Rejoice

Rejoice in the power of forgiveness to heal your sight completely.  

Be confident that on this day there is a new beginning.  Without the darkness of the past upon your eyes, you cannot fail to see today.  

And what you see will be so welcome that you will gladly extend today forever.

       

Say, then: The light has come.  I have forgiven the world.

Circle of Light

So should it be with the dark clouds of guilt, no more

impenetrable and no more substantial. 

You will not bruise yourself against them in traveling through. 

Let your Guide teach you their unsubstantial nature as He leads you past

them, for beneath them is a world of light whereon they

cast no shadows. 

Their shadows lie upon the world beyond them, still further from the light.

 Yet from them to the light their shadows cannot fall

Miracles

Miracles fall like drops of healing rain from Heaven on a dry and dusty world, where starved and thirsty creatures come to die. 

Now they have water. 

Now the world is green. 

And everywhere the signs of life spring up, to show that what is born can never

die, for what has life has immortality.

Brother, take not one step in the descent to hell. 

For having taken one, you will not recognize the rest for what they are. 

And they will follow. 

Attack in any form has placed your foot upon the twisted stairway that leads from Heaven. 

Yet any instant it is possible to have all this undone. 

How can you know whether you chose the stairs to Heaven or the way to hell? 

Quite easily. How do you feel? Is peace in your awareness?


Are you certain which way you go? And are you sure the goal of Heaven can be
reached? 

If not, you walk alone. 

Ask, then, your Friend to join with you, and give you certainty of where you go.

Looking Within

Real vision is not only unlimited by space and distance, but it does not depend on the body's eyes at all. 

The mind is its only source. 

To aid in helping you to become more accustomed to this idea as well, devote several practice periods to applying today's idea with your eyes closed, using whatever subjects come to mind, and looking within rather than without.

Today's idea applies equally to both.

Dreams

Forgiveness sweeps all other dreams away, and though it is itself a dream, it breeds no others. 

All illusions save this one must multiply a thousandfold.
 

 But this is where illusions end. 

Forgiveness is the end of dreams, because it is a dream of waking. 

It is not itself the truth. 

Yet does it point to where the truth must be, and gives direction with the certainty of God Himself. 

It is a dream in which the Son of God awakens to his Self and to his Father, knowing They are One..

In God's Hands

Now are we saved indeed. 

For in God's Hands we rest untroubled, sure that only good can come to us. 

If we forget, we will be gently reassured. 

If we accept an unforgiving thought, it will be soon replaced by love's reflection.

Hearts

The quiet of today will bless our hearts, and through them peace will come to everyone. 

Christ is our eyes today. 

And through His sight we offer healing to the world through Him, the holy Son whom God created whole; the holy Son whom God created One.

Glorious Father

Your mind is one with God's. 

Denying this and thinking otherwise has held your ego together, but has literally split your mind. 

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.

Created

You have not only been fully created, but have also been created perfect. 

There is no emptiness in you. 

Because of your likeness to your Creator you are creative. 

No child of God can lose this ability because it is inherent in what he is, but he can use it inappropriately by projecting. 

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.

deception

Deceive yourself no longer that you are helpless in the face of what is done to you. 

Acknowledge but that you have been mistaken, and all effects of

your mistakes will disappear.

It is impossible the Son of God be merely driven by events outside of him.

It is impossible that happenings that come to him were not his choice.

The alternative

A Course in Miracles is a complete alternative. 

It has nothing to do with this world I made. 

This Cousrse will not help in Time and Space as it is not an alternative to my dream. 

It does not know my dream. It presents a total alternative not in any connection with my role as I define it.

I am not doing a Course in Miracles.

Creative Power

In the holy state the will is free, so that its creative power is unlimited and choice is meaningless. 

'

Freedom to choose is the same power as freedom to create, but its application is different.
 

 Choosing depends on a split mind. The Holy Spirit is one way of choosing.
 

 God did not leave his children comfortless, even though they chose to leave
him. 

The voice they put in their minds was not the voice for his will, for
which the Holy Spirit speaks.

What do you want?

What do you want? 

Light or darkness, knowledge or ignorance are yours, but not both. 

Opposites must be brought together, not kept apart. 


For their separation is only in your mind, and they are reconciled by union, as you are. 

In union, everything that is not real must disappear, for truth is union.

The Maker

 The Maker of the world of gentleness has perfect power to offset the world of violence and hate that seems to stand between you and His gentleness.  

