A Course in Miracles Talk 21 The Fruits of Forgiveness Forgiveness will open the shutters of the mind,
And let the love and wisdom of our inner selves shine in,
Causing the ego to vanish.
Our inner guide now takes over the role we once asked the ego to perform.
On this happy day,
The realization that I need do nothing will dawn upon our minds.
As the text states,
When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with temptation and fight against the giving into sin,
When the light comes at last into the mind given to contemplation,
And when the goal is finally achieved by anyone,
It always comes with just one happy realization,
I need do nothing.
Now we will effortlessly know what to say,
What to do,
And where to go at any time.
Dido Krishnamurti once said,
Only confused people have choices.
In any situation,
There is only one right answer,
And our inner wisdom knows what that is.
When we at last finish our journey of forgiveness,
And no sense of sin,
Guilt,
Or fear remain in our minds,
And then there will be nothing left to project out onto others.
We will look out onto a forgiven world.
Previously the world has been a screen for our projections.
Previously the world had been a screen for our projections.
So with no guilt to project,
The world we see will be transformed.
The world's activities will not have changed,
But our perceptions of them will.
Now we will see all events in the world from a much simpler perspective.
People will be seen as either extending love to others or asking for it.
There will be nothing in between.
Forgiveness is now seen as an illusion,
But a necessary one to help us out of our dream of separation.
Becoming peaceful does not guarantee us freedom from attacks by others.
A very peace can provoke attack,
As was amply demonstrated in the life of Jesus.
The ego mind perceives everyone as sinners and worthy of judgment and attack.
Seeing someone at peace contradicts his thought system and undermines his security.
The resulting fear provokes the ego to attack.
However,
Such attacks,
Whether physical or psychological,
Can have no effect on someone who has relinquished their ego.
There is nothing left to strike back.
Instead,
The attack is seen as the pill for healing,
Which will be given whether accepted or not.
By being defenseless,
You are saying,
Your attack has no effect on me.
You can only attack my ego,
For that has now gone.
It was never real anyway.
If my ego was not real,
Then neither is yours.
This gift may not be received now,
But waits for a time when the other person is ready for it.
No love is ever lost.
Daily practice.
How long our journey of forgiveness takes depends on our willingness to dedicate our days to finding peace.
Daily priorities often revolve around accomplishing a worldly goal,
Rather than an inner goal.
However,
If we work on both the outer and inner levels simultaneously,
Our progress will be immeasurably advanced.
The following suggested daily practice embraces this way of approaching our lives.
As you awake in the morning,
Set the purpose of your day to find peace in all situations you encounter.
For example,
If you need to talk to your boss about a pay rise,
The first priority is to try to be at peace with your boss,
Rather than the hoped-for outcome of the interview.
For example,
If you need to talk to your boss about a pay rise,
The first priority is to try to be at peace with your boss,
Rather than the hoped-for outcome of the interview.
In all situations that require some practical steps to be taken,
You approach on two levels.
Level one,
The first priority,
Is to seek and find peace in the situation.
Level two,
The second priority,
Is achieving a material goal,
If possible.
Another example could be sickness.
You try different ways to get better,
Second priority,
But seek,
With the help of your inner guide,
To remain at peace,
First priority,
No matter whether you get better or not.
Attaining and keeping peace now becomes the purpose of everything you do during the day.
It's your first priority.
It does not matter what happens,
As you now view all happenings as a classroom,
Where you can learn forgiveness and truth,
And therefore attain peace.
You could even find yourself in disastrous circumstances,
According to your ego,
Such as a car crash.
But if finding peace remains your first priority,
The situation can become a blessing.
It's not easy to do,
As your ego will encourage you to view such a situation from the standpoint of a justified victim.
The text states,
It takes great learning to understand that all things,
Events,
Encounters,
And circumstances are helpful.
Although one part of you is looking for ways to find peace and joy,
There is still likely to be a powerful identification with the mind of your ego.
We retain a strong desire to be separate,
Unique,
Individual,
Who is different from others,
And wishes to be self-sufficient and sole control of his or her life.
As you follow these steps in finding peace,
This desire will always act in opposition and attempt,
Often successfully,
To draw you back to the device of the ego,
Which is terrified of the new direction you are undertaking.
Why terrified?
Because as you move along on this journey,
Love will gradually shine away the ego,
And therefore your individuality.
The text states,
If you find resistance strong and dedication weak,
You're not ready.
Do not fight yourself.
Instead,
Forgive yourself for not forgiving.
Forgive yourself for not truly wanting peace and preferring your ego instead.
You are not as far along the spiritual path as you perhaps once thought or hoped.
This knowledge,
Learn to smile at your ego and its desire to be separate.
This is wonderful progress.
Such an approach will diminish the guilt that keeps you from finding your inner peace.
