Hi,
I'm Teresa Hubbard.
Welcome back to our continued reading of the text to A Course in Miracles.
We continue today in Chapter 3,
The Innocent Perception,
Section 3,
Perception vs.
Knowledge.
To summarize my takeaways,
In Section 3 of Chapter 3 we are taught the difference between perception and knowledge.
Knowledge is power because it is certain,
And certainty is strength.
Certainty is always of God and is timeless because certainty is not questionable.
Knowledge comes to us from God and provides the strength for creative thinking.
To create as God creates,
We must know what we are creating and accept it as our own.
Perception on the other hand is temporary.
We can see in many ways because perception involves interpretation,
Which means it is not whole or consistent.
Understanding illusions is the first step in undoing them.
The miracle,
Which is a way of perceiving,
Is not knowledge,
But it is the right answer to the question,
Offering us the means for right perception.
Right perception is needed before God can communicate to us directly,
Providing us knowledge.
Comparing these two concepts,
Knowledge and perception,
We are reminded that our difficulties arise from the fact that we don't recognize ourselves,
Our brothers,
Or God.
Recognizing means to know again,
Implying that we knew before.
The truth is that knowledge preceded both perception and time and will ultimately replace them.
While perception,
Miracles,
And doing involve action by us,
Knowledge comes directly from God and induces only thought,
Which we then act upon.
Jesus empowers us in this section by inviting us to reframe the verse,
Quote,
Fear God and keep His commandments,
End quote,
To,
Quote,
Know God and accept His certainty,
End quote.
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 definitions of terms you will hear within this reading.
Perception.
What we see inwardly determines what we see outside ourselves.
It is the post-separation world of form and differences.
Knowledge also referred to as heaven or the real world.
It is the pre-separation world of God and His unified creation in which there are no differences in form and therefore exclusive of the world of perception.
Revelation.
Direct communication from God to us.
It represents the original form of communication present at creation.
Once our minds are healed and we remember our truth,
The Holy Spirit,
Our bridge of communication is no longer needed.
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.
Altar.
Not an external structure,
But an attitude.
It represents the part of our minds that chooses the world of God,
Or chooses instead the earthly world of illusion.
Whichever attitude we choose,
This is our altar.
Atonement.
The Holy Spirit's plan of correction.
Healing our minds from the earthly world of illusion to God's world of truth.
And now,
On to the reading.
A Course in Miracles Chapter 3.
The Innocent Perception.
Question 3.
Perception vs.
Knowledge.
We have been emphasizing perception,
And have said very little about knowledge as yet.
This is because perception must be straightened out before you can know anything.
To know is to be certain.
Uncertainty means that you do not know.
Knowledge is power because it is certain,
And certainty is strength.
Perception is temporary.
As an attribute of the belief in space and time,
It is subject to either fear or love.
Misperceptions produce fear,
And true perceptions foster love,
But neither bring certainty because all perception varies.
That is why it is not knowledge.
True perception is the basis for knowledge,
But knowing is the affirmation of truth and beyond all perceptions.
All your difficulties stem from the fact that you do not recognize yourself,
Your brother,
Or God.
To recognize means to know again,
Implying that you knew before.
You can see in many ways because perception involves interpretation,
And this means that it is not whole or consistent.
The miracle being a way of perceiving is not knowledge.
It is the right answer to a question,
But you do not question when you know.
Questioning illusions is the first step in undoing them.
The miracle,
Or the right answer,
Corrects them.
Since perceptions change,
Their dependence on time is obvious.
How you perceive at any given time determines what you do,
And actions must occur in time.
Knowledge is timeless because certainty is not questionable.
You know when you have ceased to ask questions.
The questioning mind perceives itself in time,
And therefore looks for future answers.
The closed mind believes the future and the present will be the same.
This establishes a seemingly stable state that is usually an attempt to counteract an underlying fear that the future will be worse than the present.
This fear inhibits the tendency to question at all.
True vision is the natural perception of spiritual sight,
But it is still a correction rather than a fact.
Spiritual sight is symbolic,
And therefore not a device for knowing.
It is,
However,
A means of right perception,
Which brings it into the proper domain of the miracle.
A vision of God would be a miracle rather than a revelation.
The fact that perception is involved at all removes the experience from the realm of knowledge.
That is why visions,
However holy,
Do not last.
The Bible tells you to know yourself,
Or to be certain.
Certainty is always of God.
When you love someone,
You have perceived Him as He is,
And this makes it possible for you to know Him.
Until you first perceive Him as He is,
You cannot know Him.
While you ask questions about Him,
You are clearly implying that you do not know God.
Certainty does not require action.
When you say you are acting on the basis of knowledge,
You are really confusing knowledge with perception.
Knowledge provides the strength for creative thinking,
But not for right doing.
Perception,
Miracles,
And doing are closely related.
Knowledge is the result of revelation,
And induces only thought.
Even in its most spiritualized form,
Perception involves the body.
Knowledge comes from the altar within,
And is timeless because it is certain.
To perceive the truth is not the same as to know it.
Right perception is necessary before God can communicate directly to His altars,
Which He established in His sons.
There He can communicate His certainty,
And His knowledge will bring peace without question.
God is not a stranger to His sons,
And His sons are not strangers to each other.
Knowledge preceded both perception and time,
And will ultimately replace them.
That is the real meaning of,
Quote,
Alpha and Omega,
The beginning and the end,
End quote,
And,
Quote,
Before Abraham was,
I am,
End quote.
Perception can and must be stabilized,
But knowledge is stable.
Quote,
Fear God and keep His commandments,
End quote,
Becomes,
Quote,
Know God and accept His certainty,
End quote.
If you attack error in another,
You will hurt yourself.
You cannot know your brother when you attack him.
Attack is always made upon a stranger.
You are making him a stranger by misperceiving him,
And so you cannot know him.
It is because you have made him a stranger that you are afraid of him.
Perceive him correctly so that you can know him.
There are no strangers in God's creation.
To create as He created,
You can create only what you know,
And therefore accept as yours.
God knows His children with perfect certainty.
He created them by knowing them.
He recognizes them perfectly.
When they do not recognize each other,
They do not recognize Him.
