Lesson 130

Lesson 130
It is impossible to see two worlds.
Perception is consistent. What you see reflects your thinking. And your thinking but reflects your choice of what you want to see. Your values are determiners of this, for what you value you must want to see, believing what you see is really there. No one can see a world his mind has not accorded value. And no one can fail to look upon what he believes he wants.

Yet who can really hate and love at once? Who can desire what he does not want to have reality? And who can choose to see a world of which he is afraid? Fear must make blind, for this its weapon is: That which you fear to see you cannot see. Love and perception thus go hand in hand, but fear obscures in darkness what is there.

What, then, can fear project upon the world? What can be seen in darkness that is real? Truth is eclipsed by fear, and what remains is but imagined. Yet what can be real in blind imaginings of panic born? What would you want that this is shown to you? What would you wish to keep in such a dream?

Fear has made everything you think you see. All separation, all distinctions, and the multitude of differences you believe make up the world. They are not there. Love’s enemy has made them up. Yet love can have no enemy, and so they have no cause, no being and no consequence. They can be valued, but remain unreal. They can be sought, but they can not be found. Today we will not seek for them, nor waste this day in seeking what can not be found.

It is impossible to see two worlds which have no overlap of any kind. Seek for the one; the other disappears. But one remains. They are the range of choice beyond which your decision cannot go. The real and the unreal are all there are to choose between, and nothing more than these.

Today we will attempt no compromise where none is possible. The world you see is proof you have already made a choice as all-embracing as its opposite. What we would learn today is more than just the lesson that you cannot see two worlds. It also teaches that the one you see is quite consistent from the point of view from which you see it. It is all a piece because it stems from one emotion, and reflects its source in everything you see.

Six times today, in thanks and gratitude, we gladly give five minutes to the thought that ends all compromise and doubt, and go beyond them all as one. We will not make a thousand meaningless distinctions, nor attempt to bring with us a little part of unreality, as we devote our minds to finding only what is real.

Begin your searching for the other world by asking for a strength beyond your own, and recognizing what it is you seek. You do not want illusions. And you come to these five minutes emptying your hands of all the petty treasures of this world. You wait for God to help you, as you say:

It is impossible to see two worlds. Let me accept the
strength God offers me and see no value in this world,
that I may find my freedom and deliverance.

God will be there. For you have called upon the great unfailing power which will take this giant step with you in gratitude. Nor will you fail to see His thanks expressed in tangible perception and in truth. You will not doubt what you will look upon, for though it is perception, it is not the kind of seeing that your eyes alone have ever seen before. And you will know God’s strength upheld you as you made this choice.

Dismiss temptation easily today whenever it arises, merely by remembering the limits of your choice. The unreal or the real, the false or true is what you see and only what you see. Perception is consistent with your choice, and hell or Heaven comes to you as one.

Accept a little part of hell as real, and you have damned your eyes and cursed your sight, and what you will behold is hell indeed. Yet the release of Heaven still remains within your range of choice, to take the place of everything that hell would show to you. All you need say to any part of hell, whatever form it takes, is simply this:

It is impossible to see two worlds.
I seek my freedom and deliverance,
and this is not a part of what I want.

 

Journal

“No one can see a world his mind has not accorded value. And no one can fail to look upon what he believes he wants.”

This was a rude awakening when I first believed it. It is hard to believe I value the world as I see it now and yet, Jesus says that our world is a reflection of our thinking and that we see what we want to see and we believe what we see is really there. I see this at work on two levels.

What I see is a projection from my mind and so is not real and is not there and only appears to be there because I want it to be there. And on another level, how I see it is dependent on how I want to see it. And I will believe that the way I see it is the only way that it can be truly seen. Both of these levels represent my desires and neither level is true.

“It is impossible to see two worlds which have no overlap of any kind. Seek for the one; the other disappears.”

