Many poignant poems, lingering lyrics and emotional essays convey our longing to live in a world devoid of pain and suffering, where we all lived in harmony with one another, and peace was more than just a dream.—- Where, as John Lennon imagined—- “we all lived as one.”

A state of Oneness is our reality! It is the only state where truth and peace are possible. It is the only state an all Knowing, all Powerful, Loving God could have created. Only a Unified Mind can experience living as One, and that is what we are in truth. A state of peace is no dream, it is our reality. It is the perceptual world that is a dream, in need of constant defense.

It was our insane desire to be separate that caused the dissociation and the fearful dream we now experience. The Course is teaching us how to heal our split mind and experience the peace and love we seem to have lost. Dissociation was the decision to forget our reality; forgiveness is the decision to correct this choice. Through forgiveness we experience what the Course refers to as “the real world.” It is this world forgiven of all the guilt we laid upon it, restoring truth and peace to our awareness. Thus will the world reflect God’s Love and Perfection.

Lesson 325 is a clear statement of how the dreamworld we perceive arose in our mind and how to let it go.—-This is salvation’s keynote: What I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I want. ²From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges valuable, and therefore seeks to find. ³These images are then projected outward, looked upon, esteemed as real and guarded as one’s own. ⁴From insane wishes comes an insane world. ⁵From judgment comes a world condemned. And from forgiving thoughts a gentle world comes forth, —(ACIM, W-325.1:6)

Once this is realized the purpose of the world becomes crystal clear. We projected the guilt from our dissociated mind onto a dreamworld in the mistaken belief we could magically escape the guilt. The world is literally a pictorial representation of the guilt thoughts in our mind. Therefore, we can use our experiences in the world to correct these mistaken thoughts and heal our mind. The ego thought system is an illusion and the world it made is a illusory dream in our mind. As long as we choose to identify with the ego, we will suffer its fearful, illusory effects, but only then.

In a previous essay, “Contradictions,” I posed the question: If the world and body you experience were proven to be an illusion, a dream, and you are the dreamer, how would you feel? — I am not asking you to believe the world is a dream, but I would like you to observe your feelings about such an idea.— The very fact that we experience the world indicates we are still identified with the ego and therefore would feel threatened if its beliefs were questioned. It is therefore important to be aware of any hidden biases we have against accepting “a truth we do not want.”  The ego depends on our belief the world is real, and because that is not the truth, needs a strong defensive system to uphold this belief.

All perceptions in the phenomenal world we experience need constant defense because they are interpretations of what we believe, not the truth. Truth needs no interpretation!  We therefore have the insane task of justifying what only a severely split fearful mind could fail to perceive as completely unjustifiable, such as:

—The belief in gods that are feared, jealous, vengeful, and punishing; demanding sacrifice, suffering and ultimately death.

—The belief “nature” produces life forms that must conflict with one another, struggling everyday to stay alive and prey on other “life” forms for food and survival———- kill or be killed is its motto.

—The idea that “natural selection” seems to favor fitness over truth.

— The experience that what is not destroyed by wars and violence, “natural disasters” or illness will.

We not only defend these ideas, we convince ourselves and “others” of their rationality.

Only a fragmented, fearful mind could defend these and many other irrational  indefensible beliefs, because only a tormented guilty mind would have need of them. —- ²Forget not that the witness to the world of evil cannot speak except for what has seen a need for evil in the world.(ACIM, T-27.VII.6:2)——As the Course reminds us “defenses do what they would defend.” They establish the reality of sin, guilt and fear by the very need for a defense. Their purpose is to hide mind and therefore truth from our awareness. If we want to live in harmony and peace, where we all live as one, we need only accept the truth of who “we” are and what the world is. We can never change our reality, but we can deny it, and as long as we choose to do so our nightmares will persist. ——How willing are you to escape effects of all the dreams the world has ever had? ²Is it your wish to let no dream appear to be the cause of what it is you do? (ACIM, T-27.VIII.5:1-2)

No one understands the negative psychological impact the ego has on our mind, better than Jesus. Having perfectly accepted the Atonement for himself he recognized the world was a dream and completely overcame his ego.—— The name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol. ²But it stands for love that is not of this world. ³It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray (ACIM, M-23.4:1-3)

Having joined with Spirit, Jesus overcame his ego and his Course is designed to help us do the same. You can’t ask for a better teacher to lead us out of the darkness we made than Jesus. —-We are therefore embarking on an organized, well-structured and carefully planned program aimed at learning how to offer to the Holy Spirit everything you do not want. (ACIM, T-12.II.10:1)

“A journey from  yourself does not exist.” The separation means that mind is split or dissociated from itSelf. “We” split off to an illusion we call the ego in an attempt to forget our reality. —-⁴That is why you must choose to hear one of two voices within you. ⁵One you made yourself, and that one is not of God.⁶But the other is given you by God, Who asks you only to listen to it. ⁷The Holy Spirit is in you in a very literal sense. ⁸His is the Voice that calls you back to where you were before and will be again. (ACIM, T-5.II.3:4-8)

Whenever you meet anyone always remember it is a holy encounter!!! ²As you see him you will see yourself. ³As you treat him you will treat yourself. ⁴As you think of him you will think of yourself. ⁵Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself. (ACIM, T-8.III.4:1-5)

In Faith, Gratitude and Peace,

Caryl

As always, please reach out to me directly with any questions or comments related to this essay or any of my essays at: carylbrowne@gmail.com