From Nightmares to Happy Dreams
As soon as you open A Course in Miracles, right in the preface is a very succinct and powerful summary of the Course, giving the reader a sense of the magnitude of what they are about to encounter. Upon first reading, if you were like me, you knew that you just read something very powerful, yet somehow also sensed you did not fully understand it. Many of the Course ideas were familiar to me, however, and this is why one must work with the entire Course, it is designed to give us an experience that is beyond anything we could have imagined.
There are things we think we know, things we do not know, things we do not know we do not know—- and —-the cause of all suffering—- the things we do not want to know—- such as reality, who we are and what the world we perceive is? In other words anything that would point the way to Truth. —-No evidence will convince you of the truth of what you do not want.
The world, an ego illusion, was made to take the place of Reality or God’s Creation. And if you examine the facts carefully the evidence is overwhelming. The ego thought system, following precise mathematical laws, made a simulated physical phenomenal world. It is this world that scientists explore, using abstract concepts like numbers and equations to quantify, analyze and study the behavior of the world, saying nothing of its origin. A distinguished physicist, Max Tegmark, proposed an hypothesis suggesting that “The universe is a mathematical structure, not just described by one. Our physical reality is a mathematical object and everything within it, including the human body and consciousness, must also be a part of that structure.”
The body and the world are mathematical objects designed to make them seem real.——-Here is an image that you want to be yourself. ⁶It is the means to make your wish come true. ⁷It gives the eyes with which you look on it, the hands that feel it, and the ears with which you listen to the sounds it makes. ⁸It proves its own reality to you (ACIM, T-24.VII.9:5-8).
This is a Course on how to know your Self, which explains why the ego, our illusory alter self, goes from suspiciousness to viciousness when you begin to work with it. The ego, a post separation state, does not know what our reality is, but it does realize that the mind that made it can let it go. Everything made by the ego is an illusion, a dream, and if you identify with the ego you will believe you are a figure in its dream.The ego’s mode of thinking is perception not knowledge. It is based on interpretation of what is believed not on facts, not on reality.——What perception sees and hears appears to be real because it permits into awareness only what conforms to the wishes of the perceiver. This leads to a world of illusions, a world which needs constant defense precisely because it is not real.(ACIM, Preface.4:4-5).
How can a fact be fearful unless it disagrees with what you hold more dear than truth? (ACIM, T-21.VI.6:7-8)—-What you hold more dear than truth is the belief you are a separate independent individual, free to decide the kind of “life” you want to live. —— “Who is the you who are living in this world?” —-When examined, this very important question reveals that you are not an independent individual but the dreamer of the ego’s secret dream of separation. As such you will fulfill the ego’s purpose, not Your Own. In your dissociated state you will never make decisions by yourself whatever you decide. —-For they are made with idols or with God. ⁹And you ask help of anti-Christ or Christ, and which you choose will join with you and tell you what to do. (ACIM, T-30.I.14:7-9)
There is no freedom from what must occur. If you choose the ego or anti-Christ you will experience a world of pain, suffering, loss and death. —Be not deceived by all the different names its roads are given.⁸They have but one end. ⁹And each is but the means to gain that end, for it is here that all its roads will lead, however differently they seem to start; however differently they seem to go. ¹⁰Their end is certain, for there is no choice among them. ¹¹All of them will lead to death. ¹²On some you travel gaily for a while, before the bleakness enters. ¹³And on some the thorns are felt at once. ¹⁴The choice is not what will the ending be, but when it comes. (ACIM, T-31.IV.2:6-14) ——If this were the real world you should be afraid.
Thinking positively is very helpful when dealing with reality, however, when misapplied to an illusion or a denial of reality, positive thinking can be counterproductive and genuinely harmful. In this scenario, it becomes a form of self-deception that actively delays necessary corrective action. By focusing on a falsely positive outcome based on a lack of understanding or refusal to accept facts, individuals may fail to address the root cause of a problem. Ultimately this allows the situation to worsen and the negative consequences to compound over time. Instead of listening to the Voice of reason, we attack those who would attempt to introduce evidence, scientific or otherwise, that would challenge our beliefs. It is no accident that we continually ignore simple resolutions to all of our “problems.”—- “The world was made that problems could not be escaped.”
Our goal should not be to defend a particular belief but to discover the truth behind our experiences. Although illusions are as strong in their effects as is the truth; their effects disappear when their illusory nature is revealed. We are not trapped in the world we see because its cause, a mistaken belief in the “separation,” is literally a nightmare from which we must awaken. This awakening is a process whereby we go from the fearful dream we made to a happy peaceful dream; from darkness to light.
So fearful is the dream, so seeming real, he could not waken to reality without the sweat of terror and a scream of mortal fear, unless a gentler dream preceded his awaking, and allowed his calmer mind to welcome, not to fear, the Voice that calls with love to waken him; a gentler dream, in which his suffering was healed and where his brother was his friend.⁵God willed he waken gently and with joy, and gave him means to waken without fear. (ACIM, T-27.VII.13:4-5)
The year 2026 will either be another year you reinforce the belief you are the effect of the world you perceive, or an opportunity to learn the truth.—-The knowledge that illuminates not only sets you free, but also shows you clearly that you are free. (ACIM, T-2.I.4:9)—-Your part is only to offer Him a little willingness to let Him remove all fear and hatred, and to be forgiven. (ACIM, T-18.V.2:6)
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