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A Course In Miracles

 

CHAPTER 18: THE PASSING OF THE DREAM

 

I. The Substitute Reality

 

            “To substitute is to accept instead.  If you would but consider exactly what this entails, you would perceive at once how much at variance this is with the goal the Holy Spirit has given you, and would accomplish for you.  To substitute is to choose between, renouncing one aspect of the Sonship in favor of the other.”  (1:1-3)

 

            “The Holy Spirit never uses substitutes.  Where the ego perceives one person as a replacement for another, the Holy Spirit sees them joined and indivisible.  He does not judge between them, knowing they are one.”  (2:1-2)

 

            “Substitution is clearly a process in which they are perceived as different.  One would unite; the other separate.”  (2:5-6)

 

            “The one emotion in which substitution is impossible is love.  Fear involves substitution by definition, for it is love’s replacement.  Fear is both a fragmented and fragmenting emotion.”  (3:1-3)

 

            “No one is seen complete.  The body is emphasized, with special emphasis on certain parts, and used as the standard for comparison of acceptance or rejection for acting out a special form of fear.”  (3:6-7)

 

            “You who believe that God is fear made but one substitution.  It has taken many forms, because it was the substitution of illusion for truth; of fragmentation for wholeness.”  (4:1-2)

 

            “You may be surprised to hear how very different is reality from what you see.  You do not realize the magnitude of that one error.  It was so vast and so completely incredible that from it a world of total unreality had to emerge.  What else could come of it?”  (5:1-4)

 

            “That was the first projection of error outward.  The world arose to hide it, and became the screen on which it was projected and drawn between you and the truth.”  (6:1-2)

 

            “Call it not sin but madness, for such it was and so it still remains.  Invest it not with guilt, for guilt implies it was accomplished in reality.  And above all, be not afraid of it.”  (6:7-9)

 

            “When you seem to see some twisted form of the original error rising to frighten you, say only, “God is not fear, but Love,” and it will disappear.  The truth will save you.”  (7:1-2)

 

            “Inward is sanity; insanity is outside you.”  (7:4)

 

            “And turn you to the stately calm within, where in holy stillness dwells the living God you never left, and Who never left you.”  (8:2)

 

            “Within yourself you love your brother with a perfect love.  Here is holy ground, in which no substitution can enter, and where only the truth in your brother can abide.  Here you are joined in God, as much together as you are with Him.”  (9:3-5)

 

            “In you there is no separation, and no substitute can keep you from your brother.”  (10:1)

 

            “Heaven is restored to all the Sonship through your relationship, for in it lies the Sonship, whole and beautiful, safe in your love.”  (11:1)

 

            “And God Himself is glad that your relationship is as it was created.  The universe within you stands with you, together with your brother.  And Heaven looks with love on what is joined in it, along with its Creator.”  (11:6-8)

 

            “You have been called, together with your brother, to the most holy function this world contains.”  (13:1)

 

In summary, section 1: “The Substitute Reality” is saying:

 

            We have made but one single substitution: Our identity as Oneself united in God for that of an ego; a separated, desperate parody of the holiness and light that we are in truth.  One identity is based in Love and the other fear.  We have substituted a body for Spirit.  When you feel any form of fear, be sure you are identifying with the body and therefore the ego.  When these time come, simply remind yourself of the truth and say to yourself, “God is not fear, but Love,” and the fear will disappear.  This truth will always save you.  Remembering this truth is your most holy function.  It is to remember your oneness with those God created in holy relationship with you.

 

II. The Basis of the Dream

 

            “Does not a world that seems quite real arise in dreams?”  (1:1)

 

            “Dreams are chaotic because they are governed by your conflicting wishes, and therefore they have no concern with what is true.  They are the best example you could have of how perception can be utilized to substitute illusions for truth.”  (2:1-2)

 

            “You do not find the differences between what you see in sleep and on awaking disturbing.  You recognize that what you see on waking is blotted out in dreams.  Yet on awakening, you do not expect it to be gone.”  (3:1-3)

 

            “No limits on substitution are laid upon you.  For a time it seems as if a world were given you, to make it what you wish.”  (3:6-7)

 

            “Dreams are perceptual temper tantrums, in which you literally scream, “I want it thus!” And thus it seems to be.”  (4:1-2)

 

            “Dreams show you that you have the power to make a world as you would have it be, and that because you want it you see it.  And while you see it you do not doubt that it is real.  Yet here is a world, clearly within your mind, that seems to be outside.  You do not respond to it as though you made it, nor do you realize that the emotions the dream produces must come from you.”

