it to you. 3 Your
gifts
to
yourself are meaningless, but your gifts to your creations are like His,
because they
are
given in His Name. 4 That is why your creations are as real as His. 5 Yet the
real
Fatherhood
must be acknowledged if the real Son is to be known. 6 You believe that the
sick
things
you have made are your real creations, because you believe that the sick images
you
perceive
are the Sons of God. 7 Only if you accept the Fatherhood of God will you have
anything,
because
His Fatherhood gave you everything. 8 That is why to deny Him is to deny
yourself.
T-10.V.14.
Arrogance is the denial of love, because love shares and arrogance withholds.
2
As long as both appear to you to be desirable the concept of choice, which is
not of
God,
will remain with you. 3 While this is not true in eternity it <is> true
in time,
so
that while time lasts in your mind there will be choices. 4 Time itself is your
choice.
5
If you would remember eternity, you must look only on the eternal. 6 If you
allow
yourself
to become preoccupied with the temporal, you are living in time. 7 As always,
your
choice
is determined by what you value. 8 Time and eternity cannot both be real,
because they
contradict
each other. 9 If you will accept only what is timeless as real, you will
begin
to understand eternity and make it yours.
Chapter
11.
GOD
OR THE EGO
Introduction
T-11.in.1.
Either God or the ego is insane. 2 If you will examine the evidence on both
sides
fairly, you will realize this must be true. 3 Neither God nor the ego proposes
a
partial
thought system. 4 Each is internally consistent, but they are diametrically
opposed in
all
respects so that partial allegiance is impossible. 5 Remember, too, that their
results
are as different as their foundations, and their fundamentally irreconcilable
natures
cannot
be reconciled by vacillations between them. 6 Nothing alive is fatherless, for
life is
creation.
7 Therefore, your decision is always an answer to the question, "Who is my
father?"
8 And you will be faithful to the father you choose.
T-11.in.2.
Yet what would you say to someone who believed this question really involves
conflict?
2 If you made the ego, how can the ego have made you? 3 The authority problem
is
still the only source of conflict, because the ego was made out of the wish of
God's
Son
to father Him. 4 The ego, then, is nothing more than a delusional system in
which
you
made your own father. 5 Make no mistake about this. 6 It sounds insane when it is
stated
with perfect honesty, but the ego never looks on what it does with perfect
honesty. 7
Yet
that is its insane premise, which is carefully hidden in the dark cornerstone
of its
thought
system. 8 And either the ego, which you made, <is> your father, or its
whole thought
system
will not stand.
T-11.in.3.
You make by projection, but God creates by extension. 2 The cornerstone of
God's
creation is you, for His thought system is light. 3 Remember the Rays that are
there
unseen.
4 The more you approach the center of His thought system, the clearer the light
becomes.
5 The closer you come to the foundation of the ego's thought system, the darker
and
more
obscure becomes the way. 6 Yet even the little spark in your mind is enough to
lighten
it.
7 Bring this light fearlessly with you, and bravely hold it up to the
foundation of
the
ego's thought system. 8 Be willing to judge it with perfect honesty. 9 Open the
dark
cornerstone of terror on which it rests, and bring it out into the light. 10
There you
will
see that it rested on meaninglessness, and that everything of which you have
been
afraid
was based on nothing.
T-11.in.4.
My brother, you are part of God and part of me. 2 When you have at last
looked
at the ego's foundation without shrinking you will also have looked upon ours.
3 I
come
to you from our Father to offer you everything again. 4 Do not refuse it in
order to
keep
a dark cornerstone hidden, for its protection will not save you. 5 I give you
the lamp
and
I will go with you. 6 You will not take this journey alone. 7 I will lead you
to
your
true Father, Who hath need of you, as I have. 8 Will you not answer the call of
love
with
joy?
I.
The Gifts of Fatherhood
T-11.I.1.
You have learned your need of healing. 2 Would you bring anything else to the
Sonship,
recognizing your need of healing for yourself? 3 For in this lies the
beginning
of the return to knowledge; the foundation on which God will help build again
the
thought
system you share with Him. 4 Not one stone you place upon it but will be blessed
by
Him,
for you will be restoring the holy dwelling place of His Son, where He wills
His Son
to
be and where he is. 5 In whatever part of the mind of God's Son you restore
this
reality,
you restore it to yourself. 6 You dwell in the Mind of God with your brother,
for God
Himself
did not will to be alone.
T-11.I.2.
To be alone is to be separated from infinity, but how can this be if infinity
has
no end? 2 No one can be beyond the limitless, because what has no limits must
be
everywhere.
3 There are no beginnings and no endings in God, Whose universe is Himself. 4
Can you
exclude
yourself from the universe, or from God Who <is> the universe? 5 I and my
Father
are one with you, for you are part of Us. 6 Do you really believe that part of
God can
be
missing or lost to Him?
T-11.I.3.
If you were not part of God, His Will would not be unified. 2 Is this
conceivable?
3 Can part of His Mind contain nothing? 4 If your place in His Mind cannot be
filled
by
anyone except you, and your filling it was your creation, without you there
would be
an
empty place in God's Mind. 5 Extension cannot be blocked, and it has no voids.
6 It
continues
forever, however much it is denied. 7 Your denial of its reality may arrest it
in time,
but
not in eternity. 8 That is why your creations have not ceased to be extended,
and
why
so much is waiting for your return.
T-11.I.4.
Waiting is possible only in time, but time has no meaning. 2 You who made
delay
can leave time behind simply by recognizing that neither beginnings nor endings
were
created
by the Eternal, Who placed no limits on His creation or upon those who create
like Him.
3
You do not know this simply because you have tried to limit what He created,
and so
you
believe that all creation is limited. 4 How, then, could you know your
creations,
having
denied infinity?
T-11.I.5.
The laws of the universe do not permit contradiction. 2 What holds for God
holds
for you. 3 If you believe you are absent from God, you will believe that He is
absent
from
you. 4 Infinity is meaningless without you, and you are meaningless without
God. 5
There
is no end to God and His Son, for we <are> the universe. 6 God is not
incomplete, and
He
is not childless. 7 Because He did not will to be alone, He created a Son like
Himself.
8
Do not deny Him His Son, for your unwillingness to accept His Fatherhood has
denied
you
yours. 9 See His creations as His Son, for yours were created in honor of Him.
10 The
universe
of love does not stop because you do not see it, nor have your closed eyes lost
the
ability
to see. 11 Look upon the glory of His creation, and you will learn what God has
kept
for
you.
T-11.I.6.
God has given you a place in His Mind that is yours forever. 2 Yet you can
keep
it only by giving it, as it was given you. 3 Could you be alone there, when it
was
given
you because God did not will to be alone? 4 God's Mind cannot be lessened. 5 It
can
only
be increased, for everything He creates has the function of creating. 6 Love
does not
limit,
and what it creates is not limited. 7 To give without limit is God's Will for
you,
because
only this can bring you the joy that is His and that He wills to share with
you. 8
Your
love is as boundless as His because it <is> His.
T-11.I.7.
Could any part of God be without His Love, and could any part of His Love be
contained?
2 God is your heritage, because His one gift is Himself. 3 How can you give
except
like
Him if you would know His gift to you? 4 Give, then, without limit and without
end, to
learn
how much He has given you. 5 Your ability to accept Him depends on your
willingness
to give as He gives. 6 Your fatherhood and your Father are One. 7 God wills to
create,
and
your will is His. 8 It follows, then, that you will to create, since your will
follows
from His. 9 And being an extension of His Will, yours must be the same.
T-11.I.8.
Yet what you will you do not know. 2 This is not strange when you realize
that
to deny is to "not know." 3 God's Will is that you are His Son. 4 By
denying this you
deny
your own will, and therefore do not know what it is. 5 You must ask what God's
Will is
in
everything, because it is yours. 6 You do not know what it is, but the Holy
Spirit
remembers
it for you. 7 Ask Him, therefore, what God's Will is for you, and He will tell
you
yours.
8 It cannot be too often repeated that you do not know it. 9 Whenever what the
Holy
Spirit
tells you appears to be coercive, it is only because you have not recognized
your will.
T-11.I.9.
The projection of the ego makes it appear as if God's Will is outside
yourself,
and therefore not yours. 2 In this interpretation it seems possible for God's
Will
and
yours to conflict. 3 God, then, may seem to demand of you what you do not want
to give,
and
thus deprive you of what you want. 4 Would God, Who wants only your will, be
capable
of this? 5 Your will is His life, which He has given to you. 6 Even in time you
cannot
live
apart from Him. 7 Sleep is not death. 8 What He created can sleep, but cannot
die.
9
Immortality is His Will for His Son, and His Son's will for himself. 10 God's
Son
cannot
will death for himself because his Father is life, and His Son is like Him. 11
Creation
is your will <because> it is His.
T-11.I.10.
You cannot be happy unless you do what you will truly, and you cannot change
this
because it is immutable. 2 It is immutable by God's Will and yours, for
otherwise
His
Will would not be extended. 3 You are afraid to know God's Will, because you
believe
it
is not yours. 4 This belief is your whole sickness and your whole fear. 5 Every
symptom
of sickness and fear arises here, because this is the belief that makes you
<want> not
to
know. 6 Believing this you hide in darkness, denying that the light is in you.
T-11.I.11.
You are asked to trust the Holy Spirit only because He speaks for you. 2 He
is
the Voice for God, but never forget that God did not will to be alone. 3 He
shares His
Will
with you; He does not thrust it upon you. 4 Always remember that what He gives
He
keeps,
so that nothing He gives can contradict Him. 5 You who share His life must
share it
to
know it, for sharing <is> knowing. 6 Blessed are you who learn that to
hear the Will
of
your Father is to know your own. 7 For it is your will to be like Him, Whose
Will it
is
that it be so. 8 God's Will is that His Son be One, and united with Him in His
Oneness.
9
That is why healing is the beginning of the recognition that your will is His.
II.
The Invitation to Healing
T-11.II.1.
If sickness is separation, the decision to heal and to be healed is the
first
step toward recognizing what you truly want. 2 Every attack is a step away from
this,
and
every healing thought brings it closer. 3 The Son of God <has> both
Father and Son,
because
he <is> both Father and Son. 4 To unite <having> and <being>
is to unite your will
with
His, for He wills you Himself. 5 And you will yourself to Him because, in your
perfect
understanding
of Him, you know there is but one Will. 6 Yet when you attack any part of
God
and His Kingdom your understanding is not perfect, and what you really want is
therefore
lost to you.
T-11.II.2.
Healing thus becomes a lesson in understanding, and the more you practice it
the
better teacher and learner you become. 2 If you have denied truth, what better
witnesses
to its reality could you have than those who have been healed by it? 3 But be
sure to
count
yourself among them, for in your willingness to join them is your healing
accomplished.
4
Every miracle that you accomplish speaks to you of the Fatherhood of God. 5
Every
healing
thought that you accept, either from your brother or in your own mind, teaches
you
that
you are God's Son. 6 In every hurtful thought you hold, wherever you perceive
it, lies
the
denial of God's Fatherhood and of your Sonship.
T-11.II.3.
And denial is as total as love. 2 You cannot deny part of yourself, because
the
rest will seem to be separate and therefore without meaning. 3 And being
without
meaning
to you, you will not understand it. 4 To deny meaning is to fail to understand.
5 You
can
heal only yourself, for only God's Son needs healing. 6 You need it because you
do not
understand
yourself, and therefore know not what you do. 7 Having forgotten your will,
you
do not know what you really want.
T-11.II.4.
Healing is a sign that you want to make whole. 2 And this willingness opens
your
ears to the Voice of the Holy Spirit, Whose message is wholeness. 3 He will
enable you
to
go far beyond the healing you would undertake, for beside your small
willingness to
make
whole He will lay His Own complete Will and make yours whole. 4 What can the
Son of
God
not accomplish with the Fatherhood of God in him? 5 And yet the invitation must
come
from
you, for you have surely learned that whom you invite as your guest will abide
with
you.
T-11.II.5.
The Holy Spirit cannot speak to an unwelcoming host, because He will not be
heard.
2 The Eternal Guest remains, but His Voice grows faint in alien company. 3 He
needs
your
protection, only because your care is a sign that you want Him. 4 Think like
Him ever
so
slightly, and the little spark becomes a blazing light that fills your mind so
that He
becomes
your only Guest. 5 Whenever you ask the ego to enter, you lessen His welcome. 6
He
will remain, but you have allied yourself against Him. 7 Whatever journey you
choose
to
take, He will go with you, waiting. 8 You can safely trust His patience, for He
cannot
leave a part of God. 9 Yet you need far more than patience.
T-11.II.6.
You will never rest until you know your function and fulfill it, for only in
this
can your will and your Father's be wholly joined. 2 To have Him is to be like
Him,
and
He has given Himself to you. 3 You who have God must be as God, for His
function
became
yours with His gift. 4 Invite this knowledge back into your mind, and let
nothing that
obscures
it enter. 5 The Guest Whom God sent you will teach you how to do this, if you
but
recognize the little spark and are willing to let it grow. 6 Your willingness
need not
be
perfect, because His is. 7 If you will merely offer Him a little place, He will
lighten
it so much that you will gladly let it be increased. 8 And by this increase,
you will
begin
to remember creation.
T-11.II.7.
Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God? 2 You will accept only whom
you
invite. 3 You are free to determine who shall be your guest, and how long he
shall
remain
with you. 4 Yet this is not real freedom, for it still depends on how you see
it. 5
The
Holy Spirit is there, although He cannot help you without your invitation. 6
And the
ego
is nothing, whether you invite it in or not. 7 Real freedom depends on
welcoming
reality,
and of your guests only the Holy Spirit is real. 8 Know, then, Who abides with
you
merely
by recognizing what is there already, and do not be satisfied with imaginary
comforters,
for the Comforter of God is in you.
III.
From Darkness to Light
T-11.III.1.
When you are weary, remember you have hurt yourself. 2 Your Comforter will
rest
you, but you cannot. 3 You do not know how, for if you did you could never have
grown
weary.
4 Unless you hurt yourself you could never suffer in any way, for that is not
God's
Will
for His Son. 5 Pain is not of Him, for He knows no attack and His peace
surrounds you
silently.
6 God is very quiet, for there is no conflict in Him. 7 Conflict is the root of
all
evil,
for being blind it does not see whom it attacks. 8 Yet it always attacks the
Son of
God,
and the Son of God is you.
T-11.III.2.
God's Son is indeed in need of comfort, for he knows not what he does,
believing
his will is not his own. 2 The Kingdom is his, and yet he wanders homeless. 3
At home
in
God he is lonely, and amid all his brothers he is friendless. 4 Would God let
this be
real,
when He did not will to be alone Himself? 5 And if your will is His it cannot
be true
of
you, because it is not true of Him.
T-11.III.3.
O my child, if you knew what God wills for you, your joy would be complete!
2
And what He wills has happened, for it was always true. 3 When the light comes
and
you
have said, "God's Will is mine," you will see such beauty that you
will know it is not
of
you. 4 Out of your joy you will create beauty in His Name, for your joy could
no
more
be contained than His. 5 The bleak little world will vanish into nothingness,
and your
heart
will be so filled with joy that it will leap into Heaven, and into the Presence
of
God. 6 I cannot tell you what this will be like, for your heart is not ready. 7
Yet I
can
tell you, and remind you often, that what God wills for Himself He wills for
you, and
what
He wills for you is yours.
T-11.III.4.
The way is not hard, but it <is> very different. 2 Yours is the way of
pain,
of
which God knows nothing. 3 That way is hard indeed, and very lonely. 4 Fear and
grief
are your guests, and they go with you and abide with you on the way. 5 But the
dark
journey
is not the way of God's Son. 6 Walk in light and do not see the dark
companions, for
they
are not fit companions for the Son of God, who was created <of> light and
<in> light.
7
The Great Light always surrounds you and shines out from you. 8 How can you see
the
dark
companions in a light such as this? 9 If you see them, it is only because you
are
denying
the light. 10 But deny them instead, for the light is here and the way is
clear.
T-11.III.5.
God hides nothing from His Son, even though His Son would hide himself. 2
Yet
the Son of God cannot hide his glory, for God wills him to be glorious, and gave
him
the
light that shines in him. 3 You will never lose your way, for God leads you. 4
When
you
wander, you but undertake a journey that is not real. 5 The dark companions,
the dark
way,
are all illusions. 6 Turn toward the light, for the little spark in you is part
of a
light
so great that it can sweep you out of all darkness forever. 7 For your Father
<is>
your
Creator, and you <are> like Him.
T-11.III.6.
The children of light cannot abide in darkness, for darkness is not in them.
2
Do not be deceived by the dark comforters, and never let them enter the mind of
God's
Son, for they have no place in His temple. 3 When you are tempted to deny Him
remember
that
there <are> no other gods to place before Him, and accept His Will for
you in
peace.
4 For you cannot accept it otherwise.
T-11.III.7.
Only God's Comforter can comfort you. 2 In the quiet of His temple, He
waits
to give you the peace that is yours. 3 Give His peace, that you may enter the
temple
and
find it waiting for you. 4 But be holy in the Presence of God, or you will not
know
that
you are there. 5 For what is unlike God cannot enter His Mind, because it was
not His
Thought
and therefore does not belong to Him. 6 And your mind must be as pure as His,
if you
would
know what belongs to you. 7 Guard carefully His temple, for He Himself dwells
there
and
abides in peace. 8 You cannot enter God's Presence with the dark companions
beside you,
but
you also cannot enter alone. 9 All your brothers must enter with you, for until
you
have accepted them <you> cannot enter. 10 For you cannot understand
wholeness unless
you
are whole, and no part of the Son can be excluded if he would know the
Wholeness of
his
Father.
T-11.III.8.
In your mind you can accept the whole Sonship and bless it with the light
your
Father gave it. 2 Then you will be worthy to dwell in the temple with Him,
because it
is
your will not to be alone. 3 God blessed His Son forever. 4 If you will bless
him in
time,
you will be in eternity. 5 Time cannot separate you from God if you use it on
behalf
of
the eternal.
IV.
The Inheritance of God's Son
T-11.IV.1.
Never forget that the Sonship is your salvation, for the Sonship is your
Self.
2 As God's creation It is yours, and belonging to you It is His. 3 Your Self
does not
need
salvation, but your mind needs to learn what salvation is. 4 You are not saved
<
from>
anything, but you are saved <for> glory. 5 Glory is your inheritance,
given you by
your
Creator that you might extend it. 6 Yet if you hate part of your Self all your
understanding
is lost, because you are looking on what God created as yourself without love.
7 And
since
what He created is part of Him, you are denying Him His place in His Own altar.
T-11.IV.2.
Could you try to make God homeless and know that you are at home? 2 Can the
Son
deny the Father without believing that the Father has denied him? 3 God's laws
hold
only
for your protection, and they never hold in vain. 4 What you experience when
you deny
your
Father is still for your protection, for the power of your will cannot be
lessened
without
the intervention of God against it, and any limitation on your power is not the
Will
of
God. 5 Therefore, look only to the power that God gave to save you, remembering
that
it
is yours <because> it is His, and join with your brothers in His peace.
T-11.IV.3.
Your peace lies in its limitlessness. 2 Limit the peace you share, and your
Self
must be unknown to you. 3 Every altar to God is part of you, because the light
He
created
is one with Him. 4 Would you cut off a brother from the light that is yours? 5
You
would
not do so if you realized that you can darken only your own mind. 6 As you
bring him
back,
so will you return. 7 That is the law of God, for the protection of the
Wholeness of
His
Son.
T-11.IV.4.
<Only <you <can <deprive <yourself <of <anything.> 2 Do
not oppose this
realization,
for it is truly the beginning of the dawn of light. 3 Remember also that the
denial
of
this simple fact takes many forms, and these you must learn to recognize and to
oppose
steadfastly,
without exception. 4 This is a crucial step in the reawakening. 5 The
beginning
phases of this reversal are often quite painful, for as blame is withdrawn from
without,
there is a strong tendency to harbor it within. 6 It is difficult at first to
realize
that
this is exactly the same thing, for there is no distinction between within and
without.
T-11.IV.5.
If your brothers are part of you and you blame them for your deprivation,
you
are blaming yourself. 2 And you cannot blame yourself without blaming them. 3
That is
why
blame must be undone, not seen elsewhere. 4 Lay it to yourself and you cannot
know
yourself,
for only the ego blames at all. 5 Self-blame is therefore ego identification,
and as
much
an ego defense as blaming others. 6 <You cannot enter God's Presence if you
attack
His
Son.> 7 When His Son lifts his voice in praise of his Creator, he will hear
the Voice
for
his Father. 8 Yet the Creator cannot be praised without His Son, for Their
glory is
shared
and They are glorified together.
