Six

The relationship of anger to attack is obvious, but the inevitable association of anger and *fear* is not always so clear. Anger *always* involves *projection of separation*, which must ultimately be accepted as entirely one's own responsibility. Anger cannot occur unless you believe that you have been attacked, that the attack was unjust, and *you* are in no way responsible. Given these three wholly irrational premises, the equally irrational conclusion that a brother is *worthy* of attack rather than of love follows. What can be expected from insane premises except an insane conclusion? The way to undo an insane conclusion is to consider the sanity of the premises on which it rests. You cannot *be* attacked; attack *has* no justification; and you *are* responsible for what you believe. You have been asked to take me as your model for learning, since an extreme example is a particularly helpful learning device. Everyone teaches and teaches all the time. This is a responsibility which he inevitably assumes the moment he accepts any premise at all, and no one can organize his life without *any* thought system. Once he has developed a thought system of any kind, he lives by it *and teaches it.* You have been chosen to teach the Atonement precisely because you have been extreme examples of allegiance to your thought systems and therefore have developed the *capacity* for allegiance. It has indeed been misplaced, but it *is* a form of faith which you yourselves have been willing to redirect. You cannot doubt the strength of your devotion when you consider how faithfully you have observed it. It was quite evident that you had already developed the ability to follow a better model if you could accept it.

For teaching purposes, let us consider the crucifixion again. We have not dwelt on it before because of its fearful connotations. The only emphasis we laid upon it was that it was *not* a form of punishment. Nothing, however, can be really explained in negative terms only. There is a positive interpretation of the crucifixion which is wholly devoid of fear and therefore wholly benign in what it teaches if it is properly understood. The crucifixion is nothing more than an extreme example. Its value, like the value of any teaching device, lies solely in the kind of learning it facilitates. It can be and has been misunderstood. This is only because the fearful are apt to perceive fearfully. I have already told you that you can always call on me to share my decision and thus *make it stronger*. I also told you that the crucifixion was the last foolish journey that the Sonship need take and that it should mean *release* from fear to anyone who understands it. While we emphasized only the resurrection before, the purpose of the crucifixion and how it actually *led* to the resurrection was not clarified at that time. Nevertheless, it has a definite contribution to make to your own lives, and if you will consider it *without* fear, it will help you understand your own role as teachers. You have reacted for years *as if* you were being crucified. This is a marked tendency of the separated ones, who always refuse to consider what they have done *to themselves*. Projection means anger, anger fosters assault, and assault promotes fear. The real meaning of the crucifixion lies in the *apparent* intensity of the assault of some of the Sons of God upon another. This, of course, is impossible and must be fully understood *as* an impossibility. In fact unless it *is* fully understood as only that, I cannot serve as a real model for learning. Assault can ultimately be made *only* on the body. There is little doubt that one *body* can assault another and can even destroy it. Yet if destruction *itself* is impossible, then anything that is destructible cannot be *real*. Therefore, its destruction does *not* justify anger. To the extent to which you believe that it *does*, you must be accepting false premises *and teaching them to others*. The message which the crucifixion was intended to teach was that it is not necessary to perceive *any* form of assault in persecution, because you cannot *be* persecuted. If you respond with anger, you must be equating yourself with the destructible and are therefore regarding yourself insanely. I have made it perfectly clear that I am like you and you are like me, but our fundamental equality can be demonstrated only through joint *decision*. You are free to perceive yourselves as persecuted if you choose. You might remember, however, when you *do* choose to react that way, that I *was* persecuted as the world judges and did *not* share this evaluation for myself. And because I did not share it, I did not *strengthen* it. I therefore offered a *different* interpretation of attack and one which I *do* want to share with you. If you will *believe* it, you will help me to *teach* it. We have said before, “As you teach, so shall you learn.” If you react as if you are persecuted, you are *teaching* persecution. This is not a lesson which the Sons of God should *want* to teach if they are to realize their own salvation. Rather, teach your own perfect immunity, which *is* the truth in you, and *know* that it cannot be assailed. Do not protect it yourselves, or you have believed that it *is* assailable. You are not asked to *be* crucified, which was part of my own teaching contribution. You are merely asked to follow my example in the face of much *less* extreme temptations to misperceive and *not* to accept them falsely as justifications for anger. There can *be* no justification for the unjustifiable. Do not believe there is, and do not *teach* that there is. Remember always that what you believe you *will* teach. Believe with me, and we will become equal as teachers. *Your* resurrection is your reawakening. I am the model for rebirth, but rebirth itself is merely the dawning on your minds of what is already in them. God placed it there Himself, and so it is true forever. I believed in it and therefore made it forever true for me. Help me to teach it to our brothers in the name of the Kingdom of God, but first believe that it is true for *you*, or you will teach amiss. My brothers slept during the so-called “agony" in the garden, but I could not be angry with them because I had learned I could not *be* abandoned. Peter swore he would never deny me, but he did so three times. He did offer to defend me with the sword, which I naturally refused, not being at all in need of bodily protection. I *am* sorry when my brothers do not share my decision to hear only one voice, because it weakens them as teachers *and* as learners. Yet I know that they cannot really betray themselves *or* me and that it is still