 

            “You seem to waken, and the dream is gone.  Yet what you fail to recognize is that what caused the dream has not gone with it.  Your wish to make another world that is not real remains with you.  And what you seem to waken to is but another form of this same world you see in dreams.  All your time is spent in dreaming.  Your sleeping and your waking dreams have different forms, and that is all.”  (5:8-13)

 

            “They are your protest against reality, and your fixed and insane idea that you can change it.”  (5:15)

 

            “The special relationship is your determination to keep your hold on unreality, and to prevent yourself from waking.  And while you see more value in sleeping than in waking, you will not let go of it.”  (5:19-20)

 

            “I said before that the first change, before dreams disappear, is that your dreams of fear are changed to happy dreams.”  (6:3)

 

            “Your special relationship will be a means for undoing guilt in everyone blessed through your holy relationship.  It will be a happy dream, and one which you will share with all who come within your sight.”  (7:1-2)

 

            “You are so used to choosing among dreams you do not see that you have made, at last, the choice between truth and all illusions.”  (8:6)

 

            “Yet Heaven is sure.  This is no dream.  Its coming means that you have chosen truth, and it has come because you have been willing to let your special relationship meet it conditions.  In your relationship the Holy Spirit has gently laid the real world; the world of happy dreams, from which awaking is so easy and so natural.”  (9:1-4)

            

In summary, section 2: “The Basis of the Dream” is saying:

 

            It may seem a bit disconcerting to learn that whether we are sleeping or awake, we never leave a world of dreams.  Here we are told that since our birth into a body, we have never seen reality.  We have only been living one continuous dream.  And yet, it is well within our power to awaken from it once we understand that we have total power and control over whether we choose to remain asleep or awaken.  To awaken, we must choose to shift our perception of others to the truth of the light in them. Our special relationships are all whom we associate with a body.  Such special relationships are the cause of our unhappiness because what we are seeing in others is false – a “dream identity.”  Forgive all this and every relationship you have or ever will have in the past, present and future will be healed for all eternity.  You will be happy whence you have let go of all things associated with the body.  For it is through letting go of the drama of our bodily or “special relationships” that the whole basis of the dream is let go of.  

 

III. Light in the Dream

 

            “Each dream has led to other dreams, and every fantasy that seemed to bring a light into the darkness but made the darkness deeper.”  (1:3)

 

            “As the light comes nearer you will rush to darkness, shrinking from the truth, sometimes retreating to the lesser forms of fear, and sometimes to stark terror.  But you will advance, because your goal is the advance from fear to truth.”  (2:1-2)

 

            “If you knew Who walks beside you on the way that you have chosen, fear would be impossible.  You do not know because the journey into darkness has been long and cruel, and you have gone deep into it.”  (3:2-3)

 

            “You go toward love still hating it, and terribly afraid of its judgment upon you.  And you do not realize that you are not afraid of love, but only of what you have made of it.”  (3:5-6)

 

            “You who hold your brother’s hand also hold mine, for when you joined each other you were not alone.  Do you believe that I would leave you in the darkness that you agreed to leave with me?  In your relationship is this world’s light.”  (4:1-3)

 

            “The holiness of your relationship is established in Heaven.”  (4:10)

 

            “In your relationship you have joined with me in bringing Heaven to the Son of God, who hid in darkness.”  (6:1)

 

            “You who are now the bringer of salvation have the function of bringing light to darkness.”  (7:1)

 

            “We are made whole in our desire to make whole.”  (7:4)

 

            “You have gone past fear, for no two minds can join in the desire for love without love’s joining them.”  (7:7)

 

