Ask: Does it make sense for me to spend time caring for the natural world?

“…The Course challenges me in two ways that I haven't yet figured out. First, as an example, I recently finished my cherished monthly National Geographic that describes Lions and their often brutal behavior toward their population and also their cubs. That makes me wonder (not facetiously), did they also have a 'tiny mad idea' of separation or are they or their behavior illusions of ours? That leads into my second question as an environmentalist who grew naturally into being appalled by man's arrogance in manipulating and destroying what we see as our natural world. My concern is that thinking this is our illusion, our creation, our dream, doesn't that reinforce that role of human as ruler of all we see, to be used for whatever selfish ego based experience we desire? So I wonder, does what I spend my time on in advocacy, conservation and care for the natural world still make sense?… – DM

            To answer your first question, here is a response to a question about animals from the May 17, 2013 article: “The entire universe of form, including all plants and animals, is a projection of not-Truth from the split mind. As not-Truth it is inherently limited, imperfect, and disordered. The split mind projects itself into not-Truth by projecting itself onto only one animal – humans. Your seemingly-individual split mind is a projection of THE split mind projected onto a specific human animal in the projection. So it seems as though humans have a choice where plants and other animals do not even though they are all equally not-True.”
            So, just like the self (body/personality) with which you identify, animals are just part of the projection, or “dream”. Like all form, they and their behavior are meaningless. Any meaning (right/wrong, good/bad) that you see in form is projected from your seemingly-individual mind. You are responsible not for what you see but for how you see it. And how you see the universe of form determines whether you are in conflict or at peace.
            If you believe that the world is real then you believe (unconsciously) that you attacked or killed Reality to make this other reality. Reality then seems like Something apart from you. It seems like a god with power over you. You believe that this god decrees an absolute morality. Your belief in an absolute morality and guilt lead you to experience strong judgments, and the feelings (anger, despair, etc.) that they cause, about the world. This is the whole package that comes with your belief in the self as your reality. You cannot identify with a self and escape the belief in guilt.
            But if you are aware that the world and the ego’s projections onto the world are only the idea of the opposite-of-Reality and that Reality is unchanged by this mere (tiny, mad) idea, then you will not have strong feelings about them. You will accept that the world, being the idea of the opposite-of-Perfection, is inherently imperfect. You will seek to transcend your belief in the world rather than to perfect what will never be perfect.
Whether or not your environmental advocacy makes sense to you is only something you can answer for yourself. It is never enough to read or to hear from others that the world is not real. You will have to experience this for yourself for a real shift to occur in your relationship to the universe of form. While the world is still real to you it will not serve you to pretend otherwise. If you want to grow your awareness of Truth (Reality) you have to invite Truth into your awareness right where you are now. Guilt is an obstacle to peace. And whatever disturbs your peace presents you with an opportunity to look at your deep-seated, often unconscious belief in guilt. So whatever disturbs your peace presents you with an opportunity to undo your belief in guilt and to grow your awareness of Truth.

Certainly, as Truth becomes true for you your relationship to the world will change. You may continue in your advocacy from another approach reflecting your awareness of Truth. Or you may find that it falls away naturally as you become aware that the world is not real. Only time will tell. In any case, you do not have to judge one way or another what the self chooses to do in the world. It may have temporary meaning for you but it is all equally meaningless in Truth.

>>>>>
Learn about the books The ACIM Mentor Articles, The Plain Language A Course in Miracles, 4 Habits for Inner Peace, and Releasing Guilt for Inner Peace at www.acimmentor.com.
If you have a question the answer to which you think will help others send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered in the ACIM Mentor Newsletter/Blog.

Comments

will said…
When I look at environmental or Green movement (along with a whole host of other things) is the idea behind them is the hook the ego uses to draw you in. But just beneath the surface lies "arrogance, manipulation, selfish based ego experience, anger, self righteousness" and on and on. What may seem like a very altruistic thing on first glance just turns out to be the same as everything else the ego is selling. This kind of circular thinking that goes on is pretty hard to get away from
6:37 AM
Christine said…
Yes - you can add church to the list!
5:16 AM
will said…
"There's an old analogy to a cup of tea. If you want to drink new tea you have to get rid of the old tea that's in your cup, other wise your cup just overflows and you get a wet mess. Your head is like that cup. It has limited capacity and if you want to learn something about the world you should keep your head empty in order to learn it. It's very easy to spend your whole life swishing old tea around in your cup thinking it's great stuff because you've never really tried anything new, because you could never get it in, because the old stuff prevented its entry because you were so sure the old stuff was so good, because you never really tried anything new...on and on in an endless circular pattern."

Robert Pirsig, "LILA"
9:30 PM
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