A COURSE IN MIRACLES
STUDY GROUP

WITH RAJ

 

Well, for the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking about Love. And as you know, at the end of each meeting I always say, “I love you all.”

Now I want you to understand that that isn’t some polite courtesy that I’m extending to you. Love is very intimate. Love comes from the depth of me to the depth of you. It comes from the holiness of me to the holiness of you—from the very center of me to the very center of you at the most fundamental levels of our Being. It’s significant.

You know, we have been talking about the Obstacles to Peace, peace being obviously something significant enough that it’s important to understand what the obstacles to it are so that they can be released—released so that peace is your experience.

Why? Because it’s more comfortable than pain? Because it’s an occasional nice diversion from excitement or because it doesn’t provide the challenges that wear you out?

No. Peace is itself the absence of fear and guilt. Again, peace is the absence of fear and guilt. It isn’t something you use to get rid of fear and guilt. It’s something which when you access it, puts you in a place where fear and guilt are simply not present.

This is important.

It means that you don’t have to engage in digging out guilt and fear where they’re harbored within you and do something to get rid of them. In so many words, you can forget about them and give your attention to meditation—to the practice of the holy instant where you shut up! That means go into the Silence—the absence of thinking, the absence of fretting, the absence of worrying. It’s a simple choice, which you can make simply. And when you make it, fear and guilt are absent. You see?

That’s the importance of peace. Peace is not only the nature of Being, it is for you in your process of Awakening, the threshold of the miracle—the threshold of insight, the threshold of Revelation. That’s why it’s something to be practiced deliberately. It is the way you can deliberately Wake up.

Now when you go into the Silence and you experience peace, as we’ve talked about, you experience the Presence of Love loving you and teaching you about your loveableness and your Brothers and Sisters. It puts you in the truly intimate relationship with your Brother and Sister that is called, “a holy relationship.”

This intimate Love is far different from the casual forms of love that are generally practiced. Why? Because this Love is illuminated in you by God. He illuminates the Presence of Himself as Love in you uncovering to you your eternal nature, uncovering to you what is eternally true about you in a manner that you can grasp the true meaning of.

This is again, very intimate.

So peace unites what has always been One—the infiniteness of God. It unites It as your conscious experience of Being. And it’s called “Awakening.” It’s called, “you coming back into your right Mind.”

Now going into the book:

You have paid very dearly for your illusions, and nothing you have paid for brought you peace.

And of course, the reason it never brought you peace was because you were trying to do it by yourself. God wasn’t brought into the picture. That which is the infinite eternal Love that can reveal infinite eternal Love in you wasn’t brought into the picture. You see?

It’s simple and it’s dependable. Because if you do bring God into the picture, there is the inevitable result of the revealing of the truth about you and your Brothers and Sisters and all of Creation.

Are you not GLAD that Heaven cannot be sacrificed, and sacrifice cannot be asked of you? There IS no obstacle which you can place before our union, . .

. . . meaning, yours and mine . . .

. . . for in your holy relationship . . .

. . . with your Brother or Sister . . .

. . . I am there already.

Remember I said just in the last two weeks, that I was with you before you drew your first breath. We have always been united because that is the way God created Creation. That’s the infinite intimacy of Creation, which awaits your experience.

There IS no obstacle which you can place before our union, for in your holy relationship . . .

. . . with your Brother . . .

. . . I am there already. We will surmount all obstacles together, . .

. . . you see? You don’t have to prove yourself by accomplishing it all by yourself. You cannot! The dream is the evidence of trying to do it independently. But you know what? There’s great joy in embarking on the discovery of Reality together and sharing it together because Creation and Being is an infinite intimacy.

We will surmount all obstacles together, for we stand within the gates, and not outside.

