It
cannot be said too often that everything is
thought, everything is in your mind, because to
understand the miracle and how it works you have to
understand this. To the ego, material, concrete
form is real and thought is meaningless. Of course,
this is upside down. Mind is what is real and it is
formless and abstract. So one of the first things
you have to do is grasp that you see this
backwards, that mind and thought are what are real
and material, concrete form is what is not real.
There are two levels of perception. The first
level is the thoughts that make the world for you
and this layer is neutral. Look around the room you
are in now. Everything is a thought - round, blue,
rough, chair, refrigerator, rug, etc. even though
you aren't conscious of yourself "thinking" it.
What you are seeing with the body's eyes -
remember the body itself is unreal - is the screen
made by the split mind so the separation could be
projected onto it. This level of perception is
neutral because it has no meaning. The next layer
of perception - the level of judgment and
interpretation - is the level that supplies meaning
to what the body sees. This is the level A Course
in Miracles works on because without the ego's
projections onto the "screen" that is the world you
would see the world is meaningless and it would
have no purpose for you and would be gone. This
second level of perception is the level of choice
and you have only two ways of looking at the world
- through ego or the Holy Spirit. The ego teaches
that the meaning you see in the world is supplied
by the world. It projects away its thoughts onto
the world and tells you that what you experience is
caused by the world. This is how it keeps attack,
guilt and fear in your mind. You don't get rid of
attack, guilt and fear; you just see them "out
there". But where are the thoughts occurring? In
your mind.
The Holy Spirit teaches you that what isn't Love
is a call for Love. When you look at the world and
see attack, guilt and fear you are calling for
Love. This is a call for the miracle, which is an
extension of Love. So you touch Love within you
with whatever thought works for you and you then
extend that Love out to the world. You are healing
your mind because the world is in your mind; it's
the part that you have projected away from you.
You must replace every ego thought with an
extension of Love (the miracle) because your whole
mind must be healed and returned to God. If you
hold onto any thought of attack, guilt and fear it
is because they are real to you so you are
unhealed.
Some miracles seem harder than others. You may
say, "How can I see Love here when that mentally
ill man is forced to live on the street?" or "How
can I see Christ when this guy's a jerk?" or "How
can I see God in this devastation?" It is the ego
that orders illusions - some are more real than
others. But the Holy Spirit knows all illusion is
the same and size and type and degree don't matter.
What isn't God isn't God.
You don't have to save the world because there
is no world outside of your mind. But you do need
to save your mind from the illusion that part of it
is in you and part of it is outside of you (the
world). This is the split that must be healed and
this is what the miracle is for. Love is within you
and so Love is in the world. Choose to see Love
instead of the world of separation and your mind is
One and healed and ready to return to God.
Liz Cronkhite is a mentor for students of A
Course in Miracles. She has been a student of the
Course since 1984, and a life-coach since 2000. You
can learn more about her, and the mentoring and
resources she offers students, at
www.acimmentor.com.