[acimlessons_list] Lesson 35 - February 4

[Sue Roth]

Lesson 35 - February 4

"My mind is part of God's. I am very holy."

Practice Summary

Purpose: To show you who you really are. You see yourself according to the
place you occupy in your environment. Since you think your environment is
the physical worldyour identity seems to be determined by the part you play
in this worldby how you behave in earthly situations. Yet your true
environment is not this worldit is God's Mind. Your place there is what
determines your real identity. If you truly believed you were part of that
environmentyou would instantly understand that you are holy.

Longer: 3 timesfor 5 minutes
Repeat the ideathen close your eyes. Search your mind for descriptive terms
you would apply to yourselfpositive or negative (do not discriminate). Find
them by picking up specific situations that occur to you and identifying the
term you think applies to you in that situation. Say"I see myself as
[failinghelplesscharitableetc.]." After each oneadd: "But my mind is part of
God's. I am very holy." Ifafter a whileno specific terms occur to youdon't
strain to dig up more. Relax and repeat the idea until another comes to mind
 For complete instructionssee paragraphs 4-8.

Frequent reminders: as often as possible
This practice can take one of two forms:
1. Notice the attribute you are applying to yourself in the current
situation and plug it into the formula you used in the longer practice ("I
see myself as...But my mind is...").
2. If no attributes occur to youjust repeat the idea slowly with eyes closed


COMMENTARY

The Text tells us that "you do not understand how lofty the Holy Spirit's
perception of you really is." (T-9.VII.4:2). In the following section of the
same chapterit says:

"You did not establish your value and it needs no defense. Nothing can
attack it nor prevail over it. It does not vary. It merely <is.> Ask the
Holy Spirit what it is and He will tell youbut do not be afraid of His
answerbecause it comes from God. It is an exalted answer because of its
Sourcebut the Source is true and so is Its answer. Listen and do not
question what you hearfor God does not deceive. He would have you replace
the ego's belief in littleness with His Own exalted Answer to what you areso
that you can cease to question it and know it for what it is" (T-9.VII
11:2-9).

As the lesson points outwe do not normally think of ourselves in terms such
as "lofty" and "exalted." Noticethoughthat the Course is saying this is true
of usnot because of anything we have donebut because of our Source (3:2).
What makes us what we are is not ourselvesbut God. That is why the Course
lays so much stress on the idea"I am as God created me." Our little view of
ourselves comes from our attempts to create ourselvesour true grandeur
derives from the fact that we are God's creations. Our unwillingness to
recognize this connection with our Source is what keeps us locked in our
smallness. We resist acknowledging God as our Source because it seemsto our
egosto put us in second place and to make us dependent. It does not <make>
us dependent--we <are> dependent. That is not our shameit is our glory. It
is what establishes our grandeur.

We have difficulty believing that"I am very holy." Our refusal to believe it
is why we are in this worldin this environment we think we want. We want it
because it supports our image of ourselves as separate beingsindependent of
God.

When we look at the worldand look at ourselves living in the worldthe things
we see do not support the idea of this lesson. And yet the eyesearsnoseand
touch we use to gather evidence are part of the very image of this world.
They exist within the constraints of the world's image which we have
constructedvery carefullyNOT to show us our union with God. Of coursethey
bring us very little evidence to contradict the ego's image of uswe made
them to function that way.

One very strong emphasis of the Course is on looking directly at our
darkness and confronting our fears. The more we look at fearsays the
Coursethe less we will see it. Simply bringing the darkness into the light
dispels the darkness. Looking at our egoand even the full extent of our
hatredis crucial to our growthit tells us. But there is another
sidesometimes neglectedsuch as is reflected in this lessonand that is
reminding ourselvesfirmlyof the truth of our exalted reality: "My mind is
part of God's. It is very holy." In the Text we are told:

"Whenever you question your valuesay:

<God Himself is incomplete without me.>

Remember this when the ego speaksand you will not hear it" (T-9.VII.8:1-3).

Reminding ourselves of the truth about us is another powerful technique the
Course recommends for transcending our egos.

The list of attributes and terms we use to describe ourselves given in the
lesson is just a sample. As you practice the lesson todaytry to notice how
you think about yourselfand how different all of those thoughtsgood and bad
bothare from the lesson's statement about you. I could add my some of my own
terms to the list: forgetfuldisorganizedintelligentcleverfalling
behindskillful at what I do. What terms do you think of?

You should have noticed that the lessons are now calling for three longer practice periods of five minutes each. We are getting into "heavier" practice. Some of usif we have not meditated previouslymay find it difficult to sit for five minutes with our eyes closed doing these exercises. I encourage you to do them anyway. Anything new is difficult at firstbut becomes easier with practicethat is what the practice is for.