It is not there in His forgiving eyes.  

And therefore it need not be there in yours.  

Sin is the fixed belief perception cannot change.  

What has been damned is damned and damned forever, being forever unforgivable.  

If, then, it is forgiven, sin's perception must have been wrong.  And thus is change made possible. 

Miracle-minded

 The basic decision of the miracle-minded is not to wait on time any longer than is necessary.  

Time can waste as well as be wasted.  

The miracle worker, therefore, accepts the time-control factor gladly.  

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.  

Clouds

From where you stand, you can see no reason to believe there is a brilliant light hidden by the clouds.  

The clouds seem to be the only reality.  

They seem to be all there is to see.  

Therefore, you do not attempt to go through them and past them, which is the only way in which you would be really convinced of their lack of substance.  

We will make this attempt today.
      

  After you have thought about the importance of what you are trying to do for yourself and the world, try to settle down in perfect stillness, remembering only how much you want to reach the light in you today, - now! 

A message

Enemy

Who usurps the place of God and takes it for himself now has a deadly "enemy."  

And he must stand alone in his protection, and make himself a shield to keep him safe from fury that can never be abated, and vengeance that can never be satisfied.

An Instant

In no one instant is depression felt, or pain experienced or loss perceived.  

In no one instant sorrow can be set upon a throne, and worshipped faithfully.  

In no one instant can one even die.  

And so each instant given unto God in passing, with the next one given Him already, is a time of your release from sadness, pain and even death itself.

From In Search of the Miraculous (Ouspensky)

"It is the greatest mistake," he said, "to think that man is always one and the same.

A man is never the same for long. He is continually changing. He seldom remains the same even for half an hour.

We think that if a man is called Ivan he is always Ivan.
Nothing of the kind.

Now he is Ivan, in another minute he is Peter, and a minute later he is Nicholas, Sergi, Matthew, Simon.

And all of you think he is Ivan. You know that Ivan cannot do a certain thing. He cannot tell a lie for instance. Then you find he has told a lie and you are surprised he could have done so.

And, indeed, Ivan cannot lie; it is Nicholas who lied. And when the opportunity presents itself Nicholas cannot help lying.

You will be astonished when you realize what a multitude of these Ivans and Nicholases live in one man.

Circles

Each one you see you place within the holy circle of Atonement or leave outside, judging him fit for crucifixion or for redemption.  

If you bring him into the circle of purity, you will rest there with him.  

If you leave him without, you join him there.  

Judge not except in quietness which is not of you.

Brilliance

       My Self is holy beyond all the thoughts of holiness of which I now conceive.  

Its shimmering and perfect purity is far more brilliant than is any light that I have ever looked upon.  

Its love is limitless, with an intensity that holds all things within it, in the calm of quiet certainty.  

Its strength comes not from burning impulses which move the world, but from the boundless Love of God Himself.  

How far beyond this world my Self must be, and yet how near to me and close to God!

Exclusion

Can you exclude yourself from the universe, or from God Who is the universe?  

I and my Father are one with you, for you are part of us.  

Do you really believe that part of God can be missing or lost to Him?

Lonely

Everyone seeks for love as you do, but knows it not unless he joins with you in seeking it.


If you undertake the search together, you bring with you a light so powerful that what you see is given meaning.


The lonely journey fails because it has excluded what it would find.

Hell-fire

     The emptiness engendered by fear must be replaced by forgiveness.  

That is what the Bible means by "There is no death," and why I could demonstrate that death does not exist.  

I came to fulfill the law by reinterpreting it.  

The law itself, if properly understood, offers only protection.  

It is those who have not yet changed their minds who brought the "hell-fire" concept into it.  

I assure you that I will witness for anyone who lets me, and to whatever extent he permits it.  

Your witnessing demonstrates your belief, and thus strengthens it.  

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.

the bridge

Your bridge is builded stronger than you think, and your foot is planted firmly on it.  

Have no fear that the attraction of those who stand on the other side and wait for you will not draw you safely across.  

For you will come where you would be, and where your Self awaits you.

Liberation

 

Your liberation still is only partial; still limited and incomplete, yet born within you.  

Not wholly mad, you have been willing to look on much of your insanity and recognize its madness.  

Your faith is moving inward, past insanity and on to reason.  

And what your reason tells you now the ego would not hear.

Beauty

 It is still up to you to choose to join with truth or with illusion.  

But remember that to choose one is to let the other go.  