            “Heaven is joined with you in your advance to Heaven.  When such great lights have joined with you to give the little spark of your desire the power of God Himself, can you remain in darkness?  You and your brother are coming home together, after a long and meaningless journey that you undertook apart, and that led nowhere.  You have found your brother, and you will light each other’s way.  And from this light will the Great Rays extend back into darkness and forward unto God, to shine away the past and so make room for His eternal Presence, in which everything is radiant in the light.”  (8:3-7)

 

In summary, section 3: “Light in the Dream” is saying:

 

            The word “light” is synonymous with “knowledge” in A Course In Miracles.  To know or understand and accept the truth of our reality, is to therefore bring light to it.  As we come closer and closer to understanding the light of truth, our ego will at times retreat into the dark and drag us with it.  We will refuse to believe what is being taught.  Let us cease to make such retreats now.  Let us accept the truth and bring light into this dream, thus dispelling the dark as one does when turning on a lightbulb.  We have all journeyed into the forgetfulness of our Unity together, but we also brought Christ with us.  So, let us return together, through seeing ourselves as One once again; let us see only our unity with Christ and thus bring light into this dream.

 

IV. The Little Willingness

 

            “The holy instant is the result of your determination to be holy.  It is the answer.  The desire and the willingness to let it come precede its coming.  You prepare your mind for it only to the extent of recognizing that you want it above all else.  It is not necessary that you do more; indeed, it is necessary that you realize that you cannot do more.”  (1:1-5)

 

            “It is your realization that you need do so little that enables Him to give so much.”  (1:10)

 

            “But trust implicitly your willingness, whatever else may enter.  Concentrate only on this, and be not disturbed that shadows surround it.  That is why you came.  If you could come without them you would not need the holy instant.”  (2:3-6)

 

            “Humility will never ask that you remain content with littleness.  But it does require that you be not content with less than greatness that comes not of you.  Your difficulty with the holy instant arises from your fixed conviction that you are not worthy of it.”  (3:1-3)

 

            “The holy instant does not come from your little willingness alone.  It is always the result of your small willingness combined with the unlimited power of God’s Will.”  (4:1-2)

 

            “Rather than seek to prepare yourself for Him, try to think thus:

 

I who am host to God am worthy of Him.  He Who established His dwelling place in me created it as He would have it be.  It is not needful that I make it ready for Him, but only that I do not interfere with His plan to restore to me my own awareness of my readiness, which is eternal.  I need add nothing to His plan.  But to receive it, I must be willing not to substitute my own in place of it.”  (5:8-13)

 

            “Remember that you made guilt, and that your plan for the escape from guilt has been to bring Atonement to it, and make salvation fearful.  And it is only fear that you will add, if you prepare yourself for love.”  (6:3-4)

 

            “Release yourself to Him Whose function is release.”  (6:6)

 

            “It is this that makes the holy instant so easy and so natural.  You make it difficult, because you insist there must be more that you need do.”  (7:1-2)

 

            “Forget not that it has been your decision to make everything that is natural and easy for you impossible.”  (8:1)

 

            “Everything God wills is not only possible, but has already happened.”  (8:4)

 

In summary, section 4: “The Little Willingness” is saying:

 

            Our willingness to allow ourselves to be as God created us, rather than the bodies our ego perceives us to be now, triggers the holy instant.  Our desire merely precedes it but does not add anything to it.  The rest is of God and God alone.  Our role is simply to step out of God’s way by remembering Who We Are.  We are host to God.  We are worthy to be such a host.  We need do nothing to be deserving of such companionship except to do nothing that interferes with our awareness of Him within us and everyone else.  It may seem impossible to see those who cause you the most struggle as one whom carries God Himself within.  Yet do not forget, it is unnatural for them to be anything less than the holy vessel they are.  You need but this small willingness to see your brethren as such and God’s Will is done; the holy instant will follow soon behind such powerful, willing thoughts.

