T 1 A. Introduction (Notes 4:28)
T 1 A 1-N1 You will see miracles
through your hands through Me.
T 1 A 1. It is crucial to say
first that this is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary.
Free will does not mean that you establish the curriculum. It means only that
you can elect what to take when. It is just because you are not ready to do
what you should elect to do that time exists at all. (You will see miracles
through your hands through me. You should begin each day with the prayer “Help
me to perform whatever miracles you want of me today.”)
T 1 B 1. The first thing to
remember about miracles is that there is no order of difficulty among them. One
is not harder or bigger than another. They are all the same.
T 1 B 2. Miracles do not
matter. They are quite unimportant.
T 1 B 3a. They occur naturally as an expression
of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense,
everything that comes from love is a miracle.
T 1 B 3b. This explains the first point related
to the lack of order. ALL expressions of love are maximal.
T 1 B 3b-N1 ((braking communication by
thinking it’s cute. You are not wrong, it diverts your attention.
T 1 B 3b-N2 That’s
true.
T 1 B 3b-N3 Of course it’s true, and I’m
really glad you get the idea. I am not angry when this kind of thing happens,
but the lesson deteriorates under lack of focus.))
T 1 B 3b-N4 Please read these three points
((with corollaries)) as often as you can today, because there may be a quiz
this evening. This is merely to introduce structure, if it is needed. It is not
to frighten you.
T 1 B 3c. This is why the “thing in itself” does not matter. The only thing that
matters is the Source, and this is far beyond human evaluation.
T
1 B 3d. (Question
and Answer regarding first three points.) Question (Helen Schucman) Would you
regard this communication as a kind of miracle maybe? Answer. You better read that
now. There is nothing special or surprising about
this at all. The ONE thing that happened was the Universal Miracle which was
the experience of intense love that you have felt. (Don’t get embarrassed by
the idea of love. Embarrassment is only a form of fear, and actually a
particularly dangerous form because it reflects egocentricity.
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T 1 B 3d-N1 ((No, don’t think of how
Bill will find this fascinating, either. I told you to re-read them and you did
not.))
T 1 B 3d-N2 I am now.
T 1 B 3e. Do
not feel guilty about the fact that you are doubting this. Just re-read them
and their truth will come to you. I love you, and I am not afraid or
embarrassed or doubtful. MY strength will support you, so don’t worry and leave
the rest to me.
T 1 B 3e-N1 Do not run to Bill to tell
him. There will be time, but don’t disrupt things. I’ll arrange the schedule.
You have a lot to do today. Get dressed or you will be late.[7]
But when you DO see Bill, be SURE you tell him how
much he helped you through by giving you the right message, and don’t bother
with worrying about how you received it. That doesn’t matter either. You were
just afraid.)
T 1 B 3e-N2 In cab: long discussion – No, it’s wrong to think
maybe Dave will be healed (but great fear here, because I want to separate the
next thought from Dave who is dying in human terms) and Louis’ hernia will be
cured. ((Remember point 1) and re-read now))[8]
T 1 B 3f. (Helen Schucman fearful in taxi about a
communication which related Dave’s healing and Jonathan’s hernia. She thought
it would be safer to dissociate the two. Instructions were: refer to point 1
and re-read NOW.)
T 1 B 4a. ALL
miracles mean Life, and God is the giver of Life. He will direct you VERY specifically.
T 1 B 4b. (Plan ahead is good advice in this
world, where you should and must control & direct where you have accepted
responsibility. But the Universal Plan is in more appropriate hands. You will
know all you need to know. Make NO attempts to plan ahead in this respect.)
T 1 B 5. Miracles
are habits, and should be involuntary. They should not be under conscious
control. Consciously selected miracles are usually misguided, and this will make the talent useless.
T 1 B 6. Miracles
are natural. When they do NOT occur something has gone wrong.
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T 1 B 7. Miracles
are everyone’s right, but purification is necessary first.
T 1 B 8. Miracles
are a form of healing. They supply a lack, and are performed by those who have
more for those who have less.
T 1 B 9. Miracles
are a kind of exchange. Like all expressions of love, which are ALWAYS
miraculous in the true sense, the exchange reverses the physical laws.
T 1 B 10. A
miracle is a reversal of the physical order because it brings more love to the
giver AND the receiver. (A miracle is misunderstood when it is regarded as a
spectacle.)
T 1 B 11a. The
use of miracles as a spectacle to INDUCE belief is wrong. They are really used
for and by believers.
T 1 B 11b. (Helen
Schucman has some fear about 11) and doubt about 9) and 10). Probably doubt
induced by fear of 11).
T 1 B 11b-N1 10 makes me nervous, and 8
and 9 were very hard to arrange. I think I understand that as I should but I’m
not sure.[14]
T 1 B 11b-N2 I don’t think Bill wants
this course, and I’m not sure I do, either. He is very snappy. (I think this is
slightly true because something is bothering him, but he certainly is not very
snappy. So why not try to help him instead of blowing it up into an
obstruction? He helps you all the time. ((I resent this)). He is supposed to
help me but I think I resent reciprocal arrangement, because he is a man. Men
are supposed to give to me, but this is not possible.
T 1 B 11b-N3 Note: I don’t always feel
this way. It’s a danger signal now and just means something’s wrong. Anyway,
presumably this Course is an elective.
T 1 B 11b-N4 No it isn’t. It’s a definite requirement. Only the time
you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean you establish the curriculum.
It only means you elect what to take WHEN. [16]
T 1 B 11b-N5 Dreams –One was of great
distress – Esther left Amy with us ((the
us is ambiguous)) and we were stuck. I was very tired after an incredible day,
in which a lot of stress was involved, and wanted to go to sleep but couldn’t
on account of Amy. I was trying not to get angry at Esther, because I think I
was aware that she had a very good reason for having to go away just then, and
I should help her even though she didn’t know the reason or maybe was offering
her usual show of maximal impulsiveness and no sense, but really did know the
reason but was hiding it because she didn’t want to take credit for herself.
T 1 B 11b-N6 ((That’s how you see people
as they should be and that helps. Be that way))
T 1 B 11b-N7 Anyway, the whole dream was
one big frustration.
T 1 B 11b-N8 (( Problem, I was not
listening))
T 1 B 11b-N9 Aside: Re the course
T 1 B 11b-N10 Yes indeed, the way the
course is given you is quite unusual, but as Bill says you are not the average
American woman, which is merely a fact. Your experience in this life has been
atypical, and so has my evolutionary map.
T 1 B 11b-N11 ((There was a dream a while
back which I keep forgetting – about a long winding tunnel, like they have in
those very big garages so that they can drive cars up efficiently. ((They look
as though they’re going ‘round and ‘round but actually they are a very
efficient means of getting up smoothly ((there are no sharp turns)), evenly
((the grade is maximal but not sharp)) and has great space economy)). On top
was an American flag.
T 1 B 11b-N12 Back to the dreams of last
night: There was also one in which three animals, little ones, were in the same
room, and I knew that. I had to keep them apart because they hated each other.
Being so busy, this was a great additional strain on me. One of them was
pregnant, and the other two wanted to kill her, but the other two also hated
each other too. Oddly enough, I was quite sorry for all of them because they
were all three mixed up, but in different ways. I felt I had to get the
pregnant one out first, though, because of the child. ((I thought this an
improvement on the recurrent dream I had for years about animals starving to
death, and me sometimes grieving, sometimes trying desperately to help them
((at times also realizing I had starved them and feeling very guilty)), but
never saving them.))
T 1 B 11b-N13 Rockwell keeps
coming in throughout, but his role is not clear. (Maybe it’s because of “The
Rockwellians” which is a very particular group ((I’m not sure, But I think I invented
the term myself)) I was struck by Hanna Paterson’s remark, “I’m from the
Minnesota group but I know there must be a N.Y. chapter.” She liked the term
and thought it was just right.
T 1 B 11b-N14 Rockwellians have a real sense
of devotion to one another, and also to Rockwell himself. He is a very
interesting man, who never went by his
emotions and usually denied them, but they were responsible for his many blind
spots and denials. We all knew this but were very gentle about it.
T 1 B 11b-N15 The odd thing about
Rockwellians is that I think all of us believed in the unconscious, which
Rockwell himself opposes violently. I think we were all one together under his
direction or teachership, and something happened.
T 1 B 11b-N16 We owe him a lot, both good
and bad, and were to help him now as a way out of the bad and a means of
strengthening the good. The last dream was about a child on the C.D.P. program. It seems that I saw the
child’s protocols, and suspected some sort of rather obscure diagnosis or
problem. I was unwilling to go on record, because it was a medical thing and I
thought Gates would disapprove. But I felt an obligation to the child and
called her doctor. about it. I got a letter in return, saying the physician was
very grateful, and that the child’s life was saved and the information was
badly needed.
T 1 B 11c. (When
you say “If you want me to I will” please add “and if you DON’T want me to I
won’t.” This is the RIGHT use of inhibition. There has to be SOME control over
learning for channelizing purposes. Remember retroactive inhibition which should be easy enough for
you.
T 1 B 11d. Sometimes
the new learning is the more important, and HAS to inhibit the old. It’s a form
of correction.)
T 1 B 12a. Prayer is the medium of miracles.
Prayer is the natural communication of the Created with the Creator. Through
prayer, love is received, and through miracles love is expressed.
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T 1 B 12a-N1 The one more thing is Bill’s
fear of punishment for what is done now. Everybody makes mistakes. These errors
are completely trivial. Tell him that when the past has been forgiven, these
minor infractions are very easily altered.
T 1 B 12b. Miracles
are thought-creations. Thought can create lower-order or higher-order
realities. This is the basic distinction between intellectualization and
thinking. One creates the physical, and the other the spiritual, and we believe
in what we create.
T 1 B 13. A
miracle is a beginning and an end(ing). It thus abolishes time. It is always an affirmation of re-birth, which
seems to go back, but really goes forward. It undoes the past in the present,
and thus releases the future.
T 1 B 14. Miracles
attest to truth. They are convincing because they arise from conviction.
Without conviction, they deteriorate into magic, which is mindless, and
therefore destructive, or rather, the uncreative use of Mind.
T 1 B 15a. Each day should be devoted to miracles. (God created time so that man could
use it creatively, and convince himself of his own ability to create. Time is a
teaching device, and a means to an end. It will cease when it is no longer
useful for facilitating learning.)
T 1 B 15a-N1 Note: I got afraid during
the part in brackets. Ask Bill.
T 1 B 15b. SPECIAL
INSTRUCTIONS: Notes on this course have to be taken only under good learning
conditions. The same goes for review periods. I will tell you when, but
REMEMBER TO ASK.
T 1 B 16a. Miracles are teaching devices for
demonstrating that it is more blessed to give than to receive. They
simultaneously increase the reserve strength of the giver, and supply the lack
of strength in the receiver. BE VERY CAREFUL in interpreting this.
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T 1 B 16a-N1 Regarding Wally’s chalice: does
this mean he is on my list?
T 1 B 16a-N2 Not necessarily, only that
you of all people should know that it frightens people if you hand them back
their own chalice.
T 1 B 16a-N3 Whether he is or not depends
on a three way readiness. I am
always ready. Your job is to take care of your readiness. His readiness is up
to him.
T 1 B 16a-N4 At present he is a potential
candidate. But Amy is on it now.
T 1 B 16a-N5 She is a child you hurt. The
whole problem is that they threw it away and are denying it. Therefore they are
now afraid of it. This should cause you no trouble at all in understanding. You
both have an identification problem, which makes you unstable but in different
ways. He lacks confidence in his identification and needs to strengthen it. You
vacillate in your identification and need better control.
T 1 B 16a-N6 Both of you needn’t worry.
T 1 B 16a-N7 You must love the children
and help them. You have hated them and hurt them, but remember Azrathat you once loved them
very much. You were a child of light. Forget the interval of darkness and be
what you were. That is your real Self.
T 1 B 16a-N8 Chip’s story triggered the
abandonment of the children, guilt, and a fear of God’s abandonment as justice.
I told you I forgave you and that meant all hurt and hate you have ever
experienced is cancelled. I need the children of light now. And I am calling
you to be what you once were and must be again.
T 1 B 16a-N9 The interval has vanished
without a trace anywhere. You who lived so close to God must not give way to
guilt.
T 1 B 16a-N10 The Karmic Law demands
abandonment for abandoning, but you have received mercy, not justice.
T 1 B 16a-N11 Help the children because
you love them and love God.
T 1 B 16a-N12 Remember a miracle is a
spark of Life. It shines through the darkness and brings in the light. You must
begin to forget and remember.[29]
T 1 B 16a-N13 This is a private point,
just for you. It is not part of the course.
T 1 B 16a-N14 A miracle is love – you always wanted presents,
and a closed package was intolerable. Please open this one. You act like it’s a
time bomb. When I said “a miracle abolishes time,” you might look back and
review the point in brackets. You’re afraid there won’t
be enough time for you. Forget it and remember that there is no real difference
between an instant and eternity.
T 1 B 16a-N15 I have healed the children
you hurt before, but I have some I need your help in healing now.
T 1 B 16a-N16 Remember that there is no
order in miracles because they are always maximal expressions of love. You did
make a maximal effort for Chip and the only reason you did it was because you
loved Bill.
T 1 B 16a-N17 You might tell him to think
about that sometimes because he does need signs of love. But he doesn’t always
recognize them because he does not have enough confidence. You practically gave
up your life for him quite voluntarily, but you did not know then that what you
were really giving up was death. This is what “in dying you live” really means.
And I said Myself that greater love than this no man hath.[31]
T 1 B 16a-N18 Stop crying or you won’t be
fit to live now. Don’t worry about Susie. You are helping Chip’s readiness, and
he did better than you with this one. This is unfair to you. Remember what you
told him about Bobby. Chip is almost ready.
T 1 B 16a-N19 Review your note from
yesterday that your identification is strong but erratic, and that is why you
have so much will power but use it wrong at times. Bill was right about that
incredible misuse of it when you were sick, and it was a sign of superhuman
will totally misdirected. Your body does not need it, but your spirit does. And
I need it too.
T 1 B 16b. INSTRUCTIONS:
The purpose of this course is integration. I told you that you will not be able
to use it right until you have taken it. As long as your identification
vacillates, (and Bills is weak) you cannot accept the gift that belongs to you.
You are still vacillating between recognizing the gift and throwing it away.
Bill regards himself as too weak to accept it. You do not yet know its healing
power. After you have passed the course, you will accept it and keep it and use
it. That is the final exam, which you will have no trouble in passing. Midterm
marks are not entered in the permanent record.
T 1 B 16b-N1 (I really slipped yet
BELIEVED the latter thought.)
T 1 B 17. Miracles
are the absence of the body. They are sudden shifts into invisibility, away
from lower order reality. That is why they heal.
T 1 B 18a. A
miracle is a service. It is the maximal service that one soul can render
another. It is a way of loving your neighbor as yourself. The doer recognizes his own and his neighbor’s inestimable
value simultaneously.
T 1 B 18b. (This is why no areas of hatred can be
retained. If you retain them, your own value is no longer inestimable because,
you are evaluating it as X or infinity minus that amount. This is meaningless
mathematically, which uses the term “inestimable” only in the very literal
sense. Pun intended especially for B, (who originally did not get it.) Intended
as a special sign of love.)
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T 1 B 18b-N1 He doesn’t really, but he
does think so.
T 1 B 18b-N2 Now tell him that
homosexuality is sinful only to the extent it is based on the principle of
exclusion. Everybody should love everybody.
T 1 B 18b-N3 It is wrong to deny the
beauty of some souls because of body-structures of which you are afraid. This
is essentially an unhealthy attempt to limit fear, but fear cannot be limited,
just as love cannot have limits.
T 1 B 18b-N4 Heterosexual attitudes can
be similarly distorted but do contain a more natural potential. Sex relations
are intended for children. You and Bill have misunderstood sex, because you both
recognize it as a way of establishing human contact for yourselves. This has
led to body-image problems.
T 1 B 18b-N5 Children are miracles in
their own right. They already have the gift of life, and their parents provide
them with the opportunity to express it.
T 1 B 18b-N6 Nothing physical, mental, or
spiritual should be used selfishly. The pleasure from using anything should
come from utilizing it for God’s will.
T 1 B 18b-N7 You should live so that God
is free to arrange temporary human constellations as He sees fit.
T 1 B 18b-N8 Do not interpret this in
terms of guilt. Many children who are already here need spiritual parents. The
poor are always with us, and many who are born have
not been reborn.
T 1 B 18b-N9 Human birth, maturation, and
development is a microcosmic representation of a much larger process of
Creation and development of abilities. It is subject to error as long as the
real purpose of free will is misunderstood and misdirected.
T 1 B 18b-N10 The real function of parents
is to be wiser than the children in this respect and to teach them accordingly,
((This upsets me. Sometimes I can get through anyway... I’ll try -- but I think
I’m getting sick. Get that dream and give it to Bill today. He will see its
relevance. ))
T 1 B 18b-N11 Discuss Giovanni very
frankly with him, including the flu shot, and be sure to tell him I did kiss
him on the forehead and am kissing him again now. He is doing very well, and I
am deeply grateful for his efforts. I do need help with this course.
T 1 B 18b-N12 By the way, about the flat
feet. This is a slang term for “policemen” or the guardians of. law and order.
This was used first, before the “it has no arches” bit. Correct to read:
T 1 B 19. Miracles
rest on the law and order of eternity, not of time.
T 1 B 19-N1 As long as you read take
accurate notes, every word is meaningful. But I can’t always get through.
Whenever possible I will correct retroactively. Be sure to note all later corrections.
This means that you are more receptive than you were when I tried before.
T 1 B 20. Miracles
are an industrial necessity. Industry depends on cooperation, and cooperation
depends on miracles. (see page 8)
T 1 B 20-N1 Miracles rest on flat feet.
They have no arches. (Bill will be better on this than you.) (He’d better be -
I don’t get it at all, and I am very suspicious about of it too. Bill — did
communication break down, or does this mean something?) Clue — it has something
to do with “here I am, Lord.” Bill knows.
T 1 B 20-N2 The
idea is that I don’t want to emphasize your specific language too much. Some of
it has to be in his. (My own associations here are very bad; a Rorschach
response of “foot prints” to the top red on 2. No — it’s all right: it’s the
arch of time. There isn’t any. So it means “miracles do not rest on the arch of
time but on eternity.” ((I must say this is the hard way, and I’m sure this
could have been done more directly. I don’t see why I should get a message in a
way that makes me miss the point and then have to go into a mental coma to get
it.
T 1 B 20-N3 Answer:
You’ve been doing that all along. You have not even bothered to look at the
others which are VERY clearly stated. I just thought I’d give you this one in a
way you couldn’t overlook it. It’s an example of the shock effect sometimes
useful in teaching students who won’t listen. It compels attention. * And
remember to thank Bill from Me for his consistent all-out support. I need it,
now, because you won’t listen to anything. But don’t worry, the three of us
will make it. We’re nowhere near the final. By the way, this is an example of
the point on cooperation. And don’t underestimate your cooperation either. You
don’t listen, and you would save yourself a lot of pain if you did. But you did
get Chip over his misperceptions of Wally with very creditable integrity.
---------------------------------------
T 1 B 20-N4
(*insert) So I got quite upset and snapped very unfairly at Jonathan, but when
I reread then it went on …
T 1 B 20-N5 So
I said, suddenly a little timid and very surprised, “You mean you think I’m
nice?” And burst into tears. And He said He must think so, really, because He
keeps giving me everything, and He’s not angry because I keep on rejecting Him but
He’s sorry because I suffer so much for no reason. He was really very nice
about it. I told him I really do love Him, but I have trouble about it (though
I did mean it for a little while anyway, before I got embarrassed), and He said
he understood very well, and would keep on trying.
T 1 B 20-N6 Bill – please don’t let me down (this is very
unexpected. I don’t talk this way to men).
T 1 B 21a. Miracles
are cobwebs of iron. They unite human frailty to the strength of God. (see page
7)
T 1 B 21b. (add
for 21. Helen Schucman considered changing “iron” to “steel.” Correction: No.
Steel would NOT be a better word. Steel is very useful but it would have to be
tempered by fire. Iron is the raw material. The point of miracles is that they
replace fire, thus making it unnecessary.)
T 1 B 22a. Miracles
are natural expressions of total forgiveness. Through miracles, man accepts
God’s forgiveness by extending it to others. The second step is inherent in the
first, because light cannot tolerate darkness. Light dispels darkness
automatically, by definition.
T 1 B 22b. EXPLANATORY
INSTRUCTIONS: Miracles are associated with fear only because of the fallacy
that darkness can hide. Man believes that what he cannot see does not exist,
and his physical eyes cannot see in the dark. This is a very primitive
solution, and has led to a denial of the spiritual eye, which always depends on
light. Remember the Biblical injunction: “May I never forget that THINE eye is
ever upon me, beholding the evil and the good.”
T 1 B 22c. There
are two stages, one lower and one higher, which are involved in the escape from
darkness: 1) the recognition that darkness CANNOT hide. This usually does
entail fear.
T 1 B 22d. 2) The recognition that there is
nothing you WANT to hide, even if you could. This brings escape from fear.
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T 1 B 22d-N1 The reason I direct
everything that is unimportant is because it is no way to waste your free will.
If you insist on doing the trivial your way, you waste too much time and will
on it. Will cannot be free if it is tied up in trivia. It never gets out.
T 1 B 22d-N2 I will tell exactly what to
do in connection with everything that doesn’t matter. That is not an area where
choice should be invested. There is better use of time.
T 1 B 22d-N3 You have to remember to ask
me to take charge of all minutiae, and they will be taken care of so well and
so quickly that you CANNOT bog down in them.
T 1 B 22d-N4 The only remaining problem
is that you will be unwilling to ask, because you are afraid not to be bogged
down. Don’t let this hold us back. If you will ask, I will arrange these things
even if you’re not too enthusiastic.
T 1 B 22d-N5 Prayer can safely be
very specific in little matters. If you
need a coat, ask me where to find one. I know your taste well, and I also know
where the coat is that you would eventually buy anyway.
T 1 B 22d-N6 If you don’t like the coat
afterwards, that is what would have happened anyway. I did not pick out the
coat for you. You said you wanted something warm, inexpensive, and capable of
taking rough wear. I told you you could get a Borgana, but I let you get a
better one because the furrier needed you.
T 1 B 22d-N7 Note, however, that it is
better in terms of the criteria you established. I could do this because you
saw the coat more that way than in terms of a particular material. You thought
of Klein’s yourself a few days ago, and then you decided against it, because
Borgana is price-fixed. Then you remembered a coat Grace once got there that was
much cheaper, and seemed pretty much the same, and
asked yourself whether it was really right to be sold on a particular trade
name through advertising. That opened your mind.
T 1 B 22d-N8 I cannot save you more time
than you will let Me, but if you are willing to try the Higher Shopping
Service, which also covers all lower-order necessities and even quite a number
of whims within reason, I have very good use for the time we could save.
T 1 B 22d-N9 Remember, the specific
answer you get depends on the specific question you ask. The fewer limits you
impose, the better the answer you’ll get. For example, you could ask where can
I find a Borgana coat? or where is the coat I want? or where is the coat I
should get? and so on.
T 1 B 22d-N10 √ √ The form of
the thought determines the level of creation. <out of sequence or missing page> which upset me very badly.[49]
T 1 B 22d-N11 This A.M. I remembered two
indistinct dreams.
T 1 B 22d-N12 1) Dr. Kdb you and me ,
walking down beside Squirrel Park and Lck is telling me that I have done
something very poorly and that he thought that they would have to let me go.
