This is one of the biggest trap from the ego. In truth, we are all innocent. And there is nothing we can do to others in the same way there is nothing anyone can do to us, because who we Truly are, is beyond form. That's why it is said, nothing real can be threatened. Since we are real, it means not only we can't be threatened, but in the same token, we cannot threatened others either.

That being said however, within this seeming physical experience, we sometimes feel as if we can be threatened or hurt, or worse, that we can actually have the power to hurt others, which is the same guilt just turned inward.

I remember being involved in a relationships with someone, whom truly believes that I am the reason why she feels anger, resentment, etc. Also as a result of the publication of my book, and my life becoming more public, it adds more pressure to my experience. As she began to share with others about myself, the first thing I wanted to do was to defend my "reputation", you know, something that does not exist in the first place.

But when I find myself attempting to do so, a lesson from A Course in Miracles comes to mind, Lesson 135; If I defend myself I am attacked, which states:

"Who would defend himself unless he thought he were attacked, that the attack were real, and that his own defense could save himself? 2 And herein lies the folly of defense; it gives illusions full reality, and then attempts to handle them as real. 3 It adds illusions to illusions, thus making correction doubly difficult." W-pI.135.1:1-3

As I started looking more closely at this experience, realizing that everything is happening in my mind, I had two choices; I can bring in the Holy Spirit and help transform the experience in my own mind, so that I can heal, and in that sense, the illusion as well, or I can bring in the ego, and judge the experience, therefore perpetuating more guilt and fear in my own mind.

Before continuing, I am going to use that experience as if it was happening to someone else. Often times I hear from people who suggest that someone has done something to them, and they want to blame. This is another way of having the same experience I just described, this time however, making myself believe that I am independent of it because it is happening to "someone else."

If it is true that everything is happening in my mind, that "someone else", through his or her blaming a third party, is still my own fear being projected outward. In that case, I still have the same two choices; do I want to look at it with the Holy Spirit and become an agent for transformation for that person, therefore transforming my own mind, or do I want to look at it with the ego and join that seeming "someone else" in their blaming, therefore perpetuating the illusion of separation in my own mind?

That is why A Course in Miracles reminds me that I have to bring all of my brothers and sisters with me if I want to experience heaven. Because all of these seeming brothers and sisters that are out there, are all in "my" mind. This is why this journey seems challenging, because it forces me to look at "everything" that is happening in the world through forgiving eyes, even when the "seeming" attacks feel so real.

So what do I need to do when I feel like someone has done something to me? Forgive! What do I need to do when I feel as if though I have done something to others? Forgive!

It is the only way I will be able to see the fact that I am innocent. Only in that recognition I can see and behold the innocence in others.

I love you!

---