(Paper 0600-47)

LIFE AND DEATH

(Thoughts On Lessons 163 And 167)

ACIM says there is no death and therefore the Son of God is free. And that is certainly true in the World of Reality, where all of Life is. However, we who have chosen to believe we actually successfully separated from our Self, as a part of the Christ, and who believe we have taken up “life” in the mistaken illusion of our self-made dream, certainly believe we can “die” a physical death and cause our chosen body to turn to dust. We have bought into the insane idea that we ARE our body, that the life we imagine is our real life and that our Real Life is not our life at all and is not solid enough to be believed.
From this perspective, it is impossible to see ourself as totally and only Spirit and that our Life could be anywhere except in our dream world. In this perception, death is thought of as certain at the end of all our dreaming here. We have forgotten that we have been created as Perfect Spirit which, for a time, has taken up an experience in a body/world for lessons in SEEING THE DIFFERENCE between Truth and illusion, Love and fear, Heaven and the dream.
“Death” can take many forms. As sadness, fear, anxiety, doubt, anger, faithlessness and lack of trust. Even a mild annoyance will indicate a form of death for us. And so, we live a life of uncertain misery waiting but for death to come and put an end to our suffering.
But this life we live in this world of ours is not life just as the death we think we die is not death at all.
Our true death was when we thought we had separated, just as our true life is what we had separated ourself from. So death is synonomous with separation and life is our Being as a Thought in the Mind of God, our Creator in the Heaven of His Mind.
So while you think your body is real, can get sick or old and die, you are denying your true Self, and will never return to It or experience It’s Reality.
And so it is with every other “living thing” within your experience as well, for they too have chosen a life apart from God and are living out their beliefs in the dream. They are here because you wish them here and hold them here by your belief in the illusion. When you change your mind about Reality, they will be released and be freed to return to their Life as well. “Either all things die, or else they live and cannot die.”
And so, it is up to you to change your mind and be a saviour to all the world.
There is but One Life, and that is what God created. He created but ONE, not many. You and all living things share that Life with Him and are in Him in a very real way.
There is no death because: -
- What God created shares His Life.
- An opposite to God does not exist.
- The Father and the Son are ONE.
You think that death is of the body. In reality death and all its forms are but a belief in death within your own mind.
You have decided that it must be so, and so it is. But change your mind about the dream and what it is you think you are and all will change, instantly.
Death is an idea, a thought that you could be, and are, separate from your creator. It is not so. It cannot be so. In your saner moments, you will know that this is the truth and so you will give yourself permission to look at yourself differently and realize that you NEVER separated, never left your Self as the Christ and never left the Mind of God where you LIVE and have your BEING. God continues to think you. If He ever stopped thinking you, you would not be. As soon as you want to remember you are being thought by God continuously, you are back to It and separation disappears instantly. This does not mean that your body world will disappear, but will take on a whole new purpose for you so that you may begin to share with others what you have re-discovered.
The idea of this body/world is death, including your mistaken thoughts that seem to have made it so. The idea of the Thought of God about you is Life. This Thought is Complete, Perfect, Joyous and Eternal, and SO ARE YOU. Any thought you may have to the contrary is not true, not real and so denies the Thought God has of you as His Extension, His One Son, the Christ. In God’s Eyes you are perfect and always have been just as He created you.
To deny our truth and our oneness as the perfect Son of God is to deny Life. If we deny Life, we accept death, and that cannot be as it is not a Thought of God. The opposite of life is merely sleeping. As we continue to deny Life, we slip further and further into the dream until the truth of our Self becomes itself the dream. God creates only mind awake. When we believe we sleep, we have denied what God has created perfect. But God does not sleep even if we do and he has sent His Love, Holy Spirit, into our dream with us to always remind us of our own Truth, even when we have forgotten. In order to see the difference we must ask our Guide to lead us and put away all investment in ego values, which we invented. We have it all. To desire more is only to wander further away and deny our Self. Dreams will keep us chained to lies, while Reality will bring us back to Life.
“A sleeping mind must waken, as it sees its own perfection mirroring the Lord of Life so perfectly it fades into what is reflected there. And now it is no more a mere reflection. It becomes the thing reflected, and the light which makes reflection possible. No vision now is needed. For the wakened mind is one that knows its Source, its Self, its Holiness.” (L-167)

