Chapter Eleven
What Heaven Is
Now that we have covered what is not in heaven, we are left with the question of what is there and why we would want to leave this world behind to make it our final destination.
We are told that heaven is not a place, and that within it is no space, form, distance, time or differences. All is one.
It sounds as though, by our definitions of existence, that heaven is composed of nothing and does not exist.
The Course (and many other traditions) insist that a non-dualistic heaven or celestial realm does exist and has certain qualities and aspects that can be seen as supplying the seeds of dualism.
As we noted earlier, the Course itself tells us that we cannot comprehend heaven, and thus it gives us little to go on. Nevertheless, it does give us a few things.
First, let us look at how A Course in Miracles defines heaven:
“The Kingdom of Heaven is the dwelling place of the Son of God, who left not his Father and dwells not apart from Him. Heaven is not a place nor a condition. It is merely an awareness of perfect Oneness, and the knowledge that there is nothing else; nothing outside this Oneness, and nothing else within.” T-18.VI.1
“Heaven is everything God values, and nothing else. Heaven is perfectly unambiguous. Everything is clear and bright, and calls forth one response. There is no darkness and there is no contrast. There is no variation. There is no interruption. There is a sense of peace so deep that no dream in this world has ever brought even a dim imagining of what it is.” T-13.XI.3
“Heaven is the home of perfect purity, and God created it for you.” T-22.II.13
As noted previously, even though all life is linked through the One Mind, there are many parts. The four main divisions in heaven are the Father, the Son (includes billions of us), the Holy Spirit and angels.
What they do in heaven is pretty sketchy, but it does clearly tell us that there is great love, joy and peace there. There is no change, so these three states are consistent. And something important that does not exist there is fear, which allows love, joy and peace to be undisturbed.
Let us look at a few references concerning these three blissful states:
LOVE
First, we have brief explanations of what love is:
“In Heaven, where the meaning of love is known, love is the same as union.” T-16.V.3
“Love is extension. To withhold the smallest gift is not to know love’s purpose. Love offers everything forever. Hold back but one belief, one offering, and love is gone, because you asked a substitute to take its place.” T-24.I.1
“Love is freedom.” T-16.VI.1
Here are some quotes that give us an idea of how love may play out in heaven:
“For it is the function of love to unite all things unto itself, and to hold all things together by extending its wholeness.” T-12.VIII.7
“it increases as it is given.” T-13.V.1
Love “holds the universe together in its meaning.” T-15.XI.6
“For love asks only that you be happy, and will give you everything that makes for happiness.” T-16.I.6
“For love is wholly without illusion, and therefore wholly without fear.” T-16.IV.11
“You have gone past fear, for no two minds can join in the desire for love without love’s joining them.” T-18.III.7
“Love wishes to be known, completely understood and shared. It has no secrets; nothing that it would keep apart and hide.” T-20.VI.2
“His (God’s) Love remains the only thing there is” M-18.3
“Love is not learned. Its meaning lies within itself. … Love is not learned, because there never was a time in which you knew it not.” T-18.IX.12
JOY
The next prominent quality found in heaven is joy, concerning which is written:
“There is no difference between love and joy. Therefore, the only possible whole state is the wholly joyous” T-5.in.2
“Joy is unlimited, because each shining thought of love extends its being and creates more of itself.” T-22.VI.14
So, joy is very closely linked to love, for it is indeed one of its qualities. You can’t have joy without feeling love also.
And what increases joy?
“To give without limit is God’s Will for you, because only this can bring you the joy that is His and that He wills to share with you” T-11.I.6
Then we have this:
“Joy is the inevitable result of gentleness. Gentleness means that fear is now impossible, and what could come to interfere with joy? The open hands of gentleness are always filled. The gentle have no pain. They cannot suffer.” M-4.V.1
It is interesting that ACIM associates joy with gentleness. The Course uses a variation of this word 117 times indicating its importance on earth and heaven. Very few spiritual traditions place emphasis on gentleness – a very significant word.
PEACE
One of the most quoted statements of the apostle Paul is about “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” Phil 4:7
This is the peace which A Course in Miracles speaks in association with God and heaven. It is a much different and deeper peace than a mere tranquility here in the world when there is no apparent conflict.
