ACIM Chapter 11. VIII. The Problem and the Answer, P 1-3

ACIM Chapter 11. VIII. The Problem and the Answer, P 1-3

VIII. The Problem and the Answer, P 1

¹ This is a very simple course. Perhaps you do not feel you need a course which, in the end, teaches that only reality is true. But do you believe it? When you perceive the real world, you will recognize that you did not believe it. Yet the swiftness with which your new and only real perception will be translated into knowledge will leave you but an instant to realize that this alone is true. And then everything you made will be forgotten; the good and the bad, the false and the true. For as Heaven and earth become one, even the real world will vanish from your sight. The end of the world is not its destruction, but its translation into Heaven. The reinterpretation of the world is the transfer of all perception to knowledge.

This reinterpretation of the world, the transfer of all perception to knowledge, is our goal.

It is our ultimate goal, but not my immediate goal, I think. When this goal is complete the world we know will be forgotten. Everything we made will vanish, the good and bad, the false and the true, as Heaven and Earth become one. Even the real world will vanish. That seems far from anything that I can imagine or have any part in accomplishing.

I look toward healing all untrue thoughts in my mind, at least all that I am able to do toward this goal. I look toward awakening within this world, knowing that what I believe is not true, and experiencing the real world. This I can anticipate because I can understand it even if I have not yet fully accomplished it. Maybe this is not phrased exactly right. To say I have not fully accomplished my part in it would be more accurate.

I know people who have done so, and I see what it must be like to live a more honest and, therefore, more beautiful, happier, and peaceful life. My life has become more so even now, though not truly the happy dream or real world, because it is not uninterrupted peace and happiness. That it is closer makes it seem possible and even probable of accomplishment. But to think of the ultimate goal of the illusion disappearing completely and being only one with God is something outside my imagination. I understand the concept but have no experience of it in my recovered memory. One day, though.

In the meantime, I will continue the practices.

And I will continue to be open and available to guidance and instruction and even revelation. I know these things work and have brought me to this much happier state of mind and to the clarity that I have at this time, so I will stay on this path unless guided elsewhere. And I know the end is certain, and as Jesus tells us it will be, just as I know that tonight the sun will set and tomorrow the sun will rise. I know it even though it has not yet occurred.

VIII. The Problem and the Answer, P 2

² The Bible tells you to become as little children. Little children recognize that they do not understand what they perceive, and so they ask what it means. Do not make the mistake of believing that you understand what you perceive, for its meaning is lost to you. Yet the Holy Spirit has saved its meaning for you, and if you will let Him interpret it, He will restore to you what you have thrown away. Yet while you think you know its meaning, you will see no need to ask it of Him.

As part of yesterday’s practice, I became willing to see everything in my life as perfect. The ego mind did not appreciate that decision and argued vigorously against it at times. When something happened that seemed not to be perfect, I stopped and asked Jesus to show me the perfection. Instead of saying that this could not be perfect, I asked how this is perfect. It made all the difference.

What a happy day it was!

I decided that I must be what God created, and so I must be happy and at peace. I decided that I would act as if that was the truth for me, regardless of the ego objections. When it seemed that ego thinking was intruding on my decision for God, I reminded myself that this was not my choice. I decided for joy and peace. In so doing, I decided to disregard appearances and ego.

I realize that I had become as a little child yesterday awaiting wise counsel rather than deciding for myself based on false meaning. My reward yesterday was to have restored to me what I daily throw away, joy, love, and peace. What is the little ego self compared to this? I wanted to yell from the rooftops, “We are forever Your Effect, and You forever and forever are our Cause. As You created us we have remained. Where You established us we still abide.”

I want to tell everyone that we can be happy and at peace now! We don’t have to wait for anything to change, for the changeless belongs to us, is us. All we need to do is stop deciding for ourselves what everything means. Instead, we need only set aside what it appears to mean and open our minds to the truth, which will be readily revealed to us because it is ours to have.

VIII. The Problem and the Answer, P 3

³ You do not know the meaning of anything you perceive. Not one thought you hold is wholly true. The recognition of this is your firm beginning. You are not misguided; you have accepted no guide at all. Instruction in perception is your great need, for you understand nothing. Recognize this but do not accept it, for understanding is your inheritance. Perceptions are learned, and you are not without a Teacher. Yet your willingness to learn of Him depends on your willingness to question everything you learned of yourself, for you who learned amiss should not be your own teacher.

I think that surely, I have learned this and surely, I believe it and even want it to be true.

Then I see that I am defending myself, and in doing so, I am defending the right to be my own teacher. Why would I do that? I know it has only brought me suffering in the past, so why would I want to do it again?

I also know that following the Holy Spirit instead brings me joy and peace. You would think that the contrast alone would be enough to convince me of the teacher I want. And yet, I still listen to the ego, and the ego is nothing, so I don’t just follow the wrong teacher; I follow nothing. In doing so, I make more of nothing, but it is nothing that I believe in, and so it is true for me, and thus it is painful to me.

Here is something I wrote a few years ago about this same issue.

As I thought about how I defended myself at work, I knew I regretted my defensiveness even as I did it. I asked the Holy Spirit to undo this need to defend myself, and at the same time, I saw my reluctance to let that go. I opened my mind to Spirit as I asked for clarity about this. Why do I think I need to defend myself?

Here is what He showed me.

I saw fear in my mind. I made of myself something that is not real and, therefore, is not eternal. This thing I made, this separate vulnerable self, is in constant danger of not existing because it doesn’t. And yet, I made it and want it and so I must defend it all the time. How exhausting! I want to know my real self, and I want to let this little self disappear from my mind.

I become confused about what I am defending. It is not really my place within the company I am defending. That is just an image I made of the desire to exist as a separate self with a will apart from my Creator. If everyone at work valued me above all others and couldn’t imagine the company surviving without me, I would still not feel safe because the idea of vulnerability would not have been healed. It would just show up differently.

These stories of Myron are not the problem; they are the effect of a mistaken belief in a self that is apart from God. The solution is to stop asking the self that is the problem itself for the solution. The ego self will only look for solutions within the images it makes. It will never offer a solution for the source of those images because that would end it. I am asking for salvation of a teacher that doesn’t want me saved.

Thank you, Holy Spirit.

I surrender as my own teacher and I ask that my mind be healed of all the false thoughts I have accepted in the past. I want to wake up from this dream of separation. And I will never do that if I keep asking the ego mind to be my teacher. I surrender! I surrender not in fear and not with a sense of loss, but in laughter and joy! Truly, I surrender, Holy Spirit. Please teach me. I will try to stay out of the way.

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