What is the World?

Our special theme says, “Let us not rest content until the world has joined our changed perception. Let us not be satisfied until forgiveness has been made complete.”

If you continue to read the last paragraph of our special theme, it appears to have an outward focus. It says, “We must save the world.” However, an outward focus that attempts to save others, possibly by converting them to the teachings that we study and practice, ignores the teaching itself.

Remember, “Inward problems cannot be solved by looking outward. Inward problems can only be solved by looking inward.”

Or, as A Course in Miracles puts it, “The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the atonement for himself.” (T-2.V. 5:1)

What is meant by, “Let us not rest content until the world has joined our changed perception … ”?

Most people are motivated to the spiritual path and spiritual practice by their own suffering. They are looking for a better way of existence. If one commits his/herself to spiritual practice, one will reach a point when individual suffering is no longer a problem. One has found a better way of existence. One is happy. In A Course in Miracles, this better way of existence is called “the happy dream.”

If one was motivated solely by the desire to end personal suffering, his/her motivation to continue spiritual practice may wane when s/he reaches the happy dream. However, the ego has not ended at this stage. It is merely dormant, waiting until attention has diffused its focus, so it can return undetected and regain command and control.

The desire to end suffering for one’s self can be highly motivating for a time. However, it is not enough motivation to keep one determined until the ego has ended. A motivation that continues beyond the desire to end one’s own suffering is the desire to end suffering for everyone. This was Buddha’s motivation. This was also Jesus’ motivation. This is what he meant when he said, “… whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)

Although my experience has reached the happy dream, I pay attention to the news everyday. I look at the suffering that occurs in the world, and I let compassion for others motivate me to continue spiritual practice earnestly until the ego’s final end.

In fact, I am motivated by two factors:

1. Compassion for the world.
2. Desire for the direct knowledge of truth.

Whatever suffers is not part of me.

Today’s lesson may appear to conflict with everything I just said, but it doesn’t.

Let me share an analogy. Let’s imagine that you have a rash on your face. The rash does not itch or hurt. The only way you know you have a rash is that you see it when you look in the mirror.

The doctor has given you a cream to apply to your face. Her instructions are to apply the cream twice a day until the rash disappears completely. As long as there is even the slightest appearance of a rash, you need to continue to apply the cream. If you stop before the rash is completely eliminated, it may return.

Since the rash does not cause you any personal discomfort, the only way to see if the rash has been eliminated is to look in the mirror. If you look in the mirror and see the rash, you continue to apply the cream. Of course, you don’t apply the cream to the mirror. You apply the cream to your face.

The world is our mirror.

Each morning, I get up and spend a few minutes looking at the news on my Yahoo homepage. Seeing suffering there is like seeing the rash on my face. But after looking at the rash, I turn to my own spiritual practice. I apply the cream to my face.

Denying suffering, when it is done properly, is a part of applying the cream to my own face. The proper way to deny suffering is to look at awareness, recognize it as my true Self and recognize that awareness is forever unaffected by perception. In other words, I reclaim my true Self and disown the false self.

As today’s lesson says, “What is in pain is but illusion in my mind. What dies was never living in reality, … Now I disown self-concepts and deceits and lies …”

Many people have been confused about the proper use of denial. Do not deny the suffering that others experience. Have compassion for their suffering. The suffering that you deny is your own. You deny your suffering by noticing that your true Self does not suffer. It never has.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation today, I recommend this one:

Broken Heart Meditation

What is the World?

Our special theme says, “As sight was made to lead away from truth, it can be redirected. … all perception can be given a new purpose by the One Whom God appointed Savior to the world. Follow His light, and see the world as He beholds it. Hear His Voice alone in all that speaks to you. And let Him give you peace and certainty, which you have thrown away …”

The “One Whom God appointed Savior to the world” was referred to as the “Thought of peace” in our last special theme, What is Salvation? That theme said, “The Thought of peace was given to God’s Son the instant that his mind had thought of war. There was no need for such a Thought before, for peace was given without opposite, and merely was. But when the mind is split there is a need of healing. So the Thought that has the power to heal the split became a part of every fragment of the mind that still was one, but failed to recognize its oneness.”