There are two worlds from which to choose, the real world and the illusion of a world. I’m grateful that this is our range of choice. I can spend 10 minutes on the toothpaste aisle trying to decide which I want, which brand and which type within that brand. This is much easier. I want the world of love or the world of fear. I know which one I choose by which one I experience. And if I experience the world of fear, I cannot reasonably deny that I want it.

I will no longer try to believe in a part of this world of illusion and a part of the real world and think this can work. Today, I will ask for strength beyond my own to deny a desire for illusions. Jesus reassures me that God will be there. He says that I have called on the great unfailing power and that it will take this giant step with me. He also says that I will see His thanks expressed in tangible perception and in truth. I look forward to seeing this.

“It is impossible to see two worlds. Let me accept the strength God offers me and see no value in this world, that I may find my freedom and deliverance.”

Regina’s Tips

This is where A Course in Miracles and other truth teachings can become a little difficult to accept. You may feel resistance to this message. However, let’s put any resistance we may feel aside and look at today’s lesson and ourselves objectively (without judgment).

We are told that we see this world because we value it. Is that true? There is a way you can find out. How much of your time is spent thinking about you and the world from your point-of-view? And how much of your time is spent in awareness-watching-awareness, turning attention away from the world and away from thought, and turning attention towards the Self?

If we look honestly at how we spend our time, we can see which we value more.

My thoughts

I have noticed that I have more time in the day to spend on meditation and on contemplation. I could spend quite a bit more time seeking to know my Self. But I also notice that often I don’t do that. I will watch TV or read a book. I will go shopping or spend time on Facebook. I will sometimes realize what I am doing, and decide to change my mind, but instead of using that time to ask the Holy Spirit to purify my mind and then giving Him my silent attention so He can do it, I will watch a Mooji video or read something spiritual. It sounds good, but is it really? Or is it just another way to avoid awakening? Is it just another decision to believe in the world dressed up as spiritual in nature? I set an intention right now to increase the time I spend in meditation because I do understand that I must choose one over the other and I know the one I want.

Past Entry

This is a very uncompromising lesson. Either the ego thought system is true and therefore all that I now see when I look at the world is true, or there is a real world and if there is a real world, there is something being eclipsed that I could see instead. I will see the one I want to see and the one I see reflects the teacher I choose; ego or Spirit.

I have often been surprised that I can go from feeling exalted to feeling crushed by life and can do so almost in an instant. When it happens I have noticed this one thing; as I am remembering my reality, the world is meaningless to me. It is still there and things are still happening, but I see them through the filter of truth, and they are not real.

When I notice a fear thought and choose to believe it, the exalted state is gone so quickly and completely that I wonder if it was ever there. I try so hard to bring it back, but I can only think how deluded I must be to have believed in it. Reading this lesson these phenomena is understandable. Each thought system is whole, so I believe in only one at a time, and what I believe in is what I see in the world. I cannot see both at the same time.

Jesus says that truth is eclipsed by fear and I know this is true. When I indulge my fears I totally lose sight of everything else. The ego world becomes total for me. I can see nothing else. But I can remind myself that an eclipse of the truth does not destroy the truth. I always see what I want to see, and I can always change my mind by changing my teacher.

I know how to do this. I simply call on the Teacher God placed in my mind and ask Him to help me see differently. It is simple no matter how I tell myself it is hard to do. I accept that if it feels hard to change my mind it is because I still think there is something of value in the ego world. I still believe that the separation has something to offer me and that my individuality is more valuable than my Divinity. Again, I can change my mind about this. I can ask for help and that help will be given.

It is so clear and easy to understand while I sit here. Then when I start thinking about what I have to do next and my mind wanders to something happening during the day, it again becomes more complex to me, and harder to accomplish. I start noticing how many things are going on in my mind and wonder how I will ever get past all of that. How can I bring each of these thoughts to the Holy Spirit? I would have to sit here all day long and make an occupation of it. Holy Spirit, can you talk to me about this?