See, we stand within the inclusiveness of God, not outside of it as an independent orphan. You see? Our relationship . . . your relationship with all of your Brothers and Sisters, if you were seeing them truly, would reveal to you that they’re all going on within the context of God—within the Arena of God’s Love. It’s always been that way. It never got changed. But you began to ignore it giving preference to imaginative definitions of Creation and having fun with the sometimes weird and perverse and uniquely creative distortions of Reality that you could come up with. But it never, never changed.

How easily the gates are opened from within, to let peace through to bless the tired world!

You see? This is the purpose of peace. This is the effect of peace and it’s why the obstacles to peace must be abandoned. The blessing of the tired world is the effect of peace engaged in, abided in and committed to.

Can it be difficult for us . . .

. . . us, us together, . .

. . . us to walk past barriers together, when you have joined the limitless?

Together we will find no reason to even be curious about the barriers or even comment on how ridiculous they are or how mean-spirited or destructive they are. We can walk by them in our peace without responding to them at all. Because they serve no purpose, therefore are meaningless, therefore are not real and therefore were illusions that fooled us for a time.

The end of guilt is in your hands to give. Would you stop now to look for guilt in each other?

It’s an important question.

Just look at the starkness of it and the idiocy of it. You want to give the end of guilt. Every child of God does. It’s not in his genes, it’s in his Being. It’s in your Being. No matter how often you find justification to block peace, it is not what you want! It is not what is built into your Being. You need to know that so that you can assess yourself truly and beneficially. And so that it’s easy to abandon the practice of guilt, either on others or on yourself.

Let me be to you the symbol of the END of guilt, . .

. . . let me be something more than a historical figure in your past. Let me be the living Brother that I am now . . . now . . . now . . . in this moment . . . in this moment. And let the joining be fully intimate.

Well, if you’re going to do that, it means you’re going to let yourself be completely defenseless with me. Without any defense whatsoever, our joining is total . . . intimate . . . purely intimate.

And when you let that happen, when you let that experience in, it is a holy experience unlike any other that you’ve ever had. There’s no escaping its Meaning. And there’s no way for you to be fooled any longer about being an orphan, or about being on your own, or about being unloved, or about being unworthy.

Let me be to you something more than that historical figure in your past who happened to express some wonderful ideas.

Let me be to you the symbol of the END of guilt, and look upon each other as you would look on me.

Look upon the others that you’ve established a holy relationship with, as you would look on me.

Forgive me all the sins you think the Son of God committed. And in the light of your forgiveness, he will remember who he is, and forget what never was.

This is the blessing of the holy instant. This is the blessing of choosing for your peace.

. . . in the light of your forgiveness, [your Brother] will remember who he is, and forget what never was. I ask for your forgiveness, for if you are guilty, . .

. . . as you believe you are . . .

. . . so must I be.

Is that clear? You cannot believe that you are guilty and believe I am not guilty. What you believe about yourself you project indiscriminately on everything and everyone.

But I will tell you this: You do hold a certain reservation in the enthusiasm with which you project your guilt on me. And as a result, you are able to conceive that maybe I did overcome all sin and everything that would have made me guilty. And that little weakness in your resolve as to how you project your self-assessment out on your world will allow you to experience me as guiltless.

                     I ask for your forgiveness, . .

. . . don’t think it is silly. If you think you need to be forgiven, then you think I need to be forgiven.

I ask for your forgiveness, for if you are guilty, so must I be. But if I surmounted guilt and overcame the world, YOU were with me.

. . . if I surmounted guilt and overcame the world, YOU were with me.

There’s that unalterable, invariable intimacy. It’s a fact.

Would you see in me the symbol of guilt, or of the END of guilt, remembering that what I signify to you you see within YOURSELF?

Okay, here it is simply put: How you see yourself must be the way you see me. But how you see me must be the way you see yourself. So what vantage point are you going to choose? Then choose it! Make the decision! Abide by the decision. Monitor your thoughts and don’t indulge in ideas or feelings that don’t arise out of the vantage point—out of my vantage point. You see?