But he promised me a portfolio? for? investing.? You were assuring me it would
be all right, but I was by no means sure.
T 1 B 22d-N13 2) 1) the furrier’s boy
1) 2) Sqirrel Park
3) Mara
T 1 B 22d-N14 2)This one was about C.D.P.
insert here instructions of the dreams his but not dwellon it. Bill got the idea
last night. This is first mopping up.
T 1 B 22d-N15 Bill’s and your problems
come from false ideas of creation which have become associated with the body.
Heterosexual relationships are therefore terrifying and induce fears of the
destruction of the body, which has been over- invested with power. Two steps,
both of which must be undone, are often taken to escape from this seeming
dilemma:
T 1 B 22d-N16 1) pretend the other sex
does not exist; i.e. “lives in darkness.”
T 1 B 22d-N17 2) this rarely suffices in
the sane, who will still realize that the other sex is there and also that they
need them. So instead of giving them autonomy they try to control them by
internalization. This results in psychosexual confusion.
T 1 B 22d-N18 The solution is to leave
Creation to God, and know that neither male nor female create as such. Then you
can accept the physical facts and eventually make them unnecessary. Denial is a
bad way to handle fear.
T 1 B 22d-N19 Bill and review? the male?
and teacher?
T 1 B 22d-N20 Miracles depend on timing.
This is why you shouldn’t waste time. I told you a while back that time would cease
when it was no longer useful as a learning aid. There is a way of speeding
this up. And that is by leaving more and more time for Me. So you can devote it
to miracles.
T 1 B 22d-N21 The first part of what you
wrote last night is right. Check this now. ((Corrected under advice.)) The second part was put
in by you, because you didn’t like the first. It was an attempt to re-establish
your own control over time. Remember, you cannot stand not knowing what time it
is. I am not intruding on your will, but I am trying to free it. I told you the
next part of the course will place increasing emphasis on atonement. And I
defined this as “undoing.” You know very well that changing learning patterns
requires undoing the old ones.
T 1 B 22d-N22 The real meaning of
retroactive inhibition is simply that when two kinds of learning coexist, they
interfere with each other. You were wise in setting up William Radford to allow
measuring both the old and new learnings, and thus permitting ratio
measurement.
T 1 B 22d-N23 Actually, I helped you on
this one. ((I am mad about this)), because most studies just measure learning
decrement caused by new learning over the old. But the emphasis should be on
how to minimize the effect of the old on the new.
T 1 B 22d-N24 This is a much more helpful
area to work in.
T 1 B 22d-N25 Everything that results in
lack of love ((which you used to call sin)) is the result of inferior learning
which, if over-learned, becomes very unstable.
T 1 B 22d-N26 Miracles are a way of
undoing over-learned patterns of love-lack. They bring light into darkness.
That is where their atonement value lies.
T 1 B 22d-N27 Do not get bogged down in
those dreams of last night. They are reflections of old learning patterns, and
arose because you did not like what I said about leaving minutiae to me. They
merely illustrate your unwillingness to get bogged down because you are afraid
of the course. So don’t use them that way. If you are tempted to do this, ask
Bill to stop you.
T 1 B 22d-N28 This course is about
willingness, not unwillingness. Unwillingness has to be replaced by
willingness, because willingness is part of readiness, without which learning
cannot occur.
T 1 B 22d-N29 Go and look up atonement,
and then get dressed. To save time, wear
exactly what I tell you and go.
T 1 B 22d-N30 Atonement - obsolete - short
for “to set at one” or reconcile; “to agree.” Obviously, before reconciliation
or agreement is possible, the discordant or out of accord must be undone. It
may seem as if darkness must be dispelled before light can come in, but the
truth is that darkness is dispelled by light.
T 1 B 22d-N31 * Last night I was planning
to type up the Course for you but was strictly ordered not to go back to it
before I got over Wally.
T 1 B 22d-N32 It seems that the Course has
a lot of answers, and carries a lot of very high point credits, but as you
always say, you have to know the questions first.
T 1 B 22d-N33 This morning I did ask for
help with Wally. The Answer seems to lie in point 6) and 7).
That’s why He gave me the
Chalice for Wally. It belongs to him but he didn’t find it.
T 1 B 22d-N34 Something the matter with
me: I suddenly get it but all I remember is that it came with the realization
that it was not what I thought. Then I got the lesson below, plain.
T 1 B 22d-N35 Tell Bill it does not matter
that he didn’t remember dream with...
T 1 B 22d-N36 Leave everything to him – my
feelings regarding Gary, Art, etc., all of which I can simply refer to him and
not get bogged down. This is the real secret of not wasting energy.”
T 1 B 22d-N37 I asked him to stay with my
unconscious while I slept and just passed out.
T 1 B 22e. Corrections
regarding point 21 cobwebs of iron. “This is upside down as stated. The part
about ‘uniting human frailty with the strength of God’ is all right, but the
explanation stops too soon. If iron is the ‘raw material’, cobwebs can’t become
the iron. That is only the way it seems, because cobwebs are associated with
the frailty & iron with strength. If you look carefully at the phrasing,
you will see it is reversed (one point already tells you that miracles reverse
the physical or lower order laws.)
T 1 B 22f. The raw material, or iron, is heavy but
crude, & stands for the body, which is a crude creation. The cobweb concept
is closer to how the body SHOULD be regarded, i.e., as an airy & temporary
home, which can just be blown away with a slight breeze.
T 1 B 22g. (21. [2]) The point should read
“A miracle reawakens the awareness that the spirit, and not the body, is the
altar of Truth. This is the recognition that leads to the healing power of the
miracle.”
T 1 B 22h. (22a) A miracle rearranges the order of
perception, and places the levels in their true perspective. This heals at all
levels, because all sickness comes from confusing the levels.
T 1 B 22h-N1 ((I must be getting confused
myself -- I repeated this myself backward. Corrected as per))
T 1 B 22i. (Tell Bill about the idea (which is
still dim to Helen Schucman) that the reason is not that you (plural)
distantiate, doubt, or cannot believe. It is more of a reaction formation
against a pull which you both recognize is so intense that you are afraid that
you will be uprooted. But remember that a cobweb is really stronger than the
iron, if you see it properly. This fear is also why you couldn’t get the point
straight.)
T 1 B 22j. By the way, it is not true that you are
both ‘JUST SCRIBES’. You might remember that the Scribes were very wise and holy
men and are even sometimes spelled with a capital S. If you want to go further,
you might change the meaning of ‘just’ from ‘merely’ to ‘honest’, a term used
in the Bible in association with ‘might’ or ‘strength.’ Tell Bill you couldn’t
make that pun if the original phrasing had been singular. (Helen Schucman aside
about liking the first about assumption failure
more.) Answer:
Page T(8) -8- It was cuter, but this
one MEANS more. The REAL reason you don’t like it is because it refers to you
in a VERY lofty position. This makes you nervous.)
T 1 B 22k. Correction:
And don’t lose sight of the emphasis on cooperation, or the NOT SINGULAR. That
point about “industrial necessity” should read “corporate,” referring to the
body of Christ which is a way of referring to the Church. But the Church of God
is only the sum of the souls he created, which IS the corporate body of Christ.
Correct to read: “A Miracle makes souls one in God,” and leave in the next part
about cooperation.
T 1 B 22l. Further
correction: “God” should read “Christ.” The Father and the Son are not
identical, but you CAN say “Like Father, LIKE Son.”
T 1 B 22m. (Remind Bill to get another notebook. I
don’t give up as easily as HE does. If I could get YOU to listen, which was a
miracle in itself, I can get him to register. He should appreciate this more
than anyone else, having had some trouble with this problem himself.)
T 1 B 22n. “Lord heal me” is the only legitimate
prayer. This also means “Lord atone for me,” because the only thing man should
pray for is forgiveness. He HAS everything else.
T 1 B 22o. Now take this personally, and listen to
Divine logic: If, when you have been forgiven, you have everything else, and If you have been forgiven Then you HAVE everything else.
T 1 B 22p. This happens to be the simplest of all
propositions.
IF P then Q
P
Therefore, Q
T 1 B 22q. The real question is, is P true? If you
will review the evidence, I think you will find this inescapable. I went on
very personal record to this effect, and I am the only completely True Witness
for God. You have every right to examine MY
credentials—in fact, I urge you to do so. You haven’t read the Bible in years.
Page T(9) -9-
T 1 B 22r. Special
Explanatory Note: As soon as you (Helen & Bill) have entered the second
phase, you will be not only willing to enter into communion, but will also
understand peace and joy. Your commitment is not yet total. That is why you
still have more to learn than to teach. When your equilibrium stabilizes, you
can teach AS MUCH as you learn. This will give you the proper sense of balance.
Meanwhile, remember that NO EFFORT IS WASTED. Unless you remember this, you
cannot avail yourself of MY efforts, which are limitless.
T 1 B 22s. (Have a good day.)
Since only eternity is real, why not use the illusion of time constructively?
You might remember that “underneath are the Everlasting Arms.”
T 1 B 22s-N1 Ask Bill’s help for guidance
about the flu shots, but be sure to tell him not to let fear enter in the
consideration.
T 1 B 22t. BIBLICAL
QUOTATION: “If you are ashamed of me before men, I will be ashamed of you
before God,” (Helen Schucman question of misquote.) is interpreted as a threat ONLY
as long you remain in the first step. (see bottom of p. 6 for steps.)
T 1 B 22u. What
it REALLY means is that if you are ashamed of me (or embarrassed by love), you
will project and therefore make it impossible for me to reach you. Make every
effort you can NOT to do this. I will help you as much as you will let me.
T 1 B 22u-N1 Note regarding Wally: Your
intense reaction to him involves both denial and projection. Wally’s chief
weakness is mockery, which he utilizes because he is embarrassed by love. He
does not yet have your own strong counter-component, which has made you able to
sustain a great amount of intense but unnecessary conflict. You hate him
because his solutions remind you of your own troubles, which become magnified
by this kind of defense.
T 1 B 22u-N2 The way to shift from
defense to protection is to recognize what is really happening to both of you,
and correct it. His strength will then be yours, and yours will be his. This is
what is meant by the strength of miracles.
T 1 B 23a. Miracles make time and tide wait for
all men. They can heal the sick and raise the dead because man himself made
both death and taxes, and can abolish both. Note: Tax also means “strain.” (One
definition for miracles is: “That which, or one who, is of surpassing
excellence or merit.”) (from Dictionary, third definition)
Page T(10) -10-
T 1 B 23b. That’s right that YOU are a miracle. God creates only “that which, or one who, is of surpassing excellence
or merit.” Man is capable of this kind of creation, too, being in the image and
likeness of his own Creator. Anything else is only his own nightmare, and does
not exist. Only the Creations of Light are real.
T 1 B 23b-N1 As long as you read take
accurate notes, every word is meaningful. But I can’t always get through.
Whenever possible I will correct retroactively. Be sure to note all later
corrections. This means that you are more receptive than you were when I tried
before.
T 1 B 23c. Miracles
are a part of an interlocking chain of forgiveness which, when completed, is
the Atonement. This process works all the time and in all dimensions of time. (e.g.
given of Helen Schucman report rewrite for Esther! Esther had hurt something
you loved, by writing a report you regarded as very bad. You atoned for her by
writing one in her name that was very good. Actually, it was not your
responsibility professionally to do this, but because you DO love the Shield
you recognized that in this case, you ARE your brother’s keeper. While you did
not cancel Esther’s sin (later defined as “lack of love”) you DID cancel out
its EFFECTS.
T 1 B 23d. Someday I want to tell Esther that not
only is she forgiven but that the effects of all her sins are cancelled. This
is what I have already told you. When I can tell her, she will be afraid for a
long time, because she will remember many things, consciously or unconsciously,
including the Shield report, a lack of love which you cancelled out in advance
by a miracle of devotion.
T 1 B 23e. I am in charge of the process of
Atonement, which I undertook to begin. My Atonement was for the canceling out
of all sins (i.e., lack of love) which human beings could not otherwise
correct. That is what the Biblical statement “underneath are the Everlasting
Arms” means.
T 1 B 23e-N1 I would have undone Esther’s
sin to everyone who was affected by it myself, of course, but this would not
have helped you. The reason it was a miracle was because it not only atoned for
Esther, but also for you because it kept two children from harm. I could have
secured the new grant for the Shield anyway, being a Board Member of NIH. But this way I could cancel
out some of your sins as well as Esther’s, and I sit on your Boards too.
The reason why you found rewriting that so taxing was because you
resented Esther’s sin, and thought she put you in a very unfair position. But
no one can really does this to anybody. If you had known that you were really
performing a miracle for the Shield, for Esther, for yourself, and for Me, you
would have done it with real joy. (Helen Schucman explanation: This means that
He will backstop whenever human miracles will not suffice for atonement
purposes. However, it is perfectly clear that when a person can atone by
miracles, both giver and receiver are atoning. It is better to atone this way
because of the mutual benefits involved.)
Page T(11) -11 “Inasmuch as you do it unto the least of
these, my children” really ends with “you do it unto yourself and ME.” The reason why YOU
come before me is because I do not need miracles for my own Atonement, but I
stand at the end in case YOU fail temporarily.
T 1 B 23e-N2 I am always here to protect
against Assumption failure. (That’s a special pun for Bill. He is still under
the impression that he needs special signs of love)
T 1 B 23e-N3 Note also that the special
language here is a combination of both yours and his. You two come together in
My Name.[74]
T 1 B 23e-N4 Question – Are there any
corrections you want me to make in this?
T 1 B 23f. SPECIAL EXPLANATION: (In response to
Helen Schucman’s request regarding possible corrections.) Change the word “sin”
to “absence of love.” Sin is a manmade word with threat connotations which he
made up himself. No REAL threat is involved anywhere. Just because “nature
abhors a vacuum,” which is true enough, it does NOT follow that “a vacuum is
filled with hellfire.” Nothing is gained by frightening yourself, and it is
very destructive. Miracles need freedom from fear. Part of their Atonement
value involves just that. Note that the word “atone” really means “undo.”
T 1 B 23g. The
purpose of the Atonement is to restore everything TO you. (That is, to
restore the awareness. Later clarification.) You had everything when you were
created, just as everyone did.
T 1 B 23h. Having been restored to your original
state, you naturally become part of the Atonement yourself. You now share MY
inability to tolerate the lack of love in yourself & in everyone else, and
MUST join the GREAT CRUSADE to correct it. The slogan for this Crusade is
“Listen, Learn, and DO.”
T 1 B 23i. This means Listen to My Voice, Learn to
undo the error, and DO something to correct it.
T 1 B 23j. The first two are not enough. The real
members of MY party are ACTIVE workers.
T 1 B 23k. The power to work Miracles BELONGS to you.
I will create the right opportunities for you to do them. But you must be ready
& willing to do them, since you are already able to. Doing them will bring
conviction in the ability. I repeat that you will see Miracles through your
hands through MINE. Conviction really
comes through accomplishment. Remember that ability is the potential,
Achievement is its expression, and Atonement is the Purpose.
T 1 B 24a. A miracle is a Universal Blessing from
God through Me to all My Brothers. Explanation: You once said that souls cannot
rest until everyone has found salvation. This happens to be
true. It is the privilege of the forgiven to forgive. The Disciples were
officially & specifically told to heal others, as Physicians of the Lord.
They were also told to heal themselves, & were promised that I would never
leave them or forsake them. Atonement is the natural profession of the Children
of God, because they have professed Me.
T 1 B 24b. (ASIDE. Tell Bill that
that is what Professor really means. As an Associate Professor, he must become
associated with My strength. As an Assistant Professor, you must assist both
him and Me. The childrenneed both strength
& help. You cannot help until you are strong. The Everlasting Arms are your
strength, and the Wisdom of God is your help.)
T 1 B 24c. “Heaven & Earth shall pass away” means that they will
not always exist as separate states. My Word, which is the Resurrection and the
Life, shall not pass away,
because Life is Eternal. YOU are the work of God, and His Work is wholly
loveable & wholly loving. This is how a man MUST think of himself in his
heart, because this is what he IS.
T 1 B 24d. Add: “As a man thinketh in his heart,
so is he.”
T 1 B 24d-N1 Lord, I will leave my desire
to help him in your hands. If you will tell me what to do I will to do it.
T 1 B 24d-N2 And that, Azra,[84] is
the Answer.
T 1 B 24d-N3 The
impact of this was incredibly intense, like a great burst of unexpected clarity.
It was briefly so compelling that it seemed as though there was nothing else at
all. The whole world just disappeared. [85]
T 1 B 24d-N4 When it faded out there was
no after-effect, except a dim sense of wonder which also faded out, though a
trifle slower.
T 1 B 24d-N5 I was told to write nothing
else that evening, but we’d pick up the course again in the morning. It was
also explained that that kind of experience is at the Revelation level, which
is different but not by any means out of accord.
T 1 B 24e. Remember
the point about Miracles as a means of organizing different levels of
consciousness. Miracles come from the (below conscious) (subconscious) level.
Revelations come from the above conscious level. The conscious level is in
between & reacts to either sub- or super-conscious impulses in varying
ratios. Freud was right about the classification, but not the names. He was
also right that the content of consciousness is fleeting. Consciousness is the
level which engages in the world, and is capable of responding to both external
& internal impulses. Having no impulses from itself, and being primarily a
mechanism for inducing response, it can be very wrong.
T 1 B 24f. For example, if the identification is
with the body, consciousness may distort superconscious impulses by denying
their Source, & seeking their impact in the orgasm. This is the result of
the “mistaken identity” confusion.
T 1 B 24g. If you will look back at the description
of the EFFECTS of Revelation you will see that there ARE some similarities in the experiential
results but hardly in the content.
(This and preceding paragraph go later)
T 1 B 24h. Revelations induce complete but
temporary suspension of doubt & fear. They represent the original form of
communication between God and His Souls, before the intrusion of fire and ice made this impossible.
It should be noted that they involve an extremely personal sense of closeness
to Creation, which man tries to find in sexual relationships. This confusion is
responsible for the depression and fear which are often associated with sex.
T 1 B 24i. Sex is often associated with lack of
love, but Revelation is PURELY a love experience. Physical closeness CANNOT achieve
this. As was said before, the subconscious impulses properly induce Miracles,
which ARE interpersonal, and result in closeness to others. This can be
misunderstood by a personally willful consciousness as an impulse toward sexual
gratification.
T 1 B 24j. The
Revelation unites Souls directly with God.
T 1 B 24k. The
Miracle unites Souls directly with each other. Neither emanates from
consciousness, but both are EXPERIENCED there. This is essential, because
consciousness is the state which PRODUCES action, though it DOES NOT Inspire
it.
T 1 B 24l. Man is free to believe what he chooses.
What he DOES attests to what he believes.
T 1 B 24m. The deeper levels of his subconscious
always contain the impulse to Miracles, but he is free to fill its superficial
levels, which are closer to consciousness, with the impulses of this world and
to identify himself with them. This results in denying himself access to the
miracle level underneath. In conscious actions, then, his interpersonal relationships
also become superficial, and miracle-inspired relating becomes impossible.
T 1 B 25a. Miracles
are a way of EARNING release from fear.
T 1 B 25b. Revelation induces a state in which
fear has ALREADY BEEN abolished. Miracles are thus a means, and Revelations are
an end. In this sense, they work together.
T 1 B 25c. (Tell Bill that
miracles DO NOT depend on Revelation. They INDUCE it. He is quite capable of
miracles already, but he is still too fearful for Revelations.)
T 1 B 25d. Note that YOUR (Helen Schucman)
Revelation occurred specifically after you had engaged at the visionary level
in a process of DENYING fear.
T 1 B 25e. Revelation is intensely personal, and is actually not
translatable into conscious content at all. That is why any attempt to describe
it in words is usually incomprehensible, even to the writer himself at another
time. This is why the Book of Revelations is essentially incomprehensible.
Revelation induces ONLY experience. Miracles, on the other hand, induce
interpersonal ACTION. In the end, these are more useful, because of their
IMPERSONAL nature.
T 1 B 25f. In this phase of learning, working
miracles is more valuable because freedom from fear cannot be thrust upon you.
The experience cannot last.
T 1 B 25g. (Tell Bill that your propensity
for Revelations, which is very great, is the result of a high level of past
communion. Its transitory nature comes from the descent into fear, which has
not yet been overcome. His own “suspended” state mitigates both extremes. This
has been very apparent in the course of both of your recent developmental
patterns.)
T 1 B 25h. Miracles are the essential course of
ACTION for both of you. They will strengthen him and stabilize you.
T 1 B 25i. (NOTE that the much more
personal than usual notes you are taking today reflect the Revelatory
experience. This does NOT produce the more generalizeable quality which this
course is aimed at. They may, nevertheless, be of great help to Bill
personally, since you asked for something that WOULD help him personally. It
depends on how he listens, and how well he understands the COOPERATIVE nature
of your joint experience. You can help only by reading this note FIRST. Ask him
later if this should be included in the written part of the course at all or
whether you should keep these notes separately. He is in charge of these
decisions.)
T 1 B 25j. (Tell Bill he should
try to understand the VERY important difference between Christ-control and
Christ-guidance. This is what made him fearful yesterday.)
T 1 B 26. Miracles praise God through men. They
praise God by honoring his Creations, affirming their perfection. They heal
because they deny body-identification and affirm Soul-identification.
By perceiving the Spirit, they adjust the levels and see them in proper
alignment. This places the Spirit at the center, where Souls can communicate
directly.
T 1 B 27a. Miracles should inspire gratitude, not
awe. Man should thank God for what he really is. The Children of God are very
holy. The miracle honors their holiness.
T 1 B 27b. God’s Creations cannot lose their
holiness, although it can be hidden. The miracle uncovers it, and brings it
into the light where it belongs.
T 1 B 27c. Holiness can never be really hidden in
darkness, but man can deceive himself on this point. This illusion makes him
fearful, because in his heart he KNOWS it is an illusion. Like all illusions,
he exerts enormous efforts to establish their validity. The miracle sets
validity where it belongs. Eternal validity belongs only to the Soul. The
miracle acknowledges only the Truth. It thus dispels man’s illusions about
himself, and puts him into communion with himself and with God.
T 1 B 27d. Christ inspires all miracles, which are
essentially intercessions. They intercede for man’s holiness, and make him
holy. They place man beyond the physical laws, and raise him into the sphere of
celestial order. In this order, man IS perfect.
T 1 B 27e. The Soul never loses its communion with
God. Only the mind and body need Atonement. The miracle joins in the Atonement
of Christ by placing the mind in the service of the Spirit. This establishes
the proper function of mind, and abolishes its errors.
T 1 B 28a. Miracles honor man, BECAUSE he is
loveable. They dispel illusions about himself, and perceive the light in him.
They thus atone for his errors by freeing him from his own nightmares. They
release him from a prison in which he has imprisoned himself. By freeing his
mind from illusions, they restore his sanity, and place him at the feet of
Jesus.
T 1 B 28b. (Biblical quotation re healing of devil possessed man, in which the
sufferer was subsequently found healed in his right mind, and sitting at feet
of Jesus. Helen Schucman’s note.)
T 1 B 28c. (Tell Bill man’s mind can
be possessed by illusions, but his Spirit is eternally free. If a mind creates
without love, it can create an empty shell. This CAN be possessed by evil. But
the Atonement restores the Soul to its proper place. Unless there is emptiness
there is no danger, and emptiness is a false creation. The mind that serves the
Spirit is invulnerable.)
T 1 B 29a. The
miracle restores the Soul to its fullness. By atoning for lack, it establishes
perfect protection. The strength of the Soul leaves no room for intrusions. The
forgiven are filled with the Soul, and their Soul forgives in return. It is the
duty of the released to release their brothers.