T-11.IV.6.
Christ is at God's altar, waiting to welcome His Son. 2 But come wholly
without
condemnation, for otherwise you will believe that the door is barred and you
cannot
enter.
3 The door is not barred, and it is impossible that you cannot enter the place
where
God
would have you be. 4 But love yourself with the Love of Christ, for so does
your
Father
love you. 5 You can refuse to enter, but you cannot bar the door that Christ
holds
open.
6 Come unto me who hold it open for you, for while I live it cannot be shut,
and I
live
forever. 7 God is my life and yours, and nothing is denied by God to His Son.
T-11.IV.7.
At God's altar Christ waits for the restoration of Himself in you. 2 God
knows
His Son as wholly blameless as Himself, and He is approached through the appreciation
of
His Son. 3 Christ waits for your acceptance of Him as yourself, and of His
Wholeness
as
yours. 4 For Christ is the Son of God, Who lives in His Creator and shines with
His
glory.
5 Christ is the extension of the Love and the loveliness of God, as perfect as
His
Creator
and at peace with Him.
T-11.IV.8.
Blessed is the Son of God whose radiance is of his Father, and whose glory
he
wills to share as his Father shares it with him. 2 There is no condemnation in
the Son,
for
there is no condemnation in the Father. 3 Sharing the perfect Love of the
Father
the
Son must share what belongs to Him, for otherwise he will not know the Father
or the
Son.
4 Peace be unto you who rest in God, and in whom the whole Sonship rests.
V.
The "Dynamics" of the Ego
T-11.V.1.
No one can escape from illusions unless he looks at them, for not looking is
the
way they are protected. 2 There is no need to shrink from illusions, for they
cannot
be
dangerous. 3 We are ready to look more closely at the ego's thought system because
together
we have the lamp that will dispel it, and since you realize you do not want it,
you
must
be ready. 4 Let us be very calm in doing this, for we are merely looking
honestly for
truth.
5 The "dynamics" of the ego will be our lesson for a while, for we
must look first at
this
to see beyond it, since you have made it real. 6 We will undo this error
quietly
together,
and then look beyond it to truth.
T-11.V.2.
What is healing but the removal of all that stands in the way of knowledge? 2
And
how else can one dispel illusions except by looking at them directly, without
protecting
them? 3 Be not afraid, therefore, for what you will be looking at is the source
of
fear,
and you are beginning to learn that fear is not real. 4 You are also learning
that
its
effects can be dispelled merely by denying their reality. 5 The next step is
obviously
to
recognize that what has no effects does not exist. 6 Laws do not operate in a
vacuum,
and
what leads to nothing has not happened. 7 If reality is recognized by its
extension,
what leads to nothing could not be real. 8 Do not be afraid, then, to look upon
fear,
for
it cannot be seen. 9 Clarity undoes confusion by definition, and to look upon
darkness
through light must dispel it.
T-11.V.3.
Let us begin this lesson in "ego dynamics" by understanding that the
term
itself
does not mean anything. 2 It contains the very contradiction in terms that
makes it
meaningless.
3 "Dynamics" implies the power to do something, and the whole
separation fallacy lies
in
the belief that the ego <has> the power to do anything. 4 The ego is
fearful to you
because
you believe this. 5 Yet the truth is very simple:
6
All power is of God.
7
What is not of Him has no power to do anything.
T-11.V.4.
When we look at the ego, then, we are not considering dynamics but delusions.
2
You can surely regard a delusional system without fear, for it cannot have any
effects
if its source is not real. 3 Fear becomes more obviously inappropriate if you
recognize
the ego's goal, which is so clearly senseless that any effort on its behalf is
necessarily
expended on nothing. 4 The ego's goal is quite explicitly ego autonomy. 5 From
the
beginning,
then, its purpose is to be separate, sufficient unto itself and independent of
any
power
except its own. 6 This is why it is the symbol of separation.
T-11.V.5.
Every idea has a purpose, and its purpose is always the natural outcome of
what
it is. 2 Everything that stems from the ego is the natural outcome of its central
belief,
and the way to undo its results is merely to recognize that their source is not
natural,
being out of accord with your true nature. 3 I said before that to will
contrary to
God
is wishful thinking and not real willing. 4 His Will is One <because> the
extension of
His
Will cannot be unlike itself. 5 The real conflict you experience, then, is
between
the
ego's idle wishes and the Will of God, which you share. 6 Can this be a real
conflict?
T-11.V.6.
Yours is the independence of creation, not of autonomy. 2 Your whole creative
function
lies in your complete dependence on God, Whose function He shares with you. 3
By
His willingness to share it, He became as dependent on you as you are on Him. 4
Do not
ascribe
the ego's arrogance to Him Who wills not to be independent of you. 5 He has
included
you in His Autonomy. 6 Can you believe that autonomy is meaningful apart from
Him? 7
The
belief in ego autonomy is costing you the knowledge of your dependence on God,
in
which
your freedom lies. 8 The ego sees all dependency as threatening, and has
twisted even
your
longing for God into a means of establishing itself. 9 But do not be deceived
by its
interpretation
of your conflict.
T-11.V.7.
The ego always attacks on behalf of separation. 2 Believing it has the power
to
do this it does nothing else, because its goal of autonomy <is> nothing
else. 3 The
ego
is totally confused about reality, but it does not lose sight of its goal. 4 It
is
much
more vigilant than you are, because it is perfectly certain of its purpose. 5
You are
confused
because you do not recognize yours.
T-11.V.8.
You must recognize that the last thing the ego wishes you to realize is that
you
are afraid of it. 2 For if the ego could give rise to fear, it would diminish
your
independence
and weaken your power. 3 Yet its one claim to your allegiance is that it can
give
power
to you. 4 Without this belief you would not listen to it at all. 5 How, then,
can its
existence
continue if you realize that, by accepting it, you are belittling yourself and
depriving
yourself of power?
T-11.V.9.
The ego can and does allow you to regard yourself as supercilious,
unbelieving,
"lighthearted," distant, emotionally shallow, callous, uninvolved and
even desperate,
but
not really afraid. 2 Minimizing fear, but not its undoing, is the ego's
constant
effort,
and is indeed a skill at which it is very ingenious. 3 How can it preach
separation
without
upholding it through fear, and would you listen to it if you recognized this is
what
it
is doing?
T-11.V.10.
Your recognition that whatever seems to separate you from God is only fear,
regardless
of the form it takes and quite apart from how the ego wants you to experience
it, is
therefore
the basic ego threat. 2 Its dream of autonomy is shaken to its foundation by
this
awareness.
3 For though you may countenance a false idea of independence, you will not
accept
the
cost of fear if you recognize it. 4 Yet this is the cost, and the ego cannot
minimize
it.
5 If you overlook love you are overlooking yourself, and you must fear
unreality <
because>
you have denied yourself. 6 By believing that you have successfully attacked
truth,
you
are believing that attack has power. 7 Very simply, then, you have become
afraid of
yourself.
8 And no one wants to find what he believes would destroy him.
T-11.V.11.
If the ego's goal of autonomy could be accomplished God's purpose could be
defeated,
and this is impossible. 2 Only by learning what fear is can you finally learn
to
distinguish
the possible from the impossible and the false from the true. 3 According to
the ego's
teaching,
<its> goal can be accomplished and God's purpose can <not.> 4
According to
the
Holy Spirit's teaching, <only> God's purpose can be accomplished, and it
is
accomplished
already.
T-11.V.12.
God is as dependent on you as you are on Him, because His Autonomy
encompasses
yours, and is therefore incomplete without it. 2 You can only establish your
autonomy
by
identifying with Him, and fulfilling your function as it exists in truth. 3 The
ego
believes
that to accomplish its goal is happiness. 4 But it is given you to know that
God's
function
is yours, and happiness cannot be found apart from Your joint Will. 5 Recognize
only
that
the ego's goal, which you have pursued so diligently, has merely brought you
fear, and
it
becomes difficult to maintain that fear is happiness. 6 Upheld by fear, this is
what
the
ego would have you believe. 7 Yet God's Son is not insane, and cannot believe
it. 8
Let
him but recognize it and he will not accept it. 9 For only the insane would
choose
fear
in place of love, and only the insane could believe that love can be gained by
attack.
10
But the sane realize that only attack could produce fear, from which the Love
of God
completely
protects them.
T-11.V.13.
The ego analyzes; the Holy Spirit accepts. 2 The appreciation of wholeness
comes
only through acceptance, for to analyze means to break down or to separate out.
3 The
attempt
to understand totality by breaking it down is clearly the characteristically
contradictory
approach of the ego to everything. 4 The ego believes that power, understanding
and
truth
lie in separation, and to establish this belief it must attack. 5 Unaware that
the
belief
cannot be established, and obsessed with the conviction that separation is salvation,
the
ego attacks everything it perceives by breaking it into small, disconnected
parts,
without
meaningful relationships and therefore without meaning. 6 The ego will always
substitute
chaos for meaning, for if separation is salvation, harmony is threat.
T-11.V.14.
The ego's interpretations of the laws of perception are, and would have to
be,
the exact opposite of the Holy Spirit's. 2 The ego focuses on error and
overlooks
truth.
3 It makes real every mistake it perceives, and with characteristically
circular
reasoning
concludes that because of the mistake consistent truth must be meaningless. 4
The next
step,
then, is obvious. 5 If consistent truth is meaningless, inconsistency must be
true.
6 Holding error clearly in mind, and protecting what it has made real, the ego
proceeds
to the next step in its thought system: Error is real and truth is error.
T-11.V.15.
The ego makes no attempt to understand this, and it is clearly not
understandable,
but the ego does make every attempt to demonstrate it, and this it does
constantly. 2
Analyzing
to attack meaning, the ego succeeds in overlooking it and is left with a
series
of fragmented perceptions which it unifies on behalf of itself. 3 This, then,
becomes
the
universe it perceives. 4 And it is this universe which, in turn, becomes its
demonstration
of its own reality.
T-11.V.16.
Do not underestimate the appeal of the ego's demonstrations to those who
would
listen. 2 Selective perception chooses its witnesses carefully, and its
witnesses are
consistent.
3 The case for insanity is strong to the insane. 4 For reasoning ends at its
beginning,
and no thought system transcends its source. 5 Yet reasoning without meaning
cannot
demonstrate
anything, and those who are convinced by it must be deluded. 6 Can the ego
teach truly
when
it overlooks truth? 7 Can it perceive what it has denied? 8 Its witnesses do
attest
to its denial, but hardly to what it has denied. 9 The ego looks straight at
the
Father
and does not see Him, for it has denied His Son.
T-11.V.17.
Would <you> remember the Father? 2 Accept His Son and you will remember
Him.
3
Nothing can demonstrate that His Son is unworthy, for nothing can prove that a
lie is
true.
4 What you see of His Son through the eyes of the ego is a demonstration that
His
Son
does not exist, yet where the Son is the Father must be. 5 Accept what God does
not
deny,
and it will demonstrate its truth. 6 The witnesses for God stand in His light
and
behold
what He created. 7 Their silence is the sign that they have beheld God's Son,
and
in the Presence of Christ they need demonstrate nothing, for Christ speaks to
them of
Himself
and of His Father. 8 They are silent because Christ speaks to them, and it is
His
words
they speak.
T-11.V.18.
Every brother you meet becomes a witness for Christ or for the ego,
depending
on what you perceive in him. 2 Everyone convinces you of what you want to
perceive,
and
of the reality of the kingdom you have chosen for your vigilance. 3 Everything
you
perceive
is a witness to the thought system you want to be true. 4 Every brother has the
power
to
release you, if you choose to be free. 5 You cannot accept false witness of him
unless
you
have evoked false witnesses against him. 6 If he speaks not of Christ to you,
you
spoke
not of Christ to him. 7 You hear but your own voice, and if Christ speaks
through you,
you
will hear Him.
VI.
Waking to Redemption
T-11.VI.1.
It is impossible not to believe what you see, but it is equally impossible
to
see what you do not believe. 2 Perceptions are built up on the basis of
experience,
and
experience leads to beliefs. 3 It is not until beliefs are fixed that
perceptions
stabilize.
4 In effect, then, what you believe you <do> see. 5 That is what I meant
when I said,
"Blessed
are ye who have not seen and still believe," for those who believe in the
resurrection
will see it. 6 The resurrection is the complete triumph of Christ over the ego,
not by
attack
but by transcendence. 7 For Christ does rise above the ego and all its works,
and
ascends to the Father and His Kingdom.
T-11.VI.2.
Would you join in the resurrection or the crucifixion? 2 Would you condemn
your
brothers or free them? 3 Would you transcend your prison and ascend to the
Father? 4
These
questions are all the same, and are answered together. 5 There has been much
confusion
about
what perception means, because the word is used both for awareness and for the
interpretation
of awareness. 6 Yet you cannot be aware without interpretation, for what you
perceive
<is>
your interpretation.
T-11.VI.3.
This course is perfectly clear. 2 If you do not see it clearly, it is
because
you are interpreting against it, and therefore do not believe it. 3 And since
belief
determines
perception, you do not perceive what it means and therefore do not accept it. 4
Yet
different
experiences lead to different beliefs, and with them different perceptions. 5
For
perceptions
are learned <with> beliefs, and experience does teach. 6 I am leading you
to a new
kind
of experience that you will become less and less willing to deny. 7 Learning of
Christ
is
easy, for to perceive with Him involves no strain at all. 8 His perceptions are
your
natural
awareness, and it is only the distortions you introduce that tire you. 9 Let
the
Christ in you interpret for you, and do not try to limit what you see by narrow
little
beliefs
that are unworthy of God's Son. 10 For until Christ comes into His Own, the Son
of
God will see himself as Fatherless.
T-11.VI.4.
I am <your> resurrection and <your> life. 2 You live in me because
you live
in
God. 3 And everyone lives in you, as you live in everyone. 4 Can you, then,
perceive
unworthiness
in a brother and not perceive it in yourself? 5 And can you perceive it in
yourself
and
not perceive it in God? 6 Believe in the resurrection because it has been
accomplished,
and
it has been accomplished in you. 7 This is as true now as it will ever be, for
the
resurrection
is the Will of God, which knows no time and no exceptions. 8 But make no
exceptions
yourself, or you will not perceive what has been accomplished for you. 9 For we
ascend
unto
the Father together, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, for
such
is the nature of God's Son as his Father created him.
T-11.VI.5.
Do not underestimate the power of the devotion of God's Son, nor the power
the
god he worships has over him. 2 For he places himself at the altar of his god,
whether
it
be the god he made or the God Who created him. 3 That is why his slavery is as
complete
as his freedom, for he will obey only the god he accepts. 4 The god of
crucifixion
demands
that he crucify, and his worshippers obey. 5 In his name they crucify
themselves,
believing
that the power of the Son of God is born of sacrifice and pain. 6 The God of
resurrection
demands nothing, for He does not will to take away. 7 He does not require
obedience,
for
obedience implies submission. 8 He would only have you learn your will and
follow it,
not
in the spirit of sacrifice and submission, but in the gladness of freedom.
T-11.VI.6.
Resurrection must compel your allegiance gladly, because it is the symbol of
joy.
2 Its whole compelling power lies in the fact that it represents what you want
to
be.
3 The freedom to leave behind everything that hurts you and humbles you and
frightens
you
cannot be thrust upon you, but it can be offered you through the grace of God.
4
And
you can accept it by His grace, for God is gracious to His Son, accepting him
without
question
as His Own. 5 Who, then, is <your> own? 6 The Father has given you all
that is His,
and
He Himself is yours with them. 7 Guard them in their resurrection, for
otherwise you
will
not awake in God, safely surrounded by what is yours forever.
T-11.VI.7.
You will not find peace until you have removed the nails from the hands of
God's
Son, and taken the last thorn from his forehead. 2 The Love of God surrounds
His Son
whom
the god of crucifixion condemns. 3 Teach not that I died in vain. 4 Teach
rather that
I
did not die by demonstrating that I live in you. 5 For the undoing of the
crucifixion
of
God's Son is the work of the redemption, in which everyone has a part of equal
value.
6
God does not judge His guiltless Son. 7 Having given Himself to him, how could
it be
otherwise?
T-11.VI.8.
You have nailed yourself to a cross, and placed a crown of thorns upon your
own
head. 2 Yet you cannot crucify God's Son, for the Will of God cannot die. 3 His
Son
has
been redeemed from his own crucifixion, and you cannot assign to death whom God
has
given
eternal life. 4 The dream of crucifixion still lies heavy on your eyes, but
what you
see
in dreams is not reality. 5 While you perceive the Son of God as crucified, you
are
asleep.
6 And as long as you believe that you can crucify him, you are only having
nightmares.
7
You who are beginning to wake are still aware of dreams, and have not yet
forgotten
them.
8 The forgetting of dreams and the awareness of Christ come with the awakening
of
others
to share your redemption.
T-11.VI.9.
You will awaken to your own call, for the Call to awake is within you. 2 If
I
live in you, you are awake. 3 Yet you must see the works I do through you, or
you will
not
perceive that I have done them unto you. 4 Do not set limits on what you
believe I
can
do through you, or you will not accept what I can do <for> you. 5 Yet it
is done
already,
and unless you give all that you have received you will not know that your
redeemer
liveth,
and that you have awakened with him. 6 Redemption is recognized only by sharing
it.
T-11.VI.10.
God's Son <is> saved. 2 Bring only this awareness to the Sonship, and you
will
have a part in the redemption as valuable as mine. 3 For your part must be like
mine
if
you learn it of me. 4 If you believe that yours is limited, you are limiting
mine. 5
There
is no order of difficulty in miracles because all of God's Sons are of equal
value,
and
their equality is their oneness. 6 The whole power of God is in every part of
Him, and
nothing
contradictory to His Will is either great or small. 7 What does not exist has
no
size and no measure. 8 To God all things are possible. 9 And to Christ it is
given to
be
like the Father.
VII.
The Condition of Reality
T-11.VII.1.
The world as you perceive it cannot have been created by the Father, for
the
world is not as you see it. 2 God created only the eternal, and everything you
see is
perishable.
3 Therefore, there must be another world that you do not see. 4 The Bible
speaks of a
new
Heaven and a new earth, yet this cannot be literally true, for the eternal are
not
re-created.
5 To perceive anew is merely to perceive again, implying that before, or in the
interval
between, you were not perceiving at all. 6 What, then, is the world that awaits
your
perception
when you see it?
T-11.VII.2.
Every loving thought that the Son of God ever had is eternal. 2 The loving
thoughts
his mind perceives in this world are the world's only reality. 3 They are still
perceptions,
because he still believes that he is separate. 4 Yet they are eternal because
they
are
loving. 5 And being loving they are like the Father, and therefore cannot die.
6 The
real
world can actually be perceived. 7 All that is necessary is a willingness to
perceive
nothing
else. 8 For if you perceive both good and evil, you are accepting both the false
and
the
true and making no distinction between them.
T-11.VII.3.
The ego may see some good, but never only good. 2 That is why its
perceptions
are so variable. 3 It does not reject goodness entirely, for that you could not
accept.
4
But it always adds something that is not real to the real, thus confusing
illusion
and
reality. 5 For perceptions cannot be partly true. 6 If you believe in truth and
illusion,
you cannot tell which is true. 7 To establish your personal autonomy you tried
to
create
unlike your Father, believing that what you made is capable of being unlike
Him. 8 Yet
everything
true <is> like Him. 9 Perceiving only the real world will lead you to the
real
Heaven, because it will make you capable of understanding it.
T-11.VII.4.
The perception of goodness is not knowledge, but the denial of the opposite
of
goodness enables you to recognize a condition in which opposites do not exist.
2 And
this
<is> the condition of knowledge. 3 Without this awareness you have not
met its
conditions,
and until you do you will not know it is yours already. 4 You have made many
ideas
that
you have placed between yourself and your Creator, and these beliefs are the
world as
you
perceive it. 5 Truth is not absent here, but it is obscure. 6 You do not know
the
difference
between what you have made and what God created, and so you do not know the
difference
between
what you have made and what <you> have created. 7 To believe that you can
perceive
the real world is to believe that you can know yourself. 8 You can know God
because it
is
His Will to be known. 9 The real world is all that the Holy Spirit has saved
for you
out
of what you have made, and to perceive only this is salvation, because it is
the
recognition
that reality is only what is true.
VIII.
The Problem and the Answer
T-11.VIII.1.
