February 7, 2024 – Freeread

Seeing the Real World

February 7, 2024February 16, 2024 Joseph Dewey

Seeing the Real World

A Course in Miracles tells us this about forgiveness and vision:

“For forgiveness literally transforms vision, and lets you see the real world reaching quietly and gently across chaos, removing all illusions that had twisted your perception and fixed it on the past. The smallest leaf becomes a thing of wonder, and a blade of grass a sign of God’s perfection.” T-17.II.6

The question thus arises as to why students do not give accounts of seeing the real world if only forgiveness is required to “transform vision?”

After all, a number of students report that they have forgiven all those who have offended them and have let all known grievances go.

Is there more to forgiveness than merely forgiving our brothers and sisters?

Indeed, there is, as forgiveness of others, as generally understood, is only a first step.

The second step is more difficult and both steps are required to see the real world with clarity.

The first step is forgiving your brother, but the second, and the more difficult one, is forgiving the world.

Concerning this the Course says:

“The real world is attained simply by the complete forgiveness of the old, the world you see without forgiveness.” T-17.II.5.

So, to attain the real world we must go beyond forgiving our brother and forgive the world itself.

But what does it mean to forgive the world? I couldn’t make any sense of this teaching until I came across this passage from the Course:

“To forgive is to overlook. Look, then, beyond error.” T-9.IV.1

The key to understanding here is that the similarity to forgiving the world and our brother has nothing to do with handling offenses, but requires “overlooking” and seeing “beyond error.”

When we forgive our brother, we “overlook” his actions as if they never happened and we are to do the same thing with the world itself if we are to see the real world.

It is indeed a fact that we do seem to perceive this world through our physical eyes, even though it is not eternal, and therefore does not exist as the Course defines things. But it is a fact that we have used the powers of the Sonship to make this world real enough to be seen, in fact it is all that most of us do see. Therefore, a first step is to realize what we are seeing and attempt to see beyond normal vision by overlooking what we do see and putting ourselves in a state of mind so we look and see as if this world does not exist.

What then is the beginning of real vision as we seek to look beyond this world that is perceived by the senses and see the real world? We are given this clear answer:

“You will begin to understand it when you have seen little edges of light around the same familiar objects which you see now. That is the beginning of real vision. You can be certain that real vision will come quickly when this has occurred.” W-pI.15.2

If we then forgive the world, or overlook it, we should be able to see “little edges of light around the same familiar objects which you see now.”

I have found this to be one hundred percent true and can now easily see those edges of light around any object I choose and you can too by looking beyond the world of illusion. Here is how to do it.

Sit comfortably in your chair and pick out an object in your room. It is best if the background behind the object is a solid wall light in color. For me right now I am looking at a football on a shelf with an off-white wall as the background.

Now if you just stare at the object you will not see the edges of light because your attention will be on the object itself. Instead, you must look at the supposed empty space just beyond the object and let the object fade from view. The best way to do this is to focus on a point of empty space about a quarter inch from the object, and place yourself in a state of mind as if the object does not exist. Keep your focus steady and after a time the edges of light will appear.

When you first see them, you may be somewhat startled and place your attention back on the object. If you do this the light will instantly be gone. Go back and look at the empty space again and if you do this regularly your power of vision will increase. If you practice doing this you will then easily see the light around all objects as promised by the Course.

But that is merely a first, or “the beginning of real vision,” as the Course says. There is much more light to be seen:

“The Great Light always surrounds you and shines out from you.” T-11.III.4

You can also see these edges of light around any human being, but there is much more, for great light also surrounds us as the Course says. Part of this light is commonly called the human aura which is more difficult to see than the light at the edges.

The brightest part of the aura extends a foot or two from the body and is much more difficult to see clearly than the edges of light, but seeing the aura is worth the effort. People’s auras are all the colors of the rainbow and when seen clearly, they are very bright, neon-like, more real. than any color on earth.