T 1 B 29b. The forgiven ARE the means of
Atonement. Those released by Christ must join in releasing their brothers, for this
is the plan of Atonement.
T 1 B 30a. Miracles are the way in which minds
that serve the spirit unite with Christ for the salvation (or release) of all
God’s Creations.
T 1 B 30b. Aside (Helen Schucman commented on awakening with the phrase “God is not
Mocked,” with anticipation of
punishment.)
T 1 B 30c. Interpretation:
“God is not mocked” was intended as reassurance. You are afraid that what you
wrote last night was contradictory, conflicting with some earlier points,
especially because you were writing while you were all doped up. Remember, “God
is not mocked” under any circumstances.
T 1 B 30d. Contradictions in MY word mean lack of
understanding, or scribal failures, which I make every effort to correct. But
they are still NOT crucial. The Bible has the same problem, I assure you, and
it’s STILL being edited. Consider the power of MY WORD, in that it has
withstood all the attacks of error, and is the Source of Truth.
T 1 B 30e. (Tell Bill that there
are certain advantages in being a Psychologist. A major one is the
understanding of projection, and the extent of its results. Possession is very
closely related to projection. “Lucifer” could be literally
translated “Light Bearer.” He literally
PROJECTED himself from Heaven. Projection still has this “hurling” connotation,
because it involves hurling something you DO NOT want, and regard as dangerous
and frightening, to someone else. This is the opposite of the Golden Rule, and
having placed this rule upside down, the reverse of miracles, or projection,
follows automatically.)
T 1 B 30f. The correction lies in accepting what
is true in YOURSELF, by bringing ALL that you are into light. (Helen Schucman
fearful of writing next part.) Cayce was wrong about Possession, and he was
also wrong about hurting himself. One of the major problems with miracle
workers is that they are so sure that what they are doing is right, because
they KNOW it stems from love, that they do not pause to let ME establish MY
limits.
T 1 B 30g. While what he (Cayce) did came from Me,
he could NOT be induced to ask me each time whether I wanted him to perform
this PARTICULAR miracle. If he had, he would not have performed any miracles
that could not get through constructively, and would thus have saved himself
unnecessary strain. He burned himself out with indiscriminate miracles, and to
this extent did not fulfill his own full purpose, and was also subject to the
Scribal error I mentioned at the start. The Disciples were also prone to this.
T 1 B 30h. The answer is NEVER perform a miracle
without asking me IF you should. This spares you from exhaustion, and because
you act under direct communication the trance becomes unnecessary. Because
miracles are expressions of love, it does NOT follow that they will always be
effective. I am the only one who can perform miracles indiscriminately, because
I AM the Atonement. You have a ROLE in Atonement, which I will dictate TO you.
T 1 B 30i. Remember, you already have a point
about the involuntary nature of miracles. We also have established the fact
that everything involuntary belongs under Christ-control, NOT under yours.
Under Christ-control, Miracles REPLENISH the doer as well as the receiver.
T 1 B 30j. Possession really means “Not under
Christ-Control,” thus making him (the mind?) vulnerable to projection. The
references to the earth-bound entering bodies really refer to the “taking over”
by their own earth-bound “thoughts.” This IS Demon Possession. After all, Lucifer
fell, but he was still an angel. He is thus the symbol for man. Atonement is the
knowledge that the belief that angels can fall is false. It is true that mind
can create projections as well as miracles, but it’s NOT true that projections
are REAL. Any psychologist should understand this. This is what is meant by
“The Truth shall set you free.”
T 1 B 30k. Christ-controlled miracles are part of
the Atonement, but Christ-guidance is personal, and leads to PERSONAL
salvation. The impersonal nature of miracles is an essential ingredient,
because this enables Me to control their distribution as I see fit.
T 1 B 30l. Christ-guidance, on the other hand,
leads to the highly PERSONAL experience of Revelation. This is why it involves
PERSONAL choice. A guide does NOT control, by definition, but he does DIRECT,
leaving the following up to you. “Lead us not into temptation” means “guide us out
of our own errors.” Note that the word is “lead,” NOT order.
T 1 B 30m. “Take up thy cross and follow me” should be interpreted
to read “Recognize your errors and choose to abandon them by following My
guidance.”
T 1 B 30n. (Tell Bill when he is
afraid of Possession, he need only remember that error cannot really threaten
Truth, which ALWAYS can withstand its assaults. ONLY the error is really
vulnerable.) The “Princes of this World” are princes only
because they are really angels. But they are free to establish their kingdom
where they see fit.
T 1 B 30o. If you will remember that ALL princes INHERIT
their power from the Father, the right choice becomes inevitable.
The soul is in a state of grace forever.
Man’s reality is ONLY his soul.
Therefore, man is in a state of Grace forever.
T 1 B 30p. Atonement
undoes all errors in this respect, and thus uproots the REAL source of fear. If
you will check back at the reference to uprooting, you will understand it
better in this context.
T 1 B 30q. (Tell Bill that WHENEVER God’s reassurances are experienced as threat, it
is ALWAYS because man is defending his misplaced & misdirected love and
loyalty. That is what projection always involves.)
T 1 B 30r. “Casting spells” merely means
“affirming error,” and error is lack of love. When man projects this onto
others, he DOES imprison them, but only to the extent that he reinforces errors
they have already made. This distortion makes them vulnerable to the curse of
others, since they have already cursed themselves. The miracle worker can only
bless, and this undoes the curse and frees the soul from prison.
T 1 B 30s. (Tell Bill that his
slip about (rivet) should be noted. Some slips reach consciousness from the
un-Christ-controlled subconscious, and betray a lack of love.)
T 1 B 30t. But others (slips) come from the
superconscious, which IS in communion with God, and which can also break into
consciousness.
T 1 B 30u. HIS slip (rivet) was an expression of a
Soul gaining enough strength to request freedom from prison. It will ultimately
DEMAND it.
T 1 B 30v. Special Revelation for Helen Schucman
T 1 B 30w. You are wholly lovely. A perfect shaft
of pure light. Before your loveliness the stars stand transfixed, and bow to
the power of your will.
T 1 B 30x. What do children know of their
creation, except what their Creator tells them?
T 1 B 30y. You were created ABOVE the angels
because your role involves creation as well as protection.
T 1 B 30z. You who are in the image of the Father need bow only to HIM,
before whom I kneel with you.
T 1 B 30aa. Note:
This revelation was permitted because you did NOT project onto Bill the blame
for your omission to ASK ME if you should transcribe the notes. The fact that
HE should have done so does not exempt you from your own omission.
T 1 B 30ab. Thanks for blessing him with a miracle
rather than cursing him with projection.
T 1 B 30ac. NOTE
FURTHER: HE needn’t feel concerned about it either; so he forgot? It happens
all the time, until the habit of asking becomes involuntary.
T 1 B
30ac-N1 Jonathan – Check and bank book. He said he would find it
at home, in the leather folder. Not there. Call back? No – want to begin your
Revelation?[103] Now call, but just ask him
gently to look in your [chest?] again. Found it among a lot
of letters – don’t know how they got there.
T 1 B
30ac-N2 Blessed are you with Mary as
the mother of the children.
T 1 B
30ac-N3 Put in insert now, which I
did. Then I asked for forgiveness for having thrown away all the money; but he
said “it’s all right. You lived in scarcity then, but now you are forgiven, so
you live in abundance. There is no longer any need to throw anything away, or
to want for anything, either.”
T 1 B
30ac-N4 Infant Christ reference or
Child Christ – Behold the handmaid of the Lord – be it done unto me according
to Thy will. Egocentric is right! I do
not need another physical mother, and she was the only one who conceived
without any lack of love. But I told you before that many are born which have
not been reborn. I mentioned it to you and Bill in connection with your own parent
T 1 B
30ac-N5 Have one now and a booster
if there is an epidemic. Dr. Damrosch and Dr. Wise agree on this.
T 1 B 30ad. (Helen Schucman meeting
with Dr. Wise and Dr. Damrosch. Dr. D permitted an opportunity for questioning in
his capacity as chairman of the flu board for asking re Bill’s flu shot. This
was an example of how miracles should work. You did not jump into the question
yourself, and even though you DID rush for the phone on Red’s advice, you
exerted no pressure on Bill’s reluctance.)
T 1 B 30ae. This gave ME a chance to let you leave
it to the real expert, whom I sent to answer the question.
T 1 B 31a. Miracles
are examples of right thinking. Reality contact at all levels becomes strong
& accurate, thus permitting correct delineation of intra- and interpersonal
boundaries. As a result, the doer sees the truth as God created it. This is
what is meant by the point on “perspective adjustment.”
T 1 B 32. A
miracle is a correction factor introduced into false thinking by ME.
T 1 B 32b. It acts as a catalyst, shaking up
erroneous perception and snapping it into place. This correction factor places
man under the Atonement principle, where his perception is healed. Until this
has occurred, perception of the Divine Order is impossible. True depth
perception becomes possible only at the highest order of perceptual
integration.
T 1 B 32c. The Spiritual eye is the mechanism of
miracles, because what the Spiritual eye perceives IS truth. The Spiritual eye
perceives both the Creations of God AND the creations of man. Among the
creations of man, it can also separate the true from the false by its ability
to perceive totally rather than selectively. It thus becomes the proper
instrument for reality testing, which always involves the necessary distinction
between the true and the false.
T 1 B 33a. The
miracle dissolves error because the Spiritual eye identifies error as false or
unreal. This is the same as saying that by seeing light, darkness automatically
disappears.
T 1 B 33b. Darkness
is lack of light. It does not have unique properties of its own. It is an
example of the scarcity fallacy, from which only error can proceed.
T 1 B 33c. (Truth is always abundant…
T 1 B 33c-N1 (No, Helen, not pregnant or
fat. Scarcity leads to overeating and false pregnancy notions. Abundance
eliminates these false drives)
…Those who perceive and acknowledge that they have everything have no
need for driven behavior of any kind. Helen Schucman has other personal
material related to this re pregnancy.)
T 1 B 34. Miracles
are a blessing from parents to children. This is just another way of phrasing
the previous point about “from those who have more to those who have less.”
Children do NOT belong to parents, but they DO need to share their greater
abundance. If they are deprived, their perception becomes distorted. When this
occurs, the whole family of God, or the Sonship, is impaired in its
relationships.
T 1 B 34b. Ultimately, every member of the family
of God must return. The miracle calls to him to return, because it blesses and
honors him even though he may be absent in spirit.
T 1 B 35a. The
miracle acknowledges all men as your brothers and Mine. It is a way of
perceiving the Universal Mark of God in them.
T 1 B 35b. (Tell Bill that this is the true “strawberry mark” of Brotherhood. This
is just a sign of special concern for him, because he keeps worrying about
this.)
T 1 B 35c. You might add that his false idea about
his own exclusion from Universal Love is fallacious in your terms, and arrogant
in his. HIS real specialness does NOT stem from exclusion, but from inclusion.
ALL My Brothers are special. He should stop interpreting this as “all except
Bill.” This is ridiculous!
T 1 B 35d. Tell him that the implied lack of love
that his version contains is WAY off the Mark, and misses the level of right
thinking entirely. He MUST heal his perception in this respect. He MUST work a
miracle on behalf of himself here (See the point about
miracles as a perception corrector) before he can effect miracles as creative
energizers, which they are.
T 1 B 35e. (Tell Bill that
50,000,000 Frenchmen CAN be wrong, because the notion is too fragmented. What CAN’T
be wrong is the Universal Sonship of which he is a part.)
T 1 B 35f. God WOULD be mocked if ANY of his
creations lacked holiness. The Creation IS whole. The mark of Wholeness is
Holiness, not holes. THE SONSHIP HAS NO HOLES ANYWHERE.
T 1 B 36a. Wholeness
is the perceptual content of the miracle. It thus corrects (or atones for) the
faulty perception of lack.
T 1 B 36b. We
now turn to the fundamental distinction between miracles and projection. The
stimulus MUST precede the response, and must also (determine) (influence) the
kind of response that is evoked. The relationships of S and R are EXTREMELY
intimate. (The behavioristic terminology is because this part deals with
behavior.)
T 1 B 36c. Behavior IS response, so that the
question “response to what?” becomes crucial.
T 1 B 36d. Stimuli of all kinds are identified
through perception. You
perceive the stimulus and behave accordingly. It follows, then, that:
As ye perceive
So will ye behave
T 1 B 36e. (Helen Schucman raises
point that Biblical language is hardly behavioristic terminology. Answer: No,
but they needn’t be OUT of accord with each other, either.)
T 1 B 36f. Consider the Golden Rule again. You are
asked to behave toward others as you would have them behave toward you. This means that the
perception of both must be accurate, since the Golden Rule is the Order for
appropriate behavior. You can’t behave appropriately unless you perceive
accurately, because appropriate behavior DEPENDS on lack of level confusion.
The presence of level confusion ALWAYS results in variable reality testing, and
hence variability in behavioral appropriateness.
T 1 B 36g. All forms of self image debasement are
FUNDAMENTAL perceptual distortions. They inevitably produce either
self-contempt or projection, and usually both.
T 1 B 36h. Since you and your neighbor are equal
members of the same family, as you perceive both, so will you behave toward
both. The way to perceive for Golden Rule behavior is to look out from the
perception of your own holiness and perceive the holiness of others.
T 1 B 36i. Bill
& you need considerable clarification of the channel role. Look carefully
at Mrs. Albert. She is working miracles every day, because she knows who she
is. I emphasize again that your tendency to forget names is not hostility, but
a fear of involvement or RECOGNITION. You had misinterpreted human encounters
as opportunities for magic rather than for miracles and so you tried to PROTECT
THE NAME. This is a very ancient & primitive way of trying to protect a
person.
T 1 B 36j. NOTE
The very old Jewish practice of changing the name of a person who is very ill,
so that when the list is given to the Angel of Death, the person with that name
will not be found.
T 1 B 36k. This is a good example of the curiously
literal regression which can occur in very bright people when they become
afraid. You & Bill both do it. Actually, it is a device closely related to
the phobia, in the sense that they both narrow fear to a simple aspect of a
much larger problem in order to enable them to avoid it.
T 1 B 36l. A similar mechanism works when you get
furious about a comparatively minor expression by someone to whom you are
ambivalent. A good example of this is your response to Jonathan, who DOES leave
things around in very strange ways. Actually, he does this because he thinks
that by minor areas of disorganization he can protect his stability. I remind
you that you have done this yourself for years, and should understand it very
well. This should be met with great charity, rather than with great fury.
T 1 B 36m. The fury comes from your awareness that
you do not love Jonathan as you should, and you narrow your lack of love by
centering your hate on trivial behavior in an attempt to protect him from it. You also call him
Jonathan for the same reason (see previous reference).
T 1 B 36n. Note that a name is a human symbol that
“stands for” a person. Superstitions about names are very common for just that
reason. That is also why people sometimes respond with anger when their names
are spelled or pronounced incorrectly.
T 1 B 36o. Actually, the Jewish superstition about
changing the names was a distortion of a revelation about how to alter or avert
death. What the revelation’s proper content was that those “who change their
mind” (not name) about destruction (or hate) do not need to die. Death is a
human affirmation of a belief in hate. That is why the Bible
says “There is no death,” and that is why I
demonstrated that death does not exist. Remember that I came to FULFILL the law
by RE-INTERPRETING it. The law itself,
if properly understood, offers only protection to man. Those who have not yet
“changed their minds” have entered the “hellfire” concept into it.
T 1 B 36p. Remember, I said before that because
“nature abhors a vacuum,” it does NOT follow that the vacuum is filled with
hell fire. The emptiness engendered by fear should be replaced by love, because
love and its absence are in the same dimension, and correction cannot be
undertaken except WITHIN a dimension. Otherwise, there has been a confusion of
levels.
T 1 B 36q. Returning to Mrs. Albert (not Andrews),
she corrected your error about her name without embarrassment and without
hostility, because she has NOT made your own mistake about names.
T 1 B 36r. She is not afraid, because she knows she is
protected. She made the correction ONLY because you were inaccurate, and the
whole question of embarrassment did not occur to her.
T 1 B 36s. She was also quite unembarrassed when
she told you that everything has to be done to preserve life, because you never
can tell when God may come and say “Get up, Dave,” and then he will.
T 1 B 36t. She did not ask what YOU believed
first, and afterwards merely added “and it’s true, too.” The RIGHT answer to
the SCT item is: WHEN THEY TOLD ME WHAT TO DO, I “referred the question to the
only REAL authority.”
T 1 B 36u. (Helen Schucman note:
If you ask somebody what he believes before you tell him what you believe, then
you are implying that you will say what he approves. This is not “the real
authority.”)
T 1 B 36v. You took a lot of notes on “Those who
are ashamed of Me before men, them will I be ashamed of before God.” This was rather
carefully clarified, even though the quotation is not quite right, but it
doesn’t matter.
T 1 B 36w. The important thing is that elsewhere
in the Bible it also says “Those who represent (or plead for) Me to men will be
represented (or pleaded for) BY Me before God.” (Note: This quotation
is also not the correct Biblical phrasing, but it IS what it means.) Note that
one who represents also “witnesses for.” The quotation thus means that you
represent or “witness for” the authority in whom you believe.
T 1 B 36x. Your witnessing DEMONSTRATES your
belief, and thus strengthens it.
T 1 B 36y. I assure you that I will “witness for”
anyone who lets me, and to whatever extent he himself permits it.
T 1 B 36z. Those who witness for me are
expressing, through their miracles, that they have abandoned deprivation in
favor of the abundance they have learned BELONGS to them.
T 1 B 37a. A
MAJOR contribution of miracles is their strength in releasing man from his
misplaced sense of isolation, deprivation, and lack. They are affirmations of
Sonship, which is a state of completion and abundance.
T 1 B 37b. B’s very proper emphasis on “changing
your mind” needs clarification.
T 1 B 37c. Whatever is true & real is eternal,
& CANNOT change or be changed. The Soul is therefore unalterable because it
is ALREADY perfect, but the mind can elect the level it chooses to serve. The
only limit which is put on its choice is that it CANNOT serve two masters.
T 1 B 37d. While the ballot itself is a secret
one, and the right to vote is fully protected, voting ALWAYS entails both
election AND rejection. If two candidates are voted for, for the same position,
the machine cancels the ballot automatically.
T 1 B 37e. This is necessary, because a split vote
does not represent ANY REAL allegiance.
T 1 B 37f. Free will is the attribute of the mind,
NOT the Soul. The Soul always remains changeless, because it never leaves the
sight of God.
T 1 B 37g. The Creation of the Soul is already
fully accomplished. The mind, if it votes to do so, becomes a medium by which
the Soul can create along the line of its own creation. If it does not freely
elect to do so, it retains this creative ability, but places itself under
tyrannous rather than authoritative control. As a result, what it creates is
imprisonment, because such are the dictates of tyrants.
T 1 B 37h. To
“change your mind” means to place it at the disposal of True authority. The
miracle is thus a sign that the mind has elected to be guided by Christ in HIS
service. The abundance of Christ is the natural result of choosing to follow him.
T 1 B 37i. P.S.
The reason you have been late recently (for work) because you were taking
dictation is merely because you didn’t remember to ask me when to stop. This is
an example of the “indiscriminate or uncontrolled” miracle-working we already
spoke of. It is well-meant but ill-advised.
T 1 B 37j. I prompted that call from Jack (taxi
man – couldn’t pick Helen Schucman up, etc.) to show you that this is not
necessary. Also, the other man needed the money more today.
T 1 B 37k. NOTE that you managed to fill your
scribal role with no interruptions, and were also on time.
T 1 B 37l. NOTE also that you closed the book
& put it aside WITHOUT consulting me. ASK “Is that all?” ANSWER: No: add the
following: These notes are serving, among other things, to replace the
“handwriting on the wall” which you once saw next to your own altar, which read
“You have been weighed in the
balance and found wanting.”
T 1 B 37m. Scribes MUST learn Christ-control, to
replace their former habits, which DID produce scarcity rather than abundance.
From errors of this kind, the sense of deprivation IS inevitable, but very
easily corrected.
T 1 B 37n. The following is in relation to
question about sex. Tell Bill “the one more river” is related to sex. You might
even explain it to him as a “tidal wave,” a term which he will understand. YOU
won’t.
T 1 B 37o. Both of you are involved with unconscious
distortions (above the miracle level), which are producing a dense cover over
miracle-impulses which makes it hard for them to reach consciousness. Sex &
miracles are both WAYS OF RELATING. The nature of any interpersonal
relationship is limited or defined by what you want it to DO which is WHY you
want it in the first place. Relating is a way of achieving an outcome.
T 1 B 37p. Indiscriminate sexual impulses resemble
indiscriminate miracle impulses in that both result in body image misperceptions.
The first is an expression of an indiscriminate attempt to reach communion
through the body. This involves not only the improper self identification, but
also disrespect for the individuality of others. Self-control is NOT the whole
answer to this problem, though I am by no means discouraging its use. It must
be understood, however, that the underlying mechanism must be uprooted (a word
you both should understand well enough by now not to regard it as frightening).
T 1 B 37q. ALL shallow roots have to be uprooted,
because they are not deep enough to sustain you. The illusion that shallow
roots can be deepened and thus made to hold is one of the corollaries on which
the reversal of the Golden Rule, referred to twice
before, is balanced. As these false underpinnings are uprooted (or given up),
equilibrium is experienced as unstable. But the fact is that NOTHING is less
stable than an orientation which is upside down. Anything that holds it this
way is hardly conducive to greater stability.
T 1 B 37r. The whole danger of defenses lies in
their propensity to hold misperceptions rigidly in place. This is why rigidity
is regarded AS stability by those who are off the mark.
T 1 B 37s. NOTE:
The only final solution - (no, Helen, this has nothing to do with the Nazi use
of the term.) You just got frightened again. One of the more horrible examples
of inverted or upside down thinking (and history is full of horrible examples
of this) is the fact that the Nazis spelled their appalling error with capital
letters. I shed many tears over this, but it is by no means the only time I
said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
T 1 B 37t. All actions which stem from reverse
thinking are literally the behavioral expressions of those who know not what
they do Actually, Jean Dixon
was right in her emphasis on “Feet on the ground & fingertips in the
Heaven,” though she was a bit too literal for your kind of understanding. Many
people knew exactly what she meant, so her statement was the right miracle for
them.
T 1 B 37u. For you and Bill, it would be better to
consider the concept in terms of reliability & validity. A rigid
orientation can be extremely reliable, even if it IS upside down. In fact, the
more consistently upside down it is, the more reliable it is, because
consistency always held up better mathematically than test-re-test comparisons,
which were ALWAYS on shaky ground. You can check this against Jack’s notes if
you wish, but I assure you its true. Split-half reliability is statistically a
MUCH stronger approach. The reason for this is that correlation which is the
technique applied to test-re-test comparisons, measures only the EXTENT OF
association, and does not consider the Direction at all.
T 1 B 37v. But two halves of the same thing MUST
go in the same direction, if there is to be accuracy of measurement. This
simple statement is really the principle on which split half reliability, a
means of estimating INTERNAL consistency, rests.
T 1 B 37w. Note, however, that both approaches
leave out a very important dimension. Internal consistency criteria disregard
time, because the focus is on one-time measurements. Test-retest comparisons
are BASED on time intervals, but they disregard direction.
T 1 B 37x. It is possible, of course, to use both,
by establishing internal consistency AND stability over time. You will remember
that Jack once told his class that the more sophisticated statisticians are
concentrating more and more on reliability, rather than validity. The rationale
for this, as he said, was that a reliable instrument DOES measure something. He
also said, however, that validity is still the ultimate goal, which reliability
can only serve.