That’s how you transform yourself. Not by changing you, but by giving your attention to me and embracing my innocence—making the gift of forgiveness to me. In the light of your forgiveness (I’m paraphrasing here) you will remember who you are and forget what never was. It’s a principle. It’s absolute.

From your holy relationship . . .

. . . the one you have cultivated with your Brother or Sister, which has justified your abandoning the obstacles to peace . . .

. . . truth proclaims the truth, and love looks on itself.

Let’s go back.

From your holy relationship . . .

. . . with your Brother or Sister . . .

. . . truth proclaims the truth, . .

. . . truth from the depths of you that has been illuminated in you proclaims the truth. And the truth in your Brother recognizes the truth. You see?

. . . and love . . .

. . . from the very depths of you . . .

. . . looks on itself.

. . . in your Brother or Sister. So let me read it again:

From your holy relationship truth proclaims the truth, and love looks on itself.

It’s singular, unconflicted, embodying peace infinitely.

Salvation flows from deep within the home you offered to my Father and to me.

What? You said, “Father, what is the truth here?” Ah . . . you made a place for the Father by inviting the Father in to share His infinite perspective because you were interested in it once again. You made a place for the Father and you make place for those who are Awake—that includes me.

Salvation flows . . .

. . . not from us, but . . .

Salvation flows from deep within the home you offered to my Father and to me.

What is this “thing, . .”

. . . deep within the home . . [?]

It’s the Alter in you. It’s the undefended, unprotected presence of the holy one that you Are, even though when you offered it at first you didn’t know it was the truth about you. But the moment you said, “Father, what is the truth here? Jesus, what is the truth here? Holy Spirit, what is the truth here?” you, from deep within, made room there for wholeness to become Real to you again.

One more time:

Salvation flows from deep within the home you offered to my Father and to me. And we are there together, in the quiet communion in which the Father and the Son are joined.

Intimacy again . . . the intimacy of Love which inspires and illumines the Reality of you, the divine Reality of you, the Holiness of you. You see, to shut up and ask, “What is the truth here?” to go into the quietness of the holy instant is not just the absence of stress, [chuckling] it’s the Presence of God experienced by you, uncovering your Birthright to you, your inheritance to you, your divinity to you. And it changes everything for you.

Oh come ye faithful to the holy union of the Father and Son in you!

That’s the benefit of the holy instant, of the practice of the two-step.

And keep you not apart from what is offered you, in gratitude for giving peace its home in Heaven.

When you are infilled with the Love of the Father, do not keep yourself apart from It in anyway. Just don’t! Let It fill you. Let It overflow you. Let It pick you up and carry you in the strength of It’s strong currents. And don’t ever try again to get your authority back.

Send forth to all the world the joyous message of the end of guilt, . .

. . . and what? Not what you would expect . . .

. . . and all the world will answer.

Again:

Send forth to all the world the joyous message of the end of guilt, and all the world will answer.

What’s another way of describing the end of guilt? The presence of Peace. And another way? The presence of Love. But listen:

Send forth to all the world the joyous message of the . . .

. . . the presence of peace, . .

. . . and all the world will answer.

That means the world will answer in acknowledgement of the Meaning of the Peace that you’re offering. That is the only thing that is going to eradicate war. “Oh, but you know, I’ve tried that and it didn’t work.”

No. You have never tried that. You have never tried that without an ace up your sleeve or a backup plan . . . “Well, if this doesn’t work, then I’m going to have to do that. I’ll try it but first I will get my plans laid out so that I can be protected.”

Now, this Peace that we’re talking about extending is the Peace that is given to you, that infills you as a Gift from the Father. And so this Peace that you extend to the world, that you send forth to all the world is partnered, we’ll say, with the Father. It is not some puny little personal gift of a tiny ego on the face of a huge planet with thousands, millions of different wills—conflicting wills.

Remember this:

Send forth to all the world the joyous message of the . . .

. . . end of guilt or . . .

. . . the joyous message of . . .

. . . Peace, or . . .

. . . the joyous message of . . .

