Ask: A Discrepency Between the Bible and Course; also, One Mind
I 'm submitting a couple questions to Ask ACIM Mentor. Thanks for your time.
a) The Bible says God created man out of the dust from the ground and breathed life into him and made him a living soul. This gives the impression the Bible is speaking of the physical body as well as the soul. ACIM states the body is not a creation of God but an illusion of personal self of our own making. Can you please clarify the discrepancy?
b) If all of us are many expressions of the One and share one Mind and we have no private thoughts and our seeming differences of form and our seeming separateness from one another are really illusions concealing our shared Source and oneness, then why are all thoughts and beliefs not in harmony? – RR
God is the One Being that is, without form, extending infinitely and eternally. Being All-that-is, God also contains the idea of Its own opposite, which can only ever be an idea, because All cannot have an opposite. The nature of All-ness undoes the idea of Its own opposite the instant that the idea seems to occur. But, since the idea of not-God contains the concept of time, within the idea of not-God it seems as though the opposite-of-God began a long time ago, and will be undone in some indefinite future. However, in God, this idea has never occurred.
The part of God’s Mind in which the idea of not-God seems to occur is what A Course in Miracles calls the “son of God”. The son of God is always a part of God, but it projects not-God: limited, time-bound form, or the physical universe, including bodies. Onto these billions of bodies, the son of God projects its split mind, so that each mind seems to be a replica of the son of God, split between God and not-God, the latter taking the form of a unique personal thought system (ego).
So, the physical universe and personal selves, or “souls”, that the Bible attributes to God, the Course explains is really only a projection of an idea that can never have reality – it is an illusion that only seems real within itself.
What you think of as your mind, then, though it seems to be individual, is really just a projection of the son of God’s mind, split between God and not-God. The God part of your mind is real and eternal, and is completely untouched by the not-God part of your mind. The not-God part of your mind is the projection of an idea that can never be, so it really has no beginning or ending. It is just an erroneous thought in your mind that you can release right now to be aware of God in your mind again.
The reason that seemingly-individual minds are not in harmony is that they are not supposed to be; as representatives of not-God, they are meant to be the opposite of Harmony. But, if you observe personal thought systems (egos) long enough, including the one with which you identify, you will begin to see that the content of each is the same: All are insecure, selfish, self-centered, defensive, anxious, etc. The only difference is the degree to which these traits predominate in each personal self. For example, one is more anxious, another more defensive, and so forth. You will begin to realize that, even in its replacement of diversity of form for the Oneness of God, not-God cannot get away from a twisted sort of oneness! When you see this, you will begin to understand that there is only one mind.
Only God in your mind is Universal, which means that God in what seems like “your” mind is the same as God in what seem like “my” mind and is the same as God in what seems like “their” minds. When the Course says we are One Mind, this is to what it is referring, not to the personal self and its thought system. When you are aware of God in your mind, then you are in Harmony Itself, Which is the Universal part of every seemingly-separate mind.
When the Course says that you have no private thoughts, what it is saying is that the thoughts that you seem to think with a personal thought system are not your real thoughts. But, certainly, when you want to believe that you are a personal self in a body in a world, you think that your private thoughts are your real thoughts, and this is what blocks your awareness of God in your mind. This is why, to be at peace, you must learn to forgive (let go of) personal thoughts, so that God can arise in your awareness again.
>>>>>
Learn about The Plain Language A Course in Miracles at www.placim.com.
If you have a question that you want answered in the ACIM Mentor Newsletter/Blog, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered here.
a) The Bible says God created man out of the dust from the ground and breathed life into him and made him a living soul. This gives the impression the Bible is speaking of the physical body as well as the soul. ACIM states the body is not a creation of God but an illusion of personal self of our own making. Can you please clarify the discrepancy?
b) If all of us are many expressions of the One and share one Mind and we have no private thoughts and our seeming differences of form and our seeming separateness from one another are really illusions concealing our shared Source and oneness, then why are all thoughts and beliefs not in harmony? – RR
God is the One Being that is, without form, extending infinitely and eternally. Being All-that-is, God also contains the idea of Its own opposite, which can only ever be an idea, because All cannot have an opposite. The nature of All-ness undoes the idea of Its own opposite the instant that the idea seems to occur. But, since the idea of not-God contains the concept of time, within the idea of not-God it seems as though the opposite-of-God began a long time ago, and will be undone in some indefinite future. However, in God, this idea has never occurred.
The part of God’s Mind in which the idea of not-God seems to occur is what A Course in Miracles calls the “son of God”. The son of God is always a part of God, but it projects not-God: limited, time-bound form, or the physical universe, including bodies. Onto these billions of bodies, the son of God projects its split mind, so that each mind seems to be a replica of the son of God, split between God and not-God, the latter taking the form of a unique personal thought system (ego).
So, the physical universe and personal selves, or “souls”, that the Bible attributes to God, the Course explains is really only a projection of an idea that can never have reality – it is an illusion that only seems real within itself.
What you think of as your mind, then, though it seems to be individual, is really just a projection of the son of God’s mind, split between God and not-God. The God part of your mind is real and eternal, and is completely untouched by the not-God part of your mind. The not-God part of your mind is the projection of an idea that can never be, so it really has no beginning or ending. It is just an erroneous thought in your mind that you can release right now to be aware of God in your mind again.
The reason that seemingly-individual minds are not in harmony is that they are not supposed to be; as representatives of not-God, they are meant to be the opposite of Harmony. But, if you observe personal thought systems (egos) long enough, including the one with which you identify, you will begin to see that the content of each is the same: All are insecure, selfish, self-centered, defensive, anxious, etc. The only difference is the degree to which these traits predominate in each personal self. For example, one is more anxious, another more defensive, and so forth. You will begin to realize that, even in its replacement of diversity of form for the Oneness of God, not-God cannot get away from a twisted sort of oneness! When you see this, you will begin to understand that there is only one mind.
Only God in your mind is Universal, which means that God in what seems like “your” mind is the same as God in what seem like “my” mind and is the same as God in what seems like “their” minds. When the Course says we are One Mind, this is to what it is referring, not to the personal self and its thought system. When you are aware of God in your mind, then you are in Harmony Itself, Which is the Universal part of every seemingly-separate mind.
When the Course says that you have no private thoughts, what it is saying is that the thoughts that you seem to think with a personal thought system are not your real thoughts. But, certainly, when you want to believe that you are a personal self in a body in a world, you think that your private thoughts are your real thoughts, and this is what blocks your awareness of God in your mind. This is why, to be at peace, you must learn to forgive (let go of) personal thoughts, so that God can arise in your awareness again.
>>>>>
Learn about The Plain Language A Course in Miracles at www.placim.com.
If you have a question that you want answered in the ACIM Mentor Newsletter/Blog, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered here.
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