 

V. The Happy Dream

 

            “Prepare you now for the undoing of what never was.  If you already understood the difference between truth and illusion, the Atonement would have no meaning.  The holy instant, the holy relationship, the Holy Spirit’s teaching, and all the means by which salvation is accomplished, would have no purpose.  For they are all but aspects of the plan to change your dreams of fear to happy dreams, from which you waken easily to knowledge.  Put yourself not in charge of this, for you cannot distinguish between advance and retreat.  Some of your greatest advances you have judged as failures, and some of your deepest retreats you have evaluated as success.”  (1:1-6)

 

            “Through your holy relationship, reborn and blessed in every holy instant you do not arrange, thousands will rise to Heaven with you.”  (3:1)

 

            “A purpose such as this, without the means, is inconceivable.  He will provide the means to anyone who shares His purpose.”  (3:8-9)

 

            “Happy dreams come true, not because they are dreams, but only because they are happy.  And so they must be loving.  Their message is, “Thy Will be done,” and not, “I want it otherwise.””  (4:1-3)

 

            “It is no dream to love your brother as yourself.  Nor is your holy relationship a dream.”  (5:1-2)

 

            “It will become the happy dream through which He can spread joy to thousands on thousands who believe that love is fear, not happiness.”  (5:5)

 

            “When you feel the holiness of your relationship is threatened by anything, stop instantly and offer the Holy Spirit your willingness, in spite of fear, to let Him exchange this instant for the holy one that you would rather have.  He will never fail in this.”  (6:1-2)

 

            “Whoever is saner at the time the threat is perceived should remember how deep is his indebtedness to the other and how much gratitude is due him, and be glad that he can pay his debt by bringing happiness to both.  Let him remember this, and say:

 

I desire this holy instant for myself, that I may share it with my brother, whom I love.

It is not possible that I can have it without him, or he without me.

Yet it is wholly possible for us to share it now.

And so I choose this instant as the one to offer to the Holy Spirit, that His blessing may descend on us, and keep us both in peace.”  (7:1-6)

 

In summary, section 5: “The Happy Dream” is saying:

 

            A “happy dream” is merely an experience of living without fear of anything in this dream.  It is to have no fear of any illusion you may encounter, regardless of the form it takes.  The form most difficult for us to let go of our fear of, surrounds our relationships – our bodily experiences with other bodies.  It is difficult to feel loving towards those whom we also feel our greatest conflict.  And yet, if we allow ourselves the willingness to let this illusion of them go and place them into the hands of the Holy Spirit, He will transform our relationship for us.  All it takes is for one of us to remember to do this and He will carry our holy relationship into a happier dream; one of peace.

 

VI. Beyond the Body

 

            “There is nothing outside you.  That is what you must ultimately learn, for it is the realization that the Kingdom of Heaven is restored to you.”  (1:1-2)

 

            “Heaven is not a place nor a condition.  It is merely an awareness of perfect Oneness, and the knowledge that there is nothing else; nothing outside this Oneness, and nothing else within.”  (1:5-6)

 

            “The belief that you could give and get something else, something outside yourself, has cost you the awareness of Heaven and of your Identity.”  (2:3)

 

            “Minds are joined; bodies are not.  Only by assigning to the mind the properties of the body does separation seem to be possible.”  (3:1-2)

 

            “Mind cannot attack, but it can make fantasies and direct the body to act them out.”  (3:5)

 

            “In this, the mind is clearly delusional.  It cannot attack, but it maintains it can, and uses what it does to hurt the body to prove it can.”  (4:1-2)

 

            “Would you not have the instruments of separation reinterpreted as means for salvation, and used for purposes of love?”  (5:1)

 

            “It is insane to use the body as the scapegoat for guilt, directing its attack and blaming it for what you wished it to do.”  (6:1)

 

            “This is the host of God that you have made.  And neither God nor His most holy Son can enter an abode that harbors hate, and where you have sown the seeds of vengeance, violence and death.”  (7:1-2)

 

            “The body is outside you, and but seems to surround you, shutting you off from others and keeping you apart from them, and them from you.  It is not there.  There is no barrier between God and His Son, nor can His Son be separated from Himself except in illusions.”  (9:1-3)

 

            “Everyone has experienced what he would call a sense of being transported beyond himself.  This feeling of liberation far exceeds the dream of freedom sometimes hoped for in special relationships.  It is a sense of actual escape from limitations.”  (11:1-3)

 