on them that I must build my church. There is no choice in this because only you can *be* the foundation of God's church. A church is where an altar is, and the presence of the altar is what *makes* it a church. Any church which does not inspire love has a hidden altar which is not serving the purpose for which God intended it. I must found His church on you because you who accept me as a model are literally my disciples. Disciples are followers, but if the model they follow has chosen to save them pain in all respects, they are probably unwise *not* to follow him. I elected both for your sake *and* mine to demonstrate that the most outrageous assault as judged by the ego did not matter. As the world judges these things, but *not* as God *knows* them, I was betrayed, abandoned, beaten, torn, and finally killed. It was perfectly clear that this was only because of the projection of others, because I had not harmed anyone and had healed many. We are still equal as learners, even though we need not have equal experiences. The Holy Spirit is glad when you can learn enough from mine to be re-awakened by them. That was their only purpose, and that is the only way in which I can be perceived as the Way, the Truth, and the Light. When you hear only one voice, you are *never* called on to sacrifice. On the contrary, by enabling yourselves to hear the Holy Spirit in others, you can learn from their experiences and gain from them *without* experiencing them yourselves. That is because the Holy Spirit is one, and anyone who listens is inevitably led to demonstrate His way for all. You are not persecuted, nor was I. You are not asked to *repeat* my experiences, because the Holy Spirit, Whom we *share*, makes this unnecessary. To *use* my experiences constructively, however, you must still follow my example in how to perceive them. My brothers and yours are constantly engaged in justifying the unjustifiable. My one lesson, which I must teach as I learned, is that no perception which is out of accord with the judgment of the Holy Spirit *can* be justified. I undertook to show this was true in a very extreme case merely because it would serve as a good teaching aid to those whose temptations to give in to anger and assault would *not* be so extreme. I will with God that none of His Sons should suffer. Remember that the Holy Spirit is the communication link between God the Father and His separated Sons. If you will listen to His Voice, you will know that you cannot either hurt or *be* hurt and that many need your blessing to help them hear this for themselves. When you perceive *only* this need in them and do not respond to *any* other, you will have learned of me and will be as eager to share your learning as I am. The crucifixion *cannot* be shared, because it is the symbol of projection, but the resurrection is the symbol of *sharing*, because the reawakening of every Son of God is necessary to enable the Sonship to know its wholeness. Only this *is* knowledge. The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear: *Teach* ***only*** *love, for that is what you* ***are.*** If you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a weapon for assault rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended. The Apostles often misunderstood it and always for the same reason that makes anyone misunderstand anything. Their own imperfect love made them vulnerable to projection, and out of their own fear they spoke of the “wrath of God” as His retaliatory weapon. Nor could they speak of the crucifixion entirely without anger, because their own sense of guilt had *made* them angry. There are two glaring examples of upside-down thinking in the New Testament, whose whole gospel is *only* the message of love. These are not like the several slips into impatience which I made. I had learned the Atonement prayer, which I also came to teach, too well to engage in upside-down thinking myself. If the Apostles had not felt guilty, they never could have quoted me as saying, “I come not to bring peace but a sword.” This is clearly the exact opposite of everything I taught. Nor could they have described my reactions to Judas as they did if they had really understood me. They would have realized I *could* not have said, “Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?” unless I *believed* in betrayal. The whole message of the crucifixion was simply that I did *not*. The “punishment” which I am said to have called forth upon Judas was a similar reversal. Judas was my brother and a Son of God, as much a part of the Sonship as myself. Was it likely that I would condemn him when I was ready to demonstrate that condemnation is impossible? I am very grateful to the Apostles for their teaching and fully aware of the extent of their devotion to me. Nevertheless, as you read their teachings, remember that I told them myself that there was much they would understand later because they were *not* wholly ready to follow me at the time. I emphasize this only because I do not want you to allow *any* fear to enter into the thought system toward which I am guiding you. I do *not* call for martyrs but for *teachers*. No one is “punished” for sins, and the Sons of God are not sinners. *Any* concept of “punishment” involves the projection of blame and *reinforces* the idea that blame is justified. The behavior that results is a *lesson in blame*, just as all behavior teaches the beliefs which motivate it. The crucifixion was a complex of behaviors arising out of clearly opposed thought systems. As such, it \[is\] the perfect symbol of conflict between the ego and the Son of God. \[It was as much intrapersonal as interpersonal then, just as it is now, and it is still just as real. But because it is just as real now, its lesson, too, has equal reality *when it is learned*.\] I do not need gratitude any more than I needed protection, but you need to develop your weakened ability to *be* grateful, or you cannot appreciate God. He does not need your appreciation, but *you* do. You cannot love what you do not appreciate, and *fear makes appreciation impossible*. Whenever you are afraid of what you are, you do *not* appreciate it and will therefore reject it. As a result, you will *teach rejection*. The power of the Sons of God is operating all the time because they were created as creators. Their influence on *each other* is without limit and *must* be used for their joint salvation. Each one must learn to teach that all forms of rejection are utterly meaningless. The separation *is* the notion of rejection. As long as you *teach* this, you still believe it. This is *not* as God thinks, and you must think as He thinks if you are to know Him again.