Which one you choose you will endow with beauty and reality, because the choice depends on which you value more.  

The spark of beauty or the veil of ugliness, the real world or the world of guilt and fear, truth or illusion, freedom or slavery - it is all the same.  

For You can never choose except between God and the ego. 

Remember

It means that in remembering Jesus you are remembering God.  

The whole relationship of the Son to the Father lies in him.  His part in the Sonship is also yours, and his completed learning guarantees your own success.  

Is he still available for help?  

And can one who is one with God be unlike Him?  

Who transcends the body has transcended limitation.  Would the greatest teacher be unavailable to those who follow him?

Picture

 Forgiveness paints a picture of a world where suffering is over, loss becomes impossible and anger makes no sense.  

Attack is gone, and madness has an end.  

What suffering is now conceivable?  

What loss can be sustained?  

The world becomes a place of joy, abundance, charity and endless giving.  

It is now so like to Heaven that it quickly is transformed into the light that it reflects.  

And so the journey which the Son of God began has ended in the light from which he came.

The Son

The Son of God could never sin, but he can wish for what would hurt him.

And he has the power to think he can be hurt.

What could this be except a misperception of himself?

The Son of God could never sin, but he can wish for what would hurt him.

And he has the power to think he can be hurt.

What could this be except a misperception of himself?

 Is this a sin or a mistake, forgivable or not?  Does he need help or condemnation?

Is it your purpose that he be saved or damned?

Relinquishment

  

Spirit need not be taught, but the ego must be.  

Learning is ultimately perceived as frightening because it leads to the relinquishment, not the destruction, of the ego to the light of spirit.  

This is the change the ego must fear, because it does not share my charity.  

My lesson was like yours, and because I learned it I can teach it.

The Art of dreaming Carlos Castanedas

When I finally discussed with don Juan what was happening to me, I had spent months solely viewing the two shapes

 

"You are stuck at a dangerous crossroad," don Juan said. "It isn't right to chase these beings
away, but it isn't right either to let them stay. 

For the time being, their presence is a hindrance to
your dreaming."
"What can I do, don Juan?"
"Face them, right now, in the world of daily life, and tell them to come back later, when you
have more dreaming power."

"How do I face them?"
"It's not simple, but it can be done. It requires only that you have enough guts, which of course
you do."

Looking within

Real vision is not only unlimited by space and distance, but it does not depend on the body's eyes at all.  

The mind is its only source.  

To aid in helping you to become more accustomed to this idea as well, devote several practice periods to applying today's idea with your eyes closed, using whatever subjects come to mind, and looking within rather than without.  

This idea applies equally to both.

   

God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

Pleasure and pain

Every pleasure, physical or mental, needs an instrument. 

Both the physical and mental instruments are material, they get tired and worn out. 

The pleasure they yield is necessarily limited in intensity and duration. 

Pain is the background of all your pleasures. You want them because you suffer. 

On other hand, the very search for pleasure is the cause of pain. It is a vicious circle. 

(From I Am That)

Smile

"Learn to smile in the sweet way of a child. A smile from the soul is spiritual relaxation. 

A real smile is a thing of true beauty, the artistic work of the `Inner Ruler Immortal.' 

It is well to affirm—‘I think a kind thought for all the world.

May all the world be happy and blest.’ Affirm before taking up the work for the day—‘Within me there is a perfect form—the form Divine. 

I am now all that I desire to be! I visualize daily my beautiful being until I

breathe it into expression! I am a Divine Child, all my needs are being now and forever supplied!'"

( From Masters of the Far East)

Figures

  
Each one peoples his world with figures from his individual past, and it is because of this that private worlds do differ.  

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.  

Therefore, he does not see he made them, and that they are not whole.  

For these figures have no witnesses, being perceived in one separate mind only.

Shining glory

 There is no gift the Father asks of you but that you see in all creation but the shining glory of His gift to you.  

Behold His Son, His perfect gift, in whom his Father shines forever, and to whom is all creation given as his own.  

Because he has it is it given you, and where it lies in him behold your peace.  

The quiet that surrounds you dwells in him, and from this quiet come the happy dreams in which your hands are joined in innocence.  

These are not hands that grasp in dreams of pain.  They hold no sword, for they have left their hold on every vain illusion of the world.  

And being empty they receive, instead, a brother's hand in which completion lies.

 The Son of God has both Father and Son, because he is both Father and Son.  

To unite having and being is to unite your will with His, for He wills you Himself.  