When I first saw the aura, I found I had great difficulty keeping it in my vision, for as soon as I placed any attention on the body the aura disappeared. Too see it for an extended time I found I had to take all attention off the body and focus only on the space beyond. I discovered the Course was indeed correct when it says “It is impossible to see two worlds which have no overlap of any kind. Seek for the one; the other disappears. But one remains.” W-pI.130.5.

Correspondingly, I found that when I did manage to see the aura that I had to take my attention off the body to maintain the vision. The instant I focused on the body, all light around the body disappeared. Only one of the two worlds remain, just as the Course says.

After I went this far, I wondered what else there was to see and placed my attention on seeing beyond the aura and discovered that there is an energy field of light that circulates around the body. This field has a shape something like an egg and extends about an arm’s length from the body and rotates around us like an electron does its nucleus.

After seeing the energy field I decided to go further and found that seeing beyond it is difficult indeed but after many attempts I made a breakthrough and discovered that at the edge of the egg shaped field is a fine film corresponding to the film on the outer egg when the shell is removed. On this film is projected our thoughts in geometric forms which are in motion. These thoughts are not read as we read words but by the intuition. If you could see the outer aura of a person you could read their minds. I believe that this is what Jesus did when he read the woman’s thoughts at the well (See John 4:5-30)

As for me I haven’t been able to see these thought projections on any person except myself and I am only sensitive enough to see them on certain occasions, for this outer film is extremely difficult to see while still in the body.

In order of difficulty the edges of light are easiest to see and most can see them if they properly look. The aura is several times more difficult to see than the edges and the circulating field is harder still for us while in the dream.

The outer film where the thoughts are projected are several times harder still and requires a great focus on spirit. There are several times I have seen it though without effort when I have been in that state between being awake and asleep, but it disappears as soon as I fully wake up.

One more thing that is available to those who look are the lights in the night sky. When we see the stars we are only seeing a small part of the light that is there. From each star is extended living light that interplays with other stars. They communicate with each other by the sharing of light. These dancing lights in the sky are not that difficult to see and are seen through the same principle as seeing the aura.

That said, I realize that so far I have just seen a small part of the real world.

Jesus set the great example of seeing by not seeing when was able to fully take his attention off his body so it disappeared. Then he was able to make it reappear when he appeared to the apostles, according to Helen’s notes quoted by by Ken Wapnick in Absence From Felicity.

Helen wrote that “The body disappears, and no longer hides what lies beyond. It merely ceases to interfere with vision.”

I think we all look forward to removing this final barrier to all vision in the real world. I believe that if we realized all there was to see, hiding in plain sight, that we would be amazed indeed.

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Forgiving the World

February 7, 2024 Joseph Dewey

Forgiving the World

Forgiveness is one of the central themes of A Course in Miracles and most of the teachings on it are in harmony with the statements of Jesus from the New Testament.

It registers with most people that if we hold ill feelings toward another that love cannot manifest. This will cause great interference with communication with the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, something I had difficulty in relating to was the advice of the Course for us to forgive inorganic and non-human things that have no conscious intent to do us harm. There are numerous occasions when the Course tells us to forgive the world itself, such as:

“Unto us the aim is given to forgive the world. It is the goal that God has given us.” W.fl.in.3

It is easy to understand why we need to forgive fellow humans for they are consciously aware of what they are doing. If someone calls you an idiot then there arises a need to forgive because of the offense that can be taken.

But the world and the inorganic things in it do not attack us, neither do they have the consciousness to do so.

So, the question I had for many years was how am I supposed to forgive a world which I have never seen attack me and to which I hold no grievance or ill feelings?

How to Forgive a Rock

Most seasoned students of A Course in Miracles understand the basic principle of forgiveness as explained in the text.