This is a very simple course. 2 Perhaps you do not feel you need a course
which,
in the end, teaches that only reality is true. 3 But do you believe it? 4 When
you
perceive
the real world, you will recognize that you did not believe it. 5 Yet the
swiftness
with
which your new and only real perception will be translated into knowledge will
leave
you
but an instant to realize that this alone is true. 6 And then everything you
made will
be
forgotten; the good and the bad, the false and the true. 7 For as Heaven and
earth
become
one, even the real world will vanish from your sight. 8 The end of the world is
not
its
destruction, but its translation into Heaven. 9 The reinterpretation of the
world is
the
transfer of all perception to knowledge.
T-11.VIII.2.
The Bible tells you to become as little children. 2 Little children
recognize
that they do not understand what they perceive, and so they ask what it means.
3 Do
not
make the mistake of believing that you understand what you perceive, for its
meaning
is
lost to you. 4 Yet the Holy Spirit has saved its meaning for you, and if you
will let
Him
interpret it, He will restore to you what you have thrown away. 5 Yet while you
think
you
know its meaning, you will see no need to ask it of Him.
T-11.VIII.3.
You do not know the meaning of anything you perceive. 2 Not one thought
you
hold is wholly true. 3 The recognition of this is your firm beginning. 4 You
are not
misguided;
you have accepted no guide at all. 5 Instruction in perception is your great
need,
for
you understand nothing. 6 Recognize this but do not accept it, for
understanding is
your
inheritance. 7 Perceptions are learned, and you are not without a Teacher. 8
Yet your
willingness
to learn of Him depends on your willingness to question everything you learned
of
yourself,
for you who learned amiss should not be your own teacher.
T-11.VIII.4.
No one can withhold truth except from himself. 2 Yet God will not refuse
you
the Answer He gave. 3 Ask, then, for what is yours, but which you did not make,
and do
not
defend yourself against truth. 4 You made the problem God has answered. 5 Ask
yourself,
therefore, but one simple question:
6
Do I want the problem or do I want the answer?
7
Decide for the answer and you will have it, for you will see it as it is, and
it is
yours
already.
T-11.VIII.5.
You may complain that this course is not sufficiently specific for you to
understand
and use. 2 Yet perhaps you have not done what it specifically advocates. 3 This
is not
a
course in the play of ideas, but in their practical application. 4 Nothing
could be
more
specific than to be told that if you ask you will receive. 5 The Holy Spirit
will
answer
every specific problem as long as you believe that problems are specific. 6 His
answer
is
both many and one, as long as you believe that the one is many. 7 You may be
afraid
of
His specificity, for fear of what you think it will demand of you. 8 Yet only
by
asking
will you learn that nothing of God demands anything of you. 9 God gives; He
does not
take.
10 When you refuse to ask, it is because you believe that asking is taking
rather
than
sharing.
T-11.VIII.6.
The Holy Spirit will give you only what is yours, and will take nothing in
return.
2 For what is yours is everything, and you share it with God. 3 That is its
reality.
4 Would the Holy Spirit, Who wills only to restore, be capable of
misinterpreting the
question
you must ask to learn His answer? 5 You <have> heard the answer, but you
have
misunderstood
the question. 6 You believe that to ask for guidance of the Holy Spirit is to
ask for
deprivation.
T-11.VIII.7.
Little child of God, you do not understand your Father. 2 You believe in a
world
that takes, because you believe that you can get by taking. 3 And by that
perception
you have lost sight of the real world. 4 You are afraid of the world as you see
it,
but
the real world is still yours for the asking. 5 Do not deny it to yourself, for
it can
only
free you. 6 Nothing of God will enslave His Son whom He created free and whose
freedom
is protected by His Being. 7 Blessed are you who are willing to ask the truth
of God
without
fear, for only thus can you learn that His answer is the release from fear.
T-11.VIII.8.
Beautiful child of God, you are asking only for what I promised you. 2 Do
you
believe I would deceive you? 3 The Kingdom of Heaven <is> within you. 4
Believe that
the
truth is in me, for I know that it is in you. 5 God's Sons have nothing they do
not
share.
6 Ask for truth of any Son of God, and you have asked it of me. 7 Not one of us
but
has
the answer in him, to give to anyone who asks it of him.
T-11.VIII.9.
Ask anything of God's Son and his Father will answer you, for Christ is
not
deceived in His Father and His Father is not deceived in Him. 2 Do not, then,
be
deceived
in your brother, and see only his loving thoughts as his reality, for by
denying that
his
mind is split you will heal yours. 3 Accept him as his Father accepts him and
heal him
unto
Christ, for Christ is his healing and yours. 4 Christ is the Son of God Who is
in
no
way separate from His Father, Whose every thought is as loving as the Thought of
His
Father
by which He was created. 5 Be not deceived in God's Son, for thereby you must
be
deceived
in yourself. 6 And being deceived in yourself you are deceived in your Father,
in Whom
no
deceit is possible.
T-11.VIII.10.
In the real world there is no sickness, for there is no separation and no
division.
2 Only loving thoughts are recognized, and because no one is without your
help,
the Help of God goes with you everywhere. 3 As you become willing to accept
this Help
by
asking for It, you will give It because you want It. 4 Nothing will be beyond
your
healing
power, because nothing will be denied your simple request. 5 What problems will
not
disappear
in the Presence of God's Answer? 6 Ask, then, to learn of the reality of your
brother,
because
this is what you will perceive in him, and you will see your beauty reflected
in
his.
T-11.VIII.11.
Do not accept your brother's variable perception of himself for his split
mind
is yours, and you will not accept your healing without his. 2 For you share the
real
world as you share Heaven, and his healing is yours. 3 To love yourself is to
heal
yourself,
and you cannot perceive part of you as sick and achieve your goal. 4 Brother,
we heal
together
as we live together and love together. 5 Be not deceived in God's Son, for he
is
one with himself and one with his Father. 6 Love him who is beloved of his
Father, and
you
will learn of the Father's Love for you.
T-11.VIII.12.
If you perceive offense in a brother pluck the offense from your mind,
for
you are offended by Christ and are deceived in Him. 2 Heal in Christ and be not
offended
by Him, for there is no offense in Him. 3 If what you perceive offends you, you
are
offended
in yourself and are condemning God's Son whom God condemneth not. 4 Let the
Holy
Spirit
remove all offenses of God's Son against himself and perceive no one but
through His
guidance,
for He would save you from all condemnation. 5 Accept His healing power and use
it
for
all He sends you, for He wills to heal the Son of God, in whom He is not
deceived.
T-11.VIII.13.
Children perceive frightening ghosts and monsters and dragons, and they
are
terrified. 2 Yet if they ask someone they trust for the meaning of what they
perceive,
and
are willing to let their own interpretations go in favor of reality, their fear
goes
with them. 3 When a child is helped to translate his "ghost" into a
curtain, his "
monster"
into a shadow, and his "dragon" into a dream he is no longer afraid,
and laughs
happily
at his own fear.
T-11.VIII.14.
You, my child, are afraid of your brothers and of your Father and of
yourself.
2 But you are merely deceived in them. 3 Ask what they are of the Teacher of
reality,
and
hearing His answer, you too will laugh at your fears and replace them with
peace. 4
For
fear lies not in reality, but in the minds of children who do not understand
reality.
5 It is only their lack of understanding that frightens them, and when they
learn to
perceive
truly they are not afraid. 6 And because of this they will ask for truth again
when
they
are frightened. 7 It is not the reality of your brothers or your Father or
yourself
that
frightens you. 8 You do not know what they are, and so you perceive them as
ghosts and
monsters
and dragons. 9 Ask what their reality is from the One Who knows it, and He
will
tell you what they are. 10 For you do not understand them, and because you are
deceived
by what you see you need reality to dispel your fears.
T-11.VIII.15.
Would you not exchange your fears for truth, if the exchange is yours for
the
asking? 2 For if God is not deceived in you, you can be deceived only in
yourself.
3
Yet you can learn the truth about yourself from the Holy Spirit, Who will teach
you
that,
as part of God, deceit in you is impossible. 4 When you perceive yourself
without
deceit,
you will accept the real world in place of the false one you have made. 5 And
then
your
Father will lean down to you and take the last step for you, by raising you
unto
Himself.
Chapter
12.
THE
HOLY SPIRIT'S CURRICULUM
I.
The Judgment of the Holy Spirit
T-12.I.1.
You have been told not to make error real, and the way to do this is very
simple.
2 If you want to believe in error, you would have to make it real because it is
not
true.
3 But truth is real in its own right, and to believe in truth <you <do
<not have to
do
anything.> 4 Understand that you do not respond to anything directly, but to
your
interpretation
of it. 5 Your interpretation thus becomes the justification for the response. 6
That
is
why analyzing the motives of others is hazardous to you. 7 If you decide that
someone
is
really trying to attack you or desert you or enslave you, you will respond as
if he
had
actually done so, having made his error real to you. 8 To interpret error is to
give
it
power, and having done this you will overlook truth.
T-12.I.2.
The analysis of ego motivation is very complicated, very obscuring, and never
without
your own ego involvement. 2 The whole process represents a clear-cut attempt to
demonstrate
your own ability to understand what you perceive. 3 This is shown by the
fact
that you react to your interpretations as if they were correct. 4 You may then
control
your
reactions behaviorally, but not emotionally. 5 This would obviously be a split
or
an
attack on the integrity of your mind, pitting one level within it against
another.
T-12.I.3.
There is but one interpretation of motivation that makes any sense. 2 And
because
it is the Holy Spirit's judgment it requires no effort at all on your part. 3
Every
loving
thought is true. 4 Everything else is an appeal for healing and help,
regardless of
the
form it takes. 5 Can anyone be justified in responding with anger to a
brother's plea
for
help? 6 No response can be appropriate except the willingness to give it to
him, for
this
and only this is what he is asking for. 7 Offer him anything else, and you are
assuming
the right to attack his reality by interpreting it as you see fit. 8 Perhaps
the
danger
of this to your own mind is not yet fully apparent. 9 If you believe that an
appeal
for
help is something else you will react to something else. 10 Your response will
therefore
be inappropriate to reality as it is, but not to your perception of it.
T-12.I.4.
There is nothing to prevent you from recognizing all calls for help as
exactly
what they are except your own imagined need to attack. 2 It is only this that
makes
you
willing to engage in endless "battles" with reality, in which you
deny the reality of
the
need for healing by making it unreal. 3 You would not do this except for your
unwillingness
to accept reality as it is, and which you therefore withhold from yourself.
T-12.I.5.
It is surely good advice to tell you not to judge what you do not understand.
2
No one with a personal investment is a reliable witness, for truth to him has
become
what
he wants it to be. 3 If you are unwilling to perceive an appeal for help as
what it is,
it
is because you are unwilling to give help and to receive it. 4 To fail to
recognize
a
call for help is to refuse help. 5 Would you maintain that you do not need it?
6 Yet
this
is what you are maintaining when you refuse to recognize a brother's appeal,
for only
by
answering his appeal <can> you be helped. 7 Deny him your help and you
will not
recognize
God's Answer to you. 8 The Holy Spirit does not need your help in interpreting
motivation,
but you do need His.
T-12.I.6.
Only appreciation is an appropriate response to your brother. 2 Gratitude is
due
him for both his loving thoughts and his appeals for help, for both are capable
of
bringing
love into your awareness if you perceive them truly. 3 And all your sense of
strain
comes
from your attempts not to do just this. 4 How simple, then, is God's plan for
salvation.
5 There is but one response to reality, for reality evokes no conflict at all.
6
There
is but one Teacher of reality, Who understands what it is. 7 He does not change
His
Mind
about reality because reality does not change. 8 Although your interpretations
of
reality
are meaningless in your divided state, His remain consistently true. 9 He gives
them
to
you because they are <for> you. 10 Do not attempt to "help" a
brother in your way, for
you
cannot help yourself. 11 But hear his call for the Help of God, and you will
recognize
your own need for the Father.
T-12.I.7.
Your interpretations of your brother's needs are your interpretation of yours.
2
By giving help you are asking for it, and if you perceive but one need in
yourself
you
will be healed. 3 For you will recognize God's Answer as you want It to be, and
if you
want
It in truth, It will be truly yours. 4 Every appeal you answer in the Name of
Christ
brings the remembrance of your Father closer to your awareness. 5 For the sake
of your
need,
then, hear every call for help as what it is, so God can answer <you.
T-12.I.8.
By applying the Holy Spirit's interpretation of the reactions of others more
and
more consistently, you will gain an increasing awareness that His criteria are
equally
applicable
to you. 2 For to recognize fear is not enough to escape from it, although
the
recognition is necessary to demonstrate the need for escape. 3 The Holy Spirit
must
still
translate the fear into truth. 4 If you were left with the fear, once you had
recognized
it, you would have taken a step away from reality, not towards it. 5 Yet we
have
repeatedly
emphasized the need to recognize fear and face it without disguise as a crucial
step
in
the undoing of the ego. 6 Consider how well the Holy Spirit's interpretation of
the
motives
of others will serve you then. 7 Having taught you to accept only loving
thoughts in
others
and to regard everything else as an appeal for help, He has taught you that
fear
itself
is an appeal for help. 8 This is what recognizing fear really means. 9 If you
do not
protect
it, He will reinterpret it. 10 That is the ultimate value in learning to
perceive
attack
as a call for love. 11 We have already learned that fear and attack are inevitably
associated.
12 If only attack produces fear, and if you see attack as the call for help
that it
is,
the unreality of fear must dawn on you. 13 For fear <is> a call for love,
in
unconscious
recognition of what has been denied.
T-12.I.9.
Fear is a symptom of your own deep sense of loss. 2 If when you perceive it
in
others you learn to supply the loss, the basic cause of fear is removed. 3
Thereby you
teach
yourself that fear does not exist in you. 4 The means for removing it is in
yourself,
and you have demonstrated this by giving it. 5 Fear and love are the only
emotions of
which
you are capable. 6 One is false, for it was made out of denial; and denial
depends
on the belief in what is denied for its own existence. 7 By interpreting fear
correctly
as a positive affirmation of the underlying belief it masks, you are
undermining its
perceived
usefulness by rendering it useless. 8 Defenses that do not work at all are
automatically
discarded. 9 If you raise what fear conceals to clear-cut unequivocal
predominance,
fear
becomes meaningless. 10 You have denied its power to conceal love, which was
its only
purpose.
11 The veil that you have drawn across the face of love has disappeared.
T-12.I.10.
If you would look upon love, which <is> the world's reality, how could
you
do
better than to recognize, in every defense against it, the underlying appeal
<for> it?
2
And how could you better learn of its reality than by answering the appeal for
it by
giving
it? 3 The Holy Spirit's interpretation of fear does dispel it, for the
awareness of
truth
cannot be denied. 4 Thus does the Holy Spirit replace fear with love and
translate
error
into truth. 5 And thus will you learn of Him how to replace your dream of
separation
with
the fact of unity. 6 For the separation is only the denial of union, and
correctly
interpreted,
attests to your eternal knowledge that union is true.
II.
The Way to Remember God
T-12.II.1.
Miracles are merely the translation of denial into truth. 2 If to love
oneself
is to heal oneself, those who are sick do not love themselves. 3 Therefore,
they are
asking
for the love that would heal them, but which they are denying to themselves. 4
If they
knew
the truth about themselves they could not be sick. 5 The task of the miracle
worker
thus becomes <to <deny the denial of truth.> 6 The sick must heal
themselves, for the
truth
is in them. 7 Yet having obscured it, the light in another mind must shine into
theirs
because
that light <is> theirs.
T-12.II.2.
The light in them shines as brightly regardless of the density of the fog
that
obscures it. 2 If you give no power to the fog to obscure the light, it has
none. 3
For
it has power only if the Son of God gives power to it. 4 He must himself
withdraw that
power,
remembering that all power is of God. 5 You can remember this for all the
Sonship.
6 Do not allow your brother not to remember, for his forgetfulness is yours. 7
But
your
remembering is his, for God cannot be remembered alone. 8 <This is what you
have
forgotten.>
9 To perceive the healing of your brother as the healing of yourself is thus
the way
to
remember God. 10 For you forgot your brothers with Him, and God's Answer to
your
forgetting
is but the way to remember.
T-12.II.3.
Perceive in sickness but another call for love, and offer your brother what
he
believes he cannot offer himself. 2 Whatever the sickness, there is but one
remedy. 3
You
will be made whole as you make whole, for to perceive in sickness the appeal
for
health
is to recognize in hatred the call for love. 4 And to give a brother what he
really
wants
is to offer it unto yourself, for your Father wills you to know your brother as
yourself.
5 Answer his call for love, and yours is answered. 6 Healing is the Love of
Christ
for
His Father and for Himself.
T-12.II.4.
Remember what was said about the frightening perceptions of little children,
which
terrify them because they do not understand them. 2 If they ask for
enlightenment
and
accept it, their fears vanish. 3 But if they hide their nightmares they will
keep
them.
4 It is easy to help an uncertain child, for he recognizes that he does not
understand
what his perceptions mean. 5 Yet you believe that you do understand yours. 6
Little
child,
you are hiding your head under the cover of the heavy blankets you have laid
upon
yourself.
7 You are hiding your nightmares in the darkness of your own false certainty,
and
refusing
to open your eyes and look at them.
T-12.II.5.
Let us not save nightmares, for they are not fitting offerings for Christ,
and
so they are not fit gifts for you. 2 Take off the covers and look at what you
are
afraid
of. 3 Only the anticipation will frighten you, for the reality of nothingness
cannot
be
frightening. 4 Let us not delay this, for your dream of hatred will not leave
you
without
help, and Help is here. 5 Learn to be quiet in the midst of turmoil, for
quietness is
the
end of strife and this is the journey to peace. 6 Look straight at every image
that
rises
to delay you, for the goal is inevitable because it is eternal. 7 The goal of
love is
but
your right, and it belongs to you despite your dreams.
T-12.II.6.
You still want what God wills, and no nightmare can defeat a child of God in
his
purpose. 2 For your purpose was given you by God, and you must accomplish it
because
it is His Will. 3 Awake and remember your purpose, for it is your will to do
so. 4
What
has been accomplished for you must be yours. 5 Do not let your hatred stand in
the way
of
love, for nothing can withstand the Love of Christ for His Father, or His
Father's
Love
for Him.
T-12.II.7.
A little while and you will see me, for I am not hidden because <you> are
hiding.
2 I will awaken you as surely as I awakened myself, for I awoke for you. 3 In
my
resurrection
is your release. 4 Our mission is to escape from crucifixion, not from
redemption. 5
Trust
in my help, for I did not walk alone, and I will walk with you as our Father
walked
with
me. 6 Do you not know that I walked with Him in peace? 7 And does not that mean
that
peace
goes with <us> on the journey?
T-12.II.8.
There is no fear in perfect love. 2 We will but be making perfect to you
what
is already perfect in you. 3 You do not fear the unknown but the known. 4 You
will not
fail
in your mission because I did not fail in mine. 5 Give me but a little trust in
the
name of the complete trust I have in you, and we will easily accomplish the
goal of
perfection
together. 6 For perfection <is,> and cannot be denied. 7 To deny the
denial of
perfection
is not so difficult as to deny truth, and what we can accomplish together will
be
believed
when you see it as accomplished.
T-12.II.9.
You who have tried to banish love have not succeeded, but you who choose to
banish
fear must succeed. 2 The Lord is with you, but you know it not. 3 Yet your
Redeemer
liveth,
and abideth in you in the peace out of which He was created. 4 Would you not
exchange
this
awareness for the awareness of fear? 5 When we have overcome fear--not by
hiding
it,
not by minimizing it, and not by denying its full import in any way--this is
what you
will
really see. 6 You cannot lay aside the obstacles to real vision without looking
upon
them, for to lay aside means to judge against. 7 If you will look, the Holy
Spirit
will
judge, and He will judge truly. 8 Yet He cannot shine away what you keep hidden,
for
you
have not offered it to Him and He cannot take it from you.
T-12.II.10.
We are therefore embarking on an organized, well-structured and carefully
planned
program aimed at learning how to offer to the Holy Spirit everything you do not
want.
2
He knows what to do with it. 3 You do not understand how to use what He knows.
4
Whatever
is given Him that is not of God is gone. 5 Yet you must look at it yourself in
perfect
willingness,
for otherwise His knowledge remains useless to you. 6 Surely He will not
fail
to help you, since help is His only purpose. 7 Do you not have greater reason
for
fearing
the world as you perceive it, than for looking at the cause of fear and letting
it go
forever?
III.
The Investment in Reality
T-12.III.1.
I once asked you to sell all you have and give to the poor and follow me. 2
This
is what I meant: If you have no investment in anything in this world, you can
teach
the poor where their treasure is. 3 The poor are merely those who have invested
wrongly,
and they are poor indeed! 4 Because they are in need it is given you to help
them,
since
you are among them. 5 Consider how perfectly your lesson would be learned if
you were
unwilling
to share their poverty. 6 For poverty is lack, and there is but one lack since
there
is
but one need.
