Am I Dreaming?

Am I Dreaming?

by Joe Jesseph

In A Course In Miracles, Jesus tells me that I, as I experience myself in
this world, am an illusory figure in a dream. In the Course Jesus also
tells me that my true identity is not this illusory dream figure whom I experience
myself to be, but that I am mind and the dreamer of this dream, which is
to say that I, along with every other seemingly separate mind, am the Son of
God. Evil is present in the Son of God's dream, but not in his waking, or
Christ, state. Hence evil is illusory, not real.

Before the state of sleep and dreaming, the Son of God was the Christ, a
non-separate extension of God. If I am the Son of God asleep and dreaming, then
it seems that a creation of God can sleep and dream. If the dream contains
illusions of evil, then it seems that a creation of God can dream of evil --
can entertain the idea of an existence separate from God.

(I note how the above paragraph depends upon a linear view of time -- a view
which the Course tells me is illusory! If time is an illusion, then there
could not have been any falling asleep of the Son of God. There is no
"before" and "after" the state of sleeping and dreaming. There is only an eternal
Present. Can I really make any sense of that?!)

It would seem that, if the Son of God can sleep and dream, then it is a capacity
of the Mind of God to sleep and dream, else His Son could not have slept
and dreamt. Further, it would seem that the capacity of the mind of the Son
to dream of separation and evil must be a capacity of the Mind of God, by
the same logic.

The Course states that, in truth, the Son of God never fell asleep at all.
The non-separate God/Christ state continues undisturbed. Yet, the Course
tells me that the Son of God is asleep and dreaming. The Course indicates
that the Son of God, as Christ, is real, but the Son of God asleep is not real.
It is not a capacity of the Mind of God to sleep and dream. Therefore, the
Son of God can not sleep and dream, hence the conception of evil (separation
from God) is not a capacity of the Mind of God.

The "I" that seems to be me in the dream is not the dreamer of the dream,
but an illusory figure in the dream. But, the dream itself is not taking place
in the God/Christ Mind, so the "I" that lives as a separate figure in this
world is a figure in a dream that is not really taking place. I seem to be a
separate, tangible, sentient entity who lives and has experiences, but the
Course implies that I am not even an illusion -- I do not exist at all.

This is simply not intelligible to me. My brain has no way of meaningfully
processing this information, except to acknowledge that I do not understand it.

The brain is a computing device which stores and processes information which
is encoded in dualistic symbols. The brain is not capable of processing
non-duality. The question of how imperfection (or evil) could have arisen from
perfection (God, Good, Love) is a dualistic question arising from a thought
system rooted in duality. In responding to this question, ACIM simply points
out that it is not a question, but a statement that duality is true, and that
there is no answer to this question from the frame of reference of Truth
(God/Oneness). The problem lies in the question itself.

According to ACIM, Mind/mind is not the brain, which is of the body. The
computer brain is programmed by the mind. The brain is not a cause of
anything, not alive, and must be transcended in order for the Truth to be known.
The brain (body) is a block to the awareness of love's presence and, finally, an
impediment to enlightenment. "I will be still an instant and go home."
(WBk #182)

Concepts about God and morality are important elements in maintaining the
ego identity. Belief in God is a meaningless concept.

Nor is belief in God a really meaningful concept, for God can be but known.
Belief implies that unbelief is possible, but knowledge of God has no true
opposite. Not to know God is to have no knowledge, and it is to this that
all unforgiveness leads. And without knowledge one can have only belief.
(P-2.II. 4:4-7)

Truth can only be experienced. It cannot be described and it cannot be
explained. I can make you aware of the conditions of truth, but the experience is
of God. Together we can meet its conditions, but truth will dawn upon you of itself
(T-8.VI. 9:8-11).

If you like to read more of his writings Joe Jessup's Website is: http://www.miraclesstudies.com Click on: "Visit Index" and then you will see the link to Joe Jessup's writings.