We are taught that the standard way of looking at it is in error, which is this:

When an offense or an attack is made the person overlooks the act from a standpoint of superiority, taking pity on the offender. But the Course says this:

“Forgiveness is not pity, which but seeks to pardon what it thinks to be the truth. Good cannot be returned for evil, for forgiveness does not first establish sin and then forgive it. Who can say and mean, ‘My brother, you have injured me, and yet, because I am the better of the two, I pardon you my hurt.’ His pardon and your hurt cannot exist together. One denies the other and must make it false.” T-27.II.2

Contrary to orthodox thinking the Course teaches that with true forgiveness we recognize there is nothing to forgive:

“He will teach you to remember that forgiveness is not loss, but your salvation. And that in complete forgiveness, in which you recognize that there is nothing to forgive, you are absolved completely.” T-15.VIII.1

Whether you see forgiveness in the orthodox way or the Course way, some acts certainly present a challenge. Suppose someone kicks your dog, hurts your child or even kills a loved one? Just telling yourself that nothing happened or there is nothing to forgive doesn’t always prevent grievances from occurring, yet this is the ideal to which a student will aspire.

We generally know when forgiveness is necessary because some type of grievance will surface. The great benefit of true forgiveness is that a grievance will disappear.

With people in general, forgiveness and grievances are associated with living people and relationships, but as it does with many concepts, the Course gives a twist of meaning that is different than anything we find in our dictionaries. Forgiveness is no exception for it expands its application beyond human relationships to the world at large and tells us to “forgive the world, that it may be healed along with me.” W-pI.82.1

It talks a number of times about forgiving the world which is essential to seeing the real world:

“The real world is attained simply by the complete forgiveness of the old, the world you see without forgiveness.” T-17.II.5

In discussing the world, the Course seems to use the same definition as is used by our dictionaries. The Oxford Dictionary defines the world as “the earth, with all its countries, peoples and natural features.”

The Course doesn’t give a specific definition of the world but seems to assume we know what it is. From my reading of the Course, it appears to mean, “all those things that can be perceived by the senses,” which is very close to that of the dictionary.

Correspondingly it speaks of “the world of dreams, where all perception is.” T-13.VII.9 Perception selects, and makes the world you see.” T-21.V.1

I’ve seen students apply the idea of forgiving the world to many situations that have nothing to do with human relationships. For example, if they stub their toe on a rock, they feel they must forgive the rock or if a storm comes up and interferes with a picnic, they think they must forgive the weather.

This type of thinking never made sense to me as I could find nothing to forgive in a rock, a storm or anything else that is not human.

Since the Course asks us to forgive the world, I figured that it must be defining forgiveness in a different way from the standard Oxford Dictionary which says it is when we “stop feeling angry or resentful toward someone for an offense, flaw, or mistake.”

Notice that the standard definition only includes humans, not things, but the world includes everything we can perceive with the senses.

I continued to wonder, in addition to fellow humans, how do I forgive a chair, a computer, a tree or a mountain according to the Course?

I thus searched through the Course looking for something that would make sense of the idea of forgiving the world at large.

After much searching, I finally came across a key passage that turned on the light – that could give meaning to the forgiving of both humans and the rest of the world. Here it is:

“To forgive is to overlook. Look, then, beyond error.” T-9.IV.1

I’m sure I have read this several times before, but the full meaning did not register.

The great part about this definition is that it applies to all things in the world of illusion, human and non-human.

What does the Course tell us to do when we forgive a brother? It tells us to overlook the offense as if nothing has happened.

And what does it tell us to do about all things in the world we see? Again, it tells is to do the same thing. We are to overlook this world of illusion and see the real world that lies just beyond normal vision. We are told this:

“The real world is attained simply by the complete forgiveness of the old, the world you see without forgiveness.” T-17.II.5.

“The real world was given you by God in loving exchange for the world you made and the world you see. Only take it from the hand of Christ and look upon it. Its reality will make everything else invisible, for beholding it is total perception. And as you look upon it you will remember that it was always so. Nothingness will become invisible, for you will at last have seen truly.” T-12.VIII.8

We then forgive this world the same way we forgive a brother by overlooking or looking beyond the illusion as if it did not exist. Just as sin is an illusion, so is the world we see which includes not only people in bodies, but trees, mountains, lakes and all that is upon the earth. When we forgive the world of illusion then our eyes are open to see another much greater world called the real world.

The beginning of real vision where the real world is seen is explained here:

Look around your room, pick an object and see it as not being there, or forgive it, and the light from the real world will appear.