Holy Spirit: It is, indeed, easy to lose sight of the simplicity of the Atonement. It is the core of the ego thought system that there be too much to do, too many problems to solve, an endless array of distractions. It is also expected that you will experience this kind of resistance to choosing to lay aside your specialness and your individuality. Remember, though, that the many forms mask the one problem. As you become aware of the distracting thoughts allow Me to remind you that, however it seems, you are actually seeing only that one mistaken thought (the belief in separation). While it might seem impossible to correct a million thoughts, it is simple to correct one.

It would be helpful to bring your attention back to the one problem. There is but one problem and that problem is not in the many things you seem to experience in the world. That problem is in your mind. So is the solution. I am the solution to the only problem you have. Allow yourself to know that the problem has been solved. In the moment the mind questioned, the answer was given and that answer was placed in the mind where the question existed. Seeing the many problems that seem to face you in your dream is the way you do not look at the answer. Be willing to look away from the dream and into your mind. The answer will find you.

Yes, Myron, it does seem impossibly hard sometimes, and it would be if you were doing this alone. You are not alone, though, I am with you always. As you call on Me to help you change your mind, you call on the power of Heaven. How could you fail? I assure you that you cannot fail.

Here is what happened to me when I visited the social security office a couple of years ago and applied for benefits. I felt elated about this because I did truly want to retire from my job and devote the rest of my life to whatever Holy Spirit wanted me to do. But on the way back from getting this done, I began to become afraid. I started worrying that it would be a mistake to retire. What if I can’t live on such a small amount of money? What if I am wrong about more students and more books to write? What if that never happens?

By the time I got back to work, I was in tears. All this even though getting social security does not bind me to retirement. In any case, I would not be financially ready to retire for a while. I was anticipating problems. But it sure was interesting to see how completely my world changes according to my expectations. My world will reflect exactly my desires. And my desires will reflect love or fear, and never both in any single minute.

When I asked for help to pull myself out of this fearful thinking, I was led to read something I had written a couple of years ago. I was amazed that the one thing I felt drawn to read was the perfect thing to read. Here are a couple of things I read that helped me.

“I am becoming aware of how I still hold onto the bits and pieces of the illusion. I am also aware of how the Holy Spirit is holding these parts up for me to see and is giving me a chance to make a different choice. Life is very exciting right now as I am meeting my lessons with less fear and more confidence that the Holy Spirit will direct me to lessons that I am ready to learn.”

That was a great thing for me to remember. One of the problems with going from certainty to doubt so quickly is that I become afraid of my own self, and then I doubt my ability to do what Spirit wants me to do. But seeing it this way, realizing that I am simply looking at the bits and pieces of the illusion that still attracts me, and then letting them go is good. I’m glad to be doing that and I don’t feel afraid of it. This is my purpose.

The next part of the writing that was helpful at that time was this: “Today I have been given two things to do. The first is the allow me to become aware of things that make me happy. I have been so focused on what I thought I should be doing for so long, that I can’t remember what it is that I want to be doing. The Holy Spirit is asking me to just allow this. He says to check in with my gut feeling rather than asking my mind.

The second thing I received is that I am to focus on the truth when fear arises. “If I don’t feed fear with my attention it will starve to death. So that’s my job today. I am to be happy and not pay any attention to the thoughts that suggest things to be afraid of. I’m pretty sure I can do this.”

On another day I was told to add this to my practice: “When I am aware of a lesson I am to learn, I will simply walk into it with trust. Jesus says that if he asks us to do something, we can do it. There is no hierarchy of illusions so one lesson cannot be harder than another. It is only ego that says this lesson is harder than another or that lesson is too hard, painful or impossible. Instead of allowing this judgment of the lesson, I am going to just ask what it is I am to do, how I am to see this, and what He would have me learn. I am walking forward with confidence knowing Who goes there with me, knowing that it is with the strength of God in me that I do this.”