CIM LESSONS 110-116 AND MIRACLES PRINCIPLE #17

Miracles Principle #17: “Miracles transcend the body. They are sudden shifts into invisibility, away from the bodily level. That is why they heal.” “Shifts into invisibility” simply means shifting focus from the body, or the external, to the mind, the source of all problems. The body is never the problem. Lesson 76 says, “I am under no laws but God’s laws.” CIM teaches that God did not make this world. We did. The mind made up physical laws—laws of gravity, of nutrition, of genetics, etc.—and we give those laws power by virtue of our individual and joint allegiance to them. Jesus says our faith can move mountains. Since our mind made up the mountain in the first place, why could we not move it? Many people are able to train their minds to move a glass or cup to another part of the table. If a cup can be moved, why not a mountain? Such mastery, however, does not give you peace of mind, nor does it bring you closer to God. All it does is enable you to get back in touch with the power of your mind. But it is the misuse of the mind that got us in trouble in the first place. That’s why CIM says it’s imperative to place our mind under the guidance of the One Who will never misuse it.

Lesson 110—“I am as God created me.” This is the Workbook’s premier lesson. We are reminded repeatedly that today’s idea is “enough” to save you; that it is “all you need.” This one thought, we are told, is not only enough to save ourselves but also to save the world. The primary idea is this: Nothing I have done has changed anything. Fear and evil, misery and death, have not occurred except in the dreams of the ego mind. I have not damaged anything. The tiny, mad idea to replace God on His throne accomplished nothing. I am still innocent, perfect love. I can trust my brothers, who are one with me, because I am as God created me and have never split from them. What I find within myself when I listen to the Voice for God is what all others are as well. Let me simply become aware of any thought that says different and allow Spirit to take that thought from me and return it to me anew. Again, this is how Heaven manifests on earth. Now I see through a glass darkly, but as I allow Spirit to cleanse my error thoughts, what I “see” and experience quite literally changes simultaneously.

Lessons 11-120 are review lessons.

Assignment: Read Introduction to Review III, Workbook pages 201-203, and Lessons 117-123. Read Text pp. 382-83 (The Happy Dream).

Practical Application: What we’re attempting as the practice time requirement continues to increase is to develop the habit of prayer without ceasing—noting when the mind is on “ego autopilot” and deliberately turning it back over to Spirit. A helpful question to ask in this process is, “What is it for?” As you make decisions throughout your day, check in with Spirit. Is the motivation behind your choice love or is it fear?

CIM Lessons 103-109 and Miracles Principle # 16

Miracles Principle # 16: “Miracles are teaching devices for demonstrating it is as blessed to give as to receive. They simultaneously increase the strength of the giver and supply strength to the receiver.” This is the same idea as Principle # 9. You will see that a lot of the principles are now going to repeat themselves. Like time, the miracle is a teaching device. It teaches that “to give and to receive are one in truth.” We are all the same—teacher and pupil; therapist and patient. The error the miracle has to correct is the error of thinking we are separate. The miracle, then, becomes an expression of our joining. Grasp this one, and your life instantly transforms!

Lesson 103—“God, being Love, is also happiness.” Happiness is an attribute of Love. They come or go together. The denial of happiness is the denial of God.  The Text (T-10.V.12:3-4) says that depression is blasphemy. The point of this is not to make us feel guilty. It’s just saying I’m hurting because I’m turning my back on God, on Love, on happiness. It’s not something outside myself that’s doing this to me. I’m sad because I think what I’ve made is real. I’m sad because I believe Love has limits. I’m afraid of Love’s “conditions.” I’m afraid Love will be withdrawn if I misstep somehow. How can I be joyful, even when things are “good,” if the rug can be pulled out from under me at any moment? Know this: Right now, without a single thing changing, the Love of God radiates to you without limit, without reservation or question. To know this is happiness.

Lesson 104—“I seek but what belongs to me in truth.” Today, I set aside the complex and focus on two very simple things: the joy and peace of mind by right of who I am. Today, I will not concern myself with profound metaphysical truths. I set aside the urgency of self-made goals, the self-imposed importance of everything I think I must do. I ignore the man-made standards by which I so often judge myself or allow others to judge me. Today, I reflect on my many blessings. I open myself with gratitude to God Who gave me these gifts. I honor Him by enjoying them.

