Lesson 244
I am in danger nowhere in the world.
Your Son is safe wherever he may be, for You are there with him. He need but call upon Your Name, and he will recollect his safety and Your Love, for they are one. How can he fear or doubt or fail to know he cannot suffer, be endangered, or experience unhappiness, when he belongs to You, beloved and loving, in the safety of Your Fatherly embrace?
And there we are in truth. No storms can come into the hallowed haven of our home. In God we are secure. For what can come to threaten God Himself, or make afraid what will forever be a part of Him?
Journal
The ego strongly denies this lesson. It offers proof that this cannot be true. But the ego’s proof is that the illusion is unsafe and I am not an illusion. I am not the frail and fragile illusory body. I am not of this illusory world. I can be afraid for this body and this story if I want to and if I don’t care how much I suffer. Or, I can accept what occurs in the story while I rest in God. If I know my Self, the script will continue to unfold, and my ego may not like it, but I will not suffer.
Regina’s Tips for “What is the World?”
The primary definition of perception is, “the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through the senses.” A secondary definition is, “a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.”
In other words, perception is an outward focused way of acquiring information. When combined with personal thought, which interprets the information received from the senses, perception is also a way of conditioning the mental organism, the brain.
This is very important to see!
Simply put, perception is a means of creating and securing ignorance. In other words, as we remain focused on the world and thought, we are completely ignorant of truth. It is also fair to say we are completely deluded.
Or, as our special theme says, “The mechanisms of illusion have been born instead. And now they go to find what has been given them to seek. Their aim is to fulfill the purpose which the world was made to witness and make real. They see in its illusions but a solid base where truth exists, upheld apart from lies. Yet everything that they report is but illusion which is kept apart from truth.”
Tips for “I am in danger nowhere in the world.”
When we look deeply at the fact that everything we think is true is not true, we can feel very disoriented. We can even feel afraid. However, there is nothing to fear. There is nothing to fear because thought, the body and the world are not real; therefore, we are not at all vulnerable.
As The Teachings of Inner Ramana says, “Fear comes simply from not knowing reality. Therefore, the only answer to fear is to let go of what is false and to remember reality as true.”
That is our focus today. In addition to practicing awareness-watching-awareness, take short breaks today to notice awareness as what you are. Notice that as awareness, you observe thought. Notice that you observe the body. However, you are prior to both of them. Notice yourself as that which is completely unaffected by anything in the realm of perception.
My Thoughts
For today’s lesson to make sense, and for Regina’s Tips to be helpful, we need the experience. We cannot get to that place of safety that Jesus promises by thinking about what is said here. What is said is helpful in that it offers us a sure way out of our suffering, and assures us that what we are experiencing now is not normal for us. But to feel safe we must put the lessons into practice and we must open our mind and heart in faith and trust to receive what is being offered.
My ego hates it when I don’t give it anything to do. It hates the feeling of not being in control. But the ego is never going to bring me peace of mind and is not going to bring me a feeling of safety. That is not its function. So, I meditate. I remind myself frequently that I am not this body and this script is not my life. I take time out of my day as often as I remember to become open and receptive to the spiritual help that is available to me. And I wait in the certainty that I will remember.
Past Entry
I know that it is only the belief that I am the body and separate from my Father that makes me think I am not safe. The body was made to be the opposite of what I am and so it is fragile and vulnerable, and if I believe I am that, of course I am going to be afraid. If I think I am separate from my Father, of course, I am going to imagine myself vulnerable. But I can change my mind.
I do this every time I watch my mind and forgive what I find there. Each time I do this, my memory returns a bit more, and I start to relate more to my true self than my illusory body self. Sometimes I do feel in danger and knowing that it is only the body that is in danger doesn’t help. Calling upon the Name of God does help.
Here is a story of letting go of fear from a past journal entry.
I was doing a lot of work with fear at that time, giving my full willingness to look and let go. It is all that work that makes this go around with fear so much easier. Here is what I said.
In order for this lesson to be meaningful to me, I must understand where I am. Sometimes I know that I am not really a body on a planet spinning through space. Sometimes I understand that I am the mind that contains these thoughts that I am seeing as if it were real. It is something I understand, but don’t really know. As I practice this understanding by unraveling the ego thinking with the help of the Holy Spirit within my mind, I come closer and closer to knowing it to be true. It seems to be a step-by-step process for me.