            “There is no violence at all in this escape.  The body is not attacked, but simply properly perceived.  It does not limit you, merely because you would not have it so.  You are not really “lifted out” of it; it cannot contain you.”  (13:1-4)

 

            “The sudden expansion of awareness that takes place with your desire for it is the irresistible appeal the holy instant holds.  It calls you to be yourself, within its safe embrace.”  (14:2-3)

 

            “Not through destruction, not through a breaking out, but merely by a quiet melting in.  For peace will join you there, simply because you have been willing to let go the limits you have placed upon love, and joined it where it is and where it led you, in answer to its gentle call to be at peace.”  (14:6-7)

 

In summary, section 6: “Beyond the Body” is saying:

 

            To move “beyond the body” we must undergo an inner journey, for we do not actually move away from anything outside of us.  The body seems to surround us in a prison of flesh and pain, but really, it is not there.  This may sound difficult to believe, given how profound the feelings of the body can be.  Yet, such feelings actually first originate in the mind, then pass through the body secondly.  The body is merely a device with which we use to interpret what our mind perceives.  Change what we think, and we can change what we experience.  The body can only be escaped through expansion of our beliefs of what we think we are.  Desire peace and the body itself, as well as its relationships to other bodies, will be brought into a state of peace.  The holy instant comes when you let go of all things, all limits, you have placed upon yourself through the idea of being a body.  Then you will join with love and move beyond the body.

 

VII. I Need Do Nothing

 

            “You still have too much faith in the body as a source of strength.  What plans do you make that do not involve its comfort or protection or enjoyment in some way?”  (1:1-2)

 

            “There is one thing that you have never done; you have not utterly forgotten the body.  It has perhaps faded at times from your sight, but it has not yet completely disappeared.  You are not asked to let this happen for more than an instant, yet it is in this instant that the miracle of Atonement happens.  Afterwards you will see the body again, but never quite the same.  And every instant that you spend without awareness of it gives you a different view of it when you return.”  (2:1-5)

 

            “At no single instant does the body exist at all.  It is always remembered or anticipated, but never experienced just now.  Only its past and future make it seem real.”  (3:1-3)

 

            “It is impossible to accept the holy instant without reservation unless, just for an instant, you are willing to see no past or future.”  (4:1)

 

            “Enormous effort is expended in the attempt to make holy what is hated and despised.  Nor is a lifetime of contemplation and long periods of meditation aimed at detachment from the body necessary.”  (4:8-9)

 

            “Your way will be different, not in purpose but in means.  A holy relationship is a means of saving time.  One instant spent together with your brother restores the universe to both of you.”  (5:1-3)

 

            “Now you need but to remember you need do nothing.”  (5:5)

 

            “Here is the ultimate release which everyone will one day find in his own way, at his own time.”  (6:1)

 

            “Save time for me by only this one preparation, and practice doing nothing else. “I need do nothing” is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty.  Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish what is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation.”  (6:6-8)

 

            “To do anything involves the body.  And if you recognize you need do nothing, you have withdrawn the body’s value from your mind.  Here is the quick and open door through which you slip past centuries of effort, and escape from time.”  (7:1-3)

 

            “To do nothing is to rest, and make a place within you where the activity of the body ceases to demand attention.”  (7:7)

 

            “This quiet center, in which you do nothing, will remain with you, giving you rest in the midst of every busy doing on which you are sent.”  (8:3)

 

            “It is this center, from which the body is absent, that will keep it so in your awareness of it.”  (8:5)

 

In summary, section 7: “I Need Do Nothing” is saying:

 

            Our minds are always engaged, busy “doing something” regarding our bodies.  Our minds are never at rest where the body is concerned.  How often have we simply allowed ourselves “to rest in peace?”  Not often or never for most.  And yet we are told here that it is exactly this uncomplicated practice that we must do – or rather not do – in order to accomplish our whole release from suffering.  Give your relationships a rest.   Do not think about them.  Give your body a rest.  Do not think about it.  And in this quiet center, in which you think nothing and therefore do nothing, you will transcend the body entirely.  Do not struggle to empty your mind, but rather fill it with light.  Light is understanding, therefore, fill your mind with the understanding that ultimately nothing associated with the body matters.  It is not real.  And in the light of this understanding, you go about your busy tasks in the world and will do nothing to interfere with the holy instant from dawning upon your mind.