The Course gives us a reasonable description of this peace:
“peace is the condition of knowledge because it is the condition of the Kingdom.” T-8.I.1 “Peace is a natural heritage of spirit.” T-3.VI.10 “Peace is the state where love abides, and seeks to share itself.” T-23.I.12
Peace is the natural condition of our heavenly home:
“You are at home there, too, because it is a place of peace, and peace is of God. You who are part of God are not at home except in His peace. If peace is eternal, you are at home only in eternity.” T-5.III.10 “For peace is of God, and no one beside Him.” T-15.IV.2
There is a higher part of our self still experiencing this peace:
“Your Self is still in peace (in heaven), even though your mind (on earth) is in conflict. You have not yet gone back far enough (to the memory of heaven), and that is why you become so fearful. As you approach the Beginning, you feel the fear of the destruction of your thought system upon you as if it were the fear of death. There is no death, but there is a belief in death.” T-3.VII.5
Peace is such an important heavenly quality that it supplied the “motivation” for A Course in Miracles.
“Forget not that the motivation for this course is the attainment and the keeping of the state of peace. Given this state the mind is quiet, and the condition in which God is remembered is attained.” T-24.in.1
Then we are told peace is linked to understanding:
“Think not you understand anything until you pass the test of perfect peace, for peace and understanding go together and never can be found alone. Each brings the other with it, for it is the law of God they be not separate. They are cause and effect, each to the other, so where one is absent the other cannot be.” T-14.XI.12
Finally, the importance of peace is stressed as a key to finding heaven:
“I want the peace of God. To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything. If you could but mean them for just an instant, there would be no further sorrow possible for you in any form; in any place or time. Heaven would be completely given back to full awareness, memory of God entirely restored, the resurrection of all creation fully recognized.” W-pI.185.1
“Those who offer peace to everyone have found a home in Heaven the world cannot destroy” T-25.IV.4
In addition to these three qualities contributing to blissful feeling, ACIM tells us of other things we can expect to find in heaven.
TRUTH
One of the ingredients of heaven is truth which it describes as follows:
“truth is real in its own right, and to believe in truth you do not have to do anything.” T-12.I.1 “Truth can only be recognized and need only be recognized.” T-7.IV.1
“The truth is simple; it is one, without an opposite.” T-26.III.1
It places a lot of emphasis on the idea that real truth comes from God and nowhere else.
“All truth is here” (with God) T-15.IX.7 “truth is God” T-10.II.4
“Truth is God’s Will. Share His Will and you share what He knows.” T-7.X.2
The reasoning behind this is that only in heaven will we find eternal things, whereas in our world of illusion all things will pass away. The Course does not consider anything that is not eternal as being real. All illusion is seen as something temporary, so when it is gone it is as if it has never been.
“Truth is the opposite of illusions because it offers joy.” T-22.II.2
“No illusion has any truth in it. … any wish that seems to go against His Will has no foundation in the truth.” T-26.VII.6
“Truth is without illusions and therefore within the Kingdom. Everything outside the Kingdom is illusion.” T-6.V.C.9
Love is closely associated with real truth:
“It is the nature of love to look upon only the truth, for there it sees itself, with which it would unite in holy union and completion.” T-19.IV.A.10
And peace…
“truth stands radiant, apart from conflict, untouched and quiet in the peace of God.” T-23.I.7
and heaven…
“Yet Heaven is sure. This is no dream. Its coming means that you have chosen truth” T-18.II.9
And where do we find the truth?
“But it is given you to know the truth, and not to seek for it outside yourself.” T-29.VII.1
“Truth is. It can neither be lost nor sought nor found. It is there, wherever you are, being within you.” T-14.VII.2
“truth lies only in the present, and you will find it if you seek it there” T-13.VI.5
CREATION
The next question that is likely to arise in the mind of the seeker is what do we do in heaven wherein we use truth that brings love, joy and peace?
The Course makes it clear that our prime function is creation.
“your function in Heaven is creation” T-12.VII.4
“You were created only to create” T-14.I.4
“everything He creates has the function of creating” T-11.I.6
And why is creation so important?
“Unless you create you are unfulfilled, but God does not know unfulfillment and therefore you must create.” T-7.IX.3.
Now the question is – what do we create?
“Remember Him Who has created you, and THROUGH YOUR WILL created everything. Not one created thing but gives you thanks, for it is by your will that it was born. No light of Heaven shines except for you, for it was set in Heaven by your will.” T-30.II.3
Very interesting statement. The answer is we create “everything,” which would be the universe itself, which is verified in this quote:
“Without you … there could be no universe and no reality.” T-24.VI.2
So then “God Himself did not will to be alone.” T-11.I.1 and created the Son and used the “will” of the Son to create all there is.
