All Course In Miracles quotes in these posts are taken from the “Original Edition,” published by the Course in Miracles Society of Omaha, Nebraska. 

One or Two?

“Although you are One Self, you experience yourself as two—as both good and evil, loving and hating, mind and body.”   ~~(W1:96.1)

It would be my preference and if I had licence to do so I would replace the word “evil” with “bad” but it’s a quote from The Course and so the word has to stay. You experience yourself as two for the simple reason you listen to the ego more than you listen to the Holy Spirit. But the truth of the matter is, your One Self cannot be both good and evil, loving and hating or a mind and a body. To experience yourself as two selves is an error so drastic and deep that it has kept you, with few exceptions, in a position of misery, unhappiness and fear all throughout your physical experience.

You are not a physical being with a soul. You are a Soul, or if you prefer, a Spirit Being, having a human experience. The body is a temporary mechanism that you have made that allows you to experience the physical environment. It is not you. 

“If you are physical, your mind is gone from your self-concept, for it has no place in which it could be really part of you.”   ~~(W1:96.4)

Your mind cannot be physical any more than Spirit can be, for your mind is Spirit. The scenario you envision of yourself as both mind and body is a result of listening to the false teachings of the ego. The ego teaches that you are physical and nothing more and depending on the degree to which you accept this false teaching is how you see yourself.

You either see yourself as totally physical and separate from everything and everyone in the universe, including your Creator, as the ego teaches. Or you ever so subtly hear God’s Voice reminding you of what you are, which leads to the idea that you could be more than just a body. Eventually, however, you’ll hear His Voice plainly and recognize the Spirit. It’s then you’ll know that you could never be both. It’s then you’ll know that you are a Spirit Being at one with your Creator and all of creation.

“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.”   ~~(Tx:18.57)

Wow! How many can accept this kind of information? How many can even understand it? How many could actually convince themselves to believe it? But if you’re a student of The Course you have two choices. You either have to accept it and believe it or you might as well throw your Course book into the garbage can. As The Course says about itself: “This course will be believed entirely or not at all. For it is wholly true or wholly false and cannot be but partially believed.”  (Tx:22.22)

Most people believe they’re living in the body. They believe the body to be their earthly home. If you’re a student of The Course and still believe this then you’re not getting the teaching. The above quote tells you that the body is outside you. But, The Course also tells us that “There is nothing outside you. That is what you must ultimately learn, for it is in that realization that the Kingdom of Heaven is restored to you.” (Tx:18.49)

Does this not present us with a conundrum? How can the body be outside you and nothing be outside you at the same time? This scenario presents a problem only for those who haven’t gone deeply into the teachings of The Course.

“If Love created you like Itself, this Self must be in you. And somewhere in your mind, It is there for you to find.”   ~~(W1:67.5)

The one and only reality in all this universe and all other universes is Love. Love lies beyond and outside of time, therefore It has no beginning nor ending. It is the Energy that existed prior to creation and will exist forever throughout eternity. It is the Prime Creator. There is nothing beyond It. It’s impossible for It to have a limit and it’s an impossibility for anything to be outside It. There is nothing real that’s not lovingly held in peace, joy, and safety within the Heart of Love and that includes you. You are within It as It’s within you. 

What is an illusion but something not real which is not there but hides that which is there? The body is an illusion for as Jesus tells us in the second quote above, it is not there. An illusion is not real and it’s not there even though it causes those who think they see it to believe it is. It’s not there because it’s not real, it’s an illusion that seems to surround you. In other words, it is nothing and it’s outside you. 

But that being said, it’s nearly impossible to deny the presence of the body in this physical world. For it’s a part of the physical world, which you will never be, which is why it’s outside you. It’s no more than an image of what you believe yourself to be, which you yourself, have projected into the physical world. You have done so because you believe you’re separate from your creator and it represents how you see yourself in separation. A little entity separate, powerless and alone against the universe.     

“Nothing is as it appears to you. Its holy purpose stands beyond your little range.”   ~~(W1:29.3)

The whole physical environment is composed of illusions. Everything your body’s eyes look upon is an illusion for what you see hides the reality of what is really there. In Lesson 56 of The Course we’re told that God is in everything we see. When you look at another body or anything else for that matter, do you see God there? The answer is in all probability, no. We see only the outside of anything, no matter what it is. That’s because the body’s eyes are designed to see only that which stops physical light. 

You cannot now, nor will you ever, see or hear the reality of anything by using your physical senses and your intellect.  Even though The Course tells you that God is in everything you see, ( W1:56.5) you’re not going to see Him by using the physical eyes and the intellect. In fact, your eyes and your intellect will convince you that such a scenario is preposterous to even consider. 

“You are not two selves in conflict. What is beyond God? If you who hold Him and whom He holds are the universe, all else must be outside, where nothing is.”   ~~(Tx:16.26)

Regardless of what the ego teaches, regardless of what all things physical point to, the truth about you will always be the same. You are one Self, a holy Child of God and as such you are part of Him. You are not a physical being struggling through life on a precarious journey trying with all your might to postpone your appointment with the grave. 

I understand that words don’t teach, that words in a book are just that, words in a book. All words can do is plant a seed in the mind and if that seed falls on fertile ground it will take root and grow. If it is watered and looked after it will grow into an idea. The idea being, that maybe, just maybe, you’re not a physical being struggling through that which we erroneously refer to as life. Maybe, just maybe, you’re not two selves but one Glorious Self, a Holy Child of God, a Spirit Being having a physical experience. 

I’m going to close with another Course In Miracles quote: “Yet perhaps you will succeed in going past that and through the interval of thoughtlessness to the awareness of a blazing light in which you recognize yourself as Love created you.” (W1:67.6)

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Thank you for visiting this site. I am truly grateful. May God richly Bless you.

Your safety lies in truth and not in lies. Love is your safety. Fear does not exist. Identify with love, and you are safe. Identify with love, and you are home. Identify with love, and find your Self.  (W2:WIB.5)