T 1 B 37y. I submit (I’m using Jack’s language in
this section, because it always had a special meaning for you. So did Jack.)
Your confusion of sex and statistics is an interesting example of this whole
issue. Note that night you spent in the scent of roses doing a complex
factorial analysis of covariance. It’s a funny story to others, because they
see a different kind of level confusion than the one you yourself were making.
You might recall that YOU wanted that design, and Jack opposed it. One of the
real reasons why that evening was so exhilarating was because it represented a
“battle of intellects,” (both good ones, by the way), each communicating
exceptionally clearly but on opposite sides. The sexual aspects were naturally
touched off in both of you, because of the sex and aggression confusion.
T 1 B 37z. (It is especially
interesting that after the battle ended on a note of compromise with your agreeing
with Jack, he wrote in the margin of your notes “virtue is triumphant.” (Helen
Schucman note re submission-dominance, feminine-masculine roles, entered into
this.) While this (remark) was funny to both of you at the time, you might
consider its truer side. The virtue lay in the complete respect each of you
offered to the other’s intellect. Your mutual sexual attraction was also
shared. The error lay in the word “triumphant.” This had the “battle”
connotation, because neither of you was respecting ALL of the other. There is a
great deal more to a person than intellect & genitals. The omission was the
Soul.)
T 1 B 37aa. I submit (after a long interruption)
that if a mind (Soul) is in valid relationship with God, it CAN’T be upside
down. Jack & the other very eminent methodologists have abandoned validity
in favor of reliability because they have lost sight of the end and are concentrating
on the means.
T 1 B 37ab. Remember the story about the artist who
kept devoting himself to inventing better & better ways of sharpening
pencils. He never created anything, but he had the sharpest pencil in town.
(The language here is intentional. Sex is often utilized on behalf of very
similar errors. Hostility, triumph, vengeance, self-debasement, and all sort of
expressions of the lack of love are often VERY clearly seen in the accompanying
fantasies. But it is a PROFOUND error to imagine that, because these fantasies
are so frequent (or occur so reliably), that this implies validity. Remember
that while validity implies reliability the relationship is NOT reversible. You
can be wholly reliable, and ENTIRELY wrong.
T 1 B 37ac. While a reliable test DOES measure
something, what USE is the test unless you discover what the “something” is?
And if validity is more important than reliability, and is also necessarily
implied BY it, why not concentrate on VALIDITY and let reliability fall
naturally into place?
T 1 B 37ad. Intellect may be a “displacement
upward,” but sex can be a “displacement outward.” How can man “come close” to
others through the parts of him which are really invisible? The word
“invisible” means “cannot be seen or perceived.”
Page T(36) -36 What cannot be
perceived is hardly the right means for improving perception.
T 1 B 37ae. The confusion of miracle impulse with
sexual impulse is a major source of perceptual distortion, because it INDUCES
rather than straightening out the basic level-confusion which underlies all
those who seek happiness with the instruments of the world. A desert is a
desert is a desert. You can do anything you want in it, but you CANNOT change
it from what it IS. It still lacks water, which is why it IS a desert (Bring up
that dream about the Bluebird. While Helen Schucman was looking for this dream,
she came across another. The message was to bring both, as an excellent example
of how extremely good Helen Schucman had become over the intervening 25 years
at sharpening pencils. Note that the essential content hasn’t changed; it’s
just better written.) The thing to do with a desert is to LEAVE.
T 1 B 37ae-N1 ((Esther called to say that
Dave Diamond died. Maybe that was his way of leaving the desert. Dave loved
Esther, and Arnie Gold, and the children he taught. I don’t know about his own
children, but I do know (from Esther) that he doesn’t get along with Terry. A
while back, she told me that Dave would not let her into the room and kept
telling her to get out, and she just hung around all day in the hallway or the
lounge nearby. I went into the room [under instructions], and spoke to Dave,
who was very groggy. Every time he opened his eyes I said “we all love you, so
don’t be afraid.” NOT allowed, I prayed that he would be able to love everybody
in return, [this too was under instruction], having been told, [I think on
Great Authority] that his only real danger came from lacks in THIS connection.)
T 1 B 37ae-N2 I didn’t visit him this Friday,
but I am sure this was right, because I was very careful to ask. I was going
over, too, after the lecture, and was told not to. Perhaps there was no “need
to know” involved.
T 1 B 37ae-N3 I am upset about it, and am
leaving my notes for a while. I think I’d rather pray just now.[129]
T 1 B 37ae-N4 Esther said Terry was
talking about giving away the baby. I jumped to the conclusion that I was
supposed to take her, but that may easily be an indiscriminate miracle impulse.
I think I’d better just stop now))
T 1 B 37ae-N5 I prayed for Dave, and said
that whatever miracles I could do for him even now, or any of his family, I
would will to do. I also asked Jesus to help Dave with the course. Then I was
told to go in and visit with Jonathan, and pray for him, particularly if he was
asleep, which he was. It was the only time so far I prayed intensively for him.
When this happens, I am strongly aware that I am not praying alone. We told
Jonathan that he should forget about the Alexandrian library and all the rest,
because it didn’t matter. He showed a lot of love this time and should claim
his forgiveness. He does not need to hurt himself, and must stop these symptoms
of disequilibrium and establish his freedom. He woke up, and said he was
feeling better but hungry.
T 1 B 37ae-N6 I was going to wash my hair
after fixing his dinner, but I was told
to visit his mother. Am not too enthusiastic about this, but am going now.
T 1 B 37ae-N7 It occurred to me while
waiting for the elevator that I was glad I was going, because it was a way of
atoning to Jonathan for my being so nasty to him. ((He is always happy to have
me visit his mother)) and in a way of atoning for Dave too.
T 1 B 38. Miracles
arise from a miraculous state of mind. By being One, this state of mind goes
out to ANYONE, even without the awareness of the miracle worker himself. The
impersonal nature of miracles is because Atonement itself is one, uniting all
creations with their Creator.
T 1 B 39a. The
miracle is an expression of an inner awareness of Christ & acceptance of
his Atonement. The mind is then in a state of Grace, and naturally becomes
gracious, both to the Host within and the stranger without. By bringing in the
stranger, he becomes your brother.
T 1 B 39b. The miracles you are told NOT to
perform have not lost their value. They are still
expressions of your own state of Grace, but the ACTION aspect of the miracle
should be Christ-controlled, because of His complete Awareness of the Whole
Plan. The impersonal nature of miracle-mindedness ensures YOUR own Grace, but
only Christ is in a position to know where Grace can be BESTOWED.
T 1 B 40a. A
miracle is never lost. It touches many people you may not even know, and
sometimes produces undreamed of changes in forces of which you are not even
aware. This is not your concern. It will also always bless YOU. This is not
your concern, either. But it IS the concern of the Record. The Record is
completely unconcerned with reliability, being perfectly valid because of the
way it was set up. It ALWAYS measures what it was supposed to measure.
T 1 B 40b. I want to finish the instructions about
sex, because this is an area the miracle worker MUST understand.
T 1 B 40c. Inappropriate sex drives (or
misdirected miracle-impulses) result in guilt if expressed, and depression if
denied. We said before that ALL real pleasure comes from doing God’s will. Whenever it is NOT
done an experience of lack results. This is because NOT doing the will of God
IS a lack of self.
T 1 B 40d. Sex
was intended as an instrument for physical creation to enable Souls to embark
on new chapters in their experience, and thus improve their record. The pencil
was NOT an end in itself. (See earlier section.) It was an aid to the artist in
his own creative endeavors.
Page T(38) -38 As he made new homes for Souls and guided them through the period of
their own developmental readiness, he learned the role of the father himself.
The whole process was set up as a learning experience in gaining Grace.
T 1 B 40e. The pleasure which is derived from sex
AS SUCH is reliable only because it stems from an error which men shared.
AWARENESS of the error produces the guilt. DENIAL of the error results in
projection. CORRECTION of the error brings release.
T 1 B 40f. The only VALID use of sex is
procreation. It is NOT truly pleasurable in itself. “Lead us not into
Temptation” means “Do not let us deceive ourselves into believing that we can
relate in peace to God or our brothers with ANYTHING external.”
T 1 B 40g. The “sin of onan” was called a “sin”
because it involved a related type of self-delusion; namely, that pleasure
WITHOUT relating can exist.
T 1 B 40h. To repeat an earlier instruction, the
concept of either the self or another as a “sex-OBJECT” epitomizes this strange
reversal. As Bill put it, and very correctly, too, it IS objectionable, but
only because it is invalid. Upside down logic produces this kind of thinking.
T 1 B 40i. Child of God, you were created to
create the good, the beautiful, and the holy. Do not lose sight of this. You
were right in telling Bill to invite Me to enter anywhere temptation arises. I
will change the situation from one of inappropriate sexual attraction to one of
impersonal miracle-working. The concept of changing the channel for libidinal
expression is Freud’s greatest contribution, except that he did not understand
what “channel” really means.
T 1 B 40j. The
love of God, for a little while, must still be expressed through one body to another.
That is because the real vision is still so dim. Everyone can use his body best
by enlarging man’s perception, so he can see the real VISION. THIS VISION is
invisible to the physical eye. The ultimate purpose of the body is to render
itself unnecessary. Learning to do this is the only real reason for its
creation.
T 1 B 40j-N1 *Bill – I got very uneasy
here and thought maybe I was just writing all this ((which has been very time
consuming and quite tiresome at times)) because I was jealous. I’m still not
sure and need your help about this. But I went on anyway because it didn’t seem
finished. Please help me evaluate it because I don’t want Scribal errors to
enter too much into the course. Though I guess they’ll be corrected when they
do. What do you think about all this? I hadn’t intended to write a commentary
on sex. (see above)
T 1 B 40j-N2 It just occurred to me that
the doubt may come from something I don’t want to give up. Should I tell you
about it? It’s kind of embarrassing, really. But I just remembered the “one
more river” with which this started.
T 1 B 40k. NOTE:
Scribes have a particular role in the Plan of Atonement, because they have the
ability to EXPERIENCE revelations themselves, and also to put into words enough
of the experience to serve as a basis for miracles.
T 1 B 40l. (This refers to experiences at the visionary level, after which Helen
Schucman wrote “If you will tell me what to do, I will to do it.” She had not known that the word “to” was inserted, and had merely
intended to write “I will do it.” This recognition had a terrific impact on
Helen Schucman.)
T 1 B 40m. This is why you EXPERIENCED that
revelation about “I will to do” VERY personally, but also WROTE IT: What you
wrote CAN be useful to miracle workers other than yourself. We said before that
prayer is the medium of miracles. The miracle prayer IS what you wrote, i.e.
“If you will tell me what to do, I will to do it.” *
T 1 B 40n. This prayer is the door that leads out
of the desert forever.
T 1 B 40o. *(Correction
next day. This is not a complete statement, because it does not exclude the
negative. We have already told you to add “and NOT to do what you would not
have me do.” in connection with miracles. The distinction has also been made
here between “miracle-mindedness” as a STATE, and “miracle-doing” as its
expression.
T 1 B 40p. The former needs YOUR careful
protection, because it is a state of miracle-READINESS. This is what the Bible
means in the many references to “Hold yourself ready” and other similar
injunctions.
T 1 B 40q. Readiness here means keep your
perception right side up, (or valid), so you will ALWAYS be ready, willing, and
able. These are the essentials for “listen, learn, and do.” You must be
READY to listen
WILLING to learn
and ABLE to do
T 1 B 40r. Only the last is involuntary, because
it is the APPLICATION of miracles which must be Christ-controlled. But the
other two, which are the voluntary aspects of miracle-mindedness, ARE up to you.
T 1 B 40s. To channelize DOES have a “narrowing
down” connotation, though NOT in the sense of lack. The underlying state of
mind, or Grace is a total commitment. Only the DOING aspect involves the
channel at all. This is because doing is always specific.
T 1 B 40t. As Jack said, “A reliable instrument
must measure something,” but a channel is also valid. It must learn to do ONLY
what it is supposed to do. Change the prayer to read:
If you will tell me what to do,
ONLY THAT I will to do.
T 1 B 40u. NOTE
Helen Schucman objects to doggerel sound of this, and regards it as very
inferior poetry. ANSWER: It’s hard to forget, though.
T 1 B 40v. The Revelation is
literally unspeakable, because it is an experience of unspeakable love. The
word “Awe” should be reserved only for revelations, to which it is perfectly
and correctly applicable. It is NOT appropriately applied to miracles, because
a state of true awe is worshipful. It implies that one of a lesser order stands
before the Greater One. This is the case only when a Soul stands before his
Creator. Souls are perfect creations, and should be struck with awe in the
presence of the Creator of Perfection.
T 1 B 40w. The miracle, on the other hand, is a
sign of love among equals. Equals cannot be in awe of each other, because awe
ALWAYS implies inequality. Awe is not properly experienced even to me. That is
why in that short introductory vision, I knelt beside you, FACING the light.
T 1 B 40x. An Elder Brother is entitled to respect
for his greater experience, and a reasonable amount of obedience for his
greater wisdom. He is also entitled to love, because he is a brother, and also
to devotion, if he is devoted. It is only my own devotion that entitles me to
yours. But you will notice that I have knelt at your altar as readily as I
would ever have you kneel at mine.
T 1 B 40y. There is nothing about me that you
cannot attain. I have nothing that
does not come from God. The main difference between us as yet is that I have
NOTHING ELSE. This leaves me in a state of true holiness, which is only a
POTENTIAL in you.
T 1 B 40z. “No man cometh to the Father but by me” is among the most
misunderstood statements in the Bible. It DOES NOT mean that I am in any way
separate (or different) from you, EXCEPT IN TIME. Now, we know that time does
not exist. Actually, the statement is much more meaningful if it is considered
on a vertical rather than a horizontal axis. Regarded along the vertical, man
stands below me, and I stand below God. In the process of “rising up,” I AM
higher. This is because without me the distance between God and man is too
great for man to encompass. I bridge the distance as an Elder Brother to man, on the one
hand, and a Son of God on the other. My devotion to my brothers has placed me
in charge of the Sonship, which I can render complete only to the extent I can
SHARE it.
T 1 B 40aa. This appears to contradict another
statement: “I and my Father are one.” It doesn’t. There are
still separate parts in the statement, in recognition of the fact that the
Father is GREATER. Actually, the original statement was “are of one KIND.”
T 1 B 40ab. The Holy Spirit is the Bringer of
Revelations, not miracles. Revelations are INDIRECTLY inspired by me, because I
am close to the Holy Spirit, and alert to revelation-readiness in my brothers.
Page T(43) -43 I can thus BRING DOWN
to them more than they can DRAW down to themselves. Jean Dixon’s description is
perhaps a better statement of my position. Because my feet are on the ground
and my hands are in heaven, I can bring down the glories of Heaven to my
brothers on earth.
T 1 B 40ac. The Holy Spirit is the Highest
Communication Medium. Miracles do not involve this type of communication,
because they are TEMPORARY communicative devices. When man can return to his
original form of communication with God by direct REVELATION, the need for
miracles is over. The Holy Spirit mediates higher to lower order communication,
keeping the direct channel from God to man open for revelation. Revelation is
NOT reciprocal. It is always FROM God TO man. This is because God and man are
NOT equal. The miracle is reciprocal because it ALWAYS involves equality.
T 1 B 40ad. In the longitudinal (or horizontal)
plane, the true equality of all men in the Sonship appears to involve almost
endless time. But we know that time is only an artifact introduced as a
learning aid.
T 1 B 41a. The miracle is a learning device which
lessens the need for time. The sudden shift from horizontal to
vertical perception which the miracle entails introduces an interval from which
the doer and the receiver both emerge much farther along in time than they
would otherwise have been.
T 1 B 41b. A miracle has thus the unique property
of abolishing time by rendering the space of time it occupies unnecessary.
There is NO relation between the time a miracle TAKES and the time it COVERS.
It substitutes FOR learning that might have taken thousands of years. It does this
by the underlying recognition of perfect equality and holiness between doer and
receiver on which the miracle rests.
Page T(44) -44 It is unstable, but
perfectly consistent, i.e., it does not occur predictably across time, and it
rarely occurs in comparable forms. But within ITSELF it is perfectly
consistent. Since it contains NOTHING BUT an acknowledgment of equality and
worth, all parts ARE equal. This establishes the prerequisite for validity.
T 1 B 41c. We said before that the miracle
abolishes time. It does this by a process of COLLAPSING it. It thus abolishes
certain INTERVALS within it. It does this, however, WITHIN the larger temporal
sequence.
T 1 B 41d. The validity of the miracle, then, is
PREDICTIVE, not logical, within the temporal schema. It establishes an
out-of-pattern time interval, which is NOT under the usual laws of time. Only
in this sense is it timeless. By collapsing time, it literally saves time, much
the way “daylight saving time” does. It rearranges the distribution of light.
T 1 B 41e. The miracle is the only device which
man has at his immediate disposal for controlling time. Only the Revelation
TRANSCENDS it, having nothing to do with time at all. The miracle is much like
the body, in that both are learning aids which aim at facilitating a state in
which they are unnecessary. When the Soul is finally in the original state of
direct communication, neither the body nor the miracle serves any purpose.
T 1 B 41f. While he is IN the body, however, man
can choose between loveless and miraculous channels of creativity. He can
create an empty shell (see previous reference), but he DOES NOT create nothing
at all. He can wait, delay, paralyze himself, reduce his creativity almost to
nothing, and even introduce a real developmental arrest or regression. But he
CANNOT abolish his creativity. He CAN destroy his medium of communication, but
NOT his potential.
T 1 B 41g. He was NOT created by his own free
will. Only what HE creates is his to decide. 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 of the miracle gladly, because he knows that every collapse
of time brings all men closer to the ultimate RELEASE from time, in which the
Son and the Father ARE one.
T 1 B 41h. The real meaning of “are of one kind”
is “of one mind or will.” When the will of the Sonship and the Father are one,
their perfect accord IS Heaven.
T 1 B 41i. ASIDE Tell Bill he is right in
providing you with the consistent strength you need to get, and he needs to
offer. Your instability and his weakness have resulted from bad karmic choices,
and your relationship NOW is crucial for the future. You must both exert every
effort to restore it to what it once was. Both of you are correcting where you
have failed before. This has already enabled you to fulfill a very unexpected
role in your own joint salvation, and the salvation of many other children I
will entrust increasingly to you. These are by no means chosen at random. Bill
should know that his preparation is not only in terms of sharing in the results
of your better application of some rather unusual talents. His own role, which
he will understand after his preparation is complete, will be equally
surprising. He will need your help then, as you need his strength now.
T 1 B 41j. Note that you DO NOT need his help as a
scribe, because you developed this ability by your own efforts, and finally
placed them at MY disposal. By lending you his strength, he strengthens
himself. When he gains this through his own efforts, he will need your help in
a very unexpected way. But this is just another example of the reciprocal
nature of miracles.
T 1 B 41k. Equality does not imply homogeneity
NOW. When EVERYONE has EVERYTHING, individual contributions to the Sonship will
no longer be necessary. When the Atonement has been completed, ALL talents will
be shared by ALL of the Sons of God. God is NOT partial. All of His children
have His total love, and all of his gifts are given freely to everyone alike.
T 1 B 41l. “Except you become as little children” means unless you
fully recognize your complete dependence on God, you cannot know the real power
of the Son in his true relationship with the Father.
T 1 B 41m. You and Bill DO have special talents
which are needed for the Celestial speedup at this time. But note that the term
speed-up is not one which relates to the TRANSCENDING of time.
T 1 B 41n. When time is abolished, and all of the
Sons of God have come home, no special agents will be necessary. But do not
underestimate the power of special agents now, or the great need there is for
them. I do not claim to be more than that myself. No one in his Right Mind, (a
term which should be specially noted) ever wants either more or less than that.
Those who are called on to witness for me NOW are witnessing for all men, as I
am.
T 1 B 41o. The
role of the Priestess was once to experience Revelations and to work miracles.
The purpose was to bring those not yet available for direct Revelations into
proper focus for them. Heightened perception was always the essential Priestess
attribute.
T 1 B 41p. (This is the first time that Helen Schucman ever said that she would be
honored if there were any notes.)
T 1 B 41q. (Neither Bill nor I is really clear about how sexual-impulses can be
directly translated into miracle-impulses.) The fantasies that I mentioned
yesterday (refers to discussion Helen Schucman & Bill had) provide an
excellent example of how you switch. (Now switch the pronoun references, or it
will be too confusing.)
T 1 B 41r. Fantasies are distorted forms of
thinking, because they always involve twisting perception into unreality.
Fantasy is a debased form of vision. Visions and Revelations are closely
related. Fantasies & projection are more closely associated, because both
attempt to control external reality according to false internal needs. “Live
and let live” happens to be a very meaningful injunction. Twist reality in any
way, and you are perceiving destructively. Reality was lost through usurpation,
which in turn produced tyranny. I told you you were now restored to your former
role in the Plan of Atonement. But you must still choose freely to devote your
heritage to the greater Restoration. As long as a single slave remains to walk
the earth, your release is not complete. Complete restoration of the Sonship is
the only true goal of the miracle-minded.
T 1 B 41s. Sexual fantasies are distortions of
perception by definition. They are a means of making false associations, and
obtaining pleasure from them. Man can do this only because he IS creative. But
although he can perceive false associations, he can never make them real except
to himself. As was said before, man believes in what he creates. If he creates
a miracle, he will be equally strong in his belief in that. The strength of his
conviction will then sustain the belief of the miracle receiver.
T 1 B 41t. NO fantasies, sexual or otherwise, are
true. Fantasies become totally unnecessary as the Wholly satisfying nature of
reality becomes apparent. The sex impulse IS a miracle impulse when it is in
proper focus. One individual sees in another the right partner for “procreating
the stock” (Wolff was not too far off here), and also for their joint
establishment of a creative home. This does not involve fantasy at all. If I am
asked to participate in the decision, the decision will be a Right one, too.
T 1 B 41u. In a situation where you or another
person, or both, experience inappropriate sex impulses, KNOW FIRST that this is
an expression of fear. Your love toward each other is NOT perfect, and this is
why the fear arose. Turn immediately to me by denying the power of the fear,
and ask me to help you to replace it with love. This shifts the
sexual impulse immediately to the miracle-impulse, and places it at MY
disposal.
T 1 B 41v. Then acknowledge the true creative
worth of both yourself AND the other one. This places strength where it
belongs. Note that sexual fantasies are ALWAYS destructive (or depleting), in
that they perceive another in an inappropriate creative role. Both people are
perceived essentially as “objects” fulfilling THEIR OWN pleasure drives. This dehumanized
view is the source of the DEPLETING use of sex. Freud’s description is purely
NEGATIVE, i.e., as a release from the UNPLEASANT. He also observed that the
tension from id impulses never completely abates.
T 1 B 41w. What he should have said is that the
shift from miracle-impulses to sexual impulses was debilitating in the first
place, because of the level-confusion involved. This set up a state in which
real release was impossible. Note also that Freud’s notion of sex was as a device
for inducing RELAXATION, which he confused with PEACE.
T 1 B 41x. Inappropriate sex relaxes only in the
sense that it may induce physical sleep. The miracle, on the other hand, is an
ENERGIZER. It always strengthens, and never depletes. It DOES induce peace, and
by establishing tranquility (not relaxation) it enables both giver and receiver
to enter into a state of Grace. Here his miracle-mindedness, (not release from
tension) is restored.