So, we turn to the Thought of peace, which is within each of our minds, and let it lead us. We do this by:

• Recognizing the ego thought system as deception and choosing not to listen to it regardless of what its story is. We remember that Jesus referred to it as “the father of lies” in the Bible. We see it clearly as that now.

• Choosing the purpose of healing the mind and awakening to truth, and holding steadfastly to that purpose under all circumstances.

• Practicing the Loving All Method with the realization that the Loving All Method disregards the ego’s judgments and outward seeking

• Practicing surrender as it is taught in The Teachings of Inner Ramana, so that we are guided by the “Thought of peace.” We “follow His light” and “Hear His Voice alone” because we are not interested in the ego’s deception anymore.

• Focusing on awareness frequently as we anticipate the holy instant when our identity will shift to it and we are no longer identified with the ego’s deceptive thought system.

Without forgiveness I will still be blind.

When we judge others, we believe the ego’s deceptive thought system. Our mind may argue that it is justified for its way of perceiving, but it perceives without the light of truth. As our special theme has taught us, “The mechanisms of illusion have been born instead. And now they go to find what has been given them to seek. Their aim is to fulfill the purpose which the world was made to witness and make real.” That purpose is separation. It is the opposite of truth.

Instead of believing the ego’s thought system today, turn frequently to bulleted reminders above. Review them and practice them. They represent the means by which we shall awaken fully to the realization of truth as it is.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation today, I recommend this meditation:

What is the World?

Over the last two days, we have contemplated the fact that perception is deception. However, our special theme gives us hope when it says, “As sight was made to lead away from truth, it can be redirected … all perception can be given a new purpose …”

The world’s purpose for you is the one that you give it. If you give the world the purpose of healing the mind and awakening to truth, that is the purpose of everything you perceive. However, if you do not consciously and steadfastly choose this purpose, the world, by default, will continue to be a place of deception with the purpose of feeding the thought of separation.

What purpose do you choose?

Is there anything (anyone, any circumstance, any desire) that you exclude from the purpose of healing or awakening?

If there is anything that you exclude from the purpose of healing or awakening, that remains an area of deception for you. That is where your ego feeds itself.

To love my Father is to love His Son.

There are some teachings we need to accept if healing the mind or awakening to truth are important to us.

1. The ego (I-thought) will not lead us to awakening. Its purpose is the opposite of truth.
2. The ego is the cause of all suffering. As long as we continue to accept the I-thought’s thinking as our thinking, we will continue to suffer (be unhappy, worry, have grievances, etc.). Likewise, as long as we continue to accept the I-thought’s thinking as our thinking, we will continue to contribute to the world’s suffering (in all of its forms).
3. The only way to be in the world without following the I-thought’s thinking is to surrender to wisdom that is not part of the I-thought’s thinking. That is the purpose of surrender.

You can know the I-thought’s thinking by its will. Outward seeking is the will of the I-thought.

Judgment is a mechanism of the ego’s outward seeking loop. It judges to determine good and bad, right and wrong, desired and undesired, etcetera. And then is seeks to obtain or achieve what it determines is good for it and to avoid or destroy what it determines is bad for it.

Please take a few minutes to contemplate some things or circumstances that your mind judges as good or desired. Notice the thinking that spins in your mind about obtaining or achieving those things or circumstances.

Next, take a few minutes to contemplate some things or circumstances that your mind judges as bad or undesirable. Notice the thinking that spins in your mind about avoiding or ending those things or circumstances.

You have just observed judgment and outward seeking in the I-thought’s thought system.

Love is the nature of the true Self. Love is open allowance and acceptance of all things as they are. Love does not seek outwardly for happiness or safety. Love is fulfilled within itself. Love is eternal and invulnerable. It is not threatened by the temporary circumstances that come and go in perception.

When we practice The Loving All Method, we practice abiding as our truth. The Loving All Method is also a good foundation for surrender, since we are more likely to intuit wisdom that comes from beyond the I-thought’s thinking if we have not already believed the I-thought’s judgments.

Today, give full attention to practicing The Loving All Method and to surrender as it is taught in The Teachings of Inner Ramana. To make today’s practice most effective, first take time to give the entire day and everything that will happen today a single purpose—the purpose of healing your mind or awakening to truth—in whatever way you feel inspired to aspire to that.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation today, I recommend this meditation:

AWA Description S