The closer I come to the knowing, the more meaningful this lesson becomes to me. One thing I am doing right now is asking to see the fear within myself. I want to feel the fear and understand that fear does not hurt me. I want to look at the thoughts that cause the fear reaction and allow the Holy Spirit to correct those thoughts. Because I set that intention, I notice these thoughts coming up. Because I don’t want to run from the emotional response I am feeling the fear very strongly. This seems to help me, because before I would bury the thoughts that were causing the fear and I never get rid of them.
I have had some interesting things happen since I made that decision. There was the ferry incident that I talked about in another lesson. There have been fearful reactions within relationships. It doesn’t seem to matter if it seems to be happening in the world, or within my mind, I can still feel the fear, look at the thoughts with the Holy Spirit and ask for healing. One thing I notice is that when I allow myself to really feel my reaction to these fearful thoughts I am surprised at the intensity. Evidently, I have spent a lot of time telling myself that I wasn’t really afraid of these things anymore and so didn’t need to look at them. And evidently, that was not true.
My work is nearly all outdoors, often in rural areas, and sometimes I am alone when I do it. Yesterday while I was returning to my car I noticed a large white dog coming toward me. I used to be very afraid of dogs and over time I lost that fear…I thought. Suddenly I became terrified of the dog. Thoughts of being attacked, such as I had read about in the paper, flashed through my mind and overwhelmed any sensible thoughts I was having at the same time. My fearful thoughts consumed me. I made a dash to the car and barely beat the dog to my front seat. As I quickly closed the door I nearly hit the poor thing and he scurried off probably wondering what got into the crazy lady, or why it was some people just didn’t want to say hi.
I sat there and noticed my reaction. My heart was pounding and my breath was quick. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my body. I was so surprised by my reaction, and I felt silly as well. When I faced the ferry fear I had been building toward looking at the fear so I was somewhat prepared, but this incident was sudden and unexpected. After it was all over, I asked the Holy Spirit to help me see these fear thoughts differently. Holy Spirit, what am I supposed to do with this, and how am I supposed to see it?
Holy Spirit: Dear one, could you be willing to forgive yourself for your fear? Could you be willing to forgive yourself for looking foolish in front of people? Could you forgive yourself for falling short of your own expectations, and for not living up to what you thought you believed? Could you understand that this energy of fear is just something you are holding in your mind temporarily? It is not who you are.
Do not forget that your part is to look at the fear and to be willing to see differently. You did that. There is nothing more for you to do. Are you really asking me how to not react in that way again? Are you really afraid of the feeling of being so vulnerable? Forgive yourself, and then forgive others for temporarily holding the same energy of fear in their minds.
Me: Holy Spirit, I think you are referring to the other question I had in mind. I have been puzzled about why I am upset with a friend who seems to have a sudden lapse in understanding of a primary Course principle. I seem to be taking it personally as if it is an affront to me that she would do this. So you are saying that she is dealing with her fear and that my fear is just as illogical as hers?
Holy Spirit: I am saying to you that it does not make sense to protect the body when you know the body is not real. When you think it is real, you feel compelled to protect it. Our friend is only protecting something she has temporarily forgotten is not real. It makes perfect sense that you are both protecting the unreal if you consider that you don’t know it is unreal. When you see her do it, you feel uneasy because a part of you recognizes that you are doing the same thing, and not just with a dog. That incident was just a symbol of what is happening in your mind every time you defend an ego thought.
It will be easier to understand if you look at the dog as representing an ego thought. You saw the dog, had a fearful reaction and ran from it. Is this not what you often do with the ego thoughts you encounter in your mind? What if you had stopped within the fenced yard and asked Me to correct your thoughts? The result would have been different just as it often is during your day when you take those steps.
When you simply react, you give power to ego thinking that it does not really have, just as you gave power to the dog it did not have. Your mind turned a friendly dog looking for an affectionate pat on the head into a rabid animal out to tear you limb from limb. Your other thoughts are much the same. They are simply thoughts with no particular meaning, and you decide what that meaning is depending on which teacher you are listening to. When you experience a fearful reaction in the world or within your own mind, stop for a moment and ask for my interpretation.
Then when your friend is experiencing resistance you will not project your own fear onto her because you have forgiven it. You will then be able to feel compassion rather than judgment. Never forget that you cannot see anything that is apparently without unless you have first seen it within. The place to work is never at the level of effect, but always at the level of cause. Look with Me at what needs healing within your mind. That is always the answer.
Me: Thank you, Holy Spirit for untangling these thoughts for me. Sometimes I get caught up in the ego thinking and have trouble stepping back from it and seeing clearly. It really is quite simple and it is always the same answer, just different form.