T 1 B 41y. Tension is the result of a building-up
of unexpressed miracle-impulses. This can be truly abated only by releasing the
miracle-drive, which has been blocked. Converting it to sexual libido merely
produces further blocking. Never foster this illusion in yourself, or encourage
it in others. An “object” is incapable of release, because it is a concept
which is deprived of creative power. The recognition of the real creative power
in yourself AND others brings release because it brings peace.
T 1 B 41z. The peace of God which passeth
understanding CAN keep your hearts now and forever.
T 1 B 41aa. There are only two short additions
needed here:
1. Your earlier acute problem
in writing things down came from a MUCH earlier misuse of very great scribal
abilities. These were turned to secret rather than shared advantage, depriving
it (?) of its miraculous potential, and diverting it into possession. This is
much like the confusion of sex impulses with possession-impulses. Some of the
original material is still in the Temple. This is why you became so afraid
about Atlantis. Bill has his own reasons.
T 1 B 41ab. 2. Retain your
miracle-minded attitude toward Rosie VERY carefully. She once hurt both of you,
which is why she is now your servant. But she is blessed in that she sees
service as a source of joy. Help her straighten out her past errors by
contributing to your welfare now.
T 1 B 41ac. (special Revelation re
Helen Schucman –OMISSION 1.)
T 1 B 41ac-N1 “Priestess, a brother has
knelt at your shrine. Heal him through Me.”
T 1 B 41ac-N2 I have an idea that the
shrine merely referred to the “alar within,” which the Priestess served. I
imagine that the communication form was direct, and the “brother” always
nameless. I – the Priestess responded automatically by praying directly to God,
standing with upraised arms to draw down a blessing on her brother, who knelt
outside. Her response was completely automatic and impersonal. She never even
thought of checking the outcome, because there was no doubt.
T 1 B 41ac-N3 I imagine there is still no
doubt really. Except that the Priestess can no longer ask alone.
T 1 B 41ac-N4 It was originally “sister”
not “Priestess.”
T 1 B 41ad. Helen Schucman question re: past
memories. ANSWER: As long as you remember ALWAYS that you never suffered
anything because of anything that anyone ELSE did, this is not dangerous.
T 1 B 41ae. Remember that you who want peace can
find it only by complete forgiveness. You never really WANTED peace before, so
there was no point in knowing how to get it. This is an example of the “need to
know” principle, which was established by the Plan of Atonement long before
CIA.
T 1 B 41af. No kind of knowledge is acquired by
anyone unless he wants it, or believes in some way he NEEDS it. A psychologist
does NOT need a lesson on the hierarchy of needs as such, but like everyone
else, he DOES need to understand his own.
T 1 B 41ag. This particular set of
notes will be the only one which deals with the concept of “lack,” because
while the concept does not exist in the Creation of God, it is VERY apparent in
the creations of man. It is, in fact, the essential difference.
T 1 B 41ah. A need implies lack, by definition. It
involves the recognition, conscious or unconscious, (and at times, fortunately,
superconscious) that you would be better off in a state which is somehow
different from the one you are in.
T 1 B 41ai. Until the Separation, which is a better
term than the Fall, nothing was lacking.
This meant that man had no needs at all. If he had not deprived himself, he
would never have experienced them.
T 1 B 41aj. After the Separation, needs became the
most powerful source of motivation for human action. All behavior is
essentially motivated by needs, but behavior itself is not a Divine attribute. The
body is the mechanism for behavior. (Ask any behaviorist, and he’s RIGHT, too.)
T 1 B 41ak. You tell your own classes that nobody
would bother even to get up and go from one place to another if he did not
think he would somehow be better off. This is very true.
T 1 B 41al. Believing that he COULD be “better off”
is the reason why man has the mechanism for behavior at his disposal. This is
why the Bible says “By their DEEDS ye shall know them.” [148]
T 1 B 41am. A man acts according to the particular hierarchy
of needs he establishes for himself. His hierarchy, in turn, depends on his
perception of what he IS, i.e., what he LACKS. This establishes his own rules
for what he needs to know.
T 1 B 41an. Separation from God is the only lack he
really needs to correct. But his Separation would never have occurred if he had
not distorted his perception of truth, and thus perceived himself as lacking.
T 1 B 41ao. The concept of ANY sort of need
HIERARCHY arose because, having made this fundamental error, he had already
fragmented himself into levels with DIFFERENT needs. As he integrates, HE
becomes one, and his ONE need becomes one accordingly. Only the fragmented can
be confused about this.
T 1 B 41ap. Internal integration within the self
will not (suffice to?) correct the lack fallacy, but it WILL correct the NEED
fallacy. (Thank you for writing this as given.) Unified need produces unified
action, because it produces lack of ambivalence.
T 1 B 41aq. The concept of need hierarchy, a
corollary to the original error, requires correction at its OWN level, before
the error of levels itself can be corrected. Man cannot operate (or behave)
effectively while he operates at split levels. But as long as he does so, he
must introduce correction from the bottom UP.
T 1 B 41ar. This is because he now operates in
space, where “up” and “down” are meaningful terms. Ultimately, of course, space
is as meaningless as time. The concept is really one of space-time BELIEF. The
physical world exists only because man can use it to correct his UNBELIEF,
which placed him in it originally. As long as man KNEW he did not need
anything, the whole device was unnecessary.
T 1 B 41as. The need to know is not safely under
man’s control at this time. It is MUCH better off under mine. Let’s just leave
it at that.
T 1 B 41at. (Specific question
raised by William Thetford re sex under existing conditions) (Helen Schucman
raised previous question about the past, which has just been answered.)
T 1 B 41au. The other question, however, I am more
than willing to answer, because it is appropriate for NOW. You and Bill both
chose your present sex partners shamefully, and would have to atone for the
lack of love which was involved in any case.
T 1 B 41av. You selected them precisely BECAUSE
they were NOT suited to gratify your fantasies. This was not because you wanted
to abandon or give up the fantasies, but because you were AFRAID of them. You
saw in your partners a means of protecting against the fear, but both of you
continued to “look around” for chances to indulge the fantasies.
T 1 B 41aw. The dream of the “perfect partner” is
an attempt to find EXTERNAL integration, while retaining conflicting needs in
the self.
T 1 B 41ax. Bill was somewhat less guilty of this
than you, but largely because he was more afraid. He had abandoned the hope (of
finding a perfect partner) in a neurotic sense of despair of finding it. You,
on the other hand, insisted that the hope was justified. Neither of you,
therefore, was in your Right Mind.
T 1 B 41ay. As was said before, homosexuality is
INHERENTLY more risky (or error prone) than heterosexuality, but both can be
undertaken on an equally false basis. The falseness of the basis is clear in
the accompanying fantasies. Homosexuality ALWAYS involves misperception of the
self OR the partner, and generally both.
T 1 B 41az. Penetration DOES NOT involve magic, nor
DOES ANY form of sexual behavior. It IS a magic belief to engage in ANY form of
body image activity at all. You neither created yourselves, nor controlled your
creation. By introducing levels into your own perception, you opened the way
for body-image distortions.
T 1 B 41ba. The lack of love (or faulty
need-orientation) which led to your particular person (not OBJECT) choices CAN
BE corrected within the existent framework, and would HAVE to be in the larger
interest of overall progress. The situation is questionable largely because of
its inherent vulnerability to fantasy-gratification. Doing the best you can
WITHIN this limitation is probably the best corrective measure at present. Any
relationship you have undertaken for whatever reasons becomes a responsibility.
T 1 B 41bb. If you shift your own needs, some
amount of corresponding shift in the need-orientation of the other person MUST
result, This will be beneficial, even if the partner was originally attracted
to you BECAUSE of your disrespect. Teaching devices which are totally alien to
a learner’s perceptual system are usually merely disruptive. Transfer depends
on SOME common elements in the new situation which are understandable in terms
of the old.
T 1 B 41bc. Man can never control the effects of
fear himself, because he has CREATED fear and believes in what he creates. In
attitude, then, though not in content, he resembles his own Creator, who has
perfect faith in His Creations because he Created them. All creation rests on
belief, and the belief in the creation produces its existence. This is why it
is possible for a man to believe what is not true for anyone else. It is true
for him because it is made BY him.
T 1 B 41bd. Every aspect of fear proceeds from
upside down perception. The TRULY creative devote their efforts to correcting
this. The neurotic devotes his to compromise. The psychotic tries to escape by
establishing the truth of his own errors. It is most difficult to free him by
ordinary means, only because he is more stable in his denial of truth.
T 1 B 42a. The miracle makes no distinction among
degrees of misperception. It is a device for perception-correction which is
effective quite apart from either the degree or the direction of the error.
This is its TRUE indiscriminateness.
T 1 B 42b. Christ-controlled miracles are
selective only in that they are directed toward those who can use them for
THEMSELVES. Since this makes it inevitable that they will extend them to
others, a very strong chain of Atonement is welded. But Christ-control takes no
account at all of the MAGNITUDE of the miracle itself, because the concept of
size exists only in a plane that is itself unreal. Since the miracle aims at
RESTORING reality, it would hardly be useful if it were bound by the laws of
the same error it aims to correct. Only man makes that kind of error. It is an
example of the “foolish consistency” his own false beliefs have engendered.
T 1 B 42c. Both the power and the strength of
man’s creative will must be understood, before the real meaning of denial can
be appreciated and abolished. Denial is NOT mere negation. It is a positive
miscreation. While the miscreation is NECESSARILY believed in by its own
creator, it does not exist at all at the level of true Creation.
T 1 B 43a. The miracle compares the creations of
man with the higher level of creation, accepting what is in ACCORD as true, and
rejecting the DISCORDANT as false. This is why it is so closely associated with
validity. Real validity is both true AND useful, or better, it is useful
BECAUSE it is true.
T 1 B 43b. All
aspects of fear are untrue, because they DO NOT exist at the higher creative
levels, and therefore do not exist at all. To whatever extent a man is willing
to submit his beliefs to the real test of validity, to that extent are his
perceptions healed (or corrected.)
T 1 B 43c. In sorting out the false from the true,
the miracle proceeds much along the lines suggested very correctly by Bill,
i.e.:
If perfect love casts out fear,
And if fear exists,
Then there is NOT perfect love.
But
Only perfect love really exists.
T 1 B 43d. Therefore, if there is fear, it creates
a state which does not exist. Believe THIS and you WILL be free. Only God can
establish this solution, for THIS faith IS His gift.
T 1 C 1. Man must contribute to
his readiness here as elsewhere. The readiness for faith, as for everything
else that is true, entails the two steps necessary for the release from fear.
T 1 C 2. Denial of fear, in
human terms, is a strong defense because it entails two levels of error:
1. That truth CAN be denied and
2. That absence of truth can be effective.
T 1 C 3. EXPERIENCING fear,
which is more characteristic of Bill, involves only the second error. However,
these differences do not affect the power of the miracle at all, since only
truth and error are its concern.
T 1 C 4. YOU are both more
miracle-minded, and less able to recognize fear because of your stronger, but
split, identification. Bill, also characteristically, is less miracle-minded,
but better able to recognize fear, because his identification is more
consistently right but weaker.
T 1 C 5. Together, the
conditions needed for consistent miracle-mindedness, the state in which fear
has been abolished, can be particularly well worked out. In fact, it WAS
already well worked out before.
T 1 C 6. Your idea about the
real meaning of “possession” should be clarified. Your own denial of fear (this
refers to a visionary experience of Helen Schucman) introduced some error
variance, but not really a significant amount. However, there is always a
chance that as the size of the sample increases, what was non-significant
before may ATTAIN significance, so we had better get this out of the way now
while you are still within the safety margin.
T 1 C 7. Fear of possession is
a perverted expression of the fear of the irresistible attraction. (Aside. Yes,
this DOES apply to homosexuality, among other errors, where the whole concept
of possessing, or “entering” is a key fear. It is a symbolic statement of an
inverted decision NOT to enter into, or possess, the Kingdom. In physical
terms, which it emphasizes because of the inherent error of Soul avoidance,
REAL physical creation is avoided, and fantasy gratification is substituted.)
T 1 C 8. The truth is still
that the attraction of God is irresistible at ALL levels, and the acceptance of
this totally unavoidable truth is only a matter of time. But you should
consider whether you WANT to wait, because you CAN return now, if you choose.
(Note to Helen Schucman: You are writing this with improper motivation, but we
will try anyway. If you are to stop, do so immediately.)
T 1 C 9. Possession is a
concept which has been subject to numerous distortions, some of which we will
list below:
1.
It (possession) can be associated with the body only. If this occurs, sex is
particularly likely to be contaminated. Possession versus being
possessed is apt to be seen as the male and female role. Since neither will be
conceived of as satisfying alone, and both will be associated with fear, this
interpretation is particularly vulnerable to psychosexual confusion.
2.
From a rather similar misperceptual reference point, possession can also be
associated with things. This is essentially a shift from 1), and is usually due
to an underlying fear of associating possession with people. In this sense, it
is an attempt to PROTECT people, like the superstition about “protecting the
name,” we mentioned before.
T 1 C 10. Both 1) and 2)
are likely to become compulsive for several reasons, including:
a. They
represent an attempt to escape from the real possession-drive, which cannot be
satisfied this way.
b. They
set up substitute goals, which are usually reasonably easy to attain.
c. They
APPEAR to be relatively harmless, and thus SEEM to allay fear. The fact that
they usually interfere with good interpersonal relationships can be
interpreted, in this culture, as a lack of sophistication on the part of the
OTHER (not the self), and this induces a false feeling of confidence in the
solution, based on reliability NOT validity. It is also fairly easy to find a
partner who SHARES the illusion. Thus, we have any number of relationships
which are actually ESTABLISHED on the basis
Page T(58) -58 of 1),
and others which HOLD TOGETHER primarily because of the joint interests in 2).
d. The
manifestly EXTERNAL emphasis which both entail seems to be a safety device, and
thus permits a false escape from much more basic inhibitions. As a compromise
solution, the ILLUSION of interpersonal relating is preserved, along with the
retention of the lack of love component. This kind of psychic juggling leaves
the person (or juggler?) with a feeling of emptiness, which in fact is
perfectly justified, because he IS acting from scarcity. He then becomes more
and more driven in his behavior, to fill the emptiness.
T 1 C 11. When these solutions have been invested
with extreme belief, 1) leads to sex crimes,
and 2) to stealing. The kleptomaniac is a good
example of the latter.
T 1 C 12. Generally, two types of emotional
disturbances result:
a. The
tendency to maintain the illusion that only the physical is real. This produces
depression.
b. The
tendency to invest the physical with non-physical properties. This is essentially
magic, and tends more toward anxiety-proneness.
c. The
tendency to vacillate from one to the other, which produces a corresponding
vacillation between depression AND anxiety.
T 1 C 13. Both result in self imposed starvation.
T 1 C 14. 3. Another type of distortion is seen in the fear
of or desire for “spirit” possession. The term “spirit” is profoundly debased
in this context, but it DOES entail a recognition that
Page T(59) -59 the body is not
enough, and investing it with magic will not work. This recognition ACCEPTS the
fact that neither 1) nor 2) is sufficient, but, precisely BECAUSE it does not
limit fear so narrowly, it is more likely to produce greater fear in its own
right.
T 1 C 15. Endowing the Spirit with human
possessiveness is a more INCLUSIVE error than 1) or 2),
and a step somewhat further away from the “Right Mind.” Projection is also more
likely to occur, with vacillations between grandiosity and fear. “Religion” in
a distorted sense, is also more likely to occur in this kind of error, because
the idea of a “spirit” is introduced, though fallaciously, while it is excluded
from 1) and 2).
T 1 C 16. Witchcraft is thus particularly apt to
be associated with 3), because of the much greater investment in magic.
T 1 C 17. It should be noted that 1) involves
only the body, and 2) involves an attempt to associate things with human
attributes. Three, on the other hand, is a more serious level confusion,
because it endows the Spirit with EVIL attributes. This accounts both for the
religious zeal of its proponents, and the aversion (or fear) of its opponents.
Both attitudes stem from the same false belief.
T 1 C 18. This is NOT what the Bible means by
“possessed of the Holy Spirit.” It is interesting to note that even those who
DID understand that could nevertheless EXPRESS their understanding
inappropriately. The concept of “speaking
Page T(60) -60 in many tongues” was
originally an injunction to communicate to everyone in his own language, or his
own level. It hardly meant to speak in a way that NOBODY can understand. This
strange error occurs when people DO understand the need for Universal
communication, but have contaminated it with possession fallacies. The fear
engendered by this misperception leads to a conflicted state in which
communication IS attempted, but the fear is allayed by making the communication
incomprehensible.
T 1 C 19. It could also be said that the fear
induced selfishness, or regression, because incomprehensible communication is
hardly a worthy offering from one Son of God to another.
T 1 C 20. 4. Knowledge can also be
misinterpreted as a means of possession. Here, the content is not physical, and
the underlying fallacy is more likely to be the confusion of mind and brain.
The attempt to unite non-physical content with physical attributes is
illustrated by statements like “the thirst for knowledge.” (No Helen, this is
NOT what the “thirst” in the Bible means. The term was used only because of
man’s limited comprehension, and is probably better dropped.)
T 1 C 21. The fallacious use of knowledge can
result in several errors, including:
a.
The idea that knowledge will make the individual more attractive to others.
This is a possession-fallacy.
b. The
idea that knowledge will make the individual invulnerable. This is the reaction
formation against the underlying fear of vulnerability.
c.
The idea that knowledge will make the individual worthy. This is largely
pathetic.
T 1 C 22. Both you and Bill should consider type
4) VERY carefully. Like all these fallacies, it contains a denial mechanism,
which swings into operation as the fear increases, thus canceling out the error
temporarily, but seriously impairing efficiency.
T 1 C 23. Thus, you claim you can’t read, and
Bill claims that he can’t speak. Note that depression is a real risk here, for
a Child of God should never REDUCE his efficiency in ANY way. The depression
comes from a peculiar pseudo-solution which reads:
A Child of God is efficient.
I am not efficient.
Therefore, I am not a Child of God.
T 1 C 24. This leads to neurotic resignation, and
this is a state which merely INCREASES the depression.
T 1 C 25. The corresponding
denial mechanism for 1) is the sense of PHYSICAL inability, or IMPOTENCE. The
denial mechanism for 2) is often bankruptcy. Collectors of things often drive
themselves well beyond their financial means, in an attempt to force
discontinuance. If this idea of cessation cannot be tolerated, a strange
compromise involving BOTH insatiable possessiveness and insatiable
throwing-away (bankruptcy) may result. An example is the inveterate or
compulsive gambler, particularly the horse-racing addict. Here, the conflicted
drive is displaced both from people AND things, and is invested in animals. The
implied DEROGATION of people is the cause of the underlying EXTREME
superstition of the horse racing addict.
T 2 A. Introduction (Not present in Notes)
(Insert
for page 61)
T 2 A 1. This section is
inserted here because it deals with a more fundamental misuse of knowledge,
referred to in the Bible as the cause of the Fall (or Separation). There are
several introductory remarks which are intended to make these explanations less
fear-provoking. The first is a couplet which I drew to your attention during
the fragments of Midsummer Night’s Dream, which you heard last night:
“Be as thou wast wont to be
See as thou wast wont to see.”
It is noteworthy that
these words were said by Oberon in releasing Titania from her own errors, both
of being and perceiving. These were the words which re-established her true
identity as well as her true abilities and judgment. The similarity here is
obvious.
T 2 A 2. There are also some
definitions, which I asked you to take from the dictionary, which will also be
helpful. Their somewhat unusual nature is due to the fact that they are not
first definitions in their chronological appearance. Nevertheless, the fact
that each of them does appear in the dictionary should be reassuring.
Project (verb): to extend forward or out.
Project (noun): a plan in the mind
World: a natural grand division. (Note that you originally wrote
“word” instead of “world.”)
T 2 A 3. We will refer later to
projection as related to both mental illness and mental health. It will also be
commented on that Lucifer literally projected himself from heaven. We also have
observed that man can create an empty shell, but cannot create nothing at all.
Page T(63) 63 This emptiness
provides the screen for the misuse of projection.
T 2 A 4. The Garden of Eden,
which is described as a literal garden in the Bible, was not originally an
actual garden at all. It was merely a mental state of complete need-lack. Even
in the literal account, it is noteworthy that the pre-Separation state was
essentially one in which man needed nothing. The Tree of Knowledge, again an
overly-literal concept, (as is clearly shown by the subsequent reference to
“eating of the fruit of the tree”) is a symbolic reference to some of the
misuses of knowledge referred to in the section immediately preceding this one.
There is, however, considerable clarification of this concept, which must be
understood before the real meaning of the “detour into fear” can be fully
comprehended. Projection, as defined above, (this refers to the verb) is a
fundamental attribute of God, which he also gave to his Son. In the Creation,
God projected his Creative Ability out of Himself toward the Souls which He
created, and also imbued them with the same loving wish (or will) to create. We
have commented before on the FUNDAMENTAL error involved in confusing what has
been created with what is being created. We have also
emphasized that man, insofar as the term relates to Soul, has not only been
fully Created, but also been created perfect. There is no emptiness in him. The
next point, too, has already been made, but bears repetition here. The Soul,
because of its own likeness to its Creator, is creative. No Child of God is
capable of losing this ability, because it is inherent in what he IS.
T 2 A 5. Whenever projection in
its inappropriate sense is utilized, it ALWAYS implies that some emptiness (or
lack of everything) must exist, and that it is within man’s ability to put his
own ideas there INSTEAD of the truth. If you will consider carefully what this
entails, the following will become quite apparent:
First,
the assumption is implicit that what God has Created can be changed by the mind
of Man.
Second,
the concept that what is perfect can be rendered imperfect (or wanting) is
intruded.
Third,
the belief that man can distort the Creations of God (including himself) has
arisen, and is tolerated.
Fourth,
that since man can create himself, the direction of his own creation is up to
him.
T 2 A 6. These related
distortions represent a picture of what actually occurred in the Separation.
None of this existed before, nor does it actually exist now. The world, as
defined above, WAS made as a natural grand division, or projecting outward of
God. That is why everything which He Created is like Him.
T 2 A 7. It should be noted
that the opposite of pro is con. Strictly speaking, then, the opposite of
projecting is conjecting, a term which referred to a state of uncertainty or
guess work. Other errors arise in connection with ancillary defenses, to be
considered later. For example, dejection, which is obviously associated with
depression, injection, which can be misinterpreted readily enough, in terms of
possession fallacies (particularly penetration), and rejection, which is
clearly associated with denial. It should be noted also that rejection can be
used as refusing, a term which necessarily involves a perception of what is
refused as something unworthy.
T 2 A 8. Projection as
undertaken by God was very similar to the kind of inner radiance which the
Children of the Father inherit from Him. It is important to note that the term
“project outward” necessarily implies that the real source of projection is
internal.
Page T(65) -65 This is as true of the
Son as of the Father.
T 2 A 9. The world, in its
original connotation, included both the proper creation of man by God, AND the
proper creation by man in his Right Mind. The latter required the endowment of
man by God with free will, because all loving creation is freely given. Nothing
in either of these statements implies any sort of level involvement, or, in
fact, anything except one continuous line of creation, in which all aspects are
of the same order.
T 2 A 10. When the “lies of the serpent” were
introduced, they were specifically called lies because they are not true. When
man listened, all he heard was untruth. He does not have to continue to believe
what is not true, unless he chooses to do so. All of his miscreations can
disappear in the well known “twinkling of an eye,” because it is a
visual misperception.