Lesson 105—“God’s peace and joy are mine.” Today’s lesson expands yesterday’s by adding the thought that I receive my gifts by giving them. This idea runs all through CIM, but this lesson specifically identifies it as “a major learning goal.” By accepting God’s peace and joy as mine, I allow God to “complete Himself as He defines completion.” I experience this myself, in some small way, in giving to another. When I give in love, and it is received in joy, our love is strengthened. Shared love is a great joy. This is how God’s giving works, and we are meant to be part of it. This kind of giving is how we create and how we complete ourselves. To truly experience that God’s peace and joy are mine, I must open my heart to share peace and joy with others. And it begins with that person to whom my heart has been most closed. If I will open my heart for love to flow out, it will also flow in. As I open my heart, allowing peace, joy and love to flow out, what I’m doing is “letting what cannot contain itself fulfill its aim of giving everything it has away, securing it forever for itself.”

Lesson 106—“Let me be still and listen to the truth.” At first, today’s lesson doesn’t seem to follow yesterday’s theme on giving and receiving, but then it switches midway back to that theme. The first part of the lesson talks about what I’m listening for—the Voice for God correcting the error thinking of God’s “dear Son, whose other name is YOU.”  The thinking of the world tells me that to give is to lose. The Word of God tells me to give is to receive. To extend that same message to the world is the “ministry for which you came.” Again, as we’ve discussed, this does not mean banging on doors and evangelizing. This means living the principle day to day. This lesson also tells me that every time I pause for five minutes to be still and listen to the truth, one thousand minds are opened to the truth. Five minutes! Suppose I took that seriously and paused every hour as instructed. In the course of a day, fifteen thousand minds would open to the truth. What better investment of my time could I possibly make?

Lesson 107—“Truth will correct all errors in my mind.” This is the promise that gives me courage. An illusion that isn’t recognized as illusion causes me to react as if it were real. If I see an illusory “enemy,” that doesn’t make me bad or stupid. The reaction is appropriate, given what I believe to be the truth. But when I look at the illusion with Spirit, it disappears. The “holy instant” is that moment of unquestioned peace; a moment in which I realize the trials and fears I seem to go through are all part of the illusion. Jesus says it (salvation/happiness) will be mine; it already is mine. It is guaranteed. I am safe. I am steady. I am whole. Today I will bring to Spirit for correction any thought that tells me anything different.

Lesson 108—“To give and to receive are one in truth.” This lesson describes the state of One-mindedness where all opposites are resolved into “once concept that is wholly true.” When that occurs, the concept will disappear because “the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place.” This is how Heaven manifests on earth. This is “a state of mind so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all.” It is the Christ mind, and from it comes my peace of mind. One of the most useful lessons we can learn while drawing on this state of mind is that giving and receiving are one and the same. Like all opposites, they aren’t truly opposite at all; they are a part of a unified spectrum of reality. Neither precedes the other. Both occur simultaneously. Quite literally, what we give, we receive. Immediately. There is no pause or delay. There is one act, and it contains both things. Cause and effect are one in Truth. 

We think of cause and effect in a linear fashion. I think what I do today will impact me in the future. That is an incomplete picture. In fact, there is no time delay at all. My thought of attack impacts on me now, just as my thought offering peace immediately makes me peaceful. I am constantly giving birth to the universe of my experience. There is nothing outside my mind. The world I see is just my thoughts given form.

Lesson 109—“I rest in God.” This lesson epitomizes what so many CIM lessons are trying to get me to do: simply take a little time out of my day to rest in God. The lesson tells me of wondrous things that come from willingness to take these times of rest. These moments of quiet are not for me alone. They are my mission for the world. Through them I am brining peace to every mind, including those who came in the past or haven’t yet come (see 2:5 and 9:5). Every time we rest in God, we heal the world. 

I envision myself as a cell in a cosmic body, a body that has been invaded by a deadly virus of disharmony, hatred, envy, sorrow and pain. As I take my time of rest, this cell produces antitoxins, the remedy for the virus: the peace of God. And the connecting current of our shared thoughts is the bloodstream that carries this antitoxin to other cells, who absorb it and begin, in turn, to produce more antitoxin. What greater purpose could I have?

Assignment: Miracles principle #17 (Text p.4); Workbook Lessons 110-116. Text read pp. 189-192—“The Denial of God.”

Practical Application: Here’s an experiment to test the truth of giving and receiving being one. Sit quietly, and mentally begin to send peace to everyone. Go through your list of family, of friends, and of “enemies,” sending peace to each and every one. Offer it to the world at large. “I offer you quietness. I offer you peace of mind. I offer you gentleness.“ (Based on Lesson 108). What we find as we do this is that, as we offer peace to others, we experience it ourselves.

What Jesus is telling us throughout CIM is that as long as we listen to the voice of ego, we will “see” and experience sin, attack, pain, sorrow and death. That is the ego’s method of convincing us there is no God—or that God has turned His back on us or is punishing us. Seeing is believing, right? I see “sin” on the 5:00 news and in the newspapers everyday. CIM tells us our physical eyes do not see at all. In fact, it tells us that believing is seeing. Take that quite literally and ponder it a while.