Any split in will *must* involve a rejection of part of it, and this *is* the belief in separation. The wholeness of God, which *is* His peace, cannot be appreciated *except* by a whole mind which recognizes the wholeness of God's creation and *by* this recognition knows its Creator. Exclusion and separation are synonymous, as are separation and dissociation. We have said before that the separation was and *is* dissociation and also that, once it had occurred, projection became its main defense or the device that *keeps it going*. The reason, however, may not be as clear as you think. In the ego's use of projection, to which we are obviously referring, what you project you disown and therefore *do not believe is yours*. You are *excluding* yourself by the very statement you are making that you are *different* from the one on whom you project. Since you have also judged *against* what you project, you continue to attack it because you have already attacked it *by* projecting it. By doing this unconsciously, you try to keep the fact that you must have attacked yourself *first* out of awareness and thus imagine that you have made yourself safe. Projection will *always* hurt you. It reinforces your belief in your own split mind, and its *only* purpose is *to keep the separation going*. It is *solely* a device of the ego to make you feel *different* from your brothers and separated from them. The ego justifies this on the wholly spurious grounds that it makes you seem “better” than they are, thus obscuring your equality with them still further. Projection and attack are inevitably related, because projection is *always* a means of justifying attack. Anger without projection is impossible. The ego uses projection *only* to distort your perception both of yourself *and* your brothers. The process begins by excluding something \[you think\] exists in you which you do not want and leads directly to excluding you from your brothers. We have learned, however, that there is another use of projection. Every ability of the ego has a better counterpart, because its abilities are directed by the mind which has a better Voice. The Holy Spirit as well as the ego utilizes projection, but since their goals are opposed, so is the result. The Holy Spirit begins by perceiving *you* as perfect. *Knowing* this perfection is shared, He recognizes it in others, thus strengthening it in both. Instead of anger, this arouses love for both *because it establishes inclusion*. Perceiving equality, the Holy Spirit perceives equal needs. This invites Atonement automatically, because Atonement is the one need which in this world *is* universal. To perceive yourself this way is the *only* way in which you can find happiness in the world. That is because it is the acknowledgment that you are *not* in this world, for the world *is* unhappy. How else can you find joy in a joyless place *except* by realizing that you are *not* there? You cannot be anywhere that God did not put you, and God created you as part of Him. That is both *where* you are and *what* you are. It is *completely* unalterable. It is total inclusion. You cannot change it now or ever. It is forever true. It is not a belief but a *fact*. Anything that God create\[s\] is as true as He is. Its truth lies only in its perfect inclusion in Him, Who alone *is* perfect. To deny this in any way is to deny yourself *and* Him since it is impossible to accept one *without* the other. The perfect equality of the Holy Spirit's perception is the counterpart of the perfect equality of God's knowing. The ego's perception *has* no counterpart in God, but the Holy Spirit remains the bridge between perception and knowledge. By enabling you to use perception in a way that *parallels* knowledge, you will ultimately meet it and *know* it. The ego would prefer to believe that this meeting is impossible, yet it is *your* perception which the Holy Spirit guides. You might remember that the human eye perceives parallel lines *as* *if* they meet in the distance, which is the same as in the future if time and space are one dimension. Your perception *will* end where it began. *Everything* meets in God, because everything was created *by* Him and *in* Him. God created His Sons by extending His Thought and retaining the extensions of His Thought in His Mind. *All* His Thoughts are thus perfectly united within themselves and with each other, because they were created neither partially nor in part. The Holy Spirit enables you *to perceive this wholeness now*. You can no more pray for yourselves alone than you can find joy for yourself alone. Prayer is the restatement of *inclusion*, directed by the Holy Spirit under the laws of God. God created you to create. You cannot *extend* His Kingdom until you know of its wholeness. Thoughts begin in the mind of the thinker from which they \[extend\] outward. This is as true of God's thinking as it is of yours. Because your minds are split, you can also perceive as well as think. Yet perception cannot escape from the basic laws of mind. You perceive *from* your mind and extend your perceptions outward. Although perception of any kind is unnecessary, *you* made it, and the Holy Spirit can therefore use it well. He can *inspire* perception and lead it toward God by making it *parallel* to God's way of thinking and thus guarantee their ultimate meeting. This convergence *seems* to be far in the future only because your mind is not in perfect alignment with the idea and therefore *does not want it now*. The Holy Spirit *uses* time but does *not* believe in it. Coming from God, He uses everything for good, but He does not *believe* in what is not true. Since the Holy Spirit is *in* your minds, your minds must also be able to believe only what is true. The Holy Spirit can speak only for this because He speaks for God. He tells you to return your whole mind to God, because it has *never left Him*. If it has never left Him, you need only perceive it as it is to *be* returned. The full awareness of the Atonement, then, is the recognition *that the separation never occurred.* The ego cannot prevail against this because it is an explicit statement that the *ego* never occurred. The ego *can* accept the idea that return is necessary because it can so easily make the idea seem so difficult. Yet the Holy Spirit tells you that even return is unnecessary because what never happened cannot involve *any* problem. It does *not* follow, however, that *you* cannot make the idea of return \[both\] necessary *and* difficult. It is surely clear, however, that the perfect *need* nothing and *cannot* experience perfection as a difficult accomplishment, because that is what they *are.* This is the way in which you *must* perceive God's creations, bringing all of your perceptions into the one parallel line which the Holy Spirit sees. This line is the direct line of communication with God and lets your mind converge with *His*. There is no conflict anywhere in this perception, because it means that *all* perception is guided by the Holy Spirit, Whose Mind is fixed on God. *Only* the Holy Spirit can resolve conflict, because *only* the Holy Spirit is conflict-free. He perceives *only* what is true in your mind and extends outward *only* to what is true in other minds. The difference between the ego's use of projection and projection as the Holy Spirit uses it is very simple. The ego projects to *exclude* and therefore to deceive. The Holy Spirit projects by *recognizing Himself* in every mind and thus perceives them as *one*. Nothing conflicts in this perception, because what the Holy Spirit perceives *is* the same. Wherever He looks He sees Himself, and because He is united, He offers the whole Kingdom always. This is the one message God gave *to* Him and for which He must speak, because that is what He *is*. The peace of God lies in that message, and so the peace of God lies in *you*. The great peace of the Kingdom shines in your mind forever, but it must shine *outward* to make *you* aware of it. The Holy Spirit was given you with perfect impartiality, and only by perceiving Him impartially can you perceive Him at all. The ego is legion, but the Holy Spirit is One. No darkness abides anywhere in the Kingdom, but your part is only to allow no darkness to abide in your *own* mind. This alignment with light is unlimited, because it is in alignment with the light of the world. Each of us *is* the light of the world, and by joining our minds *in* this light, we proclaim the Kingdom of God together and *as one*.

