Lesson 199
I am not a body. I am free.
1. Freedom must be impossible as long as you perceive a body as yourself. ²The body is a limit. ³Who would seek for freedom in a body looks for it where it can not be found. ⁴The mind can be made free when it no longer sees itself as in a body, firmly tied to it and sheltered by its presence. ⁵If this were the truth, the mind were vulnerable indeed!
Jesus keeps telling us that we are not this body and not in this body. Here he says it like this: The mind can be made free when it no longer sees itself as in a body… I remind myself of this frequently. I still feel like I am in a body, but I am instructing my mind differently.
2. The mind that serves the Holy Spirit is unlimited forever, in all ways, beyond the laws of time and space, unbound by any preconceptions, and with strength and power to do whatever it is asked. ²Attack thoughts cannot enter such a mind, because it has been given to the Source of love, and fear can never enter in a mind that has attached itself to love. ³It rests in God. ⁴And who can be afraid who lives in Innocence, and only loves?
I want to serve the Holy Spirit at all times. I know that this transformation is not complete because there are times when I do have attack thoughts but I do not have any that I would keep, so I feel encouraged by that. When I find myself judging someone, I ask the Holy Spirit to purify my mind. The promises he makes for the mind that serves only Spirit are amazing. Here is what he is saying about the mind that serves Spirit.
- It will be unlimited forever in all ways
- It will be beyond the laws of time and space
- Unbound by any preconceptions
- It will have the strength and power to do whatever is asked
- It cannot attack
- Fear can never enter it
- It rests in God
- It lives in innocence
- It only loves
3. It is essential for your progress in this course that you accept today’s idea, and hold it very dear. ²Be not concerned that to the ego it is quite insane. ³The ego holds the body dear because it dwells in it, and lives united with the home that it has made. ⁴It is a part of the illusion that has sheltered it from being found illusory itself.
Again he reinforces the importance of this idea as he tells us it is essential for our progress that we accept it. I was in meditation with this lesson and I saw the thought that this is insane. I know that is the ego vigorously fighting for its life and so I was able to dismiss that thought. I imagine me telling one of my children that I am not in this body at all and, well, yikes! They’ll be plotting ways to get me into therapy. Hahaha. But it makes no difference to me what anyone else thinks. I am not a body. I am mind that is still attached to the idea of a body but only loosely.
4. Here does it hide, and here it can be seen as what it is. ²Declare your innocence and you are free. ³The body disappears, because you have no need of it except the need the Holy Spirit sees. ⁴For this, the body will appear as useful form for what the mind must do. ⁵It thus becomes a vehicle which helps forgiveness be extended to the all-inclusive goal that it must reach, according to God’s plan.
I think that what Jesus means in sentence 3 is that the body will disappear as something real and important to us when we recognize our innocence. We become free of the belief that we are a body or in a body. Our perceived need for the body disappears. Our only need for the body is to serve the Holy Spirit. It will be a useful form, a vehicle that helps us extend forgiveness according to God’s plan.
5. Cherish today’s idea, and practice it today and every day. ²Make it a part of every practice period you take. ³There is no thought that will not gain thereby in power to help the world, and none which will not gain in added gifts to you as well. ⁴We sound the call of freedom round the world with this idea. ⁵And would you be exempt from the acceptance of the gifts you give?
Jesus continues to express the importance of accepting that we are not these bodies. He tells us to make this a part of every practice period today and every day. Doing so will help us gain power in our practices. And this is not just for us. We do this for the entire Sonship. ⁴We sound the call of freedom round the world with this idea.
6. The Holy Spirit is the home of minds that seek for freedom. ²In Him they have found what they have sought. ³The body’s purpose now is unambiguous. ⁴And it becomes perfect in the ability to serve an undivided goal. ⁵In conflict-free and unequivocal response to mind with but the thought of freedom as its goal, the body serves, and serves its purpose well. ⁶Without the power to enslave, it is a worthy servant of the freedom which the mind within the Holy Spirit seeks.
7. Be free today. ²And carry freedom as your gift to those who still believe they are enslaved within a body. ³Be you free, so that the Holy Spirit can make use of your escape from bondage, to set free the many who perceive themselves as bound and helpless and afraid. ⁴Let love replace their fears through you. ⁵Accept salvation now, and give your mind to Him Who calls to you to make this gift to Him. ⁶For He would give you perfect freedom, perfect joy, and hope that finds its full accomplishment in God.
I am convinced that my purpose is to serve the Sonship, to help us all wake up. I do this as I serve the Holy Spirit. That this is my purpose is certain and unambiguous. What I practice is releasing the few beliefs that stand in the way of being a perfect expression of a channel for the Holy Spirit to heal all minds and free them from the enslavement of the ego. ⁶For He would give you perfect freedom, perfect joy, and hope that finds its full accomplishment in God.
8. You are God’s Son. ²In immortality you live forever. ³Would you not return your mind to this? ⁴Then practice well the thought the Holy Spirit gives you for today. ⁵Your brothers stand released with you in it; the world is blessed along with you, God’s Son will weep no more, and Heaven offers thanks for the increase of joy your practice brings even to it. ⁶And God Himself extends His Love and happiness each time you say:
⁷I am not a body. ⁸I am free. ⁹I hear the Voice that God has given me, and it is only this my mind obeys.
I am dedicated to this idea of being mind and not body, and I look forward every morning to this practice until there is nothing in my mind other than the perfect Love that I am.