It is interesting that this is in harmony with this famous verse from the Gospel of John:
“All things were made by him (the Son); and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:3
So, we are left with this: God creates the Son and used the power of the Son’s will to create the universe. The problem related to our understanding from our reality is this: In heaven there is no time, space, form, stars, planets or bodies, so what do we create there?
We are told that we create the universe, but what is that in the plane of Spirit?
“The universe consists of nothing but the Son of God,” W-pI.183.10
“God created nothing beside you and nothing beside you exists.” T-10.in.2
God thus creates the Son and the Son creates the universe, but the universe consists of only the Son of God. How does this make sense? What in the universe are we creating as Sons?
The answer is more Sons. “Know, then, the Sons of God, and you will know all creation.” T-7.XI.7
“your creations, who are son to you, that you might share the Fatherhood of God,” T-24.VII.1
The son remembers his own creations, as like to him as he is to his father.” T-24.II.6
“A co-creator with the Father MUST HAVE A SON. Yet must this Son have been created like Himself. “ T-24.III.6
We are now left with this interesting conclusion: “The universe consists of nothing but the Son of God (us),” and each son “must have a son.”
The Course makes clear that creations in time, space and form which have a beginning and end are not real and do not fall under its definition of creation. A creation in terms of reality has to be eternal. Things that are not eternal are considered “made,” not created.
Thus, in heaven we, the Sons of God, will not be making stars, galaxies and bodies housing life forms. Instead, according to the Course, we will be creating just one thing: more Sons of God who are eternal.
Since the real universe, or all there is in reality, only consists of the Sons of God, then our only creation will be more Sons.
The Course tells us that this creation of Sons “extends” God, as extension of His being is an eternal process. “There is no end to God and His Son, for WE ARE THE UNIVERSE” T-11.I.5.
Exactly how we will go about creating new Sons is not clear, but it would probably follow the same process used in our own creation. The Course gives a hint here:
“God created every mind by communicating His Mind to it, thus establishing it forever as a channel for the reception of His Mind and Will.” T-4.VII.3
This seems to tell us that we will create Sons by communicating our minds to Potential Mind creating a link from God to us to the newly created Sons.
As we extend creation through creating more Sons, sharing and pure communication are said to enhance our joy.
“Communication, unambiguous and plain as day, remains unlimited for all eternity.” W-pI.129.3 “all talents will be shared by all the Sons of God.” T-1.V.3
The closest we find in the Course to anything related to what can be perceived in found in this description:
“Beyond the body, beyond the sun and stars, past everything you see and yet somehow familiar, is an arc of golden light that stretches as you look into a great and shining circle. And all the circle fills with light before your eyes. The edges of the circle disappear, and what is in it is no longer contained at all. The light expands and covers everything, extending to infinity forever shining and with no break or limit anywhere. Within it everything is joined in perfect continuity. Nor is it possible to imagine that anything could be outside, for there is nowhere that this light is not.” T-21.I.8
So then, the joy and fulfillment that the Sons receive in heaven are not related to things that seem to fulfill us here. There will be no pleasure that we associate with the body, no forms to perceive or create, no special relationships… not much of anything that our physical brains can understand. All the Course says for sure is that there will be many Sons linked together within a golden circle sharing as one, creating more Sons, and that will be a blissful situation beyond our wildest dreams.
Is it possible that many thought heaven was too much of a good thing and wanted more variety and challenges?
Obviously, there was a compelling reason that caused billions of Sons to rebel and create a universe of their own design. Of all the eternities that have passed in heaven it seems that the rebellion was the only happening that made for an interesting story.
Read the Introduction HERE, Read Chapter One HERE. Chapter Two HERE, Chapter Three HERE, Chapter Four HERE, Chapter Five HERE Chapter Six HERE, Chapter Seven HERE, Chapter Eight HERE, Chapter Nine HERE, Chapter Ten HERE, Chapter Eleven HERE, Chapter Twelve HERE, Chapter Thirteen HERE, Chapter Fourteen HERE, Fifteen HERE, Sixteen HERE, Seventeen HERE, Eighteen HERE, Nineteen HERE, Twenty HERE, Twenty-One HERE, Twenty-Two HERE, Twenty-Three HERE, Twenty-Four HERE, Twenty-Five HERE, Twenty-Six HERE, Twenty-Seven HERE, Twenty-Eight HERE, Twenty-Nine HERE, Thirty HERE
ACIM Conversations, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25
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