We have used many words as synonymous which are not ordinarily regarded as the same. We began with having and being and more recently have used others. Hearing and being are examples, to which we can also add teaching and being, learning and being and, above all, *projecting* and being. This is because, as we have said before, every idea begins in the mind of the thinker and extends outward. Therefore, what extends *from* the mind *is still in it*, and from what it extends it knows *itself*. That is its natural talent. The word “knows” is correct here, even though the ego does *not* know and is not concerned with being at all. The Holy Spirit still holds knowledge safe through His impartial perception. By attacking nothing, He presents no barrier at all to the communication of God. Thus, being is never threatened. Your Godlike mind can never *be* defiled. The ego never was and never will be part of it, but *through* the ego you can hear and teach and learn *what is not true*. From this, which *you* have made, you have taught yourselves to believe that you *are not* what you *are.* You *cannot* teach what you have not learned, and what you teach you strengthen in yourselves *because* you are sharing it. Every lesson you teach *you* are learning. That is why you must teach only *one* lesson. If you are to be conflict-free yourselves, you must learn *only* from the Holy Spirit and teach *only* by Him. You *are* only love, but when you denied this, you made what you *are* something you must *learn*. We said before that the message of the crucifixion was, “Teach only love, for that is what you *are*.” This is the *one* lesson which is perfectly unified, because it is the only lesson which *is* one. Only *by* teaching it can you learn it. “As you teach, so will you learn.” If that is true, and it is true indeed, you must never forget that what you teach is teaching *you*. What you project you *believe*. The only *real* safety lies in projecting only the Holy Spirit because, as you see His gentleness in others, your *own* mind perceives *itself* as totally harmless. Once it can accept this fully, it does *not* see the need to *protect itself.* The protection of God then dawns upon it, assuring it that it is perfectly safe forever. The perfectly safe are wholly benign. They bless because they know they *are* blessed. Without anxiety the mind is wholly kind, and because it *projects* beneficence, it *is* beneficent. Safety is *the complete relinquishment of attack*. No compromise is possible in this. Teach attack in *any* form, and *you have learned it, and it will hurt you.* Yet your learning is not immortal, and you can unlearn it by *not teaching it*. Since you cannot *not* teach, your salvation lies in teaching the exact *opposite* of everything the ego believes. This is how *you* will learn the truth that will set you free and keep you so, as others learn it of *you.* The only way to *have* peace is to *teach* peace. By learning it through projection, it becomes a part of what you *know*, because you cannot teach what you have dissociated. Only thus can you win back the knowledge that you threw away. An idea which you *share*, you must *have*. It awakens in you through the conviction of teaching. Remember that, if teaching is being and learning is being, \[then\] teaching is learning. *Everything* you teach, you are learning. Teach only love, and learn that love is yours and *you* are love.

