The Illusion
It’s hard to grasp that the world is an illusion. The word “illusion” means something that’s not there but that you see anyway. In the midst of the illusion it’s impossible to accept that it’s an illusion. And there’s this expectation that if you ever did get that it’s an illusion it would be like vapor before your eyes. Now, this may happen. I’ve had experiences where the physical world for a moment seemed transparent, but this experience is not sustained. If it were, I would have learned all that I need and the world would be gone from my mind! The everyday experience of the world as an illusion, though, is that the world's significance pales in comparison to the Peace of God that you experience within.
I wrote before about how what you value is what is real to you (see Reality and Value). The world fades into the background as it becomes less valuable to you. Sometimes students ask me if there will ever come a time when they will cease to see the horrors of the world or somebody’s crappy behavior. What I tell them is that their eyes will still report the horrors and the ego will still judge, but that they will cease to care about these things because they will be meaningless to them. They are significant to them now because they want the world and the ego, and they want to have a more comfortable experience of the world and ego. They want the world to change; they don’t want to change their minds about the world’s value.
You can only understand that the world and the ego are illusions from the perspective of Truth. Communing with God daily and practicing the Holy Instant throughout the day bring you experiences that are so compellingly Real that it becomes obvious that the world and the ego are not real. When you return to the world from these experiences the world and the ego are less valuable to you, and so they are less significant to you. Letting them go becomes natural, even automatic.
When you are struggling to grasp the concept of the world as an illusion, understand that you are trying to grasp this concept with ego, which will never grasp it. Let it go and don’t struggle to understand it. You are just feeding the ego. Understanding will come with the experience of God. There is nothing you have to force on your way to God. You only have to be open to experiencing God and understanding will follow.
I wrote before about how what you value is what is real to you (see Reality and Value). The world fades into the background as it becomes less valuable to you. Sometimes students ask me if there will ever come a time when they will cease to see the horrors of the world or somebody’s crappy behavior. What I tell them is that their eyes will still report the horrors and the ego will still judge, but that they will cease to care about these things because they will be meaningless to them. They are significant to them now because they want the world and the ego, and they want to have a more comfortable experience of the world and ego. They want the world to change; they don’t want to change their minds about the world’s value.
You can only understand that the world and the ego are illusions from the perspective of Truth. Communing with God daily and practicing the Holy Instant throughout the day bring you experiences that are so compellingly Real that it becomes obvious that the world and the ego are not real. When you return to the world from these experiences the world and the ego are less valuable to you, and so they are less significant to you. Letting them go becomes natural, even automatic.
When you are struggling to grasp the concept of the world as an illusion, understand that you are trying to grasp this concept with ego, which will never grasp it. Let it go and don’t struggle to understand it. You are just feeding the ego. Understanding will come with the experience of God. There is nothing you have to force on your way to God. You only have to be open to experiencing God and understanding will follow.
Comments
Really good post Liz. After having wandered around the internet reading ACIM sites there is just no comparison from your site and others. But there's room for everybody.
will