T-12.III.2.
Suppose a brother insists on having you do something you think you do not
want
to do. 2 His very insistence should tell you that he believes salvation lies in
it. 3
If
you insist on refusing and experience a quick response of opposition, you are
believing
that your salvation lies in <not> doing it. 4 You, then, are making the
same mistake
he
is, and are making his error real to both of you. 5 Insistence means
investment, and
what
you invest in is always related to your notion of salvation. 6 The question is
always
twofold;
first, <what> is to be saved? 7 And second, <how> can it be saved?
T-12.III.3.
Whenever you become angry with a brother, for whatever reason, you are
believing
that the ego is to be saved, and to be saved by attack. 2 If he attacks, you
are
agreeing
with this belief; and if you attack, you are reinforcing it. 3 <Remember
that those
who
attack are poor.> 4 Their poverty asks for gifts, not for further
impoverishment. 5
You
who could help them are surely acting destructively if you accept their poverty
as
yours.
6 If you had not invested as they had, it would never occur to you to overlook
their
need.
T-12.III.4.
<Recognize what does not matter,> and if your brothers ask you for
something
"outrageous," do it <because> it does not matter. 2 Refuse, and
your opposition
establishes
that it does matter to you. 3 It is only you, therefore, who have made the
request
outrageous,
and every request of a brother is for you. 4 Why would you insist in denying
him? 5
For
to do so is to deny yourself and impoverish both. 6 He is asking for salvation,
as you
are.
7 Poverty is of the ego, and never of God. 8 No "outrageous" requests
can be made
of
one who recognizes what is valuable and wants to accept nothing else.
T-12.III.5.
Salvation is for the mind, and it is attained through peace. 2 This is the
only
thing that can be saved and the only way to save it. 3 Any response other than
love
arises
from a confusion about the "what" and the "how" of salvation,
and this is the only
answer.
4 Never lose sight of this, and never allow yourself to believe, even for an
instant,
that
there is another answer. 5 For you will surely place yourself among the poor,
who
do
not understand that they dwell in abundance and that salvation is come.
T-12.III.6.
To identify with the ego is to attack yourself and make yourself poor. 2
That
is why everyone who identifies with the ego feels deprived. 3 What he
experiences then
is
depression or anger, because what he did was to exchange Self-love for
self-hate,
making
him afraid of himself. 4 He does not realize this. 5 Even if he is fully aware
of
anxiety
he does not perceive its source as his own ego identification, and he always
tries to
handle
it by making some sort of insane "arrangement" with the world. 6 He
always perceives
this
world as outside himself, for this is crucial to his adjustment. 7 He does not
realize
that
he makes this world, for there is no world outside of him.
T-12.III.7.
If only the loving thoughts of God's Son are the world's reality, the real
world
must be in his mind. 2 His insane thoughts, too, must be in his mind, but an
internal
conflict
of this magnitude he cannot tolerate. 3 A split mind is endangered, and the
recognition
that it encompasses completely opposed thoughts within itself is intolerable. 4
Therefore
the mind projects the split, not the reality. 5 Everything you perceive as the
outside
world
is merely your attempt to maintain your ego identification, for everyone
believes
that
identification is salvation. 6 Yet consider what has happened, for thoughts do
have
consequences to the thinker. 7 You have become at odds with the world as you
perceive
it,
because you think it is antagonistic to you. 8 This is a necessary consequence
of
what
you have done. 9 You have projected outward what is antagonistic to what is
inward,
and
therefore you would have to perceive it this way. 10 That is why you must
realize that
your
hatred is in your mind and not outside it before you can get rid of it; and why
you
must get rid of it before you can perceive the world as it really is.
T-12.III.8.
I said before that God so loved the world that He gave it to His only
begotten
Son. 2 God does love the real world, and those who perceive its reality cannot
see the
world
of death. 3 For death is not of the real world, in which everything reflects
the
eternal.
4 God gave you the real world in exchange for the one you made out of your
split mind,
and
which is the symbol of death. 5 For if you could really separate yourself from
the
Mind
of God you would die.
T-12.III.9.
The world you perceive is a world of separation. 2 Perhaps you are willing
to
accept even death to deny your Father. 3 Yet He would not have it so, and so it
is not
so.
4 You still cannot will against Him, and that is why you have no control over
the
world
you made. 5 It is not a world of will because it is governed by the desire to
be
unlike
God, and this desire is not will. 6 The world you made is therefore totally
chaotic,
governed
by arbitrary and senseless "laws," and without meaning of any kind. 7
For it is made
out
of what you do not want, projected from your mind because you are afraid of it.
8 Yet
this
world is only in the mind of its maker, along with his real salvation. 9 Do not
believe
it is outside of yourself, for only by recognizing where it is will you gain
control
over
it. 10 For you do have control over your mind, since the mind is the mechanism
of
decision.
T-12.III.10.
If you will recognize that all the attack you perceive is in your own mind
and
nowhere else, you will at last have placed its source, and where it begins it
must
end.
2 For in this same place also lies salvation. 3 The altar of God where Christ
abideth
is
there. 4 You have defiled the altar, but not the world. 5 Yet Christ has placed
the
Atonement
on the altar for you. 6 Bring your perceptions of the world to this altar, for
it is
the
altar to truth. 7 There you will see your vision changed, and there you will
learn to
see
truly. 8 From this place, where God and His Son dwell in peace and where you
are
welcome,
you will look out in peace and behold the world truly. 9 Yet to find the place,
you
must
relinquish your investment in the world as you project it, allowing the Holy
Spirit to
extend
the real world to you from the altar of God.
IV.
Seeking and Finding
T-12.IV.1.
The ego is certain that love is dangerous, and this is always its central
teaching.
2 It never puts it this way; on the contrary, everyone who believes that the
ego is
salvation
seems to be intensely engaged in the search for love. 3 Yet the ego, though
encouraging
the search for love very actively, makes one proviso; do not find it. 4 Its
dictates,
then,
can be summed up simply as: "Seek and do <not> find." 5 This is
the one promise the
ego
holds out to you, and the one promise it will keep. 6 For the ego pursues its
goal
with
fanatic insistence, and its judgment, though severely impaired, is completely
consistent.
T-12.IV.2.
The search the ego undertakes is therefore bound to be defeated. 2 And since
it
also teaches that it is your identification, its guidance leads you to a
journey
which
must end in perceived self-defeat. 3 For the ego cannot love, and in its
frantic
search
for love it is seeking what it is afraid to find. 4 The search is inevitable
because
the
ego is part of your mind, and because of its source the ego is not wholly split
off,
or
it could not be believed at all. 5 For it is your mind that believes in it and
gives
existence
to it. 6 Yet it is also your mind that has the power to deny the ego's
existence, and
you
will surely do so when you realize exactly what the journey is on which the ego
sets
you.
T-12.IV.3.
It is surely obvious that no one wants to find what would utterly defeat him.
2
Being unable to love, the ego would be totally inadequate in love's presence,
for it
could
not respond at all. 3 Then, you would have to abandon the ego's guidance, for
it
would
be quite apparent that it had not taught you the response you need. 4 The ego
will
therefore
distort love, and teach you that love really calls forth the responses the ego
<can>
teach.
5 Follow its teaching, then, and you will search for love, but will not
recognize it.
T-12.IV.4.
Do you realize that the ego must set you on a journey which cannot but lead
to
a sense of futility and depression? 2 To seek and not to find is hardly joyous.
3 Is
this
the promise you would keep? 4 The Holy Spirit offers you another promise, and
one that
will
lead to joy. 5 For His promise is always, "Seek and you <will>
find," and under
His
guidance you cannot be defeated. 6 His is the journey to accomplishment, and
the goal
He
sets before you He will give you. 7 For He will never deceive God's Son whom He
loves
with
the Love of the Father.
T-12.IV.5.
You <will> undertake a journey because you are not at home in this world.
2
And
you <will> search for your home whether you realize where it is or not. 3
If you
believe
it is outside you the search will be futile, for you will be seeking it where
it is
not.
4 You do not remember how to look within for you do not believe your home is
there. 5
Yet
the Holy Spirit remembers it for you, and He will guide you to your home
because
that
is His mission. 6 As He fulfills His mission He will teach you yours, for your
mission
is
the same as His. 7 By guiding your brothers home you are but following Him.
T-12.IV.6.
Behold the Guide your Father gave you, that you might learn you have eternal
life.
2 For death is not your Father's Will nor yours, and whatever is true is the
Will
of
the Father. 3 You pay no price for life for that was given you, but you do pay
a
price
for death, and a very heavy one. 4 If death is your treasure, you will sell everything
else
to purchase it. 5 And you will believe that you have purchased it, because you
have
sold everything else. 6 Yet you cannot sell the Kingdom of Heaven. 7 Your
inheritance
can
neither be bought nor sold. 8 There can be no disinherited parts of the
Sonship, for
God
is whole and all His extensions are like Him.
T-12.IV.7.
The Atonement is not the price of your wholeness, but it <is> the price
of
your
awareness of your wholeness. 2 For what you chose to "sell" had to be
kept for you,
since
you could not "buy" it back. 3 Yet you must invest in it, not with
money but with
spirit.
4 For spirit is will, and will is the "price" of the Kingdom. 5 Your
inheritance
awaits
only the recognition that you have been redeemed. 6 The Holy Spirit guides you
into
life
eternal, but you must relinquish your investment in death, or you will not see
life
though
it is all around you.
V.
The Sane Curriculum
T-12.V.1.
Only love is strong because it is undivided. 2 The strong do not attack
because
they see no need to do so. 3 Before the idea of attack can enter your mind, you
must
have
perceived yourself as weak. 4 Because you attacked yourself and believed that
the
attack
was effective, you behold yourself as weakened. 5 No longer perceiving yourself
and
your
brothers as equal, and regarding yourself as weaker, you attempt to
"equalize" the
situation
you made. 6 You use attack to do so because you believe that attack was
successful in
weakening
you.
T-12.V.2.
That is why the recognition of your own invulnerability is so important to
the
restoration of your sanity. 2 For if you accept your invulnerability, you are
recognizing
that attack has no effect. 3 Although you have attacked yourself, you will be
demonstrating
that nothing really happened. 4 Therefore, by attacking you have not done
anything. 5
Once
you realize this you will no longer see any sense in attack, for it manifestly
does
not
work and cannot protect you. 6 Yet the recognition of your invulnerability has
more
than
negative value. 7 If your attacks on yourself have failed to weaken you, you
are still
strong.
8 You therefore have no need to "equalize" the situation to establish
your
strength.
T-12.V.3.
You will never realize the utter uselessness of attack except by recognizing
that
your attack on yourself has no effects. 2 For others do react to attack if they
perceive
it, and if you are trying to attack them you will be unable to avoid
interpreting this
as
reinforcement. 3 The only place you can cancel out all reinforcement is in
yourself.
4
For you are always the first point of your attack, and if this has never been,
it has
no
consequences.
T-12.V.4.
The Holy Spirit's Love is your strength, for yours is divided and therefore
not
real. 2 You cannot trust your own love when you attack it. 3 You cannot learn
of
perfect
love with a split mind, because a split mind has made itself a poor learner. 4
You
tried
to make the separation eternal, because you wanted to retain the
characteristics of
creation,
but with your own content. 5 Yet creation is not of you, and poor learners do
need
special
teaching.
T-12.V.5.
You have learning handicaps in a very literal sense. 2 There are areas in
your
learning skills that are so impaired that you can progress only under constant,
clear-cut
direction, provided by a Teacher Who can transcend your limited resources. 3 He
becomes
your Resource because of yourself you cannot learn. 4 The learning situation in
which
you
placed yourself is impossible, and in this situation you clearly require a
special
Teacher
and a special curriculum. 5 Poor learners are not good choices as teachers,
either for
themselves
or for anyone else. 6 You would hardly turn to them to establish the
curriculum
by which they can escape from their limitations. 7 If they understood what is
beyond
them,
they would not be handicapped.
T-12.V.6.
You do not know the meaning of love, and that is your handicap. 2 Do not
attempt
to teach yourself what you do not understand, and do not try to set up
curriculum
goals
where yours have clearly failed. 3 Your learning goal has been <not> to
learn, and
this
cannot lead to successful learning. 4 You cannot transfer what you have not
learned,
and
the impairment of the ability to generalize is a crucial learning failure. 5
Would you
ask
those who have failed to learn what learning aids are for? 6 They do not know.
7 If
they
could interpret the aids correctly, they would have learned from them.
T-12.V.7.
I have said that the ego's rule is, "Seek and do not find." 2
Translated into
curricular
terms this means, "Try to learn but do not succeed." 3 The result of
this
curriculum
goal is obvious. 4 Every legitimate teaching aid, every real instruction, and
every
sensible
guide to learning will be misinterpreted, since they are all for facilitating
the
learning
this strange curriculum is against. 5 If you are trying to learn how not to
learn, and
the
aim of your teaching is to defeat itself, what can you expect but confusion? 6
Such
a
curriculum does not make sense. 7 This attempt at "learning" has so
weakened your
mind
that you cannot love, for the curriculum you have chosen is against love, and
amounts
to
a course in how to attack yourself. 8 A supplementary goal in this curriculum
is
learning
how <not> to overcome the split that makes its primary aim believable. 9
And you will
not
overcome the split in this curriculum, for all your learning will be on its
behalf. 10
Yet
your mind speaks against your learning as your learning speaks against your
mind,
and
so you fight against all learning and succeed, for that is what you want. 11
But
perhaps
you do not realize, even yet, that there is something you want to learn, and
that you
can
learn it because it <is> your choice to do so.
T-12.V.8.
You who have tried to learn what you do not want should take heart, for
although
the curriculum you set yourself is depressing indeed, it is merely ridiculous
if you
look
at it. 2 Is it possible that the way to achieve a goal is not to attain it? 3
Resign
now
as your own teacher. 4 This resignation will not lead to depression. 5 It is merely
the
result of an honest appraisal of what you have taught yourself, and of the
learning
outcomes
that have resulted. 6 Under the proper learning conditions, which you can
neither
provide
nor understand, you will become an excellent learner and an excellent teacher.
7 But
it
is not so yet, and will not be so until the whole learning situation as you
have set
it
up is reversed.
T-12.V.9.
Your learning potential, properly understood, is limitless because it will
lead
you to God. 2 You can teach the way to Him and learn it, if you follow the
Teacher Who
knows
the way to Him and understands His curriculum for learning it. 3 The curriculum
is
totally unambiguous, because the goal is not divided and the means and the end
are in
complete
accord. 4 You need offer only undivided attention. 5 Everything else will be
given you.
6
For you really want to learn aright, and nothing can oppose the decision of
God's
Son.
7 His learning is as unlimited as he is.
VI.
The Vision of Christ
T-12.VI.1.
The ego is trying to teach you how to gain the whole world and lose your own
soul.
2 The Holy Spirit teaches that you cannot lose your soul and there is no gain
in
the
world, for of itself it profits nothing. 3 To invest without profit is surely
to
impoverish
yourself, and the overhead is high. 4 Not only is there no profit in the
investment,
but
the cost to you is enormous. 5 For this investment costs you the world's
reality by
denying
yours, and gives you nothing in return. 6 You cannot sell your soul, but you
can sell
your
awareness of it. 7 You cannot perceive your soul, but you will not know it
while you
perceive
something else as more valuable.
T-12.VI.2.
The Holy Spirit is your strength because He knows nothing but the spirit as
you.
2 He is perfectly aware that you do not know yourself, and perfectly aware of
how to
teach
you to remember what you are. 3 Because He loves you, He will gladly teach you
what He
loves,
for He wills to share it. 4 Remembering you always, He cannot let you forget
your
worth. 5 For the Father never ceases to remind Him of His Son, and He never
ceases to
remind
His Son of the Father. 6 God is in your memory because of Him. 7 You chose to
forget
your
Father but you do not really want to do so, and therefore you can decide
otherwise. 8
As
it was my decision, so is it yours.
T-12.VI.3.
You do not want the world. 2 The only thing of value in it is whatever part
of
it you look upon with love. 3 This gives it the only reality it will ever have.
4 Its
value
is not in itself, but yours is in you. 5 As self-value comes from
self-extension, so
does
the perception of self-value come from the extension of loving thoughts
outward. 6
Make
the world real unto yourself, for the real world is the gift of the Holy
Spirit, and
so
it belongs to you.
T-12.VI.4.
Correction is for all who cannot see. 2 To open the eyes of the blind is the
Holy
Spirit's mission, for He knows that they have not lost their vision, but merely
sleep.
3 He would awaken them from the sleep of forgetting to the remembering of God.
4
Christ's
eyes are open, and He will look upon whatever you see with love if you accept
His
vision
as yours. 5 The Holy Spirit keeps the vision of Christ for every Son of God who
sleeps.
6
In His sight the Son of God is perfect, and He longs to share His vision with
you. 7
He
will show you the real world because God gave you Heaven. 8 Through Him your
Father
calls
His Son to remember. 9 The awakening of His Son begins with his investment in
the real
world,
and by this he will learn to re-invest in himself. 10 For reality is one with
the
Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit blesses the real world in Their Name.
T-12.VI.5.
When you have seen this real world, as you will surely do, you will remember
Us.
2 Yet you must learn the cost of sleeping, and refuse to pay it. 3 Only then
will
you
decide to awaken. 4 And then the real world will spring to your sight, for
Christ has
never
slept. 5 He is waiting to be seen, for He has never lost sight of you. 6 He
looks
quietly
on the real world, which He would share with you because He knows of the
Father's Love
for
Him. 7 And knowing this, He would give you what is yours. 8 In perfect peace He
waits
for you at His Father's altar, holding out the Father's Love to you in the
quiet light
of
the Holy Spirit's blessing. 9 For the Holy Spirit will lead everyone home to
his
Father,
where Christ waits as his Self.
T-12.VI.6.
Every child of God is one in Christ, for his being is in Christ as Christ's
is
in God. 2 Christ's Love for you is His Love for His Father, which He knows
because He
knows
His Father's Love for Him. 3 When the Holy Spirit has at last led you to Christ
at the
altar
to His Father, perception fuses into knowledge because perception has become so
holy
that its transfer to holiness is merely its natural extension. 4 Love transfers
to
love
without any interference, for the two are one. 5 As you perceive more and more
common
elements
in all situations, the transfer of training under the Holy Spirit's guidance increases
and
becomes generalized. 6 Gradually you learn to apply it to everyone and
everything,
for
its applicability is universal. 7 When this has been accomplished, perception
and
knowledge
have become so similar that they share the unification of the laws of God.
T-12.VI.7.
What is one cannot be perceived as separate, and the denial of the
separation
is the reinstatement of knowledge. 2 At the altar of God, the holy perception
of God's
Son
becomes so enlightened that light streams into it, and the spirit of God's Son
shines
in the Mind of the Father and becomes one with it. 3 Very gently does God shine
upon
Himself,
loving the extension of Himself that is His Son. 4 The world has no purpose as
it
blends
into the purpose of God. 5 For the real world has slipped quietly into Heaven,
where
everything
eternal in it has always been. 6 There the Redeemer and the redeemed join in
perfect
love
of God and of each other. 7 Heaven is your home, and being in God it must also
be in
you.
VII.
Looking Within
T-12.VII.1.
Miracles demonstrate that learning has occurred under the right guidance,
for
learning is invisible and what has been learned can be recognized only by its
results.
2
Its generalization is demonstrated as you use it in more and more situations. 3
You
will
recognize that you have learned there is no order of difficulty in miracles
when you
apply
them to all situations. 4 There is no situation to which miracles do not apply,
and by
applying
them to all situations you will gain the real world. 5 For in this holy
perception
you will be made whole, and the Atonement will radiate from your acceptance of
it for
yourself
to everyone the Holy Spirit sends you for your blessing. 6 In every child of
God His
blessing
lies, and in your blessing of the children of God is His blessing to you.
T-12.VII.2.
Everyone in the world must play his part in its redemption, in order to
recognize
that the world has been redeemed. 2 You cannot see the invisible. 3 Yet if you
see its
effects
you know it must be there. 4 By perceiving what it does, you recognize its
being.
5 And by what it does, you learn what it is. 6 You cannot see your strengths,
but you
gain
confidence in their existence as they enable you to act. 7 And the results of
your
actions
you <can> see.
T-12.VII.3.
