A Course In Miracles - Chapter 16, Section III
ACIM is read one section at a time. It is a guidebook leading us back to our true natures, as we open to the awareness of love's presence. All quoted material is from A Course in Miracles, copyright ©1992, 1999, 2007 by the Foundation for Inner Peace, publisher, and the copyright holder. This material is used with permission. Glossary-Index for a Course in Miracles, 8th edition, Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D. Music: Bensound
Transcript
Hi,
I'm Teresa Hubbard.
Welcome back to our continued reading of the text to A Course in Miracles.
We continue today in Chapter 16,
The Forgiveness of Illusions.
Section 3,
The Reward of Teaching.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 3 of Chapter 16,
We are told that this is a course in how to know ourself.
We are reminded that each of us teaches and teaches all the time,
Yet we have not learned how to accept the comfort of our teaching.
Although we have taught what we are,
We have not let what we are teach us.
So what can it be that has not learned it?
It must be the part that is really outside ourself,
Not by our projection,
But in truth.
And it is this part that we have taken in that is not us.
What we accept into our mind does not really change it,
For illusions are but beliefs in what is not there.
And the seeming conflict between truth and illusion can only be resolved by separating ourself from the illusion and not from truth.
We must therefore recognize that our Teacher,
The Holy Spirit,
Came from beyond our thought system and therefore can look upon it fairly and perceive it is not true.
And the results have been to bring peace where there was pain,
And suffering has disappeared to be replaced by joy.
For nothing real has ever left the mind of its Creator,
And what is not real was never there.
This year we will begin to learn and make learning commensurate with teaching.
To our most Holy Self all praises do for what we are,
And for what He is who created us as we are.
Sooner or later we must bridge the gap we imagine exists between ourselves.
We each build the bridge,
But are literally transported there by our willingness to expend even a small effort on behalf of bridging it.
For we will come where we would be,
And where our True Self awaits us.
I invite you to keep a few things in mind as you listen to the reading.
The Course uses male pronouns,
Yet this is simply a way of pointing to the spiritual being,
Having no gender.
The Course is written in first person,
And although not introduced directly to the reader,
It becomes clear that the words are from Jesus,
Often quoting from the Bible.
The Course uses traditional Christian terms in a non-traditional manner.
These words are simply pointers to truth,
Nothing more.
A few terms you will hear within this reading.
The two teachers are the Ego and the Holy Spirit.
The Ego is our belief in the separated or false self that we made as a substitute for the self that God created.
Holy Spirit is the communication link between God and us,
Bridging the gap between the mind of Christ and our human minds,
The voice for God.
God,
The Creator,
The Source of all being or life.
God's essence is Spirit,
Which is shared with all creation.
Yet the word God can be limiting,
Since universal energy and life are infinitely vast.
And cannot be contained in a word.
Miracle,
The change in mind that shifts our perception,
Transcending the laws of this world to reflect the laws of God.
The miracle provides the means to heal our own minds and the minds of others.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles,
Chapter 16,
The Forgiveness of Illusions Section 3,
The Reward of Teaching We have already learned that everyone teaches,
And teaches all the time.
You may have taught well,
And yet you may not have learned how to accept the comfort of your teaching.
If you will consider what you have taught,
And how alien it is to what you thought you knew,
You will be compelled to realize that your teacher came from beyond your thought system.
Therefore,
He could look fairly upon it,
And perceive it was untrue.
He must have done so from the basis of a very different thought system,
And one with nothing in common with yours.
For certainly,
What he has taught,
And what you have taught through him,
Have nothing in common with what you taught before he came.
And the results have been to bring peace where there was pain.
And suffering has disappeared to be replaced by joy.
You may have taught freedom,
But you have not learned how to be free.
I said earlier,
By their fruits you shall know them,
And they shall know themselves.
For it is certain that you judge yourself according to your teaching.
The ego's teaching produces immediate results,
Because its decisions are immediately accepted as your choice.
And this acceptance means that you are willing to judge yourself accordingly.
Cause and effect are very clear in the ego's thought system,
Because all your learning has been directed toward establishing the relationship between them.
And would you not have faith in what you have so diligently taught yourself to believe?
Yet remember how much care you have exerted in choosing its witnesses,
And in avoiding those which spoke for the cause of truth and its effects.
Does not the fact that you have not learned what you have taught show you that you do not perceive the sonship as one?
And does it not also show you that you do not regard yourself as one?
For it is impossible to teach successfully wholly,
Without conviction.
And it is equally impossible that conviction be outside of you.
You could never have taught freedom unless you did believe in it.
And it must be that what you taught came from yourself.
Yet this self you clearly do not know,
And do not recognize it,
Even though it functions.
What functions must be there.
And it is only if you deny what it has done,
That you could possibly deny its presence.
This is a course in how to know yourself.
You have taught what you are,
But you have not let what you are teach you.
You have been very careful to avoid the obvious,
And not to see the real cause and effect relationship that is perfectly apparent.
Yet within you is everything you taught.
What can it be that has not learned it?
It must be this part that is really outside yourself,
Not by your own projection,
But in truth.
And it is this part that you have taken in,
That is not you.
What you accept into your mind does not really change it.
Illusions are but beliefs in what is not there.
And the seeming conflict between truth and illusion can only be resolved by separating yourself from the illusion,
And not from truth.
Your teaching has already done this.
For the Holy Spirit is part of you.
Created by God,
He left neither God nor His creation.
He is both God and you,
As you are God and Him together.
For God's answer to the separation added more to you than you tried to take away.
He protected both your creations and you together,
Keeping one with you what you would exclude,
And they will take the place of what you took in to replace them.
They are quite real,
As part of the self you do not know.
They communicate to you through the Holy Spirit,
And their power and gratitude to you for their creation,
They offer gladly to your teaching of yourself,
Who is their home.
You,
Who are host to God,
Are also host to them.
For nothing real has ever left the mind of its creator.
And what is not real was never there.
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.
You have taught this,
And from far off in the universe,
Yet not beyond yourself,
The witnesses to your teaching have gathered to help you learn.
Their gratitude has joined with yours and God's to strengthen your faith in what you taught.
For what you taught is true.
Alone,
You stand outside your teaching and apart from it.
But with them,
You must learn that you but taught yourself and learned from the conviction you shared with them.
This year,
You will begin to learn and make learning commensurate with teaching.
You have chosen this by your own willingness to teach.
Though you seem to suffer for it,
The joy of teaching will yet be yours.
For the joy of teaching is in the learner who offers it to the teacher in gratitude and shares it with him.
As you learn,
Your gratitude to yourself who teaches you what He is,
Will grow and help you honor Him.
And you will learn His power and strength and purity and love Him as His Father does.
His kingdom has no limits and no end,
And there is nothing in Him that is not perfect and eternal.
All this is you,
And nothing outside of this is you.
To your Most Holy Self,
All praise is due for what you are and for what He is who created you as you are.
Sooner or later must everyone bridge the gap he imagines exists between his selves.
Each one builds this bridge which carries him across the gap as soon as he is willing to expend some little effort on behalf of bridging it.
His little efforts are powerfully supplemented by the strength of Heaven and by the united will of all who make Heaven what it is being joined within it.
And so the one who would cross over is literally transported there.
Your bridge is built stronger than you think,
And your foot is planted firmly on it.
Have no fear that the attraction of those who stand on the other side and wait for you will not draw you safely across.
For you will come where you would be and where yourself awaits you.