Remember that the Holy Spirit is the *Answer, not* the question. The ego always speaks first because it is capricious and does *not* mean its maker well. That is because it believes, and correctly, that its maker may withdraw his support from it at any moment. If it meant you well, it would be glad, as the Holy Spirit will be glad when He has brought you home and you no longer need His guidance. The ego does not regard itself as *part* of you. Herein lies its primary perceptual error, the foundation of its whole thought system. When God created you, He made you part of Him. That is why attack *within* the Kingdom is impossible. *You* made the ego without love, and so it does not love *you*. You could not remain *within* the Kingdom without love, and since the Kingdom is love, you believe that you are *without* it. This enables the ego to regard itself as separate and *outside* its maker, thus speaking for the part of your mind that believes you are separate and outside the Mind of God. The ego, then, raised the first question that was ever asked, but one which it can never answer. That question, “What are you?” was the beginning of doubt. The ego has never answered *any* questions since, although it has raised a great many. The most inventive activities of the ego have never done more than *obscure the question*, because you *have* the answer and *the ego is afraid of you*. You cannot understand the conflict until you fully understand one basic fact that the ego does *not* know. The Holy Spirit does not speak first, *but He always answers*. Everyone has called upon Him for help at one time or another and in one way or another *and has been answered*. Since the Holy Spirit answers truly, He answers *for all time*, which means that everyone has the answer *now*. The ego cannot hear the Holy Spirit, but it *does* believe that part of the same mind that made it is *against* it. It interprets this as a justification for *attacking* its maker. It believes that the best defense *is* attack and *wants you to believe it*. Unless you *do* believe it you will not side with it, and the ego feels badly in need of allies though *not* of brothers. Perceiving something alien to itself in your mind, the ego turns to the body, *not* the mind, as its ally, because the body is *not* part of you. This makes the body the ego's friend. It is an alliance frankly based on separation. If you *side* with this alliance, you *will* be afraid, because you are siding with an alliance of fear. The ego and the body conspire *against* your minds, and because the ego realizes that its “enemy” *can* end them both merely by knowing they are *not* part of him, they join in the attack together. This is perhaps the strangest perception of all if you consider what it really involves. The ego, which is *not* real, attempts to persuade the mind, which *is* real, that the mind is its own learning device and that the learning device is more real than *it* is. No one in his right mind could *possibly* believe this, and no one in his right mind *does* believe it. Hear then the *one* answer of the Holy Spirit to *all* the questions which the ego raises. You are a Child of God, a priceless part of His Kingdom, which He created as part of Him. Nothing else exists, and *only* this is real. You have chosen a sleep in which you have had bad dreams, but the sleep is not real, and God calls you to awake. There will be nothing left of your dream when you hear Him, because you *will* be awake. Your dreams have contained many of the ego's symbols, and they have confused you. Yet that was only because you were asleep *and did not know*. When you awake, you will see the truth around you and in you, and you will no longer believe in dreams because they will have no reality for you. Yet the Kingdom and all that you have created there will have great reality for you, because they are beautiful and true. In the Kingdom, where you are and what you are is perfectly certain. There is no doubt there because the first question was never asked. Having finally been wholly answered, *it has never been*. Being alone lives in the Kingdom, where everything lives in God without question. The time that was spent on questioning in the dream has given way to creation and to its eternity. *You* are as certain as God because you are as true as He is, but what was once quite certain in your minds has become only the *ability* for certainty. The introduction of abilities into being was the beginning of *un*certainty because abilities are potentials, *not* accomplishments. Your abilities are totally useless in the presence of God's accomplishments and also of yours. Accomplishments are results which *have been* achieved. When they are perfect, abilities are meaningless. It is curious that the perfect must now be perfected. In fact, it is impossible. You must remember, however, that when you put yourselves in an impossible situation, you believed that the impossible *was* possible. Abilities must be *developed*, or you cannot use them. This is not true of anything that God created, but it is the kindest solution possible to what *you* have made. In an impossible situation, you can develop your abilities to the point where they can *get you out of it*. You have a Guide to how to develop them, but you have no *commander* except yourself. This leaves *you* in charge of the Kingdom with both a Guide to *find* it and a means to *keep* it. You have a model to follow who will *strengthen* your command and never detract from it in any way. You therefore retain the central place in your perceived enslavement, a fact which *itself* demonstrates that you are *not* enslaved. You are in an impossible situation only because you thought it was possible to be in one. You *would* be in an impossible situation if God showed you your perfection and *proved* to you that you were wrong. This would demonstrate that the perfect were inadequate to bring *themselves* to the awareness of their perfection and thus side with the belief that those who have everything need help and are therefore helpless. This is the kind of “reasoning” which the ego engages in, but God, Who *knows* that His creations are perfect, does *not* insult them. This would be as impossible as the ego's notion that *it* has insulted *Him.* That is why the Holy Spirit *never* commands. To command is to assume *in*equality, which the Holy Spirit demonstrates does not exist. Fidelity to premises is a law of mind, and everything God created is faithful to His laws. Fidelity to other laws is also possible, however, not because the laws are true, but because *you made them*. What would be gained if God proved to you that you have thought insanely? Can God lose His own certainty? We have frequently stated that what you teach you *are.* Would you have God teach you that you have sinned? If He confronted the self you made with the truth He created for you, what could you be but afraid? You would doubt your sanity, which is the one thing in which you can *find* the sanity He gave you. God does not teach. To teach is to imply a lack, which God *knows* is not there. God is not conflicted. Teaching aims at change, but God created only the changeless. The separation was not a loss of perfection but a failure in communication. A harsh and strident form of communication arose as the ego's voice. It could not shatter the peace of God, but it *could* shatter *yours.