As we begin to turn over each unloving or troublesome thought to Spirit, what happens is that we literally begin to see a different world—a more loving and peaceful world. CIM calls this the Happy Dream. It is the state of mind preceding Heaven—the remembrance of Oneness.

Because each of us is a hologram—a “universe unto itself” within the All-ness—I can stand beside a man who is totally enmeshed in the hell of his ego and experience the Happy Dream. Where he sees murderers and pedophiles, I see wounded “children,” crying out, seeking the Love they believe they have lost forever. Like attracts like. If I believe the world is full of “low-lifes,” the universe will bring me witnesses to that belief, blessed and multiplied. I will see them everywhere I look. If, on the other hand, I believe in the inherent goodness of my fellow man, the Christ within each one, then that is what I will see and experience in my world. The more of us who focus on the latter, the more antitoxin we supply in the broken Body of the Son—the closer we bring it to healing.

CIM Lessons 96-102 and Miracles Principle #15

Miracles Principle #15: “Each day should be devoted to miracles. The purpose of time is to enable you to learn how to use time constructively. It is thus a teaching device and a means to an end. Time will cease when it is no longer useful in facilitating learning.” This principle talks about the fundamental goal of CIM, which is to help us spend every hour of our day, all the days of our lives, continually seeing things as Spirit would have us see them.

The third lesson of the Holy Spirit (Chapter 6) is “Be Vigilant Only for God and His Kingdom.” CIM is mind re-training. We are choosing to give up the petty battles of the ego. We are seeking another way of looking at life—the joy of Spirit’s miracle instead of the gloom and doom of the ego’s grievance.

The purpose of time is to teach me there is no time. It is thus a teaching device and a means to an end. Nothing in the world is an end in itself because nothing in the world is real in itself. It is merely a teaching device. But don’t try to deny the world; that’s not what the Course teaches. Rather, our goal is to look at the world differently, through the eyes of the Christ within us all. Everything that occurs, to the extent that it pushes our buttons or upsets us in any way, becomes an opportunity to learn. The world is a classroom. Our individual lives are individual classes we take within the university. This whole path then becomes like a curriculum, and our individual experiences become specific classes we take to undo the guilt we have made specific. This is the purpose of the world, the purpose of time.

Lesson 96: “Salvation comes from my one Self.” Experiencing myself as divided is a universal experience. On one hand, I want to do the CIM practice because I want the peace and freedom it promises. On the other, I resist doing the hourly five-minute remembrances. It seems as if there are two selves in me, one wanting the light, the other holding onto the darkness.

My mind has duped itself into believing the reality of separation, of physical being. To this end, my mind has become the servant of my body, trying to devise ways to make my body comfortable, to pleasure it, to make it last forever, to keep it safe from harm. In doing this, my mind has lost its true function, which is magnifying Spirit. Through CIM, I am rediscovering myself as an extension of God. The Self CIM refers to isn’t something apart from me. It IS me!

You may ask, “What is it I’m waiting to hear as I sit for 5 minutes?” I can’t tell you. No one can. Remember the hologram. Though we are One, there is no One exactly like you-- no One with exactly the gift you bring. You are as unique within the whole as a fingerprint or eyeprint. Relax. Be patient. You will know your message when you hear it.

Lesson 97: “I am spirit.”  The One Self that CIM speaks of is spirit. To affirm, “I am sprit,” is to let go of all illusions of a split identity, of a good and bad self, and of all attempts I might make to reconcile the ego self that is bound to a body with the spiritual Self this is unlimited by a body.

CIM doesn’t attempt to unite so-called opposites—the seeming evil of Hitler and the seeming holiness of Mother Teresa. The “nondualism” of CIM affirms unity by declaring that all that seems to be opposed to holiness is illusion.

I love the part of this lesson that says that by doing this practice, “a thousand years or more are saved.” The Course presents itself as a means of saving time as we see it, and clearly teaches that any of us could wake up at any moment we choose. The attitude towards time that’s encouraged by Course is unconcern about it, since it is ultimately part of the illusion.

When we make our effort of 5 minutes for God, Spirit joins all of His strength with us. He takes the little we give and carries it around the world to every open mind. The gifts we give to Him are multiplied by a thousandfold or more. Take that literally or as a figure of speech. It doesn’t natter. The meaning is the same. What we give to Spirit is multiplied and spread to all minds because our minds are all joined.

