Mad Idea or Not?
The actual separation and the mad idea are often briefly referenced as just something crazy that entered the mind of the Sonship for an instant and then was no more. Since the idea was mad and crazy leading to nightmares it just came and went instantly.
I submit that such was just not the case.
The beginning of time after the initial separation “goes backward to an instant so ancient that it is beyond all memory, and past even the possibility of remembering.” M-2.3
In our time this would be billions or possibly many trillions of years.
Yet even though the instant began and ended in that ancient time the effects are still with us for “it is an instant that is relived again and again and still again, it seems to be now. … What happened long ago seems to be happening now.” M-2.3 & 4
We just can’t seem to let that instant go for “that one instant still called back, as if it could be made again in time. You keep an ancient memory before your eyes.” T-26.V.5
So, if the idea was so obviously mad and crazy, as students assume, then why is it, of our own free will, “still called back” by us and relived because it “is looked upon as a new thought, a fresh idea, a different approach”? M-2.3
So, we here in present time are trying to make “again in time” this idea with the thought we can do it better than was done in the original attempt. We are recalling that ancient instant and reliving it. It was so meaningful to us that we wanted to “keep and make (it) eternal.” T-26.V.4
The ancient instant is over, but us recalling it and living in its effects is as if it is real to us and not over. After all, this is why A Course in Miracles was given to us.
Billions of Sons of God native to this planet have of their own free will accepted the mad idea, and that’s just a drop in the bucket. There are over 200 billion star systems in this galaxy and trillions of galaxies in the universe. All the inhabitants would equal many trillions of Sons within the Sonship who chose separation.
To those who made the choice the idea must have not sounded that crazy. Has anyone ever stopped to really think of what the attraction was and still is?
I submit that understanding the key elements of the attraction of the idea is essential to waking up. After all, one has to understand what he is leaving behind before he can let them go.
So, the question is this.
What is so attractive about the mad idea that we have gone to such great lengths to experience it and even try to make it eternal?
The first reason covered in the Course is the idea of creating ourselves. I think this is an important subject as it reveals one of the core reasons we entered the illusion and if we understand what brought us to this point of separation then we will have a great advantage in returning.
If you get lost in the woods, it is very help to be able to understand how you got there so you can retrace your steps and return to your camp.
That said, I think it would be helpful to give in a nutshell how I interpret creating ourselves from the Course.
When I first read the course, I thought it was an odd statement for I couldn’t imagine that which does not exist creating itself. But a close reading of the Course reveals this is not the meaning
Concerning our creation by God the Course says
“You cannot separate your Self from your Creator, Who created you by sharing His Being with you.” T-7.V.6
Several times it makes the point that creation is done through sharing and God shared himself with us in our creation. If we are as God created us then we share His mind and being.
BUT we got the mad idea to break off from the shared creation and create ourselves which meant that we wanted to see what it was like to use our own ideas to create our identity which would be different from God and every other Son.
We see this desire to create our own separate identity play out in this world in that everyone wants to be unique. We dress differently, have different homes, cars, friends, bodies, personalities, desires for food and drink. The ingredients that make you distinct as you create yourself is different than any other individual.
It is different in heaven as we all share the same mind and come to the same conclusions for there the truth is obvious and no other choice is said to make sense.
Thus a great step forward in our journey home is to be able to let go of all of our desires to be different and sand out and be willing to accept oneness once again. This I believe is easier said than done as our egos place great value on being unique and standing out as superior in some way to others.
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