The Holy Spirit is invisible, but you can see the results of His Presence,
and
through them you will learn that He is there. 2 What He enables you to do is
clearly
not
of this world, for miracles violate every law of reality as this world judges
it. 3
Every
law of time and space, of magnitude and mass is transcended, for what the Holy
Spirit
enables
you to do is clearly beyond all of them. 4 Perceiving His results, you will
understand
where
He must be, and finally know what He is.
T-12.VII.4.
You cannot see the Holy Spirit, but you can see His manifestations. 2 And
unless
you do, you will not realize He is there. 3 Miracles are His witnesses, and
speak for
His
Presence. 4 What you cannot see becomes real to you only through the witnesses
that
speak
for it. 5 For you can be aware of what you cannot see, and it can become
compellingly
real
to you as its Presence becomes manifest through you. 6 Do the Holy Spirit's
work, for
you
share in His function. 7 As your function in Heaven is creation, so your
function on
earth
is healing. 8 God shares His function with you in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit
shares
His
with you on earth. 9 As long as you believe you have other functions, so long
will you
need
correction. 10 For this belief is the destruction of peace, a goal in direct
opposition
to the Holy Spirit's purpose.
T-12.VII.5.
You see what you expect, and you expect what you invite. 2 Your perception
is
the result of your invitation, coming to you as you sent for it. 3 Whose
manifestations
would you see? 4 Of whose presence would you be convinced? 5 For you will
believe in
what
you manifest, and as you look out so will you see in. 6 Two ways of looking at
the
world
are in your mind, and your perception will reflect the guidance you have
chosen.
T-12.VII.6.
I am the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, and when you see me it will be
because
you have invited Him. 2 For He will send you His witnesses if you will but look
upon
them.
3 Remember always that you see what you seek, for what you seek you will find.
4 The
ego
finds what it seeks, and only that. 5 It does not find love, for that is not
what it
is
seeking. 6 Yet seeking and finding are the same, and if you seek for two goals
you
will
find them, but you will recognize neither. 7 You will think they are the same
because
you
want both of them. 8 The mind always strives for integration, and if it is
split and
wants
to keep the split, it will still believe it has one goal by making it seem to
be one.
T-12.VII.7.
I said before that what you project or extend is up to you, but you must do
one
or the other, for that is a law of mind, and you must look in before you look
out.
2
As you look in, you choose the guide for seeing. 3 And then you look out and
behold
his
witnesses. 4 This is why you find what you seek. 5 What you want in yourself
you will
make
manifest, and you will accept it from the world because you put it there by
wanting it.
6
When you think you are projecting what you do not want, it is still because you
<do>
want
it. 7 This leads directly to dissociation, for it represents the acceptance of
two
goals,
each perceived in a different place; separated from each other because you made
them
different. 8 The mind then sees a divided world outside itself, but not within.
9 This
gives
it an illusion of integrity, and enables it to believe that it is pursuing one
goal.
10 Yet as long as you perceive the world as split, you are not healed. 11 For
to be
healed
is to pursue one goal, because you have accepted only one and want but one.
T-12.VII.8.
When you want only love you will see nothing else. 2 The contradictory
nature
of the witnesses you perceive is merely the reflection of your conflicting
invitations.
3
You have looked upon your mind and accepted opposition there, having sought it
there.
4
But do not then believe that the witnesses for opposition are true, for they
attest
only
to your decision about reality, returning to you the messages you gave them. 5
Love,
too,
is recognized by its messengers. 6 If you make love manifest, its messengers
will
come
to you because you invited them.
T-12.VII.9.
The power of decision is your one remaining freedom as a prisoner of this
world.
2 You can decide to see it right. 3 What you made of it is not its reality, for
its
reality
is only what you give it. 4 You cannot really give anything but love to anyone
or
anything,
nor can you really receive anything but love from them. 5 If you think you have
received
anything else, it is because you have looked within and thought you saw the
power to
give
something else within yourself. 6 It was only this decision that determined
what you
found,
for it was the decision for what you sought.
T-12.VII.10.
You are afraid of me because you looked within and are afraid of what you
saw.
2 Yet you could not have seen reality, for the reality of your mind is the
loveliest
of
God's creations. 3 Coming only from God, its power and grandeur could only
bring you
peace
<if you really looked upon it.> 4 If you are afraid, it is because you
saw something
that
is not there. 5 Yet in that same place you could have looked upon me and all
your
brothers,
in the perfect safety of the Mind which created us. 6 For we are there in the
peace
of
the Father, Who wills to extend His peace through you.
T-12.VII.11.
When you have accepted your mission to extend peace you will find peace,
for
by making it manifest you will see it. 2 Its holy witnesses will surround you
because
you
called upon them, and they will come to you. 3 I have heard your call and I
have
answered
it, but you will not look upon me nor hear the answer that you sought. 4 That
is
because
you do not yet want <only> that. 5 Yet as I become more real to you, you
will learn
that
you do want only that. 6 And you will see me as you look within, and we will
look upon
the
real world together. 7 Through the eyes of Christ, only the real world exists
and
only
the real world can be seen. 8 As you decide so will you see. 9 And all that you
see
but
witnesses to your decision.
T-12.VII.12.
When you look within and see me, it will be because you have decided to
manifest
truth. 2 And as you manifest it you will see it both without and within. 3 You
will
see
it without <because> you saw it first within. 4 Everything you behold
without is a
judgment
of what you beheld within. 5 If it is your judgment it will be wrong, for
judgment is
not
your function. 6 If it is the judgment of the Holy Spirit it will be right, for
judgment
<is> His function. 7 You share His function only by judging as He does,
reserving no
judgment
at all for yourself. 8 You will judge against yourself, but He will judge
<for> you.
T-12.VII.13.
Remember, then, that whenever you look without and react unfavorably to
what
you see, you have judged yourself unworthy and have condemned yourself to
death. 2 The
death
penalty is the ego's ultimate goal, for it fully believes that you are a
criminal,
as
deserving of death as God knows you are deserving of life. 3 The death penalty
never
leaves the ego's mind, for that is what it always reserves for you in the end.
4
Wanting
to kill you as the final expression of its feeling for you, it lets you live
but to
await
death. 5 It will torment you while you live, but its hatred is not satisfied
until you
die.
6 For your destruction is the one end toward which it works, and the only end
with
which
it will be satisfied.
T-12.VII.14.
The ego is not a traitor to God, to Whom treachery is impossible. 2 But it
is
a traitor to you who believe that you have been treacherous to your Father. 3
That
is
why the undoing of guilt is an essential part of the Holy Spirit's teaching. 4
For as
long
as you feel guilty you are listening to the voice of the ego, which tells you
that you
have
been treacherous to God and therefore deserve death. 5 You will think that
death
comes
from God and not from the ego because, by confusing yourself with the ego, you
believe
that
you want death. 6 And from what you want God does not save you.
T-12.VII.15.
When you are tempted to yield to the desire for death, <remember that I
did
not die.> 2 You will realize that this is true when you look within and
<see> me. 3
Would
I have overcome death for myself alone? 4 And would eternal life have been
given me of
the
Father unless He had also given it to you? 5 When you learn to make me
manifest,
you
will never see death. 6 For you will have looked upon the deathless in
yourself, and
you
will see only the eternal as you look out upon a world that cannot die.
VIII.
The Attraction of Love for Love
T-12.VIII.1.
Do you really believe that you can kill the Son of God? 2 The Father has
hidden
His Son safely within Himself, and kept him far away from your destructive
thoughts,
but
you know neither the Father nor the Son because of them. 3 You attack the real
world
every
day and every hour and every minute, and yet you are surprised that you cannot
see it.
4
If you seek love in order to attack it, you will never find it. 5 For if love
is
sharing,
how can you find it except through itself? 6 Offer it and it will come to you,
because
it is drawn to itself. 7 But offer attack and love will remain hidden, for it
can live
only
in peace.
T-12.VIII.2.
God's Son is as safe as his Father, for the Son knows his Father's
protection
and cannot fear. 2 His Father's Love holds him in perfect peace, and needing
nothing,
he
asks for nothing. 3 Yet he is far from you whose Self he is, for you chose to
attack
him
and he disappeared from your sight into his Father. 4 He did not change, but
you did.
5
For a split mind and all its works were not created by the Father, and could
not live
in
the knowledge of Him.
T-12.VIII.3.
When you made visible what is not true, what <is> true became invisible
to
you.
2 Yet it cannot be invisible in itself, for the Holy Spirit sees it with
perfect
clarity.
3 It is invisible to you because you are looking at something else. 4 Yet it is
no
more
up to you to decide what is visible and what is invisible, than it is up to you
to
decide
what reality is. 5 What can be seen is what the Holy Spirit sees. 6 The
definition of
reality
is God's, not yours. 7 He created it, and He knows what it is. 8 You who knew
have
forgotten,
and unless He had given you a way to remember you would have condemned yourself
to
oblivion.
T-12.VIII.4.
Because of your Father's Love you can never forget Him, for no one can
forget
what God Himself placed in his memory. 2 You can deny it, but you cannot lose
it. 3 A
Voice
will answer every question you ask, and a vision will correct the perception of
everything
you see. 4 For what you have made invisible is the only truth, and what you
have not
heard
is the only Answer. 5 God would reunite you with yourself, and did not abandon
you in
your
distress. 6 You are waiting only for Him, and do not know it. 7 Yet His memory
shines
in
your mind and cannot be obliterated. 8 It is no more past than future, being
forever
always.
T-12.VIII.5.
You have but to ask for this memory, and you will remember. 2 Yet the
memory
of God cannot shine in a mind that has obliterated it and wants to keep it so.
3 For
the
memory of God can dawn only in a mind that chooses to remember, and that has
relinquished
the insane desire to control reality. 4 You who cannot even control yourself
should
hardly
aspire to control the universe. 5 But look upon what you have made of it, and
rejoice
that
it is not so.
T-12.VIII.6.
Son of God, be not content with nothing! 2 What is not real cannot be seen
and
has no value. 3 God could not offer His Son what has no value, nor could His
Son
receive
it. 4 You were redeemed the instant you thought you had deserted Him. 5
Everything you
made
has never been, and is invisible because the Holy Spirit does not see it. 6 Yet
what
He does see is yours to behold, and through His vision your perception is healed.
7
You
have made invisible the only truth that this world holds. 8 Valuing nothing,
you have
sought
nothing. 9 By making nothing real to you, you have seen it. 10 <But it is
not there.>
11
And Christ is invisible to you because of what you have made visible to
yourself.
T-12.VIII.7.
Yet it does not matter how much distance you have tried to interpose
between
your awareness and truth. 2 God's Son can be seen because his vision is shared.
3 The
Holy
Spirit looks upon him, and sees nothing else in you. 4 What is invisible to you
is
perfect
in His sight, and encompasses all of it. 5 He has remembered you because He
forgot not
the
Father. 6 You looked upon the unreal and found despair. 7 Yet by seeking the
unreal,
what
else could you find? 8 The unreal world <is> a thing of despair, for it
can never
be.
9 And you who share God's Being with Him could never be content without
reality. 10
What
God did not give you has no power over you, and the attraction of love for love
remains
irresistible. 11 For it is the function of love to unite all things unto
itself, and
to
hold all things together by extending its wholeness.
T-12.VIII.8.
The real world was given you by God in loving exchange for the world you
made
and the world you see. 2 Only take it from the hand of Christ and look upon it.
3 Its
reality
will make everything else invisible, for beholding it is total perception. 4
And as
you
look upon it you will remember that it was always so. 5 Nothingness will become
invisible,
for you will at last have seen truly. 6 Redeemed perception is easily
translated into
knowledge,
for only perception is capable of error and perception has never been. 7
Being
corrected it gives place to knowledge, which is forever the only reality. 8 The
Atonement
is but the way back to what was never lost. 9 Your Father could not cease to
love His
Son.
Chapter
13.
THE
GUILTLESS WORLD
Introduction
T-13.in.1.
If you did not feel guilty you could not attack, for condemnation is the
root
of attack. 2 It is the judgment of one mind by another as unworthy of love and
deserving
of punishment. 3 But herein lies the split. 4 For the mind that judges
perceives
itself
as separate from the mind being judged, believing that by punishing another, it
will
escape
punishment. 5 All this is but the delusional attempt of the mind to deny
itself, and
escape
the penalty of denial. 6 It is not an attempt to relinquish denial, but to hold
on to
it.
7 For it is guilt that has obscured the Father to you, and it is guilt that has
driven
you insane.
T-13.in.2.
The acceptance of guilt into the mind of God's Son was the beginning of the
separation,
as the acceptance of the Atonement is its end. 2 The world you see is the
delusional
system
of those made mad by guilt. 3 Look carefully at this world, and you will
realize that
this
is so. 4 For this world is the symbol of punishment, and all the laws that seem
to
govern
it are the laws of death. 5 Children are born into it through pain and in pain.
6
Their
growth is attended by suffering, and they learn of sorrow and separation and
death. 7
Their
minds seem to be trapped in their brain, and its powers to decline if their
bodies are
hurt.
8 They seem to love, yet they desert and are deserted. 9 They appear to lose
what
they
love, perhaps the most insane belief of all. 10 And their bodies wither and
gasp
and
are laid in the ground, and are no more. 11 Not one of them but has thought
that God
is
cruel.
T-13.in.3.
If this were the real world, God <would> be cruel. 2 For no Father could
subject
His children to this as the price of salvation and <be> loving. 3
<Love does not kill
to
save.> 4 If it did, attack would be salvation, and this is the ego's
interpretation,
not
God's. 5 Only the world of guilt could demand this, for only the guilty could
conceive
of it. 6 Adam's "sin" could have touched no one, had he not believed
it was the Father
Who
drove him out of Paradise. 7 For in that belief the knowledge of the Father was
lost,
since only those who do not understand Him could believe it.
T-13.in.4.
This world <is> a picture of the crucifixion of God's Son. 2 And until
you
realize
that God's Son cannot be crucified, this is the world you will see. 3 Yet you
will not
realize
this until you accept the eternal fact that God's Son is not guilty. 4 He
deserves
only love because he has given only love. 5 He cannot be condemned because he
has
never
condemned. 6 The Atonement is the final lesson he need learn, for it teaches
him that,
never
having sinned, he has no need of salvation.
I.
Guiltlessness and Invulnerability
T-13.I.1.
Earlier, I said that the Holy Spirit shares the goal of all good teachers,
whose
ultimate aim is to make themselves unnecessary by teaching their pupils all
they know.
2
The Holy Spirit wants only this, for sharing the Father's Love for His Son, He
seeks
to
remove all guilt from his mind that he may remember his Father in peace. 3
Peace and
guilt
are antithetical, and the Father can be remembered only in peace. 4 Love and
guilt
cannot
coexist, and to accept one is to deny the other. 5 Guilt hides Christ from your
sight,
for
it is the denial of the blamelessness of God's Son.
T-13.I.2.
In the strange world that you have made the Son of God <has> sinned. 2
How
could
you see him, then? 3 By making him invisible, the world of retribution rose in
the
black
cloud of guilt that you accepted, and you hold it dear. 4 For the blamelessness
of
Christ
is the proof that the ego never was, and can never be. 5 Without guilt the ego
has no
life,
and God's Son <is> without guilt.
T-13.I.3.
As you look upon yourself and judge what you do honestly, you may be tempted
to
wonder how you can be guiltless. 2 Yet consider this: You are not guiltless in
time,
but
in eternity. 3 You have "sinned" in the past, but there is no past. 4
Always has no
direction.
5 Time seems to go in one direction, but when you reach its end it will roll up
like
a
long carpet spread along the past behind you, and will disappear. 6 As long as
you
believe
the Son of God is guilty you will walk along this carpet, believing that it
leads to
death.
7 And the journey will seem long and cruel and senseless, for so it is.
T-13.I.4.
The journey the Son of God has set himself is useless indeed, but the journey
on
which his Father sets him is one of release and joy. 2 The Father is not cruel,
and
His
Son cannot hurt himself. 3 The retaliation that he fears and that he sees will
never
touch
him, for although he believes in it the Holy Spirit knows it is not true. 4 The
Holy
Spirit
stands at the end of time, where you must be because He is with you. 5 He has
already
undone
everything unworthy of the Son of God, for such was His mission, given Him by
God. 6
And
what God gives has always been.
T-13.I.5.
You will see me as you learn the Son of God is guiltless. 2 He has always
sought
his guiltlessness, and he has found it. 3 For everyone is seeking to escape
from the
prison
he has made, and the way to find release is not denied him. 4 Being in him, he
has
found
it. 5 <When> he finds it is only a matter of time, and time is but an
illusion. 6 For
the
Son of God is guiltless now, and the brightness of his purity shines untouched
forever
in God's Mind. 7 God's Son will always be as he was created. 8 Deny your world
and
judge
him not, for his eternal guiltlessness is in the Mind of his Father, and
protects him
forever.
T-13.I.6.
When you have accepted the Atonement for yourself, you will realize there is
no
guilt in God's Son. 2 And only as you look upon him as guiltless can you
understand
his
oneness. 3 For the idea of guilt brings a belief in condemnation of one by
another,
projecting
separation in place of unity. 4 You can condemn only yourself, and by so doing
you
cannot
know that you are God's Son. 5 You have denied the condition of his being,
which is
his
perfect blamelessness. 6 Out of love he was created, and in love he abides. 7
Goodness
and
mercy have always followed him, for he has always extended the Love of his
Father.
T-13.I.7.
As you perceive the holy companions who travel with you, you will realize
that
there is no journey, but only an awakening. 2 The Son of God, who sleepeth not,
has
kept
faith with his Father for you. 3 There is no road to travel on, and no time to
travel
through.
4 For God waits not for His Son in time, being forever unwilling to be without
him. 5
And
so it has always been. 6 Let the holiness of God's Son shine away the cloud of
guilt
that darkens your mind, and by accepting his purity as yours, learn of him that
it <is
>
yours.
T-13.I.8.
You are invulnerable because you are guiltless. 2 You can hold on to the past
only
through guilt. 3 For guilt establishes that you will be punished for what you
have
done,
and thus depends on one-dimensional time, proceeding from past to future. 4 No
one
who believes this can understand what "always" means, and therefore
guilt must deprive
you
of the appreciation of eternity. 5 You are immortal because you are eternal,
and "
always"
must be now. 6 Guilt, then, is a way of holding past and future in your mind to
ensure
the ego's continuity. 7 For if what has been will be punished, the ego's
continuity is
guaranteed.
8 Yet the guarantee of your continuity is God's, not the ego's. 9 And
immortality
is the opposite of time, for time passes away, while immortality is constant.
T-13.I.9.
Accepting the Atonement teaches you what immortality is, for by accepting
your
guiltlessness you learn that the past has never been, and so the future is
needless
and
will not be. 2 The future, in time, is always associated with expiation, and
only
guilt
could induce a sense of a need for expiation. 3 Accepting the guiltlessness of
the Son
of
God as yours is therefore God's way of reminding you of His Son, and what he is
in
truth.
4 For God has never condemned His Son, and being guiltless he is eternal.
T-13.I.10.
You cannot dispel guilt by making it real, and then atoning for it. 2 This
is
the ego's plan, which it offers instead of dispelling it. 3 The ego believes in
atonement
through attack, being fully committed to the insane notion that attack is
salvation. 4
And
you who cherish guilt must also believe it, for how else but by identifying
with
the
ego could you hold dear what you do not want?
T-13.I.11.
The ego teaches you to attack yourself because you are guilty, and this must
increase
the guilt, for guilt is the result of attack. 2 In the ego's teaching, then,
there
is no escape from guilt. 3 For attack makes guilt real, and if it is real there
<is>
no
way to overcome it. 4 The Holy Spirit dispels it simply through the calm
recognition
that
it has never been. 5 As He looks upon the guiltless Son of God, He knows that
this is
true.
6 And being true for you, you cannot attack yourself, for without guilt attack
is
impossible.
7 You, then, are saved because God's Son is guiltless. 8 And being wholly pure,
you
are
invulnerable.
II.
The Guiltless Son of God
T-13.II.1.
The ultimate purpose of projection is always to get rid of guilt. 2 Yet,
characteristically,
the ego attempts to get rid of guilt from its viewpoint only, for much as the
ego
wants
to retain guilt <you> find it intolerable, since guilt stands in the way
of your
remembering
God, Whose pull is so strong that you cannot resist it. 3 On this issue, then,
the
deepest
split of all occurs, for if you are to retain guilt, as the ego insists,
<you cannot
be
you.> 4 Only by persuading you that it is you could the ego possibly induce
you to
project
guilt, and thereby keep it in your mind.
T-13.II.2.
