[acimlessons_list] Lesson 76 - March 17

[Sue Roth]

Lesson 76 - March 17

"I am under no laws but God's."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

Purpose: To really understand that you are under no laws but God's, to see
the freedom in this idea, and to rejoice that it is so.

Longer: 2 times, for 10-15 minutes

* In the first phase, briefly review the different "laws" you believe in.
These include bodily laws, such as laws of nutrition, medicine, and
economics; social laws, such as laws of reciprocity and good relationship;
and religious laws, which set forth what you must give to God in order for
Him to grant you His gifts.

* Dismiss these "laws" with the thought that there are no laws but God's.
Then wait in receptive silence to hear God's Voice (this is another exercise
in listening to the Holy Spirit). While listening, from time to time repeat
the idea, as an invitation to God's Voice to help you really understand the
idea. When you hear the Holy Spirit, He may tell you that God's laws, in
contrast to the world's "laws," only give. They do not ask for payment
before they deliver you their endless blessings. He may go on to tell you of
all the blessings these laws offer you, including the limitless joys of
Heaven, all of which stem from God's infinite Love for you. Remember to
listen in confidence, knowing that even if you hear nothing now, God's Voice
is still speaking to you, and that your listening today will bring you
closer to really hearing. If you do hear something, you may want to write it
down afterwards.

* Conclude by repeating the idea.

Frequent reminders: 4-5 per hour (at least)

Repeat the idea as a declaration of freedom from all the tyrannical laws of
this world and an acknowledgment that you live only under the blessing of
God's Love. 

Response to temptation: whenever you feel subject to the laws of this world

Repeat the idea. Because we usually take the laws of the world for granted,
we don't always realize when we feel oppressed by them. Therefore, you may
want to periodically scan your mind for the things that are weighing on you
and identify the laws behind them. At any given moment, for instance, you
might find that you feel oppressed by the laws of hunger, of time (you may
be working against a deadline), of money (you may feel a shortage), and of
social dynamics (you may be in a politically delicate situation). Note the
laws you feel oppressing you and respond by repeating the idea as a real
declaration of your freedom from them.

COMMENTARY

This is perhaps one of the most challenging lessons in the Workbook. It
confronts, head on, a whole panoply of security blankets and substitutes for
salvation that we have developed, and that we have convinced ourselves we
depend on. It shocks us by its radical assertions. If we are open to what it
says, we will begin to see that the Course is challenging all of our basic
assumptions about life and about ourselves. We are far more entrenched in
the ego's illusions than we have heretofore realized.

The following scenario forms the background to this lesson:

1) We are perfect, formless mind, each of us parts of a seamless Whole, but
we have wished to separate off and fragment a small piece of mind to call
"me." Moreover, we have not only wished to do so, we have convinced
ourselves that we have actually done it. Our sense of identity has become
restricted to this little fragment of mind. Our mind has felt enormous guilt
because of this belief, which is false.

2) We have made up a world filled with bodies for two reasons: first, to
support our illusions of separateness; and second, to escape from the guilt
in our minds by projecting that guilt onto the world and the "others" who
fill it. We have become primarily identified with our own body, rather than
even with the fragment of mind we perceive as being "within" the body.

3) Believing we are the body, and that we (our bodies) are endangered by
many things in the world, we have devised an endless list of means for
protecting and preserving our bodies. These are the "laws" of the world
spoken of in this lesson.

Lesson 76 begins (1:1) by referring to an earlier statement, in Lesson 71,
the first three paragraphs, that pointed out how many senseless things we
have looked to for our salvation (which can be understood as protection, or
safety, or even happiness). In Lesson 71, the key factor about each of these
things was the thought, "If this were different, I would be saved"
(W-pI.71.2:4). Lesson 76 now adds the thought that, "Each (of these things)
has imprisoned you with laws as senseless as itself" (1:2). For example, if
we look to good physical health to "save" us, we become bound by a myriad of
laws governing health: nutrition, medicine, and so on.

The lesson identifies many of the so-called laws we believe ourselves to be
subject to: the need for money (paper strips and metal discs); the use of
medicine to ward off disease; the need for physical interaction with other
bodies (sex, companionship); laws of medicine, economics, and health
(nutrition, exercise, sleep, vitamins); any way we try to protect the body;
"laws" of friendship, of "good" relationships, and reciprocity (being fair);
even "religious" laws.

We are not actually bound by any of these laws. That is a stunning and
almost unbelievable statement (1:3).  In order to understand our freedom
from these laws, however, we "must first realize salvation lies not there"
(1:4). In other words, we have to realize that our bodies and our egos are
not what need preservation. We have to undo the mistake we have made in
identifying what and who we are. That undoing, of course, is what the entire
Course in Miracles is all about.

In saying that we "bind" ourselves "to laws that make no sense" (1:5) as
long as we are seeking for salvation by attempting to change
something--anything--other than our minds, the Course is telling us that our
subjugation to these laws of the world is something that we have <chosen>
and are continuing to choose, moment to moment. Following the dictates of
our own ego in its attempts to preserve itself at the expense of our
reality, we blindly continue to look for salvation outside of ourselves.
That blind pursuit is what binds us to the laws of the world. By
implication, ending that mistaken pursuit will <free> us from the laws of
the world.

We think "miracles" means sudden healing of the body, or the arrival of
money from an unexpected source, or the appearance of someone or something
we believe will bring us happiness. To believe this is still to seek for
salvation from outside of our own minds, and will continue to bind us to the
laws of the world. What's worse, it also continues to make our separated,
ego identity seem real to us.

The idea of living without any need for money, or medicine, or physical
means of protection appeals to everyone. That state can be ours, but
paradoxically, not by seeking for it. The world and its laws is not where
freedom lies. Having all the money we need magically provided is not
freedom. Having perfect physical health is not freedom. Having "good"
relationships is not freedom. Freedom has nothing to do with our bodies.
Freedom can be found only within ourselves.

"The body is endangered by the mind that hurts itself" (5:2). All of our
physical lack and suffering is unconsciously engendered by our minds, in an
attempt to keep the mind from consciously realizing that it is its own
victim (5:3-5). Because of our primal guilt, caused by our belief in the
reality of separation, our mind "attacks itself and wants to die" (5:5).
This is why we think we are  bodies (which do die). The "laws" we think we
must obey in order to save our bodies are just the mind's attempt to
camouflage the real problem, which is its own thoughts of guilt and
separation.

"God's laws forever give and never take" (9:6). The "laws" we see are not
like this; therefore they cannot be real, because they do not come from God.
And "There are no laws but God's" (9:1).  In today's practice we are asked
to consider our foolish laws, and then to listen, deep within, to "hear the
Voice That speaks the truth to you" (9:2). This Voice will tell us of God's
undying Love, His desire that we know "endless joy" (10:5), and His yearning
to use us as channels for His creation (10:6). If we hear this message of
Love within ourselves, our thoughts of guilt and separation will vanish. We
will realize Who we are. And in so doing, our insane desire to attack and
kill ourselves will be over. The <cause> of our false seeking will go, and
with it, our bondage to the "laws" that govern these idols we have made.

By bringing our imaginary "laws" into direct confrontation with what the
laws of God must be--laws in which there is no loss, no giving and receiving
of payment, no exchanges nor substitutions, but only God's unconditional
Love--we are bringing our illusions to the truth. (See the Text, 14.VII.1-4,
for an excellent discussion of just why our two systems of belief need to be
brought together so that the falsehoods will vanish in the light of the
truth.)