Only God’s plan for salvation will work.
1. You may not realize that the ego has devised a plan for salvation that is the opposite of God’s.
²This is the plan in which you believe.
³And because it is the opposite of God’s, you also believe that accepting God’s plan in place of the ego’s is to condemn yourself. I
⁴This may sound absurd, of course.
⁵But after looking at the ego’s plan, you may realize that, however absurd it seems, you do believe in it.
2. The ego’s plan for salvation centers around holding grievances.
²According to this plan, if someone else were to speak or act differently, if some external circumstance or event were to change, you would be saved.
³So the source of salvation is constantly perceived as outside of yourself.
⁴Every grievance