Yet consider how strange a solution the ego's arrangement is. 2 You project
guilt
to get rid of it, but you are actually merely concealing it. 3 You do
experience the
guilt,
but you have no idea why. 4 On the contrary, you associate it with a weird
assortment
of
"ego ideals," which the ego claims you have failed. 5 Yet you have no
idea that you
are
failing the Son of God by seeing him as guilty. 6 Believing you are no longer
you, you
do
not realize that you are failing yourself.
T-13.II.3.
The darkest of your hidden cornerstones holds your belief in guilt from your
awareness.
2 For in that dark and secret place is the realization that you have
betrayed
God's Son by condemning him to death. 3 You do not even suspect this murderous
but
insane
idea lies hidden there, for the ego's destructive urge is so intense that
nothing
short
of the crucifixion of God's Son can ultimately satisfy it. 4 It does not know
who the
Son
of God is because it is blind. 5 Yet let it perceive guiltlessness anywhere,
and it
will
try to destroy it because it is afraid.
T-13.II.4.
Much of the ego's strange behavior is directly attributable to its
definition
of guilt. 2 To the ego, <the guiltless are guilty.> 3 Those who do not
attack are its
"enemies"
because, by not valuing its interpretation of salvation, they are in an
excellent
position to let it go. 4 They have approached the darkest and deepest
cornerstone in
the
ego's foundation, and while the ego can withstand your raising all else to
question,
it
guards this one secret with its life, for its existence depends on keeping this
secret.
5
So it is this secret that we must look upon, for the ego cannot protect you
against
truth,
and in its presence the ego is dispelled.
T-13.II.5.
In the calm light of truth, let us recognize that you believe you have
crucified
God's Son. 2 You have not admitted to this "terrible" secret because
you would still
wish
to crucify him if you could find him. 3 Yet the wish has hidden him from you
because
it
is very fearful, and so you are afraid to find him. 4 You have handled this
wish to
kill
yourself by not knowing who you are, and identifying with something else. 5 You
have
projected
guilt blindly and indiscriminately, but you have not uncovered its source. 6
For the
ego
does want to kill you, and if you identify with it you must believe its goal is
yours.
T-13.II.6.
I have said that the crucifixion is the symbol of the ego. 2 When it was
confronted
with the real guiltlessness of God's Son it did attempt to kill him, and the
reason it
gave
was that guiltlessness is blasphemous to God. 3 To the ego, the <ego> is
God, and
guiltlessness
must be interpreted as the final guilt that fully justifies murder. 4 You do
not yet
understand
that any fear you may experience in connection with this course stems
ultimately from
this
interpretation, but if you will consider your reactions to it you will become
increasingly
convinced that this is so.
T-13.II.7.
This course has explicitly stated that its goal for you is happiness and
peace.
2 Yet you are afraid of it. 3 You have been told again and again that it will
set you
free,
yet you sometimes react as if it is trying to imprison you. 4 You often dismiss
it
more readily than you dismiss the ego's thought system. 5 To some extent, then,
you
must
believe that by not learning the course you are protecting yourself. 6 And you
do not
realize
that it is only your guiltlessness that <can> protect you.
T-13.II.8.
The Atonement has always been interpreted as the release from guilt, and
this
is correct if it is understood. 2 Yet even when I interpret it for you, you may
reject
it
and do not accept it for yourself. 3 You have perhaps recognized the futility
of the
ego
and its offerings, but though you do not want them, you may not yet look upon
the
alternative
with gladness. 4 In the extreme, you are afraid of redemption and you believe
it will
kill
you. 5 Make no mistake about the depth of this fear. 6 For you believe that, in
the
presence
of truth, you might turn on yourself and destroy yourself.
T-13.II.9.
Little child, this is not so. 2 Your "guilty secret" is nothing, and
if you
will
but bring it to the light, the light will dispel it. 3 And then no dark cloud
will
remain
between you and the remembrance of your Father, for you will remember His
guiltless
Son,
who did not die because he is immortal. 4 And you will see that you were
redeemed
with
him, and have never been separated from him. 5 In this understanding lies your
remembering,
for it is the recognition of love without fear. 6 There will be great joy in
Heaven
on
your homecoming, and the joy will be yours. 7 For the redeemed son of man is
the
guiltless
Son of God, and to recognize him <is> your redemption.
III.
The Fear of Redemption
T-13.III.1.
You may wonder why it is so crucial that you look upon your hatred and
realize
its full extent. 2 You may also think that it would be easy enough for the Holy
Spirit
to
show it to you, and to dispel it without the need for you to raise it to
awareness
yourself.
3 Yet there is one more obstacle you have interposed between yourself and the
Atonement.
4 We have said that no one will countenance fear if he recognizes it. 5 Yet in
your
disordered
state of mind you are not afraid of fear. 6 You do not like it, but it is not
your
desire
to attack that really frightens you. 7 You are not seriously disturbed by your
hostility.
8 You keep it hidden because you are more afraid of what it covers. 9 You could
look
even
upon the ego's darkest cornerstone without fear if you did not believe that,
without
the
ego, you would find within yourself something you fear even more. 10 You are
not
really
afraid of crucifixion. 11 Your real terror is of redemption.
T-13.III.2.
Under the ego's dark foundation is the memory of God, and it is of this
that
you are really afraid. 2 For this memory would instantly restore you to your
proper
place,
and it is this place that you have sought to leave. 3 Your fear of attack is
nothing
compared
to your fear of love. 4 You would be willing to look even upon your savage wish
to
kill
God's Son, if you did not believe that it saves you from love. 5 For this wish
caused
the
separation, and you have protected it because you do not want the separation
healed. 6
You
realize that, by removing the dark cloud that obscures it, your love for your
Father
would impel you to answer His Call and leap into Heaven. 7 You believe that
attack is
salvation
because it would prevent you from this. 8 For still deeper than the ego's
foundation,
and
much stronger than it will ever be, is your intense and burning love of God,
and His
for
you. 9 This is what you really want to hide.
T-13.III.3.
In honesty, is it not harder for you to say "I love" than "I
hate"? 2 You
associate
love with weakness and hatred with strength, and your own real power seems to
you as
your
real weakness. 3 For you could not control your joyous response to the call of
love if
you
heard it, and the whole world you thought you made would vanish. 4 The Holy
Spirit,
then,
seems to be attacking your fortress, for you would shut out God, and He does
not
will
to be excluded.
T-13.III.4.
You have built your whole insane belief system because you think you would
be
helpless in God's Presence, and you would save yourself from His Love because
you
think
it would crush you into nothingness. 2 You are afraid it would sweep you away
from
yourself
and make you little, because you believe that magnitude lies in defiance, and
that
attack
is grandeur. 3 You think you have made a world God would destroy; and by loving
Him,
which
you do, you would throw this world away, which you <would.> 4 Therefore,
you have used
the
world to cover your love, and the deeper you go into the blackness of the ego's
foundation,
the closer you come to the Love that is hidden there. 5 <And it is this that
frightens
you.
T-13.III.5.
You can accept insanity because you made it, but you cannot accept love
because
you did not. 2 You would rather be a slave of the crucifixion than a Son of God
in
redemption.
3 Your individual death seems more valuable than your living oneness, for what
is
given
you is not so dear as what you made. 4 You are more afraid of God than of the
ego, and
love
cannot enter where it is not welcome. 5 But hatred can, for it enters of its
own
volition
and cares not for yours.
T-13.III.6.
You must look upon your illusions and not keep them hidden, because they do
not
rest on their own foundation. 2 In concealment they appear to do so, and thus
they
seem
to be self-sustained. 3 This is the fundamental illusion on which the others
rest. 4
For
beneath them, and concealed as long as they are hidden, is the loving mind that
thought
it made them in anger. 5 And the pain in this mind is so apparent, when it is
uncovered,
that its need of healing cannot be denied. 6 Not all the tricks and games you
offer
it
can heal it, for here is the real crucifixion of God's Son.
T-13.III.7.
And yet he is not crucified. 2 Here is both his pain and his healing, for
the
Holy Spirit's vision is merciful and His remedy is quick. 3 Do not hide
suffering from
His
sight, but bring it gladly to Him. 4 Lay before His eternal sanity all your
hurt,
and
let Him heal you. 5 Do not leave any spot of pain hidden from His light, and
search
your
mind carefully for any thoughts you may fear to uncover. 6 For He will heal
every
little
thought you have kept to hurt you and cleanse it of its littleness, restoring
it to
the
magnitude of God.
T-13.III.8.
Beneath all the grandiosity you hold so dear is your real call for help. 2
For
you call for love to your Father as your Father calls you to Himself. 3 In that
place
which
you have hidden, you will only to unite with the Father, in loving remembrance
of Him.
4
You will find this place of truth as you see it in your brothers, for though
they may
deceive
themselves, like you they long for the grandeur that is in them. 5 And
perceiving
it you will welcome it, and it will be yours. 6 For grandeur is the right of
God's Son,
and
no illusions can satisfy him or save him from what he is. 7 Only his love is
real,
and
he will be content only with his reality.
T-13.III.9.
Save him from his illusions that you may accept the magnitude of your
Father
in peace and joy. 2 But exempt no one from your love, or you will be hiding a
dark
place
in your mind where the Holy Spirit is not welcome. 3 And thus you will exempt
yourself
from
His healing power, for by not offering total love you will not be healed
completely.
4 Healing must be as complete as fear, for love cannot enter where there is one
spot
of
fear to mar its welcome.
T-13.III.10.
You who prefer separation to sanity cannot obtain it in your right mind. 2
You
were at peace until you asked for special favor. 3 And God did not give it for
the
request
was alien to Him, and you could not ask this of a Father Who truly loved His
Son. 4
Therefore
you made of Him an unloving father, demanding of Him what only such a father
could
give.
5 And the peace of God's Son was shattered, for he no longer understood his
Father. 6
He
feared what he had made, but still more did he fear his real Father, having
attacked
his
own glorious equality with Him.
T-13.III.11.
In peace he needed nothing and asked for nothing. 2 In war he demanded
everything
and found nothing. 3 For how could the gentleness of love respond to his
demands,
except
by departing in peace and returning to the Father? 4 If the Son did not wish to
remain
in
peace, he could not remain at all. 5 For a darkened mind cannot live in the
light,
and
it must seek a place of darkness where it can believe it is where it is not. 6
God did
not
allow this to happen. 7 Yet you demanded that it happen, and therefore believed
that
it was so.
T-13.III.12.
To "single out" is to "make alone," and thus make lonely. 2
God did not do
this
to you. 3 Could He set you apart, knowing that your peace lies in His Oneness?
4
He
denied you only your request for pain, for suffering is not of His creation. 5
Having
given
you creation, He could not take it from you. 6 He could but answer your insane
request
with
a sane answer that would abide with you in your insanity. 7 And this He did. 8
No
one
who hears His answer but will give up insanity. 9 For His answer is the
reference
point
beyond illusions, from which you can look back on them and see them as insane.
10 But
seek
this place and you will find it, for Love is in you and will lead you there.
IV.
The Function of Time
T-13.IV.1.
And now the reason why you are afraid of this course should be apparent. 2
For
this is a course on love, because it is about you. 3 You have been told that
your
function
in this world is healing, and your function in Heaven is creating. 4 The ego
teaches
that
your function on earth is destruction, and you have no function at all in
Heaven. 5 It
would
thus destroy you here and bury you here, leaving you no inheritance except the
dust
out of which it thinks you were made. 6 As long as it is reasonably satisfied
with you,
as
its reasoning goes, it offers you oblivion. 7 When it becomes overtly savage,
it
offers
you hell.
T-13.IV.2.
Yet neither oblivion nor hell is as unacceptable to you as Heaven. 2 Your
definition
of Heaven <is> hell and oblivion, and the real Heaven is the greatest
threat you think
you
could experience. 3 For hell and oblivion are ideas that you made up, and you
are
bent
on demonstrating their reality to establish yours. 4 If their reality is
questioned,
you
believe that yours is. 5 For you believe that attack is your reality, and that
your
destruction
is the final proof that you were right.
T-13.IV.3.
Under the circumstances, would it not be more desirable to have been wrong,
even
apart from the fact that you were wrong? 2 While it could perhaps be argued
that death
suggests
there <was> life, no one would claim that it proves there <is>
life. 3 Even
the
past life that death might indicate, could only have been futile if it must
come to
this,
and needs this to prove that it was at all. 4 You question Heaven, but you do
not
question
this. 5 Yet you could heal and be healed if you did question it. 6 And even
though you
know
not Heaven, might it not be more desirable than death? 7 You have been as
selective
in your questioning as in your perception. 8 An open mind is more honest than
this.
T-13.IV.4.
The ego has a strange notion of time, and it is with this notion that your
questioning
might well begin. 2 The ego invests heavily in the past, and in the end
believes that
the
past is the only aspect of time that is meaningful. 3 Remember that its
emphasis on
guilt
enables it to ensure its continuity by making the future like the past, and
thus
avoiding
the present. 4 By the notion of paying for the past in the future, the past
becomes
the
determiner of the future, making them continuous without an intervening
present. 5 For
the
ego regards the present only as a brief transition to the future, in which it
brings
the past to the future by interpreting the present in past terms.
T-13.IV.5.
"Now" has no meaning to the ego. 2 The present merely reminds it of
past
hurts,
and it reacts to the present as if it <were> the past. 3 The ego cannot
tolerate
release
from the past, and although the past is over, the ego tries to preserve its image
by
responding
as if it were present. 4 It dictates your reactions to those you meet in the
present
from
a past reference point, obscuring their present reality. 5 In effect, if you
follow
the
ego's dictates you will react to your brother as though he were someone else,
and this
will
surely prevent you from recognizing him as he is. 6 And you will receive
messages
from
him out of your own past because, by making it real in the present, you are
forbidding
yourself
to let it go. 7 You thus deny yourself the message of release that every
brother
offers you <now.
T-13.IV.6.
The shadowy figures from the past are precisely what you must escape. 2 They
are
not real, and have no hold over you unless you bring them with you. 3 They
carry
the
spots of pain in your mind, directing you to attack in the present in
retaliation for
a
past that is no more. 4 And this decision is one of future pain. 5 Unless you
learn
that
past pain is an illusion, you are choosing a future of illusions and losing the
many
opportunities
you could find for release in the present. 6 The ego would preserve your
nightmares,
and
prevent you from awakening and understanding they are past. 7 Would you
recognize a
holy
encounter if you are merely perceiving it as a meeting with your own past? 8 For
you
would
be meeting no one, and the sharing of salvation, which makes the encounter
holy, would
be
excluded from your sight. 9 The Holy Spirit teaches that you always meet
yourself,
and
the encounter is holy because you are. 10 The ego teaches that you always
encounter
your
past, and because your dreams were not holy, the future cannot be, and the
present is
without
meaning.
T-13.IV.7.
It is evident that the Holy Spirit's perception of time is the exact
opposite
of the ego's. 2 The reason is equally clear, for they perceive the goal of time
as
diametrically
opposed. 3 The Holy Spirit interprets time's purpose as rendering the need for
time
unnecessary.
4 He regards the function of time as temporary, serving only His teaching
function,
which
is temporary by definition. 5 His emphasis is therefore on the only aspect of
time
that
can extend to the infinite, for <now> is the closest approximation of
eternity that
this
world offers. 6 It is in the reality of "now," without past or
future, that the
beginning
of the appreciation of eternity lies. 7 For only "now" is here, and
only "now"
presents
the opportunities for the holy encounters in which salvation can be found.
T-13.IV.8.
The ego, on the other hand, regards the function of time as one of extending
itself
in place of eternity, for like the Holy Spirit, the ego interprets the goal of
time
as its own. 2 The continuity of past and future, under its direction, is the
only
purpose
the ego perceives in time, and it closes over the present so that no gap in its
own
continuity
can occur. 3 Its continuity, then, would keep you in time, while the Holy
Spirit would
release
you from it. 4 It is His interpretation of the means of salvation that you must
learn
to accept, if you would share His goal of salvation for you.
T-13.IV.9.
You, too, will interpret the function of time as you interpret yours. 2 If
you
accept your function in the world of time as one of healing, you will emphasize
only
the
aspect of time in which healing can occur. 3 Healing cannot be accomplished in
the
past.
4 It must be accomplished in the present to release the future. 5 This
interpretation
ties
the future to the present, and extends the present rather than the past. 6 But
if
you
interpret your function as destruction, you will lose sight of the present and
hold on
to
the past to ensure a destructive future. 7 And time will be as you interpret
it, for
of
itself it is nothing.
V.
The Two Emotions
T-13.V.1.
I have said you have but two emotions, love and fear. 2 One is changeless but
continually
exchanged, being offered by the eternal to the eternal. 3 In this exchange
it
is extended, for it increases as it is given. 4 The other has many forms, for
the
content
of individual illusions differs greatly. 5 Yet they have one thing in common;
they are
all
insane. 6 They are made of sights that are not seen, and sounds that are not
heard.
7
They make up a private world that cannot be shared. 8 For they are meaningful
only to
their
maker, and so they have no meaning at all. 9 In this world their maker moves
alone,
for only he perceives them.
T-13.V.2.
Each one peoples his world with figures from his individual past, and it is
because
of this that private worlds do differ. 2 Yet the figures that he sees were
never real,
for
they are made up only of his reactions to his brothers, and do not include
their
reactions
to him. 3 Therefore, he does not see he made them, and that they are not whole.
4 For
these
figures have no witnesses, being perceived in one separate mind only.
T-13.V.3.
It is through these strange and shadowy figures that the insane relate to
their
insane world. 2 For they see only those who remind them of these images, and it
is to
them
that they relate. 3 Thus do they communicate with those who are not there, and
it is
they
who answer them. 4 And no one hears their answer save him who called upon them,
and he
alone
believes they answered him. 5 Projection makes perception, and you cannot see
beyond
it. 6 Again and again have you attacked your brother, because you saw in him a
shadow
figure
in your private world. 7 And thus it is you must attack yourself first, for
what you
attack
is not in others. 8 Its only reality is in your own mind, and by attacking
others you
are
literally attacking what is not there.
T-13.V.4.
The delusional can be very destructive, for they do not recognize they have
condemned
themselves. 2 They do not wish to die, yet they will not let condemnation go. 3
And so
they
separate into their private worlds, where everything is disordered, and where
what
is
within appears to be without. 4 Yet what is within they do not see, for the
reality
of
their brothers they cannot recognize.
T-13.V.5.
You have but two emotions, yet in your private world you react to each of
them
as though it were the other. 2 For love cannot abide in a world apart, where
when it
comes
it is not recognized. 3 If you see your own hatred as your brother, you are not
seeing
him.
4 Everyone draws nigh unto what he loves, and recoils from what he fears. 5 And
you
react with fear to love, and draw away from it. 6 Yet fear attracts you, and
believing
it
is love, you call it to yourself. 7 Your private world is filled with figures
of
fear
you have invited into it, and all the love your brothers offer you, you do not
see.
T-13.V.6.
As you look with open eyes upon your world, it must occur to you that you
have
withdrawn into insanity. 2 You see what is not there, and you hear what makes
no sound.
3
Your manifestations of emotions are the opposite of what the emotions are. 4
You
communicate
with no one, and you are as isolated from reality as if you were alone in all
the
universe.
5 In your madness you overlook reality completely, and you see only your own
split
mind
everywhere you look. 6 God calls you and you do not hear, for you are
preoccupied with
your
own voice. 7 And the vision of Christ is not in your sight, for you look upon
yourself
alone.
T-13.V.7.
Little child, would you offer this to your Father? 2 For if you offer it to
yourself,
you <are> offering it to Him. 3 And He will not return it, for it is
unworthy of you
because
it is unworthy of Him. 4 Yet He would release you from it and set you free. 5
His sane
Answer
tells you what you have offered yourself is not true, but His offering to you
has
never changed. 6 You who know not what you do can learn what insanity is, and
look
beyond
it. 7 It is given you to learn how to deny insanity, and come forth from your
private
world
in peace. 8 You will see all that you denied in your brothers because you
denied it in
yourself.
9 For you will love them, and by drawing nigh unto them you will draw them to
yourself,
perceiving them as witnesses to the reality you share with God. 10 I am with
them
as I am with you, and we will draw them from their private worlds, for as we
are
united
so would we unite with them. 11 The Father welcomes all of us in gladness, and
gladness
is what we should offer Him. 12 For every Son of God is given you to whom God
gave
Himself.
13 And it is God Whom you must offer them, to recognize His gift to you.
T-13.V.8.
Vision depends on light. 2 You cannot see in darkness. 3 Yet in darkness, in
the
private world of sleep, you see in dreams although your eyes are closed. 4 And
it is
here
that what you see you made. 5 But let the darkness go and all you made you will
no
longer
see, for sight of it depends upon denying vision. 6 Yet from denying vision it
does
not
follow you cannot see. 7 But this is what denial does, for by it you accept
insanity,
believing
you can make a private world and rule your own perception. 8 Yet for this,
light must
be
excluded. 9 Dreams disappear when light has come and you can see.