T 2 A 11. Man’s spiritual eye can sleep, but as
will shortly appear in the notes (reference Bob, elevator operator) a sleeping
eye can still see. One translation of the Fall, a view emphasized by Mary Baker
Eddy, and worthy of note, is that “a deep sleep fell upon Adam.” While the Bible
continues to associate this sleep as a kind of anesthetic utilized for
protection of Adam during the creation of Eve, Mrs. Eddy was correct in
emphasizing that nowhere is there any reference made to his waking up. While
Christian Science is clearly incomplete, this point is much in its favor.
T 2 A 12. The history of man in the world as he
saw it has not been characterized by any genuine or comprehensive re-awakening,
or re-birth.
Page T(66) -66 This is impossible as
long as man projects in the spirit of miscreation. It still remains within him
to project as God projected his own Spirit to him. In reality, this is his ONLY
choice, because his free will was made for his own joy in creating the perfect.
T 2 A 13. All fear is ultimately reducible to the
basic misperception of man’s ability to USURP the power of God. It is again
emphasized that he neither CAN nor HAS been able to do this. In this statement
lies the real justification for his escape from fear. This is brought about by
his acceptance of the Atonement, which places him in a position to realize that
his own errors never really occurred.
T 2 A 14. When the deep sleep fell upon Adam, he
was then in a condition to experience nightmares, precisely because he was
sleeping. If a light is suddenly turned on while someone is dreaming, and the
content of his dream is fearful, he is initially likely to interpret the light
itself as part of the content of his own dream. However, as soon as he awakens,
the light is correctly perceived as the release from the dream, which is no
longer accorded reality. I would like to conclude this with the Biblical
injunction “Go ye and do likewise.” It is quite apparent
that this depends on the kind of knowledge which was NOT referred to by the
“Tree of Knowledge” which bore lies as fruit. The knowledge that illuminates
rather than obscures is the knowledge which not only makes you free, but also
shows you clearly that you ARE free.
Lead in for p. 61 (after
insert)
T 2 A 15. The preceding sections were inserted
because of the necessity of distinguishing between real and false knowledge.
Having made this distinction, it is well to return to the errors already listed
a while back. It might be well to recapitulate them here. The first involved
the fallacy that only the physical is real. The second involved things rather
than people. The third involves the endowment of the physical with non-physical
properties. And the fourth clarified the misuse of knowledge. All of them were
subsumed under possession fallacies. The denial mechanism for three has already
been set forth in some detail, and will also continue after the following:
(Retyped)
T 2 A 16. The corresponding denial mechanism for
1) is the sense of PHYSICAL inability, or IMPOTENCE. The denial mechanism for
2) is often bankruptcy. Collectors of things often drive themselves well beyond
their financial means, in an attempt to force discontinuance. If this idea of
cessation cannot be tolerated, a strange compromise involving BOTH insatiable
possessiveness and insatiable throwing-away (bankruptcy) may result. An example
is the inveterate or compulsive gambler, particularly the horse-racing addict.
Here, the conflicted drive is displaced both from people AND things, and is
invested in animals. The implied DEROGATION of people is the cause of the
underlying EXTREME superstition of the horse racing addict.
T 2 A 17. The alcoholic is in a similar position,
except that his hostility is more inward than outward directed.
T 2 A 18. Defenses aimed at protecting (or
retaining) error are particularly hard to undo, because they introduce
second-order misperceptions which obscure the underlying errors still further.
T 2 A 19. The pseudo-corrective mechanism of
three is apt to be more varied because of the more inclusive nature of the
error, which has already been mentioned. Some of the possibilities are listed
below:
T 2 A 20. One aspect of the possession/possessed
conflict can be raised to predominance. If this is attempted in connection with
POSSESSING, it leads to the paranoid solution. The underlying component of
“being possessed” is retained in the “persecution” fantasies, which are
generally concomitants.
T 2 A 21. If “being possessed” is brought to
ascendance, a state of some sort of possession by external forces results, but
NOT with a major emphasis on attacking others. Attack BY others becomes the
more obvious component. In the more virulent forms, there is a sense of being
possessed by demons, and unless there is vacillation with a), a catatonic
solution is more likely than a paranoid one.
T 2 A 22. The FOCUSED paranoid has become more
rigid in his solution, and centers on ONE source of projection to escape from
vacillation. (Aside: It should be noted that this type of paranoia is an upside
down form of religion, because of its obvious attempt to unify into oneness.)
T 2 A 23. Both 1, 2, and 4 are more likely to
produce neurotic rather
than psychotic states, though this is by no means guaranteed. However, 3 is
inherently more vulnerable to the psychotic correction, again because of the
more fundamental level confusion which is involved.
T 2 A 24. It should be noted, however, that the
greater fear which is induced by 3 can ITSELF reach psychotic proportions, thus
forcing the individual closer and closer to a psychotic solution.
T 2 A 25. It is emphasized here that these
differences have no effect at all on the miracle, which can heal any of them
with equal ease. This is because of the miracle’s inherent avoidance of
within-error distinctions. Its SOLE concern is to distinguish between truth, on
the one hand, and ALL kinds of error, on the other. This is why some miracles
SEEM to be of greater magnitude than others. But remember the first point in
this course, i.e., that there is no order of difficulty in miracles.
T 2 A 26. The emphasis on mental illness which is
marked in these notes reflects the “UNDOING” aspect of the miracle. The “DOING”
aspect is, of course, much more important. But a true miracle cannot occur on a
false basis. Sometimes the undoing must precede it.
T 2 A 27. At other times, both can occur
simultaneously, but you are not up to this at the moment.
T 2 A 28. Further, insights into mental illness
can be misused, and lead to preoccupation with one’s own symptoms. This is why
this area is less constructive for most people than a course primarily devoted
to mental health. However, some professions will find (some?) principles of
mental illness constructive, especially those which are concerned with mental
illness in others. This obviously includes psychologists.
T 2 A 29. The obvious correction for ALL types of
the possession-fallacy is to redefine possession correctly. In the sense of
“taking over,” the concept does not exist at all in divine reality, which is
the only level of reality where real existence is a meaningful term.
T 2 A 30. No one CAN be “taken over” unless he
wills to be. However, if he places his mind under tyranny, rather than
authority, he intrudes the submission/dominance concept onto free will
himself. This produces the obvious contradiction inherent in any formulation
that associates free will with imprisonment. Even in very mild forms, this kind
of association is risky, and may spread quite unexpectedly, particularly under
external stress. This is because it can be internally controlled ONLY if
EXTERNAL conditions are peaceful. This is not safe, because external conditions
are produced by the thoughts of many, not all of whom are pure in heart as yet.
T 2 A 31. Why should you be at THEIR mercy? This
issue is VERY closely related to the whole possession issue. You insist on
thinking that people CAN possess you, if you believe that their thoughts (or
the external environment) can affect you, regardless of WHAT they think. You
are perfectly unaffected by ALL expressions of lack of love. These can be
either from yourself and others, or from yourself to others, or from others to
you. (I’m glad you passed that test. It was crucial. This is reference to Helen
Schucman reluctance to take dictations as given.)
T 2 A 32. Peace is an attribute in YOU. You
cannot find it outside. All mental illness is
some form of EXTERNAL searching. Mental health is INNER peace. It enables you
to remain unshaken by lack of love from without, and capable, through your own
miracles of correcting the external conditions, which proceed from lack of love
in others.
T 2 B. The Re-interpretation of Defenses (Notes 5:79)
T 2 B 1. When you are afraid of
ANYTHING, you are acknowledging its power to hurt you. Remember that where your
heart is, there is your treasure also. This means that
you believe in what you VALUE.
Page T(73) -73 If you are AFRAID, you
are VALUING WRONG. Human understanding will inevitably value wrong, and by
endowing all human thoughts with equal power, will inevitably DESTROY peace.
This is why the Bible speaks of “The peace of God which PASSETH (human)
understanding.”
T 2 B 2. THIS peace is totally
incapable of being shaken by human errors of any kind. It denies the ability of
anything which is not of God to effect you in any way.
T 2 B 3. This is the PROPER use
of denial. It is not used to HIDE anything, but it IS used to correct error. It
brings ALL error into the light, and since error and darkness are the same, it
abolishes error automatically.
T 2 B 4. True denial is a very
powerful protective device. You can and should deny any belief that error can hurt
you. This kind of denial is NOT a concealment device, but a correction device.
The “Right Mind” of the mentally healthy DEPENDS on it.
T 2 B 5. You can do ANYTHING I
ask. I have asked you to perform miracles, and
have made it VERY clear that these are NATURAL, CORRECTIVE, HEALING, and
UNIVERSAL. There is nothing good they cannot do. But they cannot be performed
in the spirit of doubt. Remember my own
question, before you ask yours “Oh ye of little faith, wherefore didst thou DOUBT.” (Reference to Christ
and the apostles walking on water.)
T 2 B 6. You have asked
YOURSELVES why you cannot really incorporate my words (the idea of cannibalism
in connection with the Sacrament is a reflection of a distorted view of
sharing. I told you before that the word “thirst” in connection with the Spirit
was used in the Bible because of the limited understanding of those to whom I
spoke. I also told you NOT to use it. The same holds for expressions like
“feeding on.”)
Page T(74) -74 Symbiosis is
misunderstood by the mentally ill, who use it that way. But I also told you
that you must recognize your total dependence on God, a statement which you did
not like.)
T 2 B 7. God and the Souls He
created ARE symbiotically related. They are COMPLETELY dependent on each other.
The creation of the Soul itself has already been perfectly accomplished, but
the creation BY Souls has not. God created Souls so He could depend on them
BECAUSE He created them perfectly. He gave them His peace so they would not be
shaken, and would be unable to be deceived. Whenever you are afraid, you ARE
deceived. Your mind is NOT serving your Soul. This literally starves the Soul
by denying its daily bread. Remember the poem
about the Holy Family which crossed your mind last night:
“Where tricks of words are never said
And mercy is as plain as bread.”
The
reason why that had such a strong impact on you originally was because you knew
what it MEANT.
T 2 B 8. God offers ONLY mercy.
Your own words should ALWAYS reflect only mercy, because that is what you have
received, and that is what you should GIVE. Justice is a temporary expedient,
or an attempt to teach man the meaning of mercy. Its JUDGMENTAL side rises only
because man is capable of INJUSTICE if that is what his mind creates. You are
afraid of God’s will because you have used your own will, which He created in
the likeness of His own, to MISCREATE.
T 2 B 9. What you do NOT
realize is that the mind can miscreate only when it is NOT free. An imprisoned
mind is not free by definition. It is possessed, or held back, by ITSELF. Its
will is therefore limited, and not free to assert itself.
T 2 B 10. The three things that crossed your
mind, which was comparatively free at the time, are perfectly relevant:
T 2 B 11. 1. It is alright to remember the past,
PROVIDED you also remember that ANYTHING you suffer is because of YOUR OWN
ERRORS.
T 2 B 12. 2. In this context, your remark that
“after the burning, I swore if I ever saw him again, I would (not) (“Not” was
written in later) recognize him. Note, by the way, that you did not put in the
“not” until afterwards. That is because your inherent correction-device was
working properly at the moment. The result is that you are NOT DENYING ME.
T 2 B 13. 3. The story about Hinda. This was an
excellent example of misperception which led to a totally unwarranted fear of a
PERSON. (Helen Schucman story refers to a very young child who fell down the
stairs when Helen Schucman had arms open in a welcoming gesture at bottom of
stairs. For years afterwards, Hinda screamed upon seeing Helen Schucman.) The
mis-step which caused her fall had nothing at all to do with you, just as your
own mis-steps have nothing at all to do with me.
T 2 B 14. Denial of error is a very powerful
defense of truth. We have slowly been shifting the emphasis from the negative
to the positive use of denial. Remember, we have already stated that denial is
not a purely negative device; it results in positive miscreation. That is the
way the mentally ill DO employ it.
T 2 B 15. But remember a very early thought of your own,
“Never underestimate the power of denial.” In the service of the “Right Mind,”
the denial of ERROR frees the mind and re-establishes the freedom of the will.
When the will is REALLY free, it CANNOT miscreate, because it recognizes ONLY
TRUTH.
T 2 B 16. Projection arises out of FALSE DENIAL.
Not out of its proper use. My own role in the Atonement IS one of true
projection, i.e., I can project to YOU the affirmation of truth. If you project
error to me (or to yourself) you are interfering with the process. My use of
projection, which can also be yours, is NOT based on faulty denial. But it DOES
involve the very powerful use of the denial of error.
T 2 B 17. The miracle worker is one who accepts
my kind of denial and projection, unites his own inherent abilities to deny and
project with mine, and imposes them back on himself and others. This
establishes the total lack of threat anywhere. Together we can then work for
the real time of peace, which is Eternal.
T 2 B 18. I inspired Bob (ref. to elevator man
who took Helen Schucman down from her apt.) to make that remark to you, and it
is a pity that you heard only the last part. But you can still use that. His
remark ended with: “Every shut eye is not asleep.” Since your own vision is
much improved at the moment, we will go on a while.
T 2 B 19. Freud’s identification
of mechanisms was quite correct, as was his recognition of their creative
ability. They can INDEED create man’s perception, both of himself and his surroundings.
T 2 B 20. But Freud’s limitations induced
inevitable limits on his own perception. He made two kinds of errors.
T 2 B 21. The first is that he saw only how the
mechanisms worked in the mentally ill.
T 2 B 22. The second is his own denial of the
mechanism of the Atonement.
T 2 B 23. Let us take up the first, because a
clear understanding of the second depends on it.
T 2 B 24. Denial should be directed only to
error, and projection should be limited to truth. You should truly give as you
have truly received. The Golden Rule can work effectively
only on this basis.
T 2 B 25. Intellectualization is a poor word,
which stems from the brain-mind confusion. “Right-Mindedness” is better. This
device defends the RIGHT MIND, and gives it control over the body.
“Intellectualization” implies a split, whereas “Right-Mindedness” involves
healing.
T 2 B 26. Withdrawal is properly employed in the
service of withdrawing from the desert. It is NOT a device for escape, but for
consolidation. There IS only One Mind.
T 2 B 27. Dissociation is quite similar. You
should split yourself off from error, but only in defense of integration.
T 2 B 28. Detachment is essentially a weaker form
of dissociation. This is one of the major areas of withholding that both you
and Bill are engaging in.
T 2 B 29. Flight can be undertaken in whatever
direction you choose, but note that the concept itself implies flight FROM
something. Flight from error is perfectly appropriate.
T 2 B 30. Distantiation is a way of putting
distance between yourself and what you SHOULD fly from.
T 2 B 31. Regression is a real effort to return
to your own original state. In this sense, it is utilized to RESTORE, not to go
back to the less mature.
T 2 B 32. Sublimation should be associated with
the SUBLIME.
T 2 B 33. There are many other so-called
“dynamic” concepts which are profound errors due essentially to the misuse of
defenses. Among them is the concept of different levels of aspiration, which
results from real level confusion.
T 2 B 34. However, the main point to be
understood from these notes is that you can defend truth as well as error, and
in fact, much better.
T 2 B 35. So
far we have concentrated on ends rather than means because unless you regard an
end as worth achieving, you will not devote yourself to the means by which it
can BE achieved. Your own question enabled me to shift the emphasis from end to
means. (Question asked was “how can we incorporate this material?”) You and
Bill HAVE accepted the end as valuable, thus signifying your willingness to use
defenses to ensure it.
T 2 B 36. The
means are easier to clarify after the true worth of the goal itself is firmly
established.
T 2 B 37. Everyone defends his own treasure. You
do not have to tell him to do this, because HE will do so automatically. The
real question still remains WHAT do you treasure, and HOW MUCH do you treasure
it?
T 2 B 38. Once you learn to consider these two
points, and bring them into ALL your actions as the true criteria for behavior,
I will have little difficulty in clarifying the means. You have not learned to
be consistent about this as yet. I have therefore concentrated on showing you
that the means ARE available whenever you DO ask.
T 2 B 39. You can save a lot of time, however, if
you do not need to extend this step unduly. The correct focus will shorten it
immeasurably.
T 2 B 40. Papers will be very easy to write as
this time is shortened.
T 2 B 41. The Atonement is the ONLY
defense which cannot be used destructively. That is because, while everyone
must eventually join it, it was not a device which was generated by man. The
Atonement PRINCIPLE was in effect long before the Atonement itself was begun.
The Principle was love, and the Atonement itself, was an ACT of love. Acts were
not necessary before the Separation, because the time-space belief did not
exist.
T 2 B 42. It was only after the Separation that
the defense of Atonement, and the necessary conditions for its fulfillment were
planned. It became increasingly apparent that all of the defenses which man can
choose to use constructively or destructively were not enough to save him. It
was therefore decided that he needed a defense which was so splendid that he
could not misuse it, although he COULD refuse it. His will could not turn it
into a weapon of attack, which is the inherent characteristic of all other
defenses. The Atonement thus becomes the only defense which was NOT a two-edged
sword.
T 2 B 43. The Atonement actually began long
before the Crucifixion. Many Souls offered their efforts on behalf of the
Separated Ones but they could not withstand the strength of the attack, and had
to be brought back. Angels came, too, but their protection was not enough,
because the Separated ones were not interested in peace. They had already split
themselves, and were bent on dividing rather than reintegrating. The levels
they introduced into themselves turned against each other, and they, in turn,
turned against each other. They established differences, divisions, cleavages,
dispersion, and all the other concepts related to the increasing splits they
produced.
T 2 B 44. Not being in their Right Minds, they
turned their defenses from protection to assault, and acted literally insanely.
It was essential to introduce a split-proof device which could be used ONLY to
heal, if it was used at all.
T 2 B 45. The Atonement was built
into the space-time belief in order to set a limit on the need for the belief,
and ultimately to make learning complete. The Atonement IS the final lesson.
Learning itself, like the classrooms in which it occurs, is temporary. Let all
those who overestimate human intelligence remember this. (Helen Schucman
questions last sentence, which she perceives as threatening.) The ability to
learn has no value when change of understanding is no longer necessary. The
eternally creative have nothing to learn. Only after the Separation was it
necessary to direct the creative force to learning, because changed behavior
had become mandatory.
T 2 B 46. Human beings can learn to improve their
behavior, and can also learn to become better and better learners. This
increase serves (Helen Schucman notes that this was written “served”) to bring
them in closer and closer accord with the Sonship. But the Sonship itself is a
perfect creation, and perfection is not a matter of degree. Only while there
are different degrees is learning meaningful. The evolution of man is merely a
process by which he proceeds from one degree to the next. He corrects his
previous missteps by stepping forward. This represents a process which is
actually incomprehensible in temporal terms, because he RETURNS as he
progresses. (Originally, was “goes forward,” rather than “progresses”)
T 2 B 47. The Atonement is the device by which he
can free himself from the past as he goes ahead. It UNDOES his past errors,
thus making it unnecessary for him to keep retracing his steps without
advancing toward his return.
T 2 B 48. In this sense, the Atonement saves
time, but, like the miracle which serves it, does not abolish it. As long as
there is need for Atonement, there is need for time. But the Atonement, as a
completed plan, does have a unique relationship TO time. Until the Atonement is
finished, its various phases will proceed IN time, but the whole Atonement
stands at its end. At this point, the bridge of the return has been built.
T 2 B 49. (Note to Helen Schucman. The reason
this is upsetting you is because the Atonement is a TOTAL commitment. You still
think this is associated with loss. This is the same mistake ALL the Separated
ones make, in one way or another. They cannot believe that a defense which
CANNOT attack also IS the best defense. Except for this misperception, the
angels COULD have helped them. What do you think “the
Page T(82) 82 meek shall inherit the
earth” MEANS? They will literally take it over because of their strength. A
two-way defense is inherently weak, precisely BECAUSE it has two edges it can
turn against the self very unexpectedly. This tendency CANNOT be controlled
EXCEPT by miracles.)
T 2 B 50. The miracle turns the defense of
Atonement to the protection of the inner self, which, as it becomes more and
more secure; assumes its natural talent of protecting others. The inner self
knows itself as both a brother AND a son.
T 2 B 51. (The above notes were taken with great
difficulty by Helen Schucman, and constitute the only series thus far that were
written very slowly. When Helen Schucman asked about this, she was told, “don't
worry about the notes. They are right, but YOU are not sufficiently
Right-Minded yet to write about the Atonement with comfort. You will write
about it yet with joy.)
T 2 B 52. (Aside from Helen Schucman: Last night
I felt briefly but intensely depressed, temporarily under the impression that I
was abandoned. I tried, but couldn’t get through at all. After a while, I
decided to give up for the time being, and He said, “don't worry. I will never
leave you or forsake you.” I did feel a little better, and decided I was really
not sick, so I could return to my exercises. While I was exercising, I had some
part-vision experiences which I found only mildly frightening at times, and
quite reassuring at others.
T 2 B 53. I am not too sure of the sequence, but
it began with a VERY clear assurance of love, and an equally clear emphasis on
my own great value, beauty, and purity. Things got a little confusing after
that. First, the idea of “Bride of Christ” occurred to me with vaguely
inappropriate “undertones.” Then there was a repetition of “the way of Love,”
and a restatement of an earlier experience, now as if it were FROM Him TO me:
“Behold the Handmaid of the Lord; Be it done unto you according to His Word.” (This threw me into
panic before, but at that time, it was stated in the more accurate Biblical
phrasing: “Be it done unto ME according to HIS Word.”)
Page T(83) 83 This time I was a bit
uneasy, but remembered I had misperceived it last time, and was probably still
not seeing it right. Actually, it is really just a statement of allegiance to
the Divine Service, which can hardly be dangerous.
T 2 B 54. Then there was a strange sequence, in
which Christ seemed to be making very obvious advances, which became quite
sexual in my perception of them. I ALMOST thought briefly that he turned into a
devil. I got just a LITTLE scared, and the possession idea came in for a while,
but I thought it SO silly, that there is no point in taking it seriously.
T 2 B 55. (As I am writing this, I
remember that thing in the book about the demon lover, which once THROUGH me
(note spelling, “threw”) into a fit. I am upset, but the spelling slip is
reassuring.
T 2 B 56. This morning we reviewed the whole
episode. He said he was “VERY pleased at the COMPARATIVE lack of fear, and also
the concomitant awareness that it WAS misperception. This showed much greater
strength, and a much increased Right-Mindedness. This is because defenses are
now being used much better, on behalf of truth MORE than error, though not
completely so.
T 2 B 57. The weaker use of mis-projection is
shown by my recognition that it can't REALLY be that way, which became possible
as soon as denial was applied against error, NOT truth. This permitted a much
greater awareness of alternative interpretations.
T 2 B 58. It was also explained (the shift to the
passive form instead of “He also explained” should be noted. This is an
expression of fear.) “Remember the section in “Letters from the Scattered
Brotherhood” you read last evening about 'Hold fast', and please do so.”)
Page T(84) 83a (NOTE)
T 2 B 59. (Note made on 11/15 by Helen Schucman
re B’s remark concerning[178]
top of p.5, 11/13.[179])
Yes, but I doubt if it says this is inevitable. It may entail more mis-will than
we think. The above may have been too passively interpreted. Note that Bill Did
NOT ask MY will re same. If he had, HE would have felt better.
Page T(85) 84
T 2 B 60. You know that when defenses are
disrupted there is a period of real disorientation, accompanied by fear, guilt,
and usually vacillations between anxiety and depression. This process is
different only in that defenses are not being disrupted, but re-interpreted,
even though it may be experienced as the same thing.
T 2 B 61. In the re-interpretation of defenses,
they are not disrupted but their use for ATTACK is lost. Since this means they
can be used only ONE way, they became MUCH stronger, and much more dependable.