 

VIII. The Little Garden

 

            “It is only the awareness of the body that makes love seem limited.  For the body is a limit on love.  The belief in limited love was its origin, and it was made to limit the unlimited.”  (1:1-2)

 

            “You cannot even think of God without a body, or in some form you think you recognize.”  (1:7)

 

            “The body cannot know.  And while you limit your awareness to its tiny senses, you will not see the grandeur that surrounds you.”  (2:1-2)

 

            “The body is a tiny fence around a little part of a glorious and complete idea.  It draws a circle, infinitely small, around a very little segment of Heaven, splintered from the whole, proclaiming that within it is your kingdom, where God can enter not.”  (2:5-6)

 

            “Within this kingdom the ego rules, and cruelly.”  (3:1)

 

            “This fragment of your mind is such a tiny part of it that, could you but appreciate the whole, you would see instantly that it is like the smallest sunbeam to the sun, or like the faintest ripple on the surface of the ocean.”  (3:3)

 

            “Yet neither the sun nor ocean is even aware of all this strange and meaningless activity.  They merely continue, unaware that they are feared and hated by a tiny segment of themselves.”  (4:1-2)

 

            “Such is the strange position in which those in a world inhabited by bodies seem to be.”  (5:1)

 

            “Like to the sun and ocean your Self continues, unmindful that this tiny part regards itself as you.”  (6:1)

 

            “Do not accept this little, fenced-off aspect as yourself.  The sun and ocean are as nothing beside what you are.”  (7:1-2)

 

            “Love knows no bodies, and reaches to everything created like itself.”  (8:1)

 

            “The Thought of God surrounds your little kingdom, waiting at the barrier you built to come inside and shine upon the barren ground.”  (9:1)

 

            “And everyone you welcome will bring love with him from Heaven for you.”  (9:5)

 

            “The love they brought with them will stay with them, as it will stay with you.  And under its beneficence your little garden will expand, and reach out to everyone who thirsts for living water, but has grown too weary to go on alone.”  (9:7-8)

 

            “The holy instant is your invitation to love to enter into your bleak and joyless kingdom, and to transform it into a garden of peace and welcome.”  (11:1)

 

            “Asking for everything, you will receive it.”  (11:5)

 

            “Be sure of this; love has entered your special relationship, and entered fully at your weak request.  You do not recognize that love has come, because you have not yet let go of all the barriers you hold against your brother.”  (12:1-2)

 

            “You have reached the end of an ancient journey, not realizing yet that it is over.”  (13:1)

 

            “Yet He Whom you welcomed has come to you, and would welcome you.  He has waited long to give you this.  Receive it now of Him, for He would have you know Him.”  (13:3-5)

 

            “And walk into the garden love has prepared for both you.”  (13:8)

 

In summary, section 8: “The Little Garden” is saying:

 

            Our body is the “little garden” we made for ourselves and us alone.  It is the idea we are separate and isolated patches of life, disconnected from All That Is, Which surrounds us in everlasting love.  We are in dire need of expanding our garden.  We do this through expanding our love for others, the ones we seem to have mistakenly excluded.  And with their inclusion, we also include God once again within our garden; within our full awareness.  Let all our relationships become holy through our perspective of the all-inclusive love God holds for us.  Let our little garden expand to join the Heavenly garden God has prepared for us.

 

IX. The Two Worlds

 

            “You have been told to bring the darkness to the light, and guilt to holiness.  And you have been also been told that error must be corrected at its source.  Therefore, it is the tiny part of yourself, the little thought that seems split off and separated, the Holy Spirit needs.”  (1:1-3)

 

            “Let the Holy Spirit remove it from the withered kingdom in which you set it off, surrounded by darkness, guarded by attack and reinforced by hate.”  (1:9)

 

            “How is this done?  It is extremely simple, being based on what this little kingdom really is.”  (2:2-3)

 

            “From the world of bodies, made by insanity, insane messages seem to be returned to the mind that made it.  And these messages bear witness to this world, pronouncing it as true.”  (3:1-2)

