ACIM Chapter 9. IV. The Holy Spirit’s Plan of Forgiveness P 1, 2
IV. The Holy Spirit’s Plan of Forgiveness
1 Atonement is for all, because it is the way to undo the belief that anything is for you alone. To forgive is to overlook. Look, then, beyond error and do not let your perception rest upon it, for you will believe what your perception holds. Accept as true only what your brother is, if you would know yourself. Perceive what he is not and you cannot know what you are, because you see him falsely. Remember always that your Identity is shared, and that Its sharing is Its reality.
I will begin by reminding myself that the Atonement is the Holy Spirit’s plan to lead us out of the idea of separation. We complete our part through total forgiveness. Since the Atonement is meant to undo the belief in separation, it naturally is for all. It undoes the belief that anything could be for me alone. I hear the ego in my mind separating out a brother and seeing him as guilty, and it is just insane. How could my brother be separate from me? We share the same identity and the same mind.
The idea that I am different from you, separate and apart, is an illusion. If I would remember reality, this is an idea I must release. I cannot believe in the illusion of separation and believe in Reality at the same time. Could you believe that the sky is blue and believe that it is red at the same time? One thought would have to be seen as wrong and let go.
It is the same with illusion and reality.
Only one is true. I can believe something that is untrue, but my belief will not change reality. However, if I believe a lie is true, I will live as if the lie is true. This is what has happened. We have chosen to believe a lie, and it has become true for us. It is not true in reality but true in our minds. This lie is that we are separate from each other, and what happens to me does not affect you.
I live the farce of life as a separate individual self as if this were the truth, and I suffer for it. This much is clear to me. I have become convinced that I have chosen something that is an illusion, but I have not let go of the illusion. I am trying to live my life as if both Reality and illusion exist. It isn’t working, of course, but it is just a transitional period as I continue to release the illusion and accept the Atonement.
Sometimes, I feel like I stand at the veil, with one hand on it, wishing I could just pull it aside and wondering why I don’t. For a long time, releasing the belief in the illusion of separation felt like a lost cause. For instance, I would think about this guy who seemed to be attacking me, and it felt so real. He seemed so obviously guilty that I just couldn’t let go of my grievance.
The whole situation seemed terribly important and real.
And yet, it was just an image I had made. It could not be real because I could not be separated from my brother. Thus, I could not have different needs and goals that superseded my brother’s needs. So, I ask for the Atonement for this belief. I ask the Holy Spirit to remove this belief from my mind. He always answers, and so it is done. The only thing left is for me to accept the healing.
Over the years, I have needed to do this often because I thought there was some value in keeping the old belief. I did this so that I could reclaim it when I thought I needed it. But each time, I was quicker to forgive, and it was easier for me to release it. In this way, I am learning not to believe in separation. Forgiveness also brings me a happier and more peaceful life.
I discovered that if I believe in his guilt, I will believe in mine as well. After all, my belief in his guilt is just my perception of the situation. So, I look past my belief that he is guilty and toward the truth. I ask the Holy Spirit to remove the belief in guilt from my mind and accept the truth instead. Now I can see his perfection, and so I see mine. This Atonement thing is really effective! I notice right away that in forgiveness, I am happy, and in guilt, I am not. I choose happiness as I choose the Atonement.
IV. The Holy Spirit’s Plan of Forgiveness, P 2
2 You have a part to play in the Atonement, but the plan of the Atonement is beyond you. You do not understand how to overlook errors, or you would not make them. It would merely be further error to believe either that you do not make them, or that you can correct them without a Guide to correction. And if you do not follow this Guide, your errors will not be corrected. The plan is not yours because of your limited ideas about what you are. This sense of limitation is where all errors arise. The way to undo them, therefore, is not of you but for you.
I don’t see the real world; I see only the images I have made based on my beliefs. But I can see the real world, and I will see that world as my beliefs are corrected. This is the purpose of the Atonement: to guide me out of my errors and their effects. It is important for me to first acknowledge the error and desire to be free of it, and then realize that what I have made cannot be undone by me alone.
This is my only way to freedom.
Right now, I am trapped in an illusory world of my own making, but that is temporary. I have been given the plan for escape. The Atonement is that plan. The thought occurred to me that a being with the power to make this world in all its complexity could surely figure out how to stop making it. But the whole point of the dream world is to give us a place to experience ourselves as mortals. This world we made is where we discover what it would be like to be limited. Because of our belief in limitation, it was impossible to believe we could be unlimited. That is why we needed a plan to extricate ourselves.
Thus, we have been given a Guide and a plan for us but not of us, a plan made and operated from outside the belief in limitation. This plan will allow us to undo what we have done. It is so simple as to be overlooked. It really has only three simple components. We notice that what we are thinking is imprisoning us in this illusion. We decide that we are ready for the dream to end. And we ask our Guide to undo what we have done.
That is all. It is simple and easy.
It seems hard because our desire to awaken is not unopposed. There is still a part of the mind that values the story and is afraid to let it go. There is also a part of the mind that is afraid of change. What would it mean, how would it look? Are we in trouble for trying to change reality? As we begin this process of awakening, the sleeping mind is reluctant to let go of its false sense of power to accept true power. In this upside-down world, releasing our confused thoughts can feel like giving up, like losing. So, we hesitate and try again to do it ourselves. It feels hopeless as, once again, we fail.
Our Guide takes all of this into account: our reticence, our doubts, and our uncertainties. He works with each of us individually, gently guiding us toward freedom, moving only as fast as we are willing to go, never coercing or forcing. Not that anything could force the Son of God, but even the appearance or sense of being forced is avoided.
It is, however, inevitable that we achieve our freedom.
In releasing our beliefs that we are separate and our beliefs that we are limited, our memory is going to return, and reality will dawn on our minds. But we must not think that we can do this on our own. We have deliberately chosen to believe in limitations. It is this belief in limitation that limits our ability to undo what we have done. We are not helpless, however. The Atonement Plan is in place, which uses the power of our desire to awaken us. In small, simple steps, our Guide reminds us of our power. All we have to do is follow His directions, and soon, we will remember our desire to be what we are. Then, it is done.
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