They no longer oppose the Atonement, but greatly facilitate it. The Atonement
can only be accepted within you.
T 2 B 62. You have perceived it largely as
EXTERNAL thus far, and that is why your EXPERIENCE of it has been minimal. You
have been SHOWN the chalice many times, but have not accepted it “for
yourself.” Your major improper use of defenses is now largely limited to
externalization. Do not fail to appreciate your own remarkable progress in this
respect. You perceived it first as a vessel of some sort whose purpose was
uncertain but which might be a piss-pot. You DID notice, however, that the
INSIDE was gold, while the OUTSIDE, though shiny, was silver. This was a
recognition of the fact that the INNER part is more precious than the OUTER
side, even though both are resplendent, though with different value.
T 2 B 63. The re-interpretation of defenses is
essential to break open the INNER light. Since the Separation, man’s defenses
have been used almost entirely to defend themselves AGAINST the Atonement, and
thus maintain their separation. They generally see this as a need to protect
the body from external intrusion (or intruding), and this kind of misperception
is largely responsible for the homosexual fallacy, as well as your own
pregnancy fears. The so-called “anal” behavior is a distorted attempt to
“steal” the Atonement, and deny its worth by concealing it, and holding onto it
with a bodily receptacle, which is regarded as particularly vicious. “Oral”
fantasies are rather similar in purpose, except that they stem more from a
sense of deprivation, and insatiable thirst which results. “Anal” fallacies are
more of a refusal to give, while oral fantasies emphasize a distorted need to
take. The main
Page T(86) -85 error in both is the
belief that the body can be used as a means for attaining Atonement.
T 2 B 64. Perceiving the body as the Temple is
only the first step in correcting this kind of distortion. (Helen Schucman
scalded hand, and looked for butter to put on. It occurred to her that the
Atonement was the cure. Burn appeared to be minimal, and caused little discomfort.)
T 2 B 65. Seeing the body as the Temple alters
part of the misperception, but not all of it. It DOES recognize, however, that
the concept of addition or subtraction in PHYSICAL terms is not appropriate.
But the next step is to realize that a Temple is not a building at all. Its
REAL holiness lies in the INNER altar, around which the building is built. The
inappropriate emphasis which men have put on beautiful Church BUILDINGS is a
sign of their own fear of Atonement, and unwillingness to reach the altar itself.
The REAL beauty of the Temple cannot be seen with the physical eye. The
spiritual eye, on the other hand, cannot see the building at all, but it
perceives the altar within with perfect clarity. This is because the spiritual
eye has perfect vision.
T 2 B 66. For perfect effectiveness, the chalice
of the Atonement belongs at the center of the inner altar, where it undoes the
Separation, and restores the wholeness of the Spirit. Before the Separation,
the mind was invulnerable to fear, because fear did not exist. Both the
Separation and the fear were MISCREATIONS of the mind, which have to be undone.
This is what the Bible means by the “Restoration of the Temple.” It DOES NOT
mean the restoration of the building, but it DOES mean the opening of the altar
to receive the Atonement.
T 2 B 67. This heals the Separation, and places
within man the one defense against all Separation-mind errors which can make
him perfectly invulnerable.
T 2 B 68. The acceptance of the Atonement by
everyone is only a matter of time. In fact, both TIME and MATTER were created
for this purpose. This appears to contradict free will, because of the
inevitability of this decision. If you review the idea carefully, you will
realize that this is not true. Everything is limited in some way by the manner
of its creation. Free will can temporize, and is capable of enormous
procrastination. But it cannot depart entirely from its Creator, who set the
limits on its ability to miscreate by virtue of its own real purpose.
T 2 B 69. The misuse of will engenders a
situation which, in the extreme, becomes altogether intolerable. Pain
thresholds can be high, but they are not limitless. Eventually, everybody
begins to recognize, however dimly, that there MUST be a better way. As this recognition
is more firmly established, it becomes a perceptual turning-point. This
ultimately reawakens the spiritual eye, simultaneously weakening the investment
in physical sight. The alternating investment in the two types or levels of
perception is usually experienced as conflict for a long time, and can become
very acute.
T 2 B 70. But the outcome is as certain as God.
The spiritual eye literally CANNOT SEE error, and merely looks for Atonement.
All the solutions which the physical eyes seek, dissolve in its sight. The
spiritual eye, which looks within, recognizes immediately that the altar has
been defiled, and needs to be repaired and protected. Perfectly aware of the
RIGHT defense, it passes over all others, looking past error to truth. Because
of the real strength of ITS vision, it pulls the will into its own service, and
forces the mind to concur. This reestablishes the true power of the will, and
makes it increasingly unable to tolerate delay. The mind then realizes, with
increasing certitude, that delay is only a way of increasing unnecessary pain,
which it need not tolerate at all. The pain threshold drops accordingly, and
the mind becomes increasingly sensitive to what it would once have regarded as
very minor intrusions of discomfort.
T 2 B 71. The Children of God are entitled to
perfect comfort, which comes from a sense of perfect trust. Until they achieve
this, they waste themselves and their true creative power on useless attempts
to make themselves more comfortable by inappropriate means. But the real means
is ALREADY provided, and does not involve any efforts on their part at all.
Their egocentricity usually misperceives this as personally insulting, an
interpretation which obviously arises from their misperception of themselves.
Egocentricity and communion cannot coexist. Even the terms themselves are
contradictory.
T 2 B 72. The Atonement is the only gift which is
worthy of being offered to the Altar of God. This is because of the inestimable
value of the Altar itself. It was created perfect, and is entirely worthy of
receiving perfection. God IS lonely without His SOULS, and THEY are lonely
without Him. Remember the “spiritual” (a VERY good term) which begins with “And
God stepped down from Heaven and said: I'M lonely - - I'll make ME a World.”
The world WAS a way of healing the Separation, and the Atonement is the
GUARANTEE that the device will ultimately do so.
T 2 B 73. (Helen Schucman request
for special message for Bill Tell Bill that his delaying tactics are holding him
back. He does not really understand detachment, distantiation, and withdrawal.
He is interpreting them as “holding himself aloof” from the Atonement.)
Page T(89)
-88
T 2 C. Healing as Release from Fear (Notes 5:112)
T 2 C 1. The new emphasis will now
be on healing. The miracle is the means, the Atonement the principle, and the
healing is the result. Those who speak of “the miracle OF healing” are
combining two orders of reality inappropriately. Healing is NOT a miracle. The
Atonement, or the final miracle, is a REMEDY. It is purely a means, while any
type of healing is a result.
T 2 C 2. The order of error to
which Atonement is applied is irrelevant. Essentially, ALL healing is the
release from fear. But to undertake this you cannot be fearful yourself.
T 2 C 3. You do not understand
healing because of your own fear. I have been hinting throughout (and once
stated very directly, because you were unfearful at the time) that you MUST
heal others. The reason is that their healing merely witnesses or attests to
yours.
T 2 C 4. A major step in the
Atonement plan is to undo error at ALL levels. Illness, which is really “not
Right Mindedness,” is the result of level confusion in the sense that it always
entails the misbelief that what is amiss in one level can adversely affect
another.
T 2 C 5. We have constantly
referred to miracles as the means of correcting level confusion. In reality,
all mistakes must be corrected at the level at which they occur. Only the mind
is capable of error. The body can ACT erroneously, but this is only because it
has responded to mis-Thought. The body cannot create, and the belief that it
CAN, a fundamental error responsible for most of the fallacies already referred
to, produces all physical symptoms.
T 2 C 6. All physical illness
represents a belief in magic. The whole distortion which created magic rested
on the belief that there is a creative ability in matter, which can control the
mind. This fallacy can work either way; i.e., it can be misbelieved either that
the mind can miscreate IN the body, or that the body can miscreate in the mind.
If it can be made clear
Page T(90) -89 that the mind, which
is the only level of creation, cannot create beyond itself, then neither
confusion need occur.
T 2 C 7. The reason why only
the mind can create is more obvious than may be immediately apparent. The Soul
has been created. The body is a learning device FOR the mind. Learning devices
are not lessons in themselves. Their purpose is merely to facilitate the
THINKING of the learner. The most that a faulty use of a learning device can do
is to fail to facilitate. It does not have the power in itself to introduce
actual learning errors.
T 2 C 8. The body, if properly
understood, shares the invulnerability of the Atonement to two-edged application.
This is not because the body is a miracle, but because it is not inherently
open to misinterpretation. The body is merely a fact. Its ABILITIES can be, and frequently are,
overevaluated. However, it is almost impossible to deny its existence. Those
who do are engaging in a particularly unworthy form of denial. (The use of the
word “unworthy” here implies simply that it is not necessary to protect the
mind by denying the un-mindful. There is little doubt that the mind can
miscreate. If one denies this unfortunate aspect of its power, one is also
denying the power itself.)
T 2 C 9. All material means
which man accepts as remedies for bodily ills are simply restatements of magic
principles. It was the first level of the error to believe that the body created
its own illness. Thereafter, it is a second mis-step to attempt to heal it
through non-creative agents. It does not follow, however, that the application
of these very weak corrective devices are evil. Sometimes the illness has
sufficiently great a hold over an individual’s mind to render him inaccessible
to Atonement. In this case, one may be wise to utilize a compromise approach to
mind and body, in which something from the OUTSIDE is temporarily given healing
Page T(91) -90 belief. This is because
the last thing that can help the non-Right-Minded (or the sick) is an increase
in fear. They are already in a fear-weakened state. If they are inappropriately
exposed to a straight and undiluted miracle, they may be precipitated into
panic. This is particularly likely to occur when upside down perception has
induced the belief that miracles are frightening.
T 2 C 10. The value of the Atonement does not lie
in the manner in which it is expressed. In fact, if it is truly used it will
inevitably BE expressed in whatever way is most helpful to the receiver, not
the giver. This means that a miracle, to attain its full efficacy, MUST be
expressed in a language which the recipient can understand without fear. It
does not follow by any means that this is the highest level of communication of
which he is capable. But it DOES mean that it is the highest level of
communication of which he is capable NOW.
T 2 C 11. The whole aim of the miracle is to
RAISE the level of communication, not to impose regression (as improperly used)
upon it. Before it is safe to let miracle workers loose in this world, it is
essential that they understand fully the fear of release. Otherwise, they may
unwittingly foster the misbelief that release is imprisonment, which is very
prevalent. This misperception arose from the attempted protection device (or
misdefense) that harm can be limited to the body. This was because of the much
greater fear (which this one counteracts) that the mind can hurt itself.
Neither error is really meaningful, because the miscreations of the mind do not
really exist. That recognition is a far better protection device than any form
of level confusion, because of the advantages of introducing correction at the
level of the error.
T 2 C 12. It is essential that the remembrance of
the fact that ONLY mind can create at all remain with you. Implicit in this is
the corollary that correction belongs at the thought level, and NOT at either
level
Page T(92) -91 to which creation is
inapplicable. To repeat an earlier statement, and also to extend it somewhat,
the Soul is already perfect, and therefore does not require correction. The
body does not really exist, except as a learning device for the mind. This
learning device is not subject to errors of its own, because it was created,
but is NOT creating. It should be obvious, then, that correcting the creator
(or inducing it to give up miscreation) is the only application of creation
which is inherently meaningful at all.
T 2 C 13. We said before that magic is
essentially mindless, or the destructive (miscreated) use of mind. Physical
medicines are a form of “spells.” In one way, they are a more benign form, in
that they do not entail the possession fallacy which DOES enter when a mind
believes that it can possess another. Since this is considerably less
dangerous, though still incorrect, it has its advantages. It is particularly
helpful to the therapist who really wants to heal, but is still fearful
himself. By using physical means to do so, he is not engaging in any form of
enslavement, even though he is not applying the Atonement. This means that his
mind is dulled by fear, but is not actively engaged in distortion.
T 2 C 14. Those who are afraid of using the mind
to heal are right in avoiding it, because the very fact that they are afraid
HAS made them vulnerable to miscreation. They are therefore likely to
misunderstand any healing they might induce, and, because egocentricity and
fear usually occur together, may be unable to accept the real Source of the
healing. Under these conditions, it is safer for them to rely TEMPORARILY on
physical healing devices, because they cannot misperceive them as their own
creations. As long as their own vulnerability persists, it is essential to
preserve them from even attempting miracles.
T 2 C 15. We said in a previous section that the
miracle is an expression of miracle-Mindedness. Miracle-Mindedness merely means
Right-Mindedness in the sense that we are now using it. Right-Mindedness
neither exalts nor depreciates
Page T(93) -92 the mind of the
miracle worker nor of the miracle receiver. However, as a creative act, the
miracle need not await the Right-Mindedness of the receiver. In fact, its
purpose is to restore him TO his Right Mind. But it is essential that the
miracle worker be in his Right Mind, or he will be unable to reestablish
Right-Mindedness in someone else.
T 2 C 16. The healer who relies on his own
readiness is endangering his understanding. He is perfectly safe as long as he
is completely unconcerned about HIS readiness, but maintains a consistent trust
in MINE. (Errors of this kind produce some very erratic behavior, which usually
point up an underlying unwillingness to co-operate. Note that by inserting the
carbon backwards, Bill created a situation in which two copies did not exist.
This reflected two levels of confidence lack, one in My readiness to heal, and
the other in his own willingness to give.) These errors inevitably introduce
inefficiency into the miracle worker’s behavior, and temporarily disrupt his
miracle-mindedness. We might also make very similar comments about your own
hesitation about dictating at all. This is a larger error only because it
results in greater inefficiency. If you don’t say anything, nobody can use it,
including Me. We have established that for all corrective processes, the first
step is know that this is fear. Unless fear had entered, the corrective
procedure would never have become necessary. If your miracle working
propensities are not working, it is always because fear has intruded on your
Right-Mindedness, and has literally upset it (i.e. turned it upside down).
T 2 C 17. All forms of not-Right-Mindedness are
the result of refusal to accept the Atonement FOR YOURSELF. If the miracle
worker DOES accept it, he places himself in the position to recognize that
those who need to be healed are simply those who have NOT done so. The reason
why you felt the vast radiation range of your own inner illumination is because
you were aware that your Right-Mindedness IS healing.
Page T(94) -93 The sole responsibility of the miracle
worker is to accept Atonement himself. This means that he knows that mind is
the only creative level, and that its errors ARE healed by the Atonement. Once
he accepts this, HIS mind can only heal. By denying his mind any destructive
potential, and reinstating its purely constructive powers, he has placed
himself in a position where he can undo the level confusion of others. The
message which he then gives to others is the truth that THEIR MINDS are really
similarly constructive, and that their own miscreations cannot hurt them. By
affirming this, the miracle worker releases the mind from overevaluating its
own learning device (the body), and restores the mind to its true position as
the learner. It should be re-emphasized that the body does not learn, any more
than it creates. As a learning device, it merely follows the learner, but if it
is falsely endowed with self initiative, it becomes a serious obstruction to
the learning it should facilitate.
T 2 C 18. ONLY the mind is capable of
illumination. The Soul is already illuminated, and the body in itself is too
dense. The mind, however, can BRING its own illumination TO the body by
recognizing that density is the opposite of intelligence, and therefore unamenable
to independent learning. It is, however, easily brought into alignment with a
mind which has learned to look beyond density toward light.
T 2 C 19. Corrective learning always begins with
awakening the spiritual eye, and turning away from belief in physical sight.
The reason this entails fear is because man is afraid of what his spiritual eye
will see, which was why he closed it in the first place. We said before that
the spiritual eye cannot see error, and is capable only of looking beyond it to
the defense of Atonement. There is no doubt that the spiritual eye does produce
extreme discomfort by what it sees. The thing that man forgets is that the
discomfort
Page T(95) -94 is not the final
outcome of its perception. When the spiritual eye is permitted to look upon the
defilement of the altar, it also looks immediately toward Atonement. Nothing
which the spiritual eye perceives can induce fear. Everything that results from
accurate spiritual awareness merely is channelized toward correction. Discomfort
is aroused only to bring the need to correct forcibly into awareness.
T 2 C 20. What the physical eye sees is not
corrective, nor can it be corrected by any device which can be physically seen.
As long as a man believes in what his physical sight tells him, all his
corrective behavior will be misdirected. The reason why the real vision is
obscured is because man cannot endure to see his own defiled altar. But since
the altar has BEEN defiled, this fact becomes doubly dangerous unless it IS
perceived. This perception is totally non-threatening because of the Atonement.
The fear of healing arises in the end from an unwillingness to accept the
unequivocal fact that healing is necessary. The fear arises because of the
necessary willingness to look at what man has done to himself.
T 2 C 21. Healing was an ability which was lent
to man after the Separation, before which it was completely unnecessary. Like
all aspects of the space-time belief, healing ability is temporary. However, as
long as time persists, healing remains among the stronger human protections.
This is because healing always rests on charity, and charity is a way of
perceiving the true perfection of another, even if he cannot perceive it
himself. Most of the loftier concepts of which man is capable now are
time-dependent. Charity is really a weaker reflection of a much more powerful
love-encompassment, which is far beyond any form of charity that man can
conceive of as yet. Charity is essential to Right-Mindedness, in the limited
sense to which Right-Mindedness can now be attained. Charity is a way of
looking at another AS IF he had already gone far beyond his actual
accomplishment in time. Since his own thinking is faulty, he cannot see the
Atonement himself, or he would have no need for charity at all. The charity
which is accorded him is both an acknowledgment that he IS weak, and a
recognition that he COULD BE stronger. The way in which both of these beliefs
are stated clearly implies their dependence on time, making it quite apparent
that charity lies within the framework of human
Page T(96) 95 limitations, though
toward the higher levels.
T 2 C 22. We said before, twice in fact, that
only Revelation transcends time. The miracle, as an expression of true human
charity, can only shorten it at best. It must be understood, however, that
whenever a man offers a miracle to another, he IS shortening the suffering of
both. This introduces a correction into the Record, which corrects
retroactively as well as progressively.
Page T(97)
-96
T 2 D. Fear as Lack of Love (Notes 5:114)
T 2 D 1. You and Bill both
believe that “being afraid” is involuntary. But I have told you many times that
only CONSTRUCTIVE acts should be involuntary. We said that Christ-control can take
over everything that DOESN'T matter, and Christ-guidance can direct everything
that DOES, if you so will.
T 2 D 2. Fear cannot be
Christ-controlled, but it CAN be self-controlled. Fear is always associated
with what does not matter. It prevents Me from controlling it. The correction
is therefore a matter of YOUR will, because its presence shows that you have
raised the UNIMPORTANT to a higher level than it warrants. You have thus
brought it under your will, where it DOES NOT belong. This means YOU feel
responsible for it. The level confusion here is perfectly obvious.
T 2 D 3. The reason that I
cannot CONTROL fear for you is that you are attempting to raise to the mind
level the proper content of the lower-order reality. I do NOT foster level
confusion, but YOU can will to correct it.
T 2 D 4. You would not tolerate
insane behavior on your part, and would hardly advance the excuse that you
could not help it. Why should you tolerate insane thinking? There is a fallacy
here you would do well to look at clearly.
T 2 D 5. You both believe that
you ARE responsible for what you DO, but NOT for what you THINK. The truth is
that you ARE responsible for what you THINK, because it is only at this level
that you CAN exercise choice. What you DO comes from what you think. You cannot
separate the truth by giving autonomy to your behavior. This is controlled by
Me automatically, as soon as you place what you think under my guidance.
T 2 D 6. Whenever you are
afraid, it is a sure sign that you have allowed your mind to miscreate, i.e.,
have NOT allowed Me to guide it. It is pointless to believe that controlling
the outcome of mis-Thought
Page T(98) -97 can result in real
healing. When you are fearful, you have willed wrongly. This is why you feel
you are responsible for it.
T 2 D 7. You must change your
MIND, not your behavior, and this IS a matter of will. You do not need guidance
EXCEPT at the mind-level. Correction belongs ONLY at the level where creation
is possible. The term does not really mean anything at the symptom-level, where
it cannot work.
T 2 D 8. The correction of fear
IS your responsibility. When you ask for release from fear, you are implying
that it isn't. You should ask, instead, for help in the conditions which have
brought the fear about. This condition always entails a separated
Mind-willingness. At this level, you CAN help it.
T 2 D 9. You are much too
tolerant of Mind-wandering, thus passively condoning its miscreation. The
particular result never matters, but this fundamental error DOES. The fundamental
correction is always the same. Before you will to do anything, ask Me if your
will is in accord with Mine. If you are sure that it IS, there will BE no fear.
T 2 D 10. Fear is always a sign of strain, which
arises whenever the WILL to do conflicts with WHAT you do. This situation
arises in two major ways:
1) You can will to do
conflicting things, either simultaneously or successively. This produces
conflicting behavior, which would be tolerable to the self (though not
necessarily to others) except for the fact that the part of the will that wants
something ELSE is outraged.
2)You can BEHAVE as
you think you should, but without entirely WILLING to do so. This produces
consistent behavior, but entails great strain WITHIN the self.
T 2 D 11. If you think about it, you will realize
that in both cases the will and the behavior are out-of-accord, resulting in a
situation in which you are doing what you do NOT will. This arouses a sense of
coercion, which usually produces rage. The anger then invades the mind, and
projection in the wrong sense becomes likely. Depression or anxiety are
virtually certain.
T 2 D 12. Remember that whenever there is fear,
it is because YOU have NOT MADE UP YOUR MIND. Your will is split, and your
behavior inevitably becomes erratic. Correcting at the behavior level can shift
the error from the first type to the second, but will NOT obliterate the fear.
T 2 D 13. It is possible to reach a state in
which you bring your will under my guidance without much conscious effort, but
this implies the kind of habit pattern which neither you nor Bill has developed
dependably as yet.
T 2 D 14. Tell Bill that although he keeps
telling you that God will never ask you to do more than you can, he does not
understand it himself. God CANNOT ask more than you WILL. The strength to DO
comes from your own undivided will to do. There is NO strain in doing God’s
will as soon as it is also your own.
T 2 D 15. The lesson here is quite simple, but
particularly apt to be overlooked. I will therefore repeat it, URGING you to
listen. Only your mind can produce fear. It does so whenever it is conflicted
in what it wills, thus producing inevitable strain, because willing and doing
become discordant. This CANNOT be corrected by better DOING. But it CAN be
corrected by higher WILLING.
T 2 E. The Correction for Lack of Love (Notes T(5:120)
T 2 E 1. After taking the first
corrective step, i.e., “Knowing it IS fear,” you might benefit temporarily by
adding another next step BEFORE going on with the corrective process. Try
saying to yourself that you MUST have willed not to love somehow or somewhere,
or that fear which arises from behavior-will conflict could not have happened.
Then follow previous instructions.
T 2 E 2. If you consider what
the process really means, it is nothing more than a series of pragmatic steps
in the larger process of accepting the Atonement as THE remedy. From this
viewpoint, the steps can be reworded as follows:
1.) Know first this is fear.
2.) Fear arises from lack of love.
3.) The ONLY remedy for lack of love is perfect love.
4.) Perfect love IS the Atonement.
T 2 E 3. The final procedural
step (3) is inherent in the last statement (4). We have emphasized that the
miracle, or the EXPRESSION of Atonement, is always a sign of real respect from
the worthy TO the worthy. This worth IS re-established by the Atonement.
T 2 E 4. It is obvious, then,
that when you are afraid you have placed yourself in a position where you NEED
Atonement BECAUSE you have DONE something loveless because you WILLED without
love. This is precisely the situation for which the Atonement was offered. The
need for the remedy inspired its CREATION.