* God did not blot it out, because to eradicate it would be to attack it. Being questioned, He did not question. He merely gave the Answer. His Answer is your Teacher. ## a. To Have, Give All to All Like any good teacher, the Holy Spirit does know more than you do *now*, but He teaches only to make you *equal* with Him. This is because you had already taught wrongly, having believed what was not true. *You did not believe in your own perfection.* Could God teach you that you had made a split mind, when He knows your mind only as whole? What God *does* know is that His communication channels are not open to Him so that He cannot impart His joy and know that His Children are wholly joyous. This is an ongoing process, not in time, but in eternity. God's extending outward, though not His completeness, is blocked when the Sonship does not communicate with Him as one. So He thought, “My Children sleep and must be awakened.” How can you wake children better and more kindly than by a gentle Voice that will not frighten them but will merely remind them that the night is over and the light has come? You do not inform them that the nightmares which frightened them so badly were not real because children *believe* in magic. You merely reassure them that they are safe *now*. Then you train them to *recognize the difference* between sleeping and waking, so that they will understand they need not be afraid of dreams. Then when bad dreams come, they will call on the light *themselves* to dispel them. A wise teacher teaches through approach, *not* avoidance. He does *not* emphasize what you must avoid to escape from harm so much as what you need to learn to have joy. This is true even of the world's teachers. Consider the confusion a child would experience if he were told, “Do not do *this* because it might hurt you and make you unsafe, but if you do *that* you will escape from harm and be safe, and then you will not be afraid.” All of this could be included in only three words: “Do *only* that!” This simple statement is perfectly clear, easily understood, and very easily remembered. The Holy Spirit *never* itemizes errors because He does not frighten children, and those who lack wisdom *are* children. Yet He *always* answers their call, and His dependability makes *them* more certain. Children *do* confuse fantasy and reality, and they *are* frightened, because they do not know the difference. The Holy Spirit makes *no* distinction among dreams. He merely shines them away. His light is *always* the call to awake, whatever you have been dreaming. Nothing lasting lies in dreams, and the Holy Spirit, shining with the light from God Himself, speaks only for what lasts forever. When your body and your ego and your dreams are gone, you will know that *you* will last forever. Many think this is accomplished through death, but *nothing* is accomplished through death because death *is* nothing. *Everything* is accomplished through life, and life is of the mind and *in* the mind. The body neither lives nor dies, because it cannot contain you who *are* life. If we share the same mind, you can overcome death *because I did*. Death is an attempt to resolve conflict by not willing at all. Like any other impossible solution which the ego attempts, *it will not work*. God did not make the body because it is destructible and therefore not of the Kingdom. The body is the symbol of what you *think* you are. It is clearly a separation device and therefore does not exist. The Holy Spirit, as always, takes what you have made and translates it into a learning device *for* you. Again as always, He re-interprets what the ego uses as an argument *for* separation into a demonstration *against* it. If the mind can heal the body but the body cannot heal the mind, then the mind must be *stronger*. Every miracle demonstrates this. We have said that the Holy Spirit is the *motivation* for miracles. This is because He always tells you that *only* the mind is real since *only* the mind *can be shared*. The body *is* separate and therefore *cannot* be part of you. To be of one mind *is* meaningful, but to be of one *body* is meaningless. By the laws of mind, then, the *body* is meaningless. To the Holy Spirit, *there is no order of difficulty in miracles.* This is *familiar* enough to you by now, but it has not yet become believable. Therefore, you do not understand it and cannot *use* it. We have too much to accomplish on behalf of the Kingdom to let this crucial concept slip away. It is a real foundation stone of the thought system I teach and want *you* to teach. You cannot perform miracles without believing it, because it is a belief in perfect equality. Only one equal gift *can* be offered to the equal Sons of God, and that is *full appreciation*. Nothing more and nothing less. Without a range, an order of difficulty *is* meaningless, and there must *be* no range in what you offer to each other. The Holy Spirit, who leads to God, translates communication into being, just as He ultimately translates perception into knowledge. \[You *do not lose what you communicate.*\] The ego uses the body for attack, for pleasure, and for pride. The insanity of this perception makes it a fearful one indeed. The Holy Spirit sees the body *only* as a means of *communication* and because communicating is sharing, it becomes communion. You might argue that fear as well as love can be communicated and therefore can be shared. Yet this is not so real as it sounds. Those who communicate fear are promoting attack, and attack always *breaks* communication, making it impossible. Egos *do* join together in temporary allegiance but always for *what each one can get separately.* The Holy Spirit communicates only *what each one can give to all*. He never takes anything back, because He wants *you* to keep it. Therefore, His teaching begins with the lesson: *To **have**, **give** all **to** all*. This is a very preliminary step, and the only one you must take for yourself. It is not even necessary that you *complete* the step yourself, but it *is* necessary that you turn in that direction. Having chosen to go that way, you place *yourself* in charge of the journey, where you and *only* you must remain. This step *appears* to exacerbate conflict rather than resolve it because it is the *beginning* step in reversing your perception and turning it right-side up. This conflicts with the upside-down perception which you have not yet abandoned, or the change in direction would not have been necessary. Some people remain at this step for a very long time, experiencing *very* acute conflict. At this point, many try to accept the *conflict* rather than take the next step towards its resolution. Having taken the first step, however, they *will* be helped. Once they have chosen what they *cannot* complete alone, *they are no longer alone.