An Out-of-Body Meditation

Sit quietly in an upright position. Relax. Feel your feet firmly placed on the floor. Feel your hands gently resting palm upward on your lap. Close your eyes and picture in your mind your connectedness and grounding to the centre of the earth. Feel the solid chair beneath you as it becomes symbolic of your grounding to earth. Relax your mind and allow it to picture life energy flowing upward through your feet, your legs, your hips, torso, and backbone. Up your spine and into your head.
Now be aware of a silver cord connected to the top of your head and extending upward. Take a few moments to be aware of the peace and calmness in your body. Allow this feeling to penetrate your whole being. Feel it in all your extremities. Feel it centred in your solar plexus as it becomes the centre and focus of your being from within your experience and your world.
Now be aware of this life force moving upward along your spine to the top of your head and of it as it begins to move further upward and travel out of your body and along the silver cord connecting you to the universe.
As you travel, be aware of the upward movement. Feel the lightness and lack of restriction of any form. Now take a moment and look back and downward to where you seem to have come from. As you look down you feel a strange peacefulness, almost as none of what you were matters at all. You see the scene below. You see yourself; your very own body in a familiar surrounding; you know it is fine to be just that way, but you also feel that it doesn’t matter and isn’t who you are at all. Say, “Yes, that’s me all right, those are the people I was with and that is what was happening, but none of it matters anymore.” You instinctively know that the person and the scene is not who you really are. Everything seems to be moving in very, very slow motion and it is absolutely soundless. There is no noise, confusion, sound, nor need for anything at all. All is very peaceful and unhurried. Once you have re-assured yourself that all is well, turn once again to the direction of your travel. You realize that you, the traveller, is the REAL you and that you are heading somewhere. There is no concern as feel your journey is truly guided. The guidance seems not to come form outside yourself, but from deep, deep within.
As you slowly continue travelling upwards, you become conscious of a light, which appears as though it were at the end of a tunnel. As you travel, your speed seems to increase as the walls of the tunnel rush by. You have no concern and know that all you want is to be with the light, which becomes brighter and brighter as you go.
You become aware of figures around you; faint at first and then becoming more distinct. They too seem to be in motion. Some are going, some are coming. You begin to recognize a few as having been with you in your other existence. There are no words spoken, but some whom you loved seem to greet and advise you in thought – voices. They reassure you of their happiness and the understanding they have now. It is all very peaceful and happy.
Then one figure, taller and brighter than the rest seems to separate himself and come toward you. He meets you in warm peaceful greeting. You instinctively know he is your guide. He explains to you what you need to know and assures you that you are on exactly the right place in your journey. The light is stronger now and seems to encompass everything. Perhaps your guide or some other loved ones approach and explain to you that the journey you are on is not a permanent one for you and that you should really return to your other experience as there are still things left to be done there, and other people you are yet to help.
You feel a great reluctance to return as it is so peaceful and beautiful where you are. All you want to do is stay in the light and feel the love.
Your guide again explains that the light is not the end of your journey and that there are other stops yet to be experienced beyond this in which you know yourself as a “Being of Light.” He tells about another place in mind where you will be in the Realm of Thought. Here, you will learn the difference between Truth and Illusion and understand What it is that you ARE and where you are really heading. It may take what seems to be considerable “time” in the Realm of Thought before you have decided All That Is and are ready to move on to the “place” of pure “BEING,” which is the Home in Oneness with your Creator and your Self. It is this you have been longing for and seeking ever since your journey began.
But perhaps for “now” (another expression in the illusion of time), you will be told you must return to complete what was to have been done there. As much as you want to stay where you are, you know this is true. You most reluctantly turn once again and begin your descent back through the Place of the Light and on down toward your experience of form. In spite of your reluctance, you know you will return to the Light and all those whom you love there at some time soon.
You are now coming down your silver cord. Down – down – down. Entering again into your body at the top of your head. Filling your body with life energy as you feel it tingle outward along your limbs and into all your parts with little sparks of divine energy.
You are back to your human experience but feel totally re-vitalized and energized, as you never have before. You know you have been in touch with the energy of your True Self and feel empowered to do whatever it is that you have appointed to accomplish for the balance of your time in the human experience.
Allow yourself a few gentle movements as you begin to experience and experiment with your newfound human energy. Gently open your eyes, back in this time, back in this space. Feel the chair beneath you as you re-establish your grounding to mother earth.
Thank you for allowing me to share this Out-of-Body Meditation as we work together towards the time when we will once again travel to our place in the Light and beyond.

FEAR OF THE COURSE

ACIM© tells us that we DO NOT WANT what it has to offer. We fear that if we ever believed what it tells us we REALLY ARE, we would have to give up the world we made and now experience living in. And that is true. However, when we truly realize our REALITY, “giving up” anything else in no loss or sacrifice at all. We simply prefer to be what we are and where we are forever. That is Atonement. That is accepting Truth, being in the Light, and being ONE with our SELF and our Creator in the Heaven of His Mind.
But while we still believe our body/world is real and is our personification we will never see with the Vision of Christ and be back Home to What we really are.
Over the years, I have noticed a common occurrence with students and seekers who have come to our Course Groups, studied it intensely and diligently for many weeks or months and then have left, never to be heard from again.
Something ominous had happened. They had come face-to-face with the stark reality of WHO they REALLY ARE, and the immensity of what that means to just too much. They run away and hide once again in the familiar world of their ego where they experience a false security in the world they have made and feel more comfortable with.
It really is a shame because this could have been their finest hour when they saw their true Self for the first time and could have gone on to a greatness beyond belief. They would not have been giving up anything, but gaining EVERYTHING.
I have seen them put away their Course book, centre their attention away from their mind, and back again onto their body, their beliefs and their “life” in their world. These then became their goal and not the means to their true goal at all.
But it is not too late. The Miracle of God’s Love waits still in infinite patience and non-judgement for our return to it. The miracle is always there for us if we but choose to see it.

“I AM ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS.”

Please email us with any comments, suggestions, etc. you might have. We would love to hear from you. If you encounter any technical errors, please email webmaster@starcros.com.