Lesson 98: “I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.” How can I say doubts are gone? Of course, doubts are there, and Jesus knows that. He’s only suggesting that in these five minutes I spend with him, I lay them aside—see what it’s like. There is One within me that is always certain, and He is me. I have forgotten that. Today, I will allow myself, however briefly, to identify with His certainty. This is surrender. This is all I’m asked to do. It’s that simple. I just need to stop trying to make it on my own. I just need to let go and let God do His perfect work in and through me.

Lesson 99: “Salvation is my only function here.” Remember that CIM defines salvation as happiness. Separation, pain, grief, and death are not God’s Will for me. Such a belief stems from a subconscious fear that God is punishing me. Sometimes I’ve agreed that I deserve punishment. Sometimes I’ve denied I deserved it and accused Him of being unfair. Most often, I’ve simply been bewildered, wondering what I did to deserve my pain. Sure, I must have done something, but I’m at a loss as to what it might be. I’ve dissociated myself from the shame of “running away from Home.” I’ve forgotten this was a choice I made and that I’m free to choose again.

What lends my pain such sharpness is the underlying thought that He Whom my heart loves uncontrollably has not only turned His back on me but actively seeks vengeance. Because I believe my pain is His will, I can’t even take it to Him for comfort. Instead, I flee from Him. If I but let down my unwarranted defenses against God, I find the doorway to my release. God is not angry. Remember the story of the Prodigal. God is overjoyed at the prospect of my choosing to go Home.

Lesson 100: “My part is essential in God’s plan for salvation.” My part is God’s plan for salvation  (happiness) is to be happy. A good affirmation for today would be, “My joy heals.” I teach through my happiness. Nothing has to change for this to happen, because happiness does not depend on anything outside my mind.

Sometimes, I mistakenly think my happiness enables the errors of others. If someone is being cruel, and I continue to be happy, I seem to condone his cruelty. However, to be upset by cruelty doesn’t heal it. It makes it seem real. It’s far more healing to see cruelty as a cry for love. Within that “cruel” person is a longing he shares with me—an overpowering longing for God. My happiness in the face of cruelty teaches that the grounds for cruelty don’t exist. It doesn’t attack the symptoms of the cruelty; it undoes cruelty at its source. That source is fear. Fear that I’m not worthy. My job today is to release myself and everyone else from the heavy burden of thinking I’m more powerful than God—that I have defiled the eternal perfection God created me to be. 

My job today is to be happy. I am essential to God’s plan because my smile is the healing light of the world.  

Lesson 101: “God’s will for me is perfect happiness.” In CIM, salvation and happiness are synonymous. How starkly this contrasts with the common view of salvation—that I must pay for my sins. The notion of paying for sins is imbedded in my consciousness. One of the most subtle ways I know this is true is that I feel guilty when I’m happy. When a friend or family member is upset, I feel obligated to join them in their misery. Somehow it just doesn’t feel right or safe to be “too happy.”

Thinking, “This is too good to last” is also a symptom of this syndrome. The idea that I could be happy all the time seems ridiculous. Misery is a part of living, right? Wrong. Misery’s a choice. There is no need for penance because there is no sin. Instantly, the ego says, “If there’s no price to pay, sinners will go wild! Punishment is necessary to control evil!” Amazingly, what I learn when I refuse to participate in the ego’s game of sin and punishment is that it quietly fades away. Because everyone’s natural function and desire is to love and be loved. It is only in the face of perceived threat that the thought of attack emerges.

Lesson 102: “I share God’s Will for happiness for me.” The Self within me is always happy because God created it happy. So in these exercises, I’m not trying to “make myself happy” but rather to reach a preexistent happiness. Unfortunately, I still believe in the values of suffering. The lesson doesn’t expect us to be totally free of these beliefs at this point. But deep inside, I do at least question this belief. I don’t want to suffer. Yet, if I do, I realize I’ve chosen it on some level and have seen some value to me in that suffering. The message of this lesson in this regard is that pain is purposeless and without power to accomplish anything.

Unhappiness is my excuse for being less loving than God. How can I open my heart to you when I am unhappy? By being happy, I enable myself to wholly love.

Assignment: Lessons 103-109; Miracles Principle # 16; Text, pp. 272-274, “The Happy Learner.”

Practical Application: This week, pay attention to the message you are sending, both to yourself and others, through your facial and bodily expressions. Take a moment through out the day to inventory your body. Remind yourself to turn up the corners of your mouth. Studies have proven that the simple act of upturning the corners of our mouth releases healing endorphins, natural painkillers and mood elevators. When you notice your shoulders are slumped, pull them back. When your hands are clenched into fists, open them. If you’re leaning forward in an aggressive stance, fall back. No eye rolling. No sucking teeth.  ;--D