T-13.V.9.
Do not seek vision through your eyes, for you made your way of seeing that
you
might see in darkness, and in this you are deceived. 2 Beyond this darkness,
and yet
still
within you, is the vision of Christ, Who looks on all in light. 3 Your
"vision" comes
from
fear, as His from love. 4 And He sees for you, as your witness to the real
world. 5 He
is
the Holy Spirit's manifestation, looking always on the real world, and calling
forth
its
witnesses and drawing them to you. 6 He loves what He sees within you, and He
would
extend
it. 7 And He will not return unto the Father until He has extended your
perception
even unto Him. 8 And there perception is no more, for He has returned you to
the
Father
with Him.
T-13.V.10.
You have but two emotions, and one you made and one was given you. 2 Each is
a
way of seeing, and different worlds arise from their different sights. 3 See
through
the
vision that is given you, for through Christ's vision He beholds Himself. 4 And
seeing
what
He is, He knows His Father. 5 Beyond your darkest dreams He sees God's guiltless
Son
within you, shining in perfect radiance that is undimmed by your dreams. 6 And
this <
you>
will see as you look with Him, for His vision is His gift of love to you, given
Him
of
the Father for you.
T-13.V.11.
The Holy Spirit is the light in which Christ stands revealed. 2 And all who
would
behold Him can see Him, for they have asked for light. 3 Nor will they see Him
alone,
for
He is no more alone than they are. 4 Because they saw the Son, they have risen
in Him
to
the Father. 5 And all this will they understand, because they looked within and
saw
beyond
the darkness the Christ in them, and recognized Him. 6 In the sanity of His
vision
they
looked upon themselves with love, seeing themselves as the Holy Spirit sees
them. 7
And
with this vision of the truth in them came all the beauty of the world to shine
upon
them.
VI.
Finding the Present
T-13.VI.1.
To perceive truly is to be aware of all reality through the awareness of
your
own. 2 But for this no illusions can rise to meet your sight, for reality
leaves no
room
for any error. 3 This means that you perceive a brother only as you see him
<now.> 4
His
past has no reality in the present, so you cannot see it. 5 Your past reactions
to him
are
also not there, and if it is to them that you react, you see but an image of
him
that
you made and cherish instead of him. 6 In your questioning of illusions, ask
yourself
if
it is really sane to perceive what was as now. 7 If you remember the past as
you look
upon
your brother, you will be unable to perceive the reality that is now.
T-13.VI.2.
You consider it "natural" to use your past experience as the
reference point
from
which to judge the present. 2 Yet this is <unnatural> because it is
delusional. 3
When
you have learned to look on everyone with no reference at all to the past,
either his
or
yours as you perceived it, you will be able to learn from what you see
<now.> 4 For
the
past can cast no shadow to darken the present, <unless you are afraid of
light.> 5 And
only
if you are would you choose to bring darkness with you, and by holding it in
your
mind,
see it as a dark cloud that shrouds your brothers and conceals their reality
from
your
sight.
T-13.VI.3.
<This darkness is in you.> 2 The Christ as revealed to you now has no
past,
for
He is changeless, and in His changelessness lies your release. 3 For if He is
as He
was
created, there is no guilt in Him. 4 No cloud of guilt has risen to obscure
Him,
and
He stands revealed in everyone you meet because you see Him through Himself. 5
To be
born
again is to let the past go, and look without condemnation upon the present. 6
The
cloud
that obscures God's Son to you <is> the past, and if you would have it
past and gone,
you
must not see it now. 7 If you see it now in your illusions, it has not gone
from you,
although
it is not there.
T-13.VI.4.
Time can release as well as imprison, depending on whose interpretation of
it
you use. 2 Past, present and future are not continuous, unless you force continuity
on
them.
3 You can perceive them as continuous, and make them so for you. 4 But do not
be
deceived,
and then believe that this is how it is. 5 For to believe reality is what you
would
have
it be according to your use for it <is> delusional. 6 You would destroy
time's
continuity
by breaking it into past, present and future for your own purposes. 7 You would
anticipate
the future on the basis of your past experience, and plan for it accordingly. 8
Yet by
doing
so you are aligning past and future, and not allowing the miracle, which could
intervene
between them, to free you to be born again.
T-13.VI.5.
The miracle enables you to see your brother without his past, and so
perceive
him as born again. 2 His errors are all past, and by perceiving him without
them you
are
releasing him. 3 And since his past is yours, you share in this release. 4 Let
no dark
cloud
out of your past obscure him from you, for truth lies only in the present, and
you
will find it if you seek it there. 5 You have looked for it where it is not,
and
therefore
have not found it. 6 Learn, then, to seek it where it is, and it will dawn on
eyes
that
see. 7 Your past was made in anger, and if you use it to attack the present, you
will
not
see the freedom that the present holds.
T-13.VI.6.
Judgment and condemnation are behind you, and unless you bring them with you,
you
will see that you are free of them. 2 Look lovingly upon the present, for it
holds
the
only things that are forever true. 3 All healing lies within it because its
continuity
is real. 4 It extends to all aspects of the Sonship at the same time, and thus
enables
them
to reach each other. 5 The present is before time was, and will be when time is
no
more.
6 In it are all things that are eternal, and they are one. 7 Their continuity
is
timeless
and their communication is unbroken, for they are not separated by the past. 8
Only
the
past can separate, and it is nowhere.
T-13.VI.7.
The present offers you your brothers in the light that would unite you with
them,
and free you from the past. 2 Would you, then, hold the past against them? 3
For if
you
do, you are choosing to remain in the darkness that is not there, and refusing
to
accept
the light that is offered you. 4 For the light of perfect vision is freely
given as it
is
freely received, and can be accepted only without limit. 5 In this one, still
dimension
of time that does not change, and where there is no sight of what you were, you
look
at
Christ and call His witnesses to shine on you <because you called them
forth.> 6 And
they
will not deny the truth in you, because you looked for it in them and found it
there.
T-13.VI.8.
Now is the time of salvation, for now is the release from time. 2 Reach out
to
all your brothers, and touch them with the touch of Christ. 3 In timeless union
with
them
is your continuity, unbroken because it is wholly shared. 4 God's guiltless Son
is
only
light. 5 There is no darkness in him anywhere, for he is whole. 6 Call all your
brothers
to witness to his wholeness, as I am calling you to join with me. 7 Each voice
has a
part
in the song of redemption, the hymn of gladness and thanksgiving for the light
to the
Creator
of light. 8 The holy light that shines forth from God's Son is the witness that
his
light
is of his Father.
T-13.VI.9.
Shine on your brothers in remembrance of your Creator, for you will remember
Him
as you call forth the witnesses to His creation. 2 Those whom you heal bear
witness
to
your healing, for in their wholeness you will see your own. 3 And as your hymns
of
praise
and gladness rise to your Creator, He will return your thanks in His clear
Answer to
your
call. 4 For it can never be that His Son called upon Him and remained
unanswered. 5
His
Call to you is but your call to Him. 6 And in Him you are answered by His
peace.
T-13.VI.10.
Child of Light, you know not that the light is in you. 2 Yet you will find
it
through its witnesses, for having given light to them they will return it. 3
Each one
you
see in light brings your light closer to your awareness. 4 Love always leads to
love.
5
The sick, who ask for love, are grateful for it, and in their joy they shine
with holy
thanks.
6 And this they offer you who gave them joy. 7 They are your guides to joy, for
having
received it of you they would keep it. 8 You have established them as guides to
peace,
for you have made it manifest in them. 9 And seeing it, its beauty calls you
home.
T-13.VI.11.
There is a light that this world cannot give. 2 Yet you can give it, as it
was
given you. 3 And as you give it, it shines forth to call you from the world and
follow
it.
4 For this light will attract you as nothing in this world can do. 5 And you
will
lay
aside the world and find another. 6 This other world is bright with love which
you
have
given it. 7 And here will everything remind you of your Father and His holy
Son. 8
Light
is unlimited, and spreads across this world in quiet joy. 9 All those you
brought with
you
will shine on you, and you will shine on them in gratitude because they brought
you
here.
10 Your light will join with theirs in power so compelling, that it will draw
the
others
out of darkness as you look on them.
T-13.VI.12.
Awaking unto Christ is following the laws of love of your free will, and
out
of quiet recognition of the truth in them. 2 The attraction of light must draw
you
willingly,
and willingness is signified by giving. 3 Those who accept love of you become
your
willing
witnesses to the love you gave them, and it is they who hold it out to you. 4
In sleep
you
are alone, and your awareness is narrowed to yourself. 5 And that is why the
nightmares
come. 6 You dream of isolation because your eyes are closed. 7 You do not see
your
brothers,
and in the darkness you cannot look upon the light you gave to them.
T-13.VI.13.
And yet the laws of love are not suspended because you sleep. 2 And you
have
followed them through all your nightmares, and have been faithful in your
giving, for
you
were not alone. 3 Even in sleep has Christ protected you, ensuring the real
world for
you
when you awake. 4 In your name He has given for you, and given you the gifts He
gave.
5
God's Son is still as loving as his Father. 6 Continuous with his Father, he
has no
past
apart from Him. 7 So he has never ceased to be his Father's witness and his
own. 8
Although
he slept, Christ's vision did not leave him. 9 And so it is that he can call
unto
himself
the witnesses that teach him that he never slept.
VII.
Attainment of the Real World
T-13.VII.1.
Sit quietly and look upon the world you see, and tell yourself: "The real
world
is not like this. 2 It has no buildings and there are no streets where people
walk
alone
and separate. 3 There are no stores where people buy an endless list of things
they do
not
need. 4 It is not lit with artificial light, and night comes not upon it. 5
There
is
no day that brightens and grows dim. 6 There is no loss. 7 Nothing is there but
shines,
and
shines forever."
T-13.VII.2.
The world you see must be denied, for sight of it is costing you a
different
kind of vision. 2 <You cannot see both worlds,> for each of them involves
a different
kind
of seeing, and depends on what you cherish. 3 The sight of one is possible
because
you
have denied the other. 4 Both are not true, yet either one will seem as real to
you
as
the amount to which you hold it dear. 5 And yet their power is not the same,
because
their
real attraction to you is unequal.
T-13.VII.3.
You do not really want the world you see, for it has disappointed you since
time
began. 2 The homes you built have never sheltered you. 3 The roads you made
have
led
you nowhere, and no city that you built has withstood the crumbling assault of
time. 4
Nothing
you made but has the mark of death upon it. 5 Hold it not dear, for it is old
and
tired and ready to return to dust even as you made it. 6 This aching world has
not the
power
to touch the living world at all. 7 You could not give it that, and so although
you
turn in sadness from it, you cannot find in it the road that leads away from it
into
another
world.
T-13.VII.4.
Yet the real world has the power to touch you even here, because you love
it.
2 And what you call with love will come to you. 3 Love always answers, being
unable
to
deny a call for help, or not to hear the cries of pain that rise to it from
every part
of
this strange world you made but do not want. 4 All that you need to give this
world
away
in glad exchange for what you did not make is willingness to learn the one you
made is
false.
T-13.VII.5.
You have been wrong about the world because you have misjudged yourself. 2
From
such a twisted reference point, what could you see? 3 All seeing starts with
the
perceiver,
who judges what is true and what is false. 4 And what he judges false he does
not see.
5
You who would judge reality cannot see it, for whenever judgment enters reality
has
slipped
away. 6 The out of mind <is> out of sight, because what is denied is
there but is not
recognized.
7 Christ is still there, although you know Him not. 8 His Being does not depend
upon
your
recognition. 9 He lives within you in the quiet present, and waits for you to
leave
the
past behind and enter into the world He holds out to you in love.
T-13.VII.6.
No one in this distracted world but has seen some glimpses of the other
world
about him. 2 Yet while he still lays value on his own, he will deny the vision
of the
other,
maintaining that he loves what he loves not, and following not the road that
love
points
out. 3 Love leads so gladly! 4 As you follow Him, you will rejoice that you
have found
His
company, and learned of Him the joyful journey home. 5 You wait but for
yourself. 6
To
give this sad world over and exchange your errors for the peace of God is but
<your>
will.
7 And Christ will always offer you the Will of God, in recognition that you
share
it
with Him.
T-13.VII.7.
It is God's Will that nothing touch His Son except Himself, and nothing
else
comes nigh unto him. 2 He is as safe from pain as God Himself, Who watches over
him in
everything.
3 The world about him shines with love because God placed him in Himself
where
pain is not, and love surrounds him without end or flaw. 4 Disturbance of his
peace
can
never be. 5 In perfect sanity he looks on love, for it is all about him and
within him.
6
He must deny the world of pain the instant he perceives the arms of love around
him.
7
And from this point of safety he looks quietly about him and recognizes that
the
world
is one with him.
T-13.VII.8.
The peace of God passeth your understanding only in the past. 2 Yet here it
<is,>
and you can understand it <now.> 3 God loves His Son forever, and His Son
returns
his
Father's Love forever. 4 The real world is the way that leads you to
remembrance of
the
one thing that is wholly true and wholly yours. 5 For all else you have lent
yourself
in time, and it will fade. 6 But this one thing is always yours, being the gift
of God
unto
His Son. 7 Your one reality was given you, and by it God created you as one
with
Him.
T-13.VII.9.
You will first dream of peace, and then awaken to it. 2 Your first exchange
of
what you made for what you want is the exchange of nightmares for the happy
dreams
of
love. 3 In these lie your true perceptions, for the Holy Spirit corrects the
world of
dreams,
where all perception is. 4 Knowledge needs no correction. 5 Yet the dreams of
love
lead
unto knowledge. 6 In them you see nothing fearful, and because of this they are
the
welcome
that you offer knowledge. 7 Love waits on welcome, not on time, and the real
world is
but
your welcome of what always was. 8 Therefore the call of joy is in it, and your
glad
response
is your awakening to what you have not lost.
T-13.VII.10.
Praise, then, the Father for the perfect sanity of His most holy Son. 2
Your
Father knoweth that you have need of nothing. 3 In Heaven this is so, for what
could
you
need in eternity? 4 In your world you do need things. 5 It is a world of
scarcity in
which
you find yourself <because> you are lacking. 6 Yet can you find yourself
in such a
world?
7 Without the Holy Spirit the answer would be no. 8 Yet because of Him the
answer is
a
joyous <yes!> 9 As Mediator between the two worlds, He knows what you
have need of and
what
will not hurt you. 10 Ownership is a dangerous concept if it is left to you. 11
The
ego wants to have things for salvation, for possession is its law. 12
Possession for
its
own sake is the ego's fundamental creed, a basic cornerstone in the churches it
builds
to
itself. 13 And at its altar it demands you lay all of the things it bids you
get,
leaving
you no joy in them.
T-13.VII.11.
Everything the ego tells you that you need will hurt you. 2 For although
the
ego urges you again and again to get, it leaves you nothing, for what you get
it will
demand
of you. 3 And even from the very hands that grasped it, it will be wrenched and
hurled
into
the dust. 4 For where the ego sees salvation it sees separation, and so you
lose
whatever
you have gotten in its name. 5 Therefore ask not of yourself what you need, for
you do
not
know, and your advice to yourself will hurt you. 6 For what you think you need
will
merely
serve to tighten up your world against the light, and render you unwilling to
question
the value that this world can really hold for you.
T-13.VII.12.
Only the Holy Spirit knows what you need. 2 For He will give you all
things
that do not block the way to light. 3 And what else could you need? 4 In time,
He
gives
you all the things that you need have, and will renew them as long as you have
need of
them.
5 He will take nothing from you as long as you have any need of it. 6 And yet
He
knows
that everything you need is temporary, and will but last until you step aside
from all
your
needs and realize that all of them have been fulfilled. 7 Therefore He has no
investment
in the things that He supplies, except to make certain that you will not use
them on
behalf
of lingering in time. 8 He knows that you are not at home there, and He wills
no delay
to
wait upon your joyous homecoming.
T-13.VII.13.
Leave, then, your needs to Him. 2 He will supply them with no emphasis at
all
upon them. 3 What comes to you of Him comes safely, for He will ensure it never
can
become
a dark spot, hidden in your mind and kept to hurt you. 4 Under His guidance you
will
travel
light and journey lightly, for His sight is ever on the journey's end, which is
His
goal.
5 God's Son is not a traveller through outer worlds. 6 However holy his
perception
may
become, no world outside himself holds his inheritance. 7 Within himself he has
no
needs,
for light needs nothing but to shine in peace, and from itself to let the rays
extend
in
quiet to infinity.
T-13.VII.14.
Whenever you are tempted to undertake a useless journey that would lead
away
from light, remember what you really want, and say:
2
The Holy Spirit leads me unto Christ, and where else would I go? 3 What need
have I
but
to awake in Him?
T-13.VII.15.
Then follow Him in joy, with faith that He will lead you safely through
all
dangers to your peace of mind this world may set before you. 2 Kneel not before
the
altars
to sacrifice, and seek not what you will surely lose. 3 Content yourself with
what you
will
as surely keep, and be not restless, for you undertake a quiet journey to the
peace
of God, where He would have you be in quietness.
T-13.VII.16.
In me you have already overcome every temptation that would hold you back.
2
We walk together on the way to quietness that is the gift of God. 3 Hold me
dear, for
what
except your brothers can you need? 4 We will restore to you the peace of mind
that
we
must find together. 5 The Holy Spirit will teach you to awaken unto us and to
yourself.
6 This is the only real need to be fulfilled in time. 7 Salvation from the
world lies
only
here. 8 My peace I give you. 9 Take it of me in glad exchange for all the world
has
offered but to take away. 10 And we will spread it like a veil of light across
the
world's
sad face, in which we hide our brothers from the world, and it from them.
T-13.VII.17.
We cannot sing redemption's hymn alone. 2 My task is not completed until I
have
lifted every voice with mine. 3 And yet it is not mine, for as it is my gift to
you,
so was it the Father's gift to me, given me through His Spirit. 4 The sound of
it
will
banish sorrow from the mind of God's most holy Son, where it cannot abide. 5
Healing
in
time is needed, for joy cannot establish its eternal reign where sorrow dwells.
6 You
dwell
not here, but in eternity. 7 You travel but in dreams, while safe at home. 8
Give
thanks
to every part of you that you have taught how to remember you. 9 Thus does the
Son of
God
give thanks unto his Father for his purity.
VIII.
From Perception to Knowledge
T-13.VIII.1.
All healing is release from the past. 2 That is why the Holy Spirit is the
only
Healer. 3 He teaches that the past does not exist, a fact which belongs to the
sphere
of knowledge, and which therefore no one in the world can know. 4 It would
indeed be
impossible
to be in the world with this knowledge. 5 For the mind that knows this
unequivocally
knows
also it dwells in eternity, and utilizes no perception at all. 6 It therefore
does not
consider
where it is, because the concept "where" does not mean anything to
it. 7 It
knows
that it is everywhere, just as it has everything, and forever.
T-13.VIII.2.
The very real difference between perception and knowledge becomes quite
apparent
if you consider this: There is nothing partial about knowledge. 2 Every aspect
is
whole,
and therefore no aspect is separate. 3 You are an aspect of knowledge, being in
the
Mind
of God, Who knows you. 4 All knowledge must be yours, for in you is all
knowledge. 5
Perception,
at its loftiest, is never complete. 6 Even the perception of the Holy Spirit,
as
perfect
as perception can be, is without meaning in Heaven. 7 Perception can reach
everywhere
under
His guidance, for the vision of Christ beholds everything in light. 8 Yet no
perception,
however holy, will last forever.
T-13.VIII.3.
Perfect perception, then, has many elements in common with knowledge,
making
transfer to it possible. 2 Yet the last step must be taken by God, because the
last
step
in your redemption, which seems to be in the future, was accomplished by God in
your
creation.
3 The separation has not interrupted it. 4 Creation cannot be interrupted. 5
The
separation
is merely a faulty formulation of reality, with no effect at all. 6 The
miracle,
without
a function in Heaven, is needful here. 7 Aspects of reality can still be seen,
and
they
will replace aspects of unreality. 8 Aspects of reality can be seen in
everything and
everywhere.
9 Yet only God can gather them together, by crowning them as one with the final
gift
of
eternity.
T-13.VIII.4.
Apart from the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit has no function. 2 He
is
not separate from either, being in the Mind of Both, and knowing that Mind is
One. 3
He
is a Thought of God, and God has given Him to you because He has no Thoughts He
does
not
share. 4 His message speaks of timelessness in time, and that is why Christ's
vision
looks
on everything with love. 5 Yet even Christ's vision is not His reality. 6 The
golden
aspects
of reality that spring to light under His loving gaze are partial glimpses of
the
Heaven
that lies beyond them.
