CIM Lessons 278-284
and Miracles Principle # 41
Miracles Principle
#41: “Wholeness is the perceptual
content of miracles. They thus correct, or atone for, the faulty perception of
lack.” The basic principle of the ego is the scarcity principle. We never
have enough! We see others and ourselves as lacking.
The miracle reflects the wholeness that is our true
Identity. “Wholeness” can be equated with abundance, but this abundance doesn’t
relate to material things. Typical “prosperity consciousness” teaches that if I
think abundance, I’ll receive abundance. There’s no question our thoughts do
influence what we experience. That is how the whole physical world was made in
the first place. But that doesn’t make it into a spiritual principle. “Manifesting” things is a psychic phenomenon,
not a spiritual one. What makes it spiritual is turning the reins over to
Spirit. Without Spirit’s help and guidance, we will merely continue to
manipulate the illusion.
The miracle undoes defenses that are based on our belief in
separation, lack, and limitation. This process then returns our mind to its
original and on-going state of being one with God, having everything God gave
us in creation: joy, unity, freedom, etc. Jesus tells us to seek first the
kingdom of God, and all these things
will be added unto us as a natural result of our elevated consciousness.
Lesson 278—“If I am
bound, my Father is not free.” The idea that God is a prisoner is
inconceivable. Yet, since reality is One, what I believe about any part, I am
believing about the whole, whether or not I realize it. God is all there is,
and I am an expression of God. “If I accept that I am prisoner within a body .
. . then my Father is prisoner with me.” We all
believe in lack and limitation. We all
believe in death. We are all, for
this reason, “lost to reality.” Does that mean our situation is hopeless? No.
All we need do is recognize these thoughts are foolish, and ask Spirit for the
Truth. That’s all.
Lesson 279—“Creation’s
freedom promises my own.” The simplicity of this lesson is staggering. As I
recognize that freedom is everyone’s divine inheritance, I find my own.
Lesson 280—“What
limits can I lay upon God’s Son?” This lesson calls on me not to deny
anyone—my brothers or myself—the limitless freedom in which God created us. We
tend to compare ourselves with others and to find ourselves, in some way,
superior. This is what CIM calls specialness.
We are all equal in the Mind of God. None of us is limited in any way except in
illusions.
Lesson 281—“I can be
hurt by nothing but my thoughts.” My true Self cannot be hurt; only my
illusory self can be hurt, and that, only by my thoughts. Pain comes when I put
my own thoughts in place of the Thoughts of God. When I feel attacked, it is always me attacking myself. It is always
me believing the impossible—that I am separate from God and therefore
vulnerable to misery and pain.
What Is the Holy
Spirit? “The Holy Spirit mediates between illusions and the truth.” He
bridges the gap between reality and dreams. Because of His function, “those who
turn to Him for truth” can be led to truth by means of the very perception that
is part of their illusion. Without Spirit, perception leads only to more
perception, the illusion continually reinforcing itself. Our part in the
equation then is simply to “turn to Him for truth.”
Lesson 282—“I will
not be afraid of love today.” Fear of love is insane on the face of it. Of
all things we might reasonably be afraid of, love is not one of them. Yet we
are afraid of love far more frequently than we realize. Fear of love is fear of
our own Self, which is Love. Yet we
are indeed afraid to recognize ourselves as Love because it seems a very
dangerous thing to our ego. In fearing love we are imagining ourselves to be
something other than love—something evil and sinful. In such a picture of
ourselves, we imagine we deserve punishment and death. To forget what we are
and to believe we are something else, the mind must fall asleep or be deluded.
Therefore, to realize today’s idea is a determination not to be asleep in
dreams of death (1:3).
Lesson 283—“My true
Identity abides in You.” “Abide means “lives or dwells,” but it also means
“remains unchanged.” In traditional Christian understanding, man was created
innocent and sinless but fell into sin and thus corrupted his nature forever.
In the CIM understanding, all that really happened is that we imagined we had changed. But what we
really are never changed at all! Creation is still, now, as it always was,
because God’s creation cannot be changed. As I recognize this true Identity, I
must realize that, being One with All That Is, this Identity must be shared
with all creation. When I recognize everything as part of this shared Identity,
I will naturally “offer blessings to all things, uniting lovingly with all the
world.” (2:2)
Lesson 284—“I can
elect to change all things that hurt.” If the origin of all things is
thought, I can affect whether or not I experience pain. Nothing outside me can
affect me. The cause of all problems, and therefore the solution to them, is
entirely within my mind and entirely within my control. Properly perceived,
even death is not a cause for grief. This lesson suggests a process we can
follow to change our thoughts even about such seemingly extreme loss. It’s not
an instant process, but it is possible. Because our Father would not give us anything
that would hurt us, and because there is no other Source, we can at least dimly
see at the outset that our trials and tribulations are not real.
Five Stages in the
Process of Thought Change (from Lesson 284)
1. Verbal belief—“at first to be but said” At
this stage we are basically only giving lip service to an idea.
2. Mental belief—“and then repeated many
times;” In this stage, though we still don’t actually believe the idea, we
repeat it over and over, trying to convince our minds it’s true.
3. Partial belief—“next to be accepted as but
partly true, with many reservations.” Frequent repetition brings us into
situations where we find specific experiences that validate the truth of the
idea for us. We have a holy instant, or a moment of forgiveness—an aha! experience
with the realization of “Now I know what Course means by this!”
4. Increasing belief—“then to be considered
seriously more and more,” Stage 4 is generalization. Once we’ve seen the
truth in one situation, we begin to experience it more and more, in situation
after situation. Even at this stage, however, we have not arrived at total
acceptance of the idea.
5. Total belief—“and finally accepted as the
truth.” This stage represents the end of the “journey without distance.” Now
we see the idea as completely true, applying to everything equally.
As with any new skill, the final
goal is not reached without effort. We are in the learning process. That is the
purpose of our being in the world—to change our thoughts so that we may heal.
Assignment: Miracles Principle # 42. Lessons 285-291. Read as
directed by Spirit.
Practical Application: Focus on the process of thought change
above. Notice when you are allowing ego thoughts to run rampant. Say to yourself,
“This is a thought I choose not to keep.” Be determined not to allow “weeds” to
take root and produce after their kind.
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