And you will yourself to Him because, in your perfect understanding of Him, you know there is but one Will.  

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.

Corruption

The solidness that this world's foundation seems to have is found in this.  

For sin has changed creation from an Idea of God to an ideal the ego wants; a world it rules, made up of bodies, mindless and capable of complete corruption and decay.  

If this is a mistake, it can be undone easily by truth.  

Any mistake can be corrected, if truth be left to judge it.  

But if the mistake is given the status of truth, to what can it be brought? 

Begin Again

Broadly speaking, then, it can be said that it is well to start the day right. It is always possible to begin again, should the day begin with error. 

Yet there are obvious advantages in terms of saving time.

At the beginning, it is wise to think in terms of time. 
This is by no means the ultimate criterion, but at the outset it is probably the simplest to observe. 

The saving of time is an essential early emphasis which, although it remains important throughout the learning process, becomes less and less emphasized. 

At the outset, we can safely say that time devoted to starting the day right does indeed save time. How much time should be so spent? 

This must depend on the teacher of God himself. He cannot claim that title until he has gone through the workbook, since we are learning within the framework of our course. 

After completion of the more structured practice periods, which the workbook contains, individual need becomes the chief consideration.

Gifts

To gain you must give, not bargain.

To bargain is to limit giving, and this is not God's Will.

To will with God is to create like Him. God does not limit His gifts in any way.

You are His gifts, and so your gifts must be like His.

Your gifts to the Kingdom must be like His gifts to you.

I gave only love to the Kingdom because I believed that was what I was.

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.

Only joy increases forever, since joy and eternity are inseparable.

Harmony

You are one Self, in perfect harmony with all there is, and all that there will be.

You are one Self, the holy Son of God, united with your brothers in that Self; united with your Father in His Will. 

Feel this one Self in you, and let It shine away all your illusions and your doubts.

This is your Self, the Son of God Himself, sinless as Its Creator, with His strength within you and His Love forever yours.

You are one Self, and it is given you to feel this Self within you, and to cast all your illusions out of the one Mind that is this Self, the holy truth in you.

The will of God is a creative act

The creative power of God and His creations is limitless, but they are not in reciprocal relationship.

You communicate fully with God, as He does with you.

This is an ongoing process in which you share, and because you share it, you are inspired to create like God.

Yet in creation you are not in a reciprocal relation to God, since He created you but you did not create Him.

I have already told you that only in this respect your creative power differs from His.

Even in this world there is a parallel. Parents give birth to children, but children do not give birth to parents.

They do, however, give birth to their children, and thus give birth as their parents do.

The apostles

 
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.

  I do not want you to allow any fear to enter into the thought system toward which I am guiding you.

I do not call for martyrs but for teachers. No one is punished for sins, and the Sons of God are not sinners.

Any concept of punishment involves the projection of blame, and reinforces the idea that blame is justified.

The result is a lesson in blame, for all behavior teaches the beliefs that motivate it.

The crucifixion was the result of clearly opposed thought systems; the perfect symbol of the "conflict" between the ego and the Son of God.

This conflict seems just as real now, and its lessons must be learned now as well as then.

God is with me

 He is my Source of life, the life within, the air I breathe, the food by which I am sustained, the water which renews and cleanses me.

He is my home, wherein I live and move; the Spirit Which directs my actions, offers me Its Thoughts, and guarantees my safety from all pain.

He covers me with kindness and with care, and holds in love the Son He shines upon, who also shines on Him.

How still is he who knows the truth of what He speaks today!

Father, we have no words except Your Name upon our lips and in our minds, as we come quietly into Your Presence now, and ask to rest with You in peace a while.

Everyone

Everyone in the world must play his part in its redemption, in order to recognize that the world has been redeemed. 

You cannot see the invisible.

Yet if you see its effects you know it must be there.

By perceiving what it does, you recognize its being.

And by what it does, you learn what it is.

You cannot see your strengths, but you gain confidence in their existence as they enable you to act.

And the results of your actions you can see.

Masterpiece

  
Accept God's frame instead of yours, and you will see the masterpiece.

  Look at its loveliness, and understand the Mind that thought it, not in flesh and bones, but in a frame as lovely as Itself.

Its holiness lights up the sinlessness the frame of darkness hides, and casts a veil of light across the picture's face which but reflects the light that shines from it to its Creator.

Think not this face was ever darkened because you saw it in a frame of death.

God kept it safe that you might look on it, and see the holiness that He has given it.