T 2 E 5. As long as you
recognize only the NEED for the remedy, you will remain fearful. However, as
soon as you REMEDY it, you have also abolished the fear. This is how TRUE
healing occurs.
T 2 E 6. Everyone experiences
fear, and nobody enjoys it. Yet, it would take very little Right-thinking to know
why it occurs. Neither you nor Bill have thought about it very much, either. (
I object at this point to the use of plural verb with a properly singular
subject - - Helen Schucman - - and remember that last time in a very similar
sentence, He said it correctly and I remembered it with real pleasure. This
real grammatical error makes me suspicious of the genuineness of these notes.
ANSWER: What it really shows is that YOU are not very receptive. The reason it
came out that way, is because you are projecting (in the inappropriate way)
your own anger, which has nothing to do with these notes. YOU made the error,
because you are not feeling loving, so you want me to sound silly, so you won't
have to pay attention. Actually, I am trying to get through against
considerable opposition, because you are not very happy, and I wish you were. I
thought I'd take a chance, even though you are so resistant, because I MIGHT be
able to make you feel better. You may be unable not to attack at all, but do
try to listen a little, too.)
T 2 E 7. Very few people
appreciate the real power of the mind. Nobody remains fully aware of it all the
time. This is inevitable in this world, because the human being has many things
he must do, and cannot engage in constant thought-watching. However, if he
hopes to spare himself from fear, there are some things he must realize, and
realize them fully, at least some of the time.
T 2 E 8. The mind is a very
powerful creator, and it never loses its creative force. It never sleeps. Every
instant it is creating, and ALWAYS as you will. Many of your ordinary
expressions reflect this. For example, when you say “don't give it a thought,”
you are implying that if you do not think about something, it will have no
effect on you. This is true enough.
T 2 E 9. On the other hand,
many other expressions are clear expressions of the prevailing LACK of
awareness of thought-power. For example, you say, “just an idle thought,” and
mean that the thought has no effect. You also speak of some actions as
“thoughtless,” implying that if the person HAD thought, he would not have
behaved as he did. You also use phrases like “thought provoking,” which is
bland enough, but the term “a provoking thought” means something quite
different.
T 2 E 10. While expressions like “think big” give
some recognition to the power of thought, they still come nowhere near the
truth. You do not expect to grow when you say it, because you don't really
believe it. It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a
power-surge that can literally move mountains.
T 2 E 11. It appears at first glance that to
believe such power about yourself is merely arrogant, but that is not the real
reason why you don't believe it.
T 2 E 12. People prefer to believe that their thoughts
cannot exert real control because they are literally AFRAID of them. Therapists
try to help people who are afraid of their own death wishes by depreciating the
power of the wish. They even attempt to “free” the patient by persuading him
that he can think whatever he wants, without ANY real effect at all.
T 2 E 13. There is a real dilemma here, which
only the truly right-minded can escape. Death wishes do not kill in the
physical sense, but they DO kill spiritually. ALL destructive thinking is
dangerous. Given a death wish, a man has no choice except to ACT upon his
thought, or behave CONTRARY TO it. He can thus choose ONLY between homicide and
fear. (See previous notes on will conflicts.) (NOTE I avoided this term in the
last series of notes intentionally, because it seemed too Rankian. Apparently,
there was a reason why this word should have been used last time. It is used in
this section for a very good reason.)
T 2 E 14. The other possibility is that he
depreciates the power of his thought. This is the usual psychoanalytic
approach. This DOES allay guilt, but at the cost of rendering thinking
impotent. If you believe that what you think is ineffectual, you may cease to
be overly afraid of it, but you are hardly likely to respect it, either. The
world is full of endless examples of how man has depreciated himself because he
is afraid of his own thoughts. In some forms of insanity, thoughts are
glorified, but this is only because the underlying depreciation was too
effective for tolerance.
T 2 E 15. The truth is that there ARE no “idle
thoughts.” ALL thinking produces form at some level. The reason why people are
afraid of ESP, and so often react against it, is because they KNOW that thought
can hurt them. Their OWN thoughts have made them vulnerable.
T 2 E 16. You and Bill, who complain all the time
about fear, still persist in creating it most of the time. I told you last time
that you cannot ask ME to release you from it, because I KNOW it does not
exist. YOU don't. If I merely intervene between your thoughts and their
results, I would be tampering with a basic law of cause and effect, in fact the
most fundamental one there is in this world.
Page T(104) -103 I would hardly help if
I depreciated the power of your own thinking. This would be in direct
opposition to the purpose of this course.
T 2 E 17. It is certainly much more useful to
remind you that you do not guard your thoughts at all carefully, except for a
relatively small part of the day, and somewhat inconsistently even then. You
may feel at this point that it would take a miracle to enable you to do this,
which is perfectly true. Human beings are not used to miraculous thinking, but
they CAN be TRAINED to think that way.
T 2 E 18. All miracle-workers HAVE to be trained
that way. I have to be able to count on them. This means that I cannot allow
them to leave their mind unguarded, or they will not be able to help me.
Miracle-working entails a full realization of the power of thought, and real
avoidance of miscreation. Otherwise, the miracle will be necessary to set the
mind ITSELF straight, a circular process which would hardly foster the
time-collapse for which the miracle was intended. Nor would it induce the
healthy respect that every miracle-worker must have for true cause and effect.
T 2 E 19. Miracles cannot free the miracle-worker
from fear. Both miracles AND fear come from his thoughts, and if he were not
free to choose one, he would also not be free to choose the other. Remember, we
said before that when electing one person, you reject another. [187]
T 2 E 20. It is much the same in electing the
miracle. By so doing, you HAVE rejected fear. Fear cannot assail unless it has
been created. You and Bill have been afraid of God, of me, of yourselves, and
of practically everyone you know at one time or another.
Page T(105) -104 This can only be
because you have miscreated all of us, and believe in what you have created.
(We spent a lot of time on this before, but it did not help very much.) You would
never have done this if you were not afraid of your own thoughts. The
vulnerable are essentially miscreators, because they misperceive Creation.
T 2 E 21. You and Bill are willing to accept
primarily what does NOT change your minds too much, and leaves you free to
leave them quite unguarded most of the time. You persist in believing that when
you do not consciously watch your mind, it is unmindful.
T 2 E 22. It is time to consider the whole world
of the unconscious, or unwatched mind. This will frighten you, because it is
the source of fright. You may look at it as a new theory of basic conflict, if
you wish, which will not be entirely an intellectual approach, because I doubt
if the truth will escape you entirely.
T 2 E 23. The unwatched mind is responsible for
the whole content of the unconscious, which lies above the miracle-level. All
psychoanalytic theorists have made some contribution to the truth in this
connection, but none of them has seen it in its true entirety. (The correct
grammar here is a sign of your better cooperation. Thank you.) Jung’s best
contribution was an awareness of individual vs. collective unconscious levels.
He also recognized the major place of the religious spirit in his schema. His
archetypes were also meaningful concepts. But his major error lay in regarding
the deepest level of the unconscious as shared in terms of CONTENT. The deepest
level of the unconscious is shared as an ABILITY. As MIRACLE-MINDEDNESS, the
content, (or the particular miracles which an individual happens to perform)
does not matter at all.
Page T(106) -105 They will, in fact,
be entirely different, because, since I direct them, I make a point of avoiding
redundancy. Unless a miracle actually heals, it is not a miracle at all.
T 2 E 24. The content of the miracle-level is not
recorded in the individual’s unconscious, because if it were, it would not be
automatic and involuntary, which we have said repeatedly it should be. However,
the content IS a matter for the record, which is NOT within the individual
himself.
T 2 E 25. All psychoanalysts made one common
error, in that they attempted to uncover unconscious CONTENT. You cannot
understand unconscious activity in these terms, because “content” is applicable
ONLY to the more superficial unconscious levels to which the individual himself
contributes. This is the level at which he can readily introduce fear, and
usually does.
T 2 E 26. Freud was right in calling this level
pre-conscious, and emphasizing that there is a fairly easy interchange between
preconscious and conscious material. He was also right in regarding the censor
as an agent for the protection of consciousness from fear. HIS major error lay
in his insistence that this level is necessary at all in the psychic structure.
If the psyche contains fearful levels from which it cannot escape without
splitting, its integration is permanently threatened. It is essential not to
control the fearful, but to ELIMINATE it.
T 2 E 27. Here, Rank’s concept of the will was
particularly good, except that he preferred to ally it only with man’s own
truly creative ability, but did not extend it to its proper union with God’s.
His “birth trauma,” another valid idea, was also too limited, in that it did
not refer to the Separation, which was really a FALSE idea of birth. Physical
birth is not
Page T(107) -106 a trauma in itself.
It can, however, remind the individual of the Separation, which was a very real
cause of fear.
T 2 E 28. The idea of “will-THERAPY” was
potentially a very powerful one, but Rank did not see its real potential
because he himself used his mind partly to create a theory OF the mind, but
also partly to attack Freud. His reactions to Freud stemmed from his own
unfortunate acceptance of the deprivation-fallacy, which itself arose from the
Separation. This led him to believe that his own mind-creation could stand only
if the creation of another’s fell. In consequence, his theory emphasized rather
than minimized the two-edged nature of defenses. This is an outstanding
characteristic of his concepts, because it was outstandingly true of him.
T 2 E 29. He also misinterpreted the birth-trauma
in a way that made it inevitable for him to attempt a therapy whose goal was to
ABOLISH FEAR. This is characteristic of all later theorists, who do not attempt,
as Freud did, to split off the fear in his own form of therapy.
T 2 E 30. No one as yet has fully recognized
either the therapeutic value of fear, or the only way in which it can be truly
ended. When man miscreates, he IS in pain. The cause and effect principle here
is temporarily a real expeditor. Actually, Cause is a term properly belonging
to God, and Effect, which should also be capitalized, is HIS Sonship. This
entails a set of cause and effect relationships which are totally different
from those which man introduced into the Miscreation.
Page T(108) -107
T 2 E 31. The fundamental opponents in the real
basic conflict are Creation and miscreation. All fear is implicit in the
second, just as all love is inherent in the first. Because of this difference,
the basic conflict IS one between love and fear.
T 2 E 32. So much, then, for the true nature of
the major opponents in the basic conflict. Since all such theories lead to a
form of therapy in which a re-distribution of psychic energy results, it is
necessary to consider OUR concept of libido next. In this respect, Freud was
more accurate than his followers, who were essentially more wishful. Energy CAN
emanate from both Creation AND miscreation, and the particular ratio between
them which prevails at a given point in time DOES determine behavior AT that
time. If miscreation did NOT engender energy in its own right, it would be
unable to produce destructive behavior, which it very patently DOES.
T 2 E 33. Everything that man creates has energy
because, like the Creations of God, they (it) come FROM energy, and are endowed
by their creator with the power to create. Miscreation is still a genuine
creative act in terms of the underlying IMPULSE, but NOT in terms of the
CONTENT of the creation. This, however, does not deprive the creation of its
OWN creative power. It DOES, however, GUARANTEE that the power will be misused,
or USED FEARFULLY.
T 2 E 34. To deny this is merely the previously
mentioned fallacy of depreciation. Although Freud made a number of fallacies of
his own, he DID avoid this one in connection with libido. The later theorists
denied the split-energy concept, not by attempting to heal it, but by
re-interpreting it instead of
Page T(109) -108 redistributing it.
T 2 E 35. This placed them in the illogical
position of assuming that the split which their therapies were intended to heal
had not occurred. The result of this approach is essentially a form of
hypnosis. This is quite different from Freud’s approach, which merely ended in
a deadlock.
T 2 E 36. A similar deadlock occurs when both the
power of Creation and of miscreation coexist. This is experienced as conflict
only because the individual feels AS IF both were occurring AT THE SAME LEVEL.
He BELIEVES in what he has created in his own unconscious and he naturally
believes it is real BECAUSE he has created it. He, thus, places himself in a
position where the fearful becomes REAL.
T 2 E 37. Nothing but level-confusion can result as
long as this belief is held in ANY form. Inappropriate denial and equally
inappropriate identification of the REAL factors in the basic conflict will NOT
solve the problem itself. The conflict CANNOT disappear until it is fully
recognized that miscreation is NOT real, and therefore there IS no conflict.
This entails a full realization of the basic fact that, although man has
miscreated in a very real sense, he need neither continue to do so, nor to
suffer from his past errors in this respect.
T 2 E 38. A REDISTRIBUTION of psychic energy,
then, is NOT the solution. Both the idea that both kinds MUST exist, and the
belief that ONE kind is amenable for use or misuse, are real distortions. The
ONLY way is to STOP MISCREATING NOW, and accept the Atonement for miscreations
of the past.
Page T(110) -109 Only this can
re-establish true single-mindedness. The structure of the psyche, as you very
correctly noted yourself, follows along the lines of the particular libido
concept the theorist employs. (I still think it was the other way around - -
Helen Schucman. Answer: This confusion arises out of the fact that you DID
change the order - - several times in fact. Actually, it didn't matter, because
the two concepts DO flow from each other. It was a TERRIFIC waste of time, and
one in which I hardly care to become engaged myself. PLEASE!)
T 2 E 39. Freud’s psyche was essentially a good
and evil picture, with very heavy weight given to the evil. This is because
every time I mentioned the Atonement to him, which was quite often, he
responded by defending his theory more and more against it. This resulted in
his increasingly strong attempts to make the illogical sound more and more
logical.
T 2 E 40. I was very sorry about this, because
his was a singularly good mind, and it was a shame to waste it. However, the
major purpose of his incarnation was not neglected. He DID succeed in forcing
recognition of the unconscious into man’s calculations about himself, a step in
the right direction which should not be minimized. Freud was one of the most
religious men I have known recently. Unfortunately, he was so afraid of
religion that the only way he could deal with it was to regard IT (not himself)
as sick. This naturally prevented healing.
T 2 E 41. Freud’s superego is a particularly
interesting example of the real power of miscreation. It is noteworthy
throughout the whole development of his theories that the superego never allied
itself with freedom. The most it could do in this direction was to
Page T(111) -110 work out a painful
truce in which both opponents LOST. This perception could not fail to force him
to emphasize discontent in his view of civilization.
T 2 E 42. The Freudian id is really only the more
superficial level of the unconscious, and not the deepest level at all. This,
too, was inevitable, because Freud could not divorce miracles from magic. It
was therefore his constant endeavor, (even preoccupation) to keep on thrusting
more and more material between consciousness and the real deeper level of the
unconscious, so that the latter became increasingly obscured. The result was a
kind of bedlam, in which there was no order, no control, and no sense. This was
exactly how he FELT about it.
T 2 E 43. The later theoretical switch to the
primacy of anxiety was an interesting device intended to deny both the
instinctive nature of destructiveness, and the force of the power of
miscreation. By placing the emphasis on the RESULT, the generative nature of
the power was minimized.
T 2 E 44. Destructive behavior IS instinctual. The
instinct for creation is NOT obliterated in miscreation. That is why it is
always invested with reality. *One of the chief ways in which man can correct
his magic-miracle confusion is to remember that he did not create himself. He
is apt to forget this when he becomes egocentric, and this places him in a
position where belief in magic is virtually inevitable. His instincts for
creation were given him by his own Creator, who was expressing the same
instinct in His Creation. Since the creative ability rests solely in the mind,
everything which man creates is necessarily instinctive.
Page T(112)
-111 IV
T 2 E 45. (This goes after basic
conflict theory.) (Dictated without notes by Helen Schucman)
T 2 E 46. We have already said that the basic
conflict is one between love and fear, and that the proper
organization of the psyche rests on a lack of level confusion. The section on
psychic energy should be re-read very carefully, because it is particularly
likely to be misinterpreted until this section is complete.
T 2 E 47. It has already been said that man
CANNOT control fear, because he himself created it. His belief in it renders it
out of his control by definition. For this reason, any attempt to resolve the
basic conflict through the concept of mastery
of fear is meaningless. In fact, it asserts the power of fear by the simple
assumption that it need be mastered at all.
T 2 E 48. The essential resolution rests entirely
on the mastery of love. In the interim, conflict is inevitable. The reason for
this is the strangely illogical position in which man had placed himself. Since
we have frequently emphasized that correction must be applied within the level
that error occurs, it should be clear that the miracle MUST be illogical
because its purpose is to correct the illogical and restore order.
T 2 E 49. Two concepts which CANNOT coexist are
nothing and everything. To whatever extent one is believed in, the other HAS
BEEN abolished. In the conflict, fear is really nothing, and love is really
everything. (This recognition is really the basis for the castration complex.)
This is because whenever light penetrates darkness, it DOES abolish it.
The unwillingness to be seen, or submit error to light, is spuriously
associated with active doing. In this incarnation, this can take the form of
oedipal involvement and concomitant castration anxiety.
T 2 E 50. However, in more long range and
meaningful terms, the oedipal complex is a miniature of the true Separation
fear, and the castration complex is a way of denying that it ever occurred.
Like all pseudo-solutions, this kind of distorted thinking is very creative,
but false. The Separation HAS occurred. To deny this is merely to misuse
denial. However, to concentrate on error is merely a further misuse of
legitimate psychic mechanisms. The true corrective procedure, which has already
been described as the proper use of the spiritual eye (or true vision), is to
accept the error temporarily, BUT ONLY as an indication that IMMEDIATE
correction is mandatory. This establishes a state of mind in which the
Atonement can be accepted without delay.
T 2 E 51. It is worth repeating that ultimately
there is no compromise possible between everything and nothing. The purpose of
time is essentially a device by which all compromise in this respect can be
abolished. It seems to be abolished by degrees precisely because time itself
involves a concept of intervals which do not really exist. The
faulty use of creation has made this necessary as a corrective device.
T 2 E 52. “And God so loved the world that He
gave his only begotten Son so that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish
but have Eternal Life” needs only one slight
correction to be entirely meaningful in this context. It should read “And God
so loved the world that he gave it TO His only begotten Son.” It should be
noted that God HAS begotten only ONE Son.
Page T(114) 113 If you believe that
all of the Souls that God created ARE His Sons, and if you also believe that
the Sonship is One, then every Soul MUST be a Son of God, or an integral part
of the Sonship. You do not find the concept that the whole is greater than its
parts difficult to understand. You should therefore not have too great
difficulty with this. The Sonship in its Oneness DOES transcend the sum of its
parts. However, it loses this special state as long as any of its parts are
missing. This is why the conflict cannot ultimately be resolved UNTIL all of
the individual parts of the Sonship have returned. Only then, in the true
sense, can the meaning of wholeness be understood.
T 2 E 53. The concept of minus numbers has always
been regarded as a mathematical rather than an actual expedient. (This is a
major limitation on mathematics as presently understood.) Any statement which
implies degrees of difference in negation is essentially meaningless. What can
replace this negative approach is a recognition of the fact that as long as one
part (which is the same as a million or ten or eight thousand parts) of the
Sonship is missing, it is NOT complete.
T 2 E 54. In the Divine psyche, the Father and
the Holy Spirit are not incomplete at all. The Sonship has the unique faculty
of believing in error, or incompleteness, if he so elects. However, it is quite
apparent that so to elect IS to believe in the existence of nothingness. The
correction of this error
Page T(115) -114 is the Atonement.
T 2 E 55. We have already briefly spoken about
readiness. But there are some
additional awarenesses which might be helpful. Readiness is nothing more than
the prerequisite for accomplishment. The two should not be confused. As soon as
a state of readiness occurs, there is always some will to accomplish, but this
is by no means undivided. The state does not imply more than the potential for
a shift of will. Confidence cannot develop fully until mastery has been
accomplished. We began this section with an attempt to correct the fundamental
human error that fear can be mastered. The Correction was that ONLY love can be
mastered. When I told you that you were “ready for Revelation,” I did not mean
that you had in any way mastered this form of communication. However, you
yourself attested to your readiness by insisting that I would not have said so
if it had not been true. This IS an affirmation of readiness. Mastery of love
necessarily involves a much more complete confidence in the ability than either
of you has attained. But the readiness at least is an indication that you
believe this is possible. This is only the beginning of confidence.
T 2 E 56. In case this be misunderstood as a
statement that an enormous amount of time will be necessary between readiness
and mastery, I would again remind you that time and space are under My control.
Page
T(116) -115 (Dictated without notes by Helen
Schucman)
T 2 E 57. One of the chief ways in which man can
correct his magic-miracle confusion is to remember that he did not create
himself. He is apt to forget this when he becomes egocentric, and this places
him in a position where belief in magic is virtually inevitable. His instincts
for creation were given him by his own Creator, who was expressing the same
instinct in His Creation. Since the creative ability rests solely in the mind,
everything which man creates is necessarily instinctive.
T 2 E 58. It also follows that whatever he
creates is real in his own eyes, but not necessarily in the sight of God. This
basic distinction leads us directly into the real meaning of the Last Judgment.
(I am aware of the fact that you would much rather continue with the parallels
involved in other theories of basic conflict. However, this would merely be a
delay which we will engage in only if you regard it as essential.)
T 2 F. The Meaning of the Last Judgment (Not present in the Notes)
T 2 F 1. The Final Judgment is one
of the greatest threat concepts in man’s perception. This is only because he
does not understand it. Judgment is not an essential attribute of God. Man
brought judgment into being only because of the Separation. God Himself is
still the God of mercy. After the Separation, however, there WAS a place for
justice in the schema, because it was one of the many learning devices which
had to be built into the overall plan. Just as the Separation occurred over
many millions of years, the Last Judgment will extend over a similarly long
period, and perhaps even longer. Its length depends, however, on the
effectiveness of the present speed-up. We have frequently noted that the
miracle is a device for shortening but not abolishing time. If a sufficient
number of people become truly miracle-minded quickly, the shortening process
can be almost immeasurable. But it is essential that these individuals free
themselves from fear sooner than would ordinarily be the case, because they
MUST emerge from basic conflict if they are to bring peace to the minds of
others.
T 2 F 2. The Last Judgment is
generally thought of as a procedure undertaken by God. Actually, it will be
undertaken solely by man, with My help. It is a Final Healing, rather than a
meting out of punishment, however much man may think punishment is deserved.
Punishment as a concept is in total opposition to Right-Mindedness. The aim of
the Final Judgment is to RESTORE Right-Mindedness TO man.
T 2 F 3. The Final Judgment
might be called a process of Right-evaluation. It simply means that finally all
men must come to understand what is worthy and what is not. After this, their
ability to choose can be reasonably directed. Unless this distinction has been
made, the vacillations between free and imprisoned will cannot but continue.
The first step toward freedom, then, MUST entail a sorting out of the false
from the true. This is a process of division only in the constructive sense,
and reflects the true meaning of the Apocalypse. Man will ultimately look upon
his own creations, and will to preserve only what is good, just as God Himself
once looked upon what he had created, and knew that it WAS good. At this point, the
Will will begin to look with love on its creations, because of their great
worthiness. The mind will inevitably disown its miscreations, and having
withdrawn belief from them, they will no longer exist.
T 2 F 4. The term Last Judgment
is frightening, not only because it has been falsely projected onto God, but
also because of the association of “Last” with death. This is an outstanding
example of upside down perception. Actually, if it is examined objectively, it
is quite apparent that it is really the doorway to life. No man who lives in
fear is really alive.
T 2 F 5. His own final judgment
cannot be directed toward himself, because he is not his own creation. He can
apply it meaningfully, and at any time, to everything he has ever created, and
retain in his real memory only what is good. This is what his own Right-Mindedness
CANNOT BUT dictate. The purpose of time is solely to “give him time” to achieve
this judgment. It is his own perfect judgment of his own creation. When
everything that he retains is lovable, there is no reason for any fear to
remain in him. This IS his part in the Atonement.
Foreword to the Original Dictation