* ## b. To Have Peace, Teach Peace to Learn It All the separated ones have a basic fear of retaliation and abandonment. This is because they *believe* in attack and rejection, so this is what they perceive and teach and *learn*. These insane concepts are clearly the result of their own dissociation and projection. What you teach you are, but it is quite apparent that you can teach wrongly and therefore *teach yourselves wrong*. Many thought that *I* was attacking them, even though it was quite apparent that I was not. An insane learner learns strange lessons. What you must understand is that when you do not *share* a thought system, you *are* weakening it. Those who *believe* in it therefore perceive this as an attack *on them*. This is because everyone identifies *himself* with his thought system, and *every* thought system centers on *what you believe you are*. If the center of the thought system is true, only truth extends from it. But if a lie is at its center, only *deception* proceeds from it. All good teachers realize that only fundamental change will last, but they do not *begin* at that level. Strengthening *motivation* for change is their first and foremost goal. It is also their last and final one. Increasing motivation for change *in the learner* is all that a teacher *need* do to guarantee change. This is because a change in motivation *is* a change of mind, and this will inevitably produce fundamental change, because the mind *is* fundamental. The first step in the reversal or undoing process, then, is the undoing of the *getting* concept. Accordingly, the Holy Spirit's first lesson was “to *have*, *give* all *to* all.” We said that this is apt to increase conflict temporarily, and we can clarify this still further now. At this point, the equality of “having” and “being” is not yet perceived. Until it *is*, “having” appears to be the *opposite* of “being.” Therefore, the first lesson *seems* to contain a contradiction since it is being learned *by a conflicted mind.* This *means* conflicting motivation, and so the lesson *cannot* be learned consistently as yet. Further, the mind of the learner projects its own split, and thus does *not* perceive consistent minds in others, making him suspicious of *their* motivation. This is the real reason why in many respects the first lesson is the hardest to learn. Still strongly aware of the ego in himself and responding primarily to the ego in others, he is being taught to react to both as if what he *does* believe is *not* true. Upside-down as always, the ego perceives the first lesson as insane. In fact this is its only alternative here since the other one, which would be much *less* acceptable to it, would obviously be that *it* is insane. The ego's judgment, then, is predetermined by what it *is*, though no more so than is any other product of thought. The fundamental change will still occur with the change of mind *in the thinker*. Meanwhile, the increasing clarity of the Holy Spirit's Voice makes it impossible for the learner *not* to listen. For a time, then, he *is* receiving conflicting messages *and accepting both*. This is the classic “double bind” in communication. The way *out* of conflict between two opposing thought systems is clearly *to choose one* and *relinquish the other.* If you *identify* with your thought system, and you cannot escape this, and if you accept two thought systems which are in *complete* disagreement, peace of mind *is* impossible. If you *teach* both, which you will surely do as long as you *accept* both, you are teaching conflict and *learning* it. Yet you *do* want peace, or you would not have called upon the Voice for Peace to help you. His *lesson* is not insane; the *conflict* is. There can *be* no conflict between sanity and insanity. Only one is true, and therefore only one is *real*. The ego tries to persuade *you* that it is up to *you* to decide which voice is true, but the Holy Spirit teaches you that truth was created by God, and *your* decision *cannot* change it. As you begin to realize the quiet power of the Holy Spirit's Voice *and its perfect consistency*, it *must* dawn on your minds that you are trying to undo a decision which was made irrevocably *for* you. That is why we suggested before that there was help in reminding yourselves to allow the Holy Spirit to decide for God for *you*. You are *not* asked to make insane decisions, although you are free to *think* you are. It *must*, however, be insane to believe that it *is up to you* to decide what God's creations *are*. The Holy Spirit perceives the conflict exactly as it is. Therefore, His second lesson is: *To **have** peace, **teach** peace to **learn** it*. This is still a preliminary step since *having* and *being* are still not equated. It is, however, more advanced than the first step, which is really only a thought *reversal.* The second step is a positive affirmation of *what you want.* This, then, is a step in the direction *out* of conflict since it means that alternatives have been considered and *one* has been chosen as *more desirable.* Nevertheless, the evaluation “more desirable” still implies that the desirable has *degrees.* Therefore, although this step is essential for the ultimate decision, it is clearly *not* the final one. It is clear at this point that the lack of order of difficulty in miracles has not yet been accepted, because nothing is difficult that is *wholly* *desired*. To desire wholly is to *create*, and creating *cannot* be difficult if God Himself created you *as* a creator. The second step, then, is still perceptual, although it is a giant step toward the unified perception which parallels God's knowing. As you take this step and *hold this direction*, you will be pushing toward the center of your thought system where the *fundamental* change will occur. You are only beginning this step now, but you have started on this way by realizing that *only one way is possible*. You do not yet realize this consistently, and so your progress is intermittent, but the second step is easier than the first because it *follows*. The very fact that you have accepted *that* is a demonstration of your growing awareness that the Holy Spirit *will* lead you on. ## c. Be Vigilant Only for God and His Kingdom For your own salvation you must be critical, since your salvation *is* critical to the whole Sonship. We said before that the Holy Spirit is evaluative and *must* be. Yet His evaluation does not extend *beyond* you, or you would share it. In *your* mind, and your mind *only*, He sorts out the true from the false and teaches you to judge every thought that you allow to enter your mind in the light of what God *put* there. Whatever is *in accord* with this light, He retains to strengthen the Kingdom in *you.* What is *partly* in accord with truth, He accepts and purifies. But what is *out of accord* entirely, He rejects by judging *against.