T-13.VIII.5.
This is the miracle of creation; <that it is one forever.> 2 Every
miracle
you
offer to the Son of God is but the true perception of one aspect of the whole.
3
Though
every aspect <is> the whole, you cannot know this until you see that
every aspect is
the
same, perceived in the same light and therefore one. 4 Everyone seen without
the past
thus
brings you nearer to the end of time by bringing healed and healing sight into
the
darkness,
and enabling the world to see. 5 For light must come into the darkened world to
make
Christ's
vision possible even here. 6 Help Him to give His gift of light to all who
think they
wander
in the darkness, and let Him gather them into His quiet sight that makes them
one.
T-13.VIII.6.
They are all the same; all beautiful and equal in their holiness. 2 And He
will
offer them unto His Father as they were offered unto Him. 3 There is one
miracle,
as
there is one reality. 4 And every miracle you do contains them all, as every
aspect of
reality
you see blends quietly into the one reality of God. 5 The only miracle that
ever
was is God's most holy Son, created in the one reality that is his Father. 6
Christ's
vision
is His gift to you. 7 His Being is His Father's gift to Him.
T-13.VIII.7.
Be you content with healing, for Christ's gift you can bestow, and your
Father's
gift you cannot lose. 2 Offer Christ's gift to everyone and everywhere, for
miracles,
offered
the Son of God through the Holy Spirit, attune you to reality. 3 The Holy
Spirit knows
your
part in the redemption, and who are seeking you and where to find them. 4
Knowledge
is far beyond your individual concern. 5 You who are part of it and all of it
need
only
realize that it is of the Father, not of you. 6 Your role in the redemption
leads you
to
it by re-establishing its oneness in your mind.
T-13.VIII.8.
When you have seen your brothers as yourself you will be released to
knowledge,
having learned to free yourself through Him Who knows of freedom. 2 Unite with
me
under
the holy banner of His teaching, and as we grow in strength the power of God's
Son
will
move in us, and we will leave no one untouched and no one left alone. 3 And
suddenly
time
will be over, and we will all unite in the eternity of God the Father. 4 The
holy
light
you saw outside yourself, in every miracle you offered to your brothers, will
be
returned
to you. 5 And knowing that the light is in you, your creations will be there
with you,
as
you are in your Father.
T-13.VIII.9.
As miracles in this world join you to your brothers, so do your creations
establish
your fatherhood in Heaven. 2 You are the witness to the Fatherhood of God, and
He has
given
you the power to create the witnesses to yours, which is as His. 3 Deny a
brother here,
and
you deny the witnesses to your fatherhood in Heaven. 4 The miracle that God
created
is perfect, as are the miracles that you established in His Name. 5 They need
no
healing,
nor do you, when you accept them.
T-13.VIII.10.
Yet in this world your perfection is unwitnessed. 2 God knows it, but you
do
not, and so you do not share His witness to it. 3 Nor do you witness unto Him,
for
reality
is witnessed to as one. 4 God waits your witness to His Son and to Himself. 5
The
miracles
you do on earth are lifted up to Heaven and to Him. 6 They witness to what you
do not
know,
and as they reach the gates of Heaven, God will open them. 7 For never would He
leave
His
Own beloved Son outside them, and beyond Himself.
IX.
The Cloud of Guilt
T-13.IX.1.
Guilt remains the only thing that hides the Father, for guilt is the attack
upon
His Son. 2 The guilty always condemn, and having done so they will still
condemn,
linking
the future to the past as is the ego's law. 3 Fidelity to this law lets no
light in,
for
it demands fidelity to darkness and forbids awakening. 4 The ego's laws are
strict,
and
breaches are severely punished. 5 Therefore give no obedience to its laws, for
they
are
laws of punishment. 6 And those who follow them believe that they are guilty,
and so
they
must condemn. 7 Between the future and the past the laws of God must intervene,
if you
would
free yourself. 8 Atonement stands between them, like a lamp shining so brightly
that
the chain of darkness in which you bound yourself will disappear.
T-13.IX.2.
Release from guilt is the ego's whole undoing. 2 <Make no one fearful,>
for
his
guilt is yours, and by obeying the ego's harsh commandments you bring its
condemnation
on yourself, and you will not escape the punishment it offers those who obey
it. 3 The
ego
rewards fidelity to it with pain, for faith in it <is> pain. 4 And faith
can be
rewarded
only in terms of the belief in which the faith was placed. 5 Faith makes the
power of
belief,
and where it is invested determines its reward. 6 For faith is always given
what is
treasured,
and what is treasured is returned to you.
T-13.IX.3.
The world can give you only what you gave it, for being nothing but your own
projection,
it has no meaning apart from what you found in it and placed your faith in.
2
Be faithful unto darkness and you will not see, because your faith will be
rewarded
as
you gave it. 3 You <will> accept your treasure, and if you place your
faith in the
past,
the future will be like it. 4 Whatever you hold dear you think is yours. 5 The
power
of
your valuing will make it so.
T-13.IX.4.
Atonement brings a re-evaluation of everything you cherish, for it is the
means
by which the Holy Spirit can separate the false and the true, which you have
accepted
into
your mind without distinction. 2 Therefore you cannot value one without the
other, and
guilt
has become as true for you as innocence. 3 You do not believe the Son of God is
guiltless
because you see the past, and see him not. 4 When you condemn a brother you are
saying,
"I
who was guilty choose to remain so." 5 You have denied his freedom, and by
so doing
you
have denied the witness unto yours. 6 You could as easily have freed him from
the
past,
and lifted from his mind the cloud of guilt that binds him to it. 7 And in his
freedom
would have been your own.
T-13.IX.5.
Lay not his guilt upon him, for his guilt lies in his secret thought that he
has
done this unto you. 2 Would you, then, teach him he is right in his delusion? 3
The
idea
that the guiltless Son of God can attack himself and make himself guilty is
insane.
4
In any form, in anyone, <believe this not.> 5 For sin and condemnation
are the same,
and
the belief in one is faith in the other, calling for punishment instead of love.
6
Nothing
can justify insanity, and to call for punishment upon yourself must be insane.
T-13.IX.6.
See no one, then, as guilty, and you will affirm the truth of guiltlessness
unto
yourself. 2 In every condemnation that you offer the Son of God lies the
conviction of
your
own guilt. 3 If you would have the Holy Spirit make you free of it, accept His
offer
of Atonement for all your brothers. 4 For so you learn that it is true for you.
5
Remember
always that it is impossible to condemn the Son of God in part. 6 Those whom
you see
as
guilty become the witnesses to guilt in you, and you will see it there, for it
<is>
there
until it is undone. 7 Guilt is always in your mind, which has condemned itself.
8
Project
it not, for while you do, it cannot be undone. 9 With everyone whom you release
from
guilt
great is the joy in Heaven, where the witnesses to your fatherhood rejoice.
T-13.IX.7.
Guilt makes you blind, for while you see one spot of guilt within you, you
will
not see the light. 2 And by projecting it the world seems dark, and shrouded in
your
guilt.
3 You throw a dark veil over it, and cannot see it because you cannot look
within. 4
You
are afraid of what you would see there, but it is not there. 5 <The thing
you fear is
gone.>
6 If you would look within you would see only the Atonement, shining in quiet
and
in peace upon the altar to your Father.
T-13.IX.8.
Do not be afraid to look within. 2 The ego tells you all is black with guilt
within
you, and bids you not to look. 3 Instead, it bids you look upon your brothers,
and
see the guilt in them. 4 Yet this you cannot do without remaining blind. 5 For
those
who
see their brothers in the dark, and guilty in the dark in which they shroud
them, are
too
afraid to look upon the light within. 6 Within you is not what you believe is
there,
and
what you put your faith in. 7 Within you is the holy sign of perfect faith your
Father
has
in you. 8 He does not value you as you do. 9 He knows Himself, and knows the
truth
in
you. 10 He knows there is no difference, for He knows not of differences. 11
Can you
see
guilt where God knows there is perfect innocence? 12 You can deny His
knowledge, but
you
cannot change it. 13 Look, then, upon the light He placed within you, and learn
that
what
you feared was there has been replaced with love.
X.
Release from Guilt
T-13.X.1.
You are accustomed to the notion that the mind can see the source of pain
where
it is not. 2 The doubtful service of such displacement is to hide the real
source of
guilt,
and keep from your awareness the full perception that it is insane. 3
Displacement
always
is maintained by the illusion that the source of guilt, from which attention is
diverted,
must be true; and must be fearful, or you would not have displaced the guilt
onto
what
you believed to be less fearful. 4 You are therefore willing to look upon all
kinds of
"sources,"
provided they are not the deeper source to which they bear no real
relationship
at all.
T-13.X.2.
Insane ideas have no real relationships, for that is why they are insane. 2
No
real relationship can rest on guilt, or even hold one spot of it to mar its
purity. 3
For
all relationships that guilt has touched are used but to avoid the person
<and> the
guilt.
4 What strange relationships you have made for this strange purpose! 5 And you
forgot
that
real relationships are holy, and cannot be used by you at all. 6 They are used
only
by the Holy Spirit, and it is that which makes them pure. 7 If you displace
your guilt
upon
them, the Holy Spirit cannot use them. 8 For, by pre-empting for your own ends
what
you should have given Him, He cannot use it for your release. 9 No one who
would unite
in
any way with anyone for his individual salvation will find it in that strange
relationship.
10 It is not shared, and so it is not real.
T-13.X.3.
In any union with a brother in which you seek to lay your guilt upon him, or
share
it with him or perceive his own, <you> will feel guilty. 2 Nor will you
find
satisfaction
and peace with him, because your union with him is not real. 3 You will see
guilt in
that
relationship because you put it there. 4 It is inevitable that those who suffer
guilt
will
attempt to displace it, because they do believe in it. 5 Yet though they
suffer, they
will
not look within and let it go. 6 They cannot know they love, and cannot
understand
what
loving is. 7 Their main concern is to perceive the source of guilt outside
themselves,
beyond
their own control.
T-13.X.4.
When you maintain that you are guilty but the source of your guilt lies in
the
past, you are not looking inward. 2 The past is not <in> you. 3 Your
weird
associations
to it have no meaning in the present. 4 Yet you let them stand between you and
your
brothers,
with whom you find no real relationships at all. 5 Can you expect to use your
brothers
as a means to "solve" the past, and still to see them as they really
are? 6 Salvation
is
not found by those who use their brothers to resolve problems that are not
there. 7
You
wanted not salvation in the past. 8 Would you impose your idle wishes on the
present,
and
hope to find salvation now?
T-13.X.5.
Determine, then, to be not as you were. 2 Use no relationship to hold you to
the
past, but with each one each day be born again. 3 A minute, even less, will be
enough
to
free you from the past, and give your mind in peace over to the Atonement. 4
When
everyone
is welcome to you as you would have yourself be welcome to your Father, you
will see
no
guilt in you. 5 For you will have accepted the Atonement, which shone within
you all
the
while you dreamed of guilt, and would not look within and see it.
T-13.X.6.
As long as you believe that guilt is justified in any way, in anyone,
whatever
he may do, you will not look within, where you would always find Atonement. 2
The end
of
guilt will never come as long as you believe there is a reason for it. 3 For
you must
learn
that guilt is always totally insane, and has no reason. 4 The Holy Spirit seeks
not to
dispel
reality. 5 If guilt were real, Atonement would not be. 6 The purpose of
Atonement
is to dispel illusions, not to establish them as real and then forgive them.
T-13.X.7.
The Holy Spirit does not keep illusions in your mind to frighten you, and
show
them to you fearfully to demonstrate what He has saved you from. 2 What He has
saved
you
from is gone. 3 Give no reality to guilt, and see no reason for it. 4 The Holy
Spirit
does
what God would have Him do, and has always done so. 5 He has seen separation,
but
knows
of union. 6 He teaches healing, but He also knows of creation. 7 He would have
you see
and
teach as He does, and through Him. 8 Yet what He knows you do not know, though
it
is
yours.
T-13.X.8.
<Now> it is given you to heal and teach, to make what will be
<now.> 2 As
yet
it is not now. 3 The Son of God believes that he is lost in guilt, alone in a
dark
world
where pain is pressing everywhere upon him from without. 4 When he has looked
within
and
seen the radiance there, he will remember how much his Father loves him. 5 And
it will
seem
incredible that he ever thought his Father loved him not, and looked upon him
as
condemned.
6 The moment that you realize guilt is insane, wholly unjustified and wholly
without
reason,
you will not fear to look upon the Atonement and accept it wholly.
T-13.X.9.
You who have been unmerciful to yourself do not remember your Father's Love.
2
And looking without mercy upon your brothers, you do not remember how much you
love
Him.
3 Yet it is forever true. 4 In shining peace within you is the perfect purity
in
which
you were created. 5 Fear not to look upon the lovely truth in you. 6 Look
through the
cloud
of guilt that dims your vision, and look past darkness to the holy place where
you
will
see the light. 7 The altar to your Father is as pure as He Who raised it to
Himself. 8
Nothing
can keep from you what Christ would have you see. 9 His Will is like His
Father's,
and He offers mercy to every child of God, as He would have you do.
T-13.X.10.
Release from guilt as you would be released. 2 There is no other way to look
within
and see the light of love, shining as steadily and as surely as God Himself has
always
loved His Son. 3 <And as His Son loves Him.> 4 There is no fear in love,
for love is
guiltless.
5 You who have always loved your Father can have no fear, for any reason, to
look
within
and see your holiness. 6 You cannot be as you believed you were. 7 Your guilt
is
without
reason because it is not in the Mind of God, where you are. 8 And this
<is> reason,
which
the Holy Spirit would restore to you. 9 He would remove only illusions. 10 All
else He
would
have you see. 11 And in Christ's vision He would show you the perfect purity
that
is
forever within God's Son.
T-13.X.11.
You cannot enter into real relationships with any of God's Sons unless you
love
them all and equally. 2 Love is not special. 3 If you single out part of the
Sonship
for
your love, you are imposing guilt on all your relationships and making them
unreal. 4
You
can love only as God loves. 5 Seek not to love unlike Him, for there is no love
apart
from
His. 6 Until you recognize that this is true, you will have no idea what love
is like.
7
No one who condemns a brother can see himself as guiltless and in the peace of
God. 8
If
he is guiltless and in peace and sees it not, he is delusional, and has not
looked
upon
himself. 9 To him I say:
10
Behold the Son of God, and look upon his purity and be still. 11 In quiet look
upon
his
holiness, and offer thanks unto his Father that no guilt has ever touched him.
T-13.X.12.
No illusion that you have ever held against him has touched his innocence in
any
way. 2 His shining purity, wholly untouched by guilt and wholly loving, is
bright
within
you. 3 Let us look upon him together and love him. 4 For in love of him is your
guiltlessness.
5 But look upon yourself, and gladness and appreciation for what you see will
banish
guilt
forever. 6 I thank You, Father, for the purity of Your most holy Son, whom You
have
created
guiltless forever.
T-13.X.13.
Like you, my faith and my belief are centered on what I treasure. 2 The
difference
is that I love <only> what God loves with me, and because of this I
treasure you
beyond
the value that you set on yourself, even unto the worth that God has placed
upon you.
3
I love all that He created, and all my faith and my belief I offer unto it. 4
My faith
in
you is as strong as all the love I give my Father. 5 My trust in you is without
limit,
and without the fear that you will hear me not. 6 I thank the Father for your
loveliness,
and for the many gifts that you will let me offer to the Kingdom in honor of
its
wholeness
that is of God.
T-13.X.14.
Praise be to you who make the Father One with His Own Son. 2 Alone we are
all
lowly, but together we shine with brightness so intense that none of us alone
can even
think
of it. 3 Before the glorious radiance of the Kingdom guilt melts away, and
transformed
into kindness will never more be what it was. 4 Every reaction you experience
will be
so
purified that it is fitting as a hymn of praise unto your Father. 5 See only
praise of
Him
in what He has created, for He will never cease His praise of you. 6 United in
this
praise
we stand before the gates of Heaven where we will surely enter in our
sinlessness.
7 God loves you. 8 Could I, then, lack faith in you and love Him perfectly?
XI.
The Peace of Heaven
T-13.XI.1.
Forgetfulness and sleep and even death become the ego's best advice for
dealing
with the perceived and harsh intrusion of guilt on peace. 2 Yet no one sees
himself in
conflict
and ravaged by a cruel war unless he believes that both opponents in the war
are
real. 3 Believing this he must escape, for such a war would surely end his
peace of
mind,
and so destroy him. 4 Yet if he could but realize the war is between real and
unreal
powers,
he could look upon himself and see his freedom. 5 No one finds himself ravaged
and
torn
in endless battles if he himself perceives them as wholly without meaning.
T-13.XI.2.
God would not have His Son embattled, and so His Son's imagined
"enemy" is
totally
unreal. 2 You are but trying to escape a bitter war from which you <have>
escaped. 3
The
war is gone. 4 For you have heard the hymn of freedom rising unto Heaven. 5
Gladness
and
joy belong to God for your release, because you made it not. 6 Yet as you made
not
freedom,
so you made not a war that could endanger freedom. 7 Nothing destructive ever
was or
will
be. 8 The war, the guilt, the past are gone as one into the unreality from
which they
came.
T-13.XI.3.
When we are all united in Heaven, you will value nothing that you value here.
2
For nothing that you value here do you value wholly, and so you do not value it
at
all.
3 Value is where God placed it, and the value of what God esteems cannot be
judged,
for
it has been established. 4 It is wholly of value. 5 It can merely be
appreciated or
not.
6 To value it partially is not to know its value. 7 In Heaven is everything God
values,
and nothing else. 8 Heaven is perfectly unambiguous. 9 Everything is clear and
bright,
and
calls forth one response. 10 There is no darkness and there is no contrast. 11
There
is no variation. 12 There is no interruption. 13 There is a sense of peace so
deep
that
no dream in this world has ever brought even a dim imagining of what it is.
T-13.XI.4.
Nothing in this world can give this peace, for nothing in this world is
wholly
shared. 2 Perfect perception can merely show you what is capable of being
wholly
shared.
3 It can also show you the results of sharing, while you still remember the
results
of
not sharing. 4 The Holy Spirit points quietly to the contrast, knowing that you
will
finally
let Him judge the difference for you, allowing Him to demonstrate which must be
true.
5
He has perfect faith in your final judgment, because He knows that He will make
it for
you.
6 To doubt this would be to doubt that His mission will be fulfilled. 7 How is
this
possible, when His mission is of God?
T-13.XI.5.
You whose mind is darkened by doubt and guilt, remember this: God gave the
Holy
Spirit to you, and gave Him the mission to remove all doubt and every trace of
guilt
that
His dear Son has laid upon himself. 2 It is impossible that this mission fail.
3
Nothing
can prevent what God would have accomplished from accomplishment. 4 Whatever
your
reactions
to the Holy Spirit's Voice may be, whatever voice you choose to listen to,
whatever
strange
thoughts may occur to you, God's Will <is> done. 5 You will find the
peace in which He
has
established you, because He does not change His Mind. 6 He is invariable as the
peace
in which you dwell, and of which the Holy Spirit reminds you.
T-13.XI.6.
You will not remember change and shift in Heaven. 2 You have need of
contrast
only here. 3 Contrast and differences are necessary teaching aids, for by them
you
learn
what to avoid and what to seek. 4 When you have learned this, you will find the
answer
that
makes the need for any differences disappear. 5 Truth comes of its own will
unto
its
own. 6 When you have learned that you belong to truth, it will flow lightly
over you
without
a difference of any kind. 7 For you will need no contrast to help you realize
that
this
is what you want, and only this. 8 Fear not the Holy Spirit will fail in what
your
Father
has given Him to do. 9 The Will of God can fail in nothing.
T-13.XI.7.
Have faith in only this one thing, and it will be sufficient: God wills you
be
in Heaven, and nothing can keep you from it, or it from you. 2 Your wildest
misperceptions,
your weird imaginings, your blackest nightmares all mean nothing. 3 They will
not
prevail
against the peace God wills for you. 4 The Holy Spirit will restore your sanity
because
insanity is not the Will of God. 5 If that suffices Him, it is enough for you.
6 You
will
not keep what God would have removed, because it breaks communication with you
with
whom
He would communicate. 7 His Voice <will> be heard.
T-13.XI.8.
The Communication Link that God Himself placed within you, joining your mind
with
His, cannot be broken. 2 You may believe you want It broken, and this belief
does