 

            “The circle of fear lies just below the level the body sees, and seems to be the whole foundation on which the world is based.  Here are all the illusions, all the twisted thoughts, all the insane attacks, the fury, the vengeance and betrayal that were made to keep the guilt in place, so that the world could rise from it and keep it hidden.”  (4:1-2)

 

            “The body will remain guilt’s messenger, and will act as it directs as long as you believe that guilt is real.  For the reality of guilt is the illusion that seems to make it heavy and opaque, impenetrable, and a real foundation for the ego’s thought system.”  (5:1-2)

 

            “This heavy-seeming barrier, the artificial floor that looks like rock, is a like a bank of low dark clouds that seem to be a solid wall before the sun.  Its impenetrable appearance is wholly an illusion.”  (6:1-2)

 

            “Yet in this cloud bank it is easy to see a whole world rising.”  (7:1)

 

            “Figures stand out and move about, actions seem real, and forms appear and shift from loveliness to the grotesque.  And back and forth they go, as long as you would play the game of children’s make-believe.  Yet however long you play, and regardless of how much imagination you bring to it, you do not confuse it with the world below, nor seek to make it real.”  (7:3-5)

 

            “So should it be with the dark clouds of guilt, no more impenetrable and no more substantial.”  (8:1)

 

            “Let your Guide teach you their unsubstantial nature as He leads you past them, for beneath them is a world of light whereon they cast no shadows.”  (8:3)

 

            “This world of light, this circle of brightness is the real world, where guilt meets with forgiveness.”  (9:1)

 

            “Here are you forgiven, for here you have forgiven everyone.  Here is the new perception, where everything is bright and shining with innocence, washed in the waters of forgiveness, and cleansed of every evil thought you laid upon it.”  (9:3-4)

 

            “Yet even forgiveness is not the end.”  (10:1)

 

            “It is the source of healing, but it is the messenger of love and not its Source.”  (10:3)

 

            “A step beyond this holy place of forgiveness, a step still further inward but the one you cannot take, transports you to something completely different.  Here is the Source of light; nothing perceived, forgiven nor transformed.  But merely known.”  (10:5-6)

 

            “This course will lead to knowledge, but knowledge itself is still beyond the scope of our curriculum.”  (11:1)

 

            “Love is not learned.  Its meaning lies within itself.  And learning ends when you have recognized all it is not.”  (12:1-3)

 

            “Your relationship with your brother has been uprooted from the world of shadows, and its unholy purpose has been safely brought through the barriers of guilt, washed with forgiveness, and set shining and firmly rooted in the world of light.”  (13:1)

 

            “The holy instant in which you and your brother were united is but the messenger of love, sent from beyond forgiveness to remind you of all that lies beyond it.”  (13:3)

 

            “And when the memory of God has come to you in the holy place of forgiveness you will remember nothing else, and memory will be as useless as learning, for your only purpose will be creating.”  (14:1)

 

            “Forgiveness removes only the untrue, lifting the shadows from the world and carrying it, safe and sure within its gentleness, to the bright world of new and clean perception.  There is your purpose now.  And it is there that peace awaits you.”  (14:3-5)

 

In summary, section 9: “The Two Worlds” is saying:

 

            There are two worlds we can choose from to experience: A world of fear, based on the ego’s insane thoughts or a world of love, based on the loving Thought of God.  The world of fear is nothing but a child’s make-believe game; a world where we are free to be what we are not.  To be what is “not love,” is the only other option because in truth, there is only love.  And so, a world of fear arose in response to our desire for an experience of what is “not love.”  We can leave this world at any time.  It is surrounded by nothing but thin clouds of guilt in our minds.  Guilt is synonymous with the word “body” and therefore we need only to forgive or look beyond the body to see past the clouds of illusion surrounding our true state of love.  The holy instant is when we have at last forgiven or let go of, the idea we are anything less than united with each other in God’s loving world.  Let this be the only message carried through our eyes into our mind when we look upon the world we made out of fear and we will safely pass through this dream at last. 

This concludes CHAPTER 18: THE PASSING OF THE DREAM

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