* This is how He keeps the Kingdom perfectly consistent and perfectly unified. What you must remember, however, is that what the Holy Spirit rejects, the ego *accepts*. This is because they are in fundamental disagreement about everything, being in fundamental disagreement about *what you are*. The ego's beliefs on this crucial issue vary, and that is why it promotes different moods. The Holy Spirit *never* varies on this point, and so the *one* mood He engenders is joy. He *protects* it by rejecting everything that does *not* foster joy, and so He alone can keep you wholly joyous. The Holy Spirit does not teach your mind to be critical of other minds, because He does not want you to teach errors *and learn them yourselves*. He would hardly be consistent if He allowed you to *strengthen* what you must learn to *avoid*. In the mind of the *thinker*, then, He *is* judgmental, but only in order to unify the mind so it can perceive *without* judgment. This enables the mind to *teach* without judgment and therefore to learn to *be* without judgment. The undoing is necessary only in *your* mind so that you cannot project falsely. God Himself has established what you can project with perfect safety. Therefore, the Holy Spirit's third lesson is: *Be vigilant **only** for God and **His** Kingdom*. This is a major step toward *fundamental* change. Yet it is still a lesson in thought reversal since it implies that there is something you must be vigilant *against*. It has advanced far from the first lesson, which was *primarily* a reversal and also from the second, which was essentially the identification of what is *more* desirable. *This* step, which follows from the second as the second follows from the first, emphasizes the *dichotomy* between the desirable and the undesirable. It therefore makes the *ultimate* choice inevitable. While the first step seems to *increase* conflict and the second step still entails it to some extent, this one calls for *consistent effort against it*. We said already that you can be as vigilant *against* the ego as *for* it. This lesson teaches not only that you *can* be, but that you *must* be. It does not concern itself with order of difficulty but with *clear cut priority for vigilance*. This step is unequivocal in that it teaches there must be *no* exceptions, although it does not deny that the temptation to *make* exceptions will occur. Here, then, your consistency is called on *despite* chaos. Yet chaos and consistency *cannot* coexist for long, since they are mutually exclusive. As long as you must be vigilant against anything, however, you are not recognizing this mutual exclusiveness and are holding the belief that you can *choose either one*. By teaching *what* to choose, the Holy Spirit will ultimately be able to teach you that *you need not choose at all*. This will finally liberate your will *from* choice and direct it towards creation *within* the Kingdom. Choosing through the Holy Spirit will lead you *to* the Kingdom. You create by what you *are*, but this is what you must learn. The way to learn it is inherent in the third step, which brings together the lessons implied in the others and goes beyond them towards real integration. If you allow yourselves to have in your minds *only* what God put there, you *are* acknowledging your mind as God created it. Therefore, you are accepting it *as it is*. Since it *is* whole, you are teaching peace *because* you believe in it. The final step will still be taken *for* you by God, but by the third step the Holy Spirit has *prepared* you for God. He is *getting you ready* for the translation of having into being by the very nature of the steps you must take with Him. You learn first that having rests on *giving* and *not* on getting. Next you learn that you learn what you *teach* and that you *want to learn peace*. This is the *condition* for identifying with the Kingdom since it is the condition *of* the Kingdom. You have believed that you are *without* the Kingdom and have therefore excluded yourself *from* it in your belief. It is therefore essential to teach you that you must be *included* and that the *belief* that you are *not* is the *only* thing that you must exclude. The third step is thus one of *protection* for your minds, allowing you to identify *only* with the center, where God placed the altar to Himself. We have already said that altars are beliefs, but God and His creations are *beyond* belief, because they are beyond question. The Voice for God speaks only for *belief* beyond question, which is the preparation for *being* without question. As long as belief in God and His Kingdom is assailed by *any* doubts in your minds, His perfect accomplishment is *not* apparent to you. This is why you must be vigilant *on God's behalf*. The ego speaks *against* His creation and therefore *does* engender doubt. You cannot go *beyond* belief until you believe fully. Transfer, which *is* extension, is a measure of learning, because it is its *measurable result.* This, however, does not mean that what it transfers *to* is measurable. On the contrary, unless it transfers to the whole Sonship, which is immeasurable because it was created *by* the Immeasurable, the learning itself *must* be incomplete. To teach the whole Sonship *without exception* demonstrates that you *perceive* its wholeness and have learned that it *is* one. Now you must be vigilant to *hold* its oneness in your minds because, if you let doubt enter, you will lose awareness of its wholeness *and will be unable to teach it*. The wholeness of the Kingdom does *not* depend on your perception, but your *awareness* of its wholeness *does*. It is only your awareness which *needs* protection since your being cannot *be* assailed. Yet a real sense of being *cannot* be yours while you are doubtful of what you *are*. *This is why vigilance is essential*. Doubts about being must not enter your mind, or you *cannot* know what you are with certainty. Certainty is *of* God for *you*. Vigilance is not necessary for truth, but it *is* necessary against *illusions*. Truth is *without* illusions and therefore *within* the Kingdom. Everything *outside* the Kingdom *is* illusion, but you must learn to accept truth, because you threw it away. You therefore saw yourself *as if* you were without it. By making another Kingdom which you *valued*, you did not keep *only* the Kingdom of God in your minds and thus placed part of your mind *outside* it. What you have made has thus divided your will and given you a sick mind which *must* be healed. Your vigilance *against* this sickness *is* the way to heal it. Once your mind is healed, it radiates health and thereby *teaches* healing. This establishes you as a teacher who teaches like me. Vigilance was required of me as much as of you, but remember that those who will to teach the same thing must be in agreement about what they believe. The third step, then, is a statement of what you *want* to believe and entails a willingness *to relinquish everything else*. I told you that you were just beginning the second step, but I also told you that the third one *follows* it. The Holy Spirit will enable you to go on if you follow Him. Your vigilance is the sign that you *want* Him to guide you. Vigilance does require effort, but only to teach you that effort *itself* is unnecessary. You have exerted great effort to preserve what you made *because* it was not true. Therefore, you must now turn your effort *against* it. Only this can cancel out the *need* for effort and call upon the *being* which you both *have* and *are*. *This* recognition is wholly *without* effort since it is *already* true and *needs* no protection. It is in the perfect safety of God. Therefore inclusion is total and creation is without limit.