. . . Love . . .

. . . and all the world will answer.

That’s why you have to decide that it’s worth it to you to ask of the Father, “What is the truth?” . . to listen for the answer and then to act on the answer and to stay with the inquiry as the answer is extended and embellished and clarified and made ever new in its transformational effect.

Think of your happiness as everyone offers you witness of the end of sin, . .

You see? [chuckling] How many of you have thought of that? On the other hand, how many of you have thought that you’re not likely to be happy because no one is going to offer . . .

. . . you witness of the end of sin, . .

. . . they’re too dedicated to their small minded, mean spirited, ego concepts . . . right? I know that’s a familiar thought. But here is a new one:

Think of your happiness as everyone offers you witness of the end of sin, and shows you that its power is gone forever.

Now either these words are nothing but bullshit or they mean the truth! And I encourage you to accept that they mean the truth and use them and practice them as though they do. It will bring purpose to your existence. And in your practice of them you will see the effect that is described here. And then you will experience . . .

. . . happiness as everyone offers you witness of the end of sin, and shows you that its power is gone forever. Where can guilt be, when the belief in sin is gone?

Exactly! Where can guilt and fear be when you undo the divorce you got from the Father? Only getting the divorce caused guilt and fear to come into play. But join again with you Father and He reveals your Birthright to you in terms you can’t deny. And in the absence of orphanhood, there is no guilt and fear present and your world will not reflect back to you that sin is real. This is truth!

Where can guilt be, when the belief in sin is gone? And where is death, when its great advocate is heard no more?

Forgive me your illusions, . .

. . . forgive me the illusions you project on me. Forgive your world the illusions you project on it.

Forgive me your illusions, and release me from punishment for what I have not done. So will you learn the freedom that I taught by teaching freedom to each other, and so releasing me.

Let’s hear that again:

So will you learn the freedom that I taught by teaching freedom to each other, and so releasing me. I am within your holy relationship, . .

. . . meaning with your Brothers and Sisters, with anyone you care enough to engage in a holy relationship with. Which means joining with the Father before you act in consonance with your partner, so that it is you and the Father behaving in the relationship rather than puny little ego you, all by yourself, trying to do the best you can, trying to be as loving as you can, but always under the shadows of fear and guilt.

I am within your holy relationship, yet you would imprison me behind the obstacles you raise to freedom, and bar my way to you.

It’s true. When you can’t hear me you’re blocking it. You have some reason not to hear me that you prefer. And when you finally yield, when you finally soften and ask of me, and have no objection, you will hear me. I answer constantly. But you won’t hear me unless you let go of the resistance you have to hearing me.

I am within your holy relationship, yet you would imprison me behind the obstacles you raise to freedom, and bar my way to you. Yet it is not possible to keep away One Who is there already.

Important for you to remember that. I am intimately with you already in every single moment, in every little corner of your conscious awareness. I’m there already. So you can’t keep me away, but you can ignore me. But because all you’re doing is ignoring me, we can connect the moment you decide to—truly the moment you decide to. And I invite you to decide to immediately.

. . . it is not possible to keep away One Who is there already. And in Him it IS possible that our communion, where we are joined already, will be the focus of the new perception that will bring light to all the world, contained in YOU.

That’s the blessing and the meaning of intimacy. And it’s the outcome of not blocking Peace anymore.

Everyone is on the way out . . . everyone is on their way out of conflict and into Peace. It’s the Movement. It is happening. Make it comfortable by not resisting it and by consciously embracing it. And as you do, remember that there is an intimacy of unfathomable depth between you and me, between you and the Father, between you and the Holy Spirit and between you and every single one of your Brothers and Sisters even though they don’t know it at the moment and can’t join you consciously like I can and the Father can and all those who are already Awake can, including every single one of your Guides.

I invite you during the coming week to remember that you’re present in an intimate, holy relationship. And reach for me often, defenselessly.

I love you very much and I look forward to being with you next time.