We are looking for love in all the wrong places.
Forget not that the motivation for this course is the attainment and the keeping of the state of peace. (ACIM, T-24.in.1:1)
Beware: the title of this essay is an oxymoron. Only a very severely limited perceptual mind could ever conceive of a substitute reality. Reality is not arbitrary, there can be no substitute for what must be true forever. It is changeless, formless and eternal. (See essay Illusion Masquerading as Reality) Any substitute for reality must be an illusion. And that is exactly what the ego is. Please think very carefully about this. By identifying with the ego we have actually convinced ourselves that ideas such as reality, truth, totality, unity, and oneness, are dangerous. And from the ego mind’s perspective that would be true. But we are not the ego! Our job is not to defend a particular belief about the world, it is to discover the truth behind our experience, whatever that is and wherever that may take us.
All learning of the world is built upon a concept of ourself, an image we made to take the place of our reality. Concepts are learned, they are not natural. The concept of ourself was made to fit the ego dreamworld’s reality, not Our Reality. Being an illusion the ego can only make other illusions. It arises from the belief we have separated from our reality. We have somehow done the impossible! We have split off from a unified formless state of being to a dualistic physical state of being. The ego arose from the belief we triumphed over and separated from God. Thus the ego is our “substitute” reality. In an attempt to escape the guilt over the separation, the ego projects the guilt onto an imaginary spacetime dreamworld. Every problem we perceive in the “world” is literally a projected image reflecting the guilt in our dissociated mind. The history of the world depicts the form our guilt took. We see our own split mind everywhere we look and the forever wars we fight are wars against ourself. That is why we never hate a brother for his “sins” only our own.—-Do you realize that the ego must set you on a journey which cannot but lead to a sense of futility and depression? (ACIM, T-12.IV.4:1)
As the dreamer, we are outside the space-time dream. Look carefully at this world and you will see what this belief is costing you, not in reality but in your perception of reality. Perception is perfect for those who want to be deceived. And if you will examine the nature of perception you will see this is so. —-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)
The following is from a Google AI generated response to my query about perception:
Defining cognitive dissonance: “When presented with information that contradicts our beliefs, we might experience discomfort and actively try to reinterpret the information to fit our existing framework.”
Defining confirmation bias: “the tendency to seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs while dismissing contradictory evidence further reinforcing our perceptions.”
The above describes why our ego trained perceptual mind actively resists what the Course is teaching. It is an example of both “cognitive dissonance” and “confirmation bias,” simply dismissing contradictory evidence that is inconsistent with the ego’s framework. To the ego what is not within its framework is automatically rejected. However, if you work with the Course you will experience there is another framework, another perspective in our dissociated mind that does reflect our reality. The Course is affording those who want to learn the truth of who we are a different experience, an experience that will show you a world more real than what you now see, a world redeemed from what you thought was real. The Course is leading us to an experience of “the real world.” It is an experience of this world completely forgiven. This course will lead to knowledge, but knowledge itself is still beyond the scope of our curriculum. ²Nor is there any need for us to try to speak of what must forever lie beyond words. ³We need remember only that whoever attains the real world, beyond which learning cannot go, will go beyond it, but in a different way (ACIM, T-18.IX.11:1-3)
The Course shows us what the world is, how it came about, the structure of our dissociated mind and how to access Spirit’s Voice within us, our Guide to peace. How simple is the obvious and how easy to do. —- Well, not exactly. Changing our mind turns out to be a bit more difficult than first appeared. The ego, made out of the belief we separated from God, has a stronger grip on our mind than we realized. Which brings up some interesting questions. Who is the me/we who made the ego and where are we? These questions sound simple enough, so what’s the problem? The problem is that we are addicted to the ego’s narrative that we are a physical body living in a physical world, and are afraid to question that belief. —-Although we can question anything within the material ego framework, we vowed never to allow the truth, the idea of union, to be seriously considered.—- This is the darkest veil, upheld by the belief in death and protected by its attraction. ²The dedication to death and to its sovereignty is but the solemn vow, the promise made in secret to the ego never to lift this veil, not to approach it, nor even to suspect that it is there. ³This is the secret bargain made with the ego to keep what lies beyond the veil forever blotted out and unremembered. ⁴Here is your promise never to allow union to call you out of separation; the great amnesia in which the memory of God seems quite forgotten; the cleavage of your Self from you;—the fear of God, the final step in your dissociation. (ACIM, T-19.IV-D.3:1-4)
Herein lies the greatest gift of A Course in Miracles. Yes it is true, we are experiencing a world of pain, suffering, loss and death. And we must deal with it. But it is not real, meaning our experience is not occurring in a real world outside of our mind. It is a dream, an illusion and the Course is teaching us how to use this experience to heal our mind. Like any addiction, and to be sure this is the strongest addiction experienced by all who experience the world, we need help from outside the ego thought system we are addicted to. Asking the ego for help is like asking the drug dealer to help rid you of your addiction.
How long will it take for the Course to work? That is up to you! 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)
We are looking for Love in all the wrong places. Looking for Love simply means you do not know who you are. There is no statement that the world is more afraid to hear than this:
⁷I do not know the thing I am, and therefore do not know what I am doing, where I am, or how to look upon the world or on myself
⁸Yet in this learning is salvation born. ⁹And What you are will tell you of Itself.
Jesus assures me the war against myself is almost over. And since my purpose has shifted to forgiveness and toward peace, the real world seems well in reach. With Jesus as my Guide, what could go wrong? ——If you are laughing remember Jesus did not die and by teaching this you demonstrate that he lives in you! ——Teach not that I died in vain. ⁴Teach rather that I did not die by demonstrating that I live in you (ACIM, T-11.VI.7:3-4)—-That is a tall order and one well worth devoting our lives to “while we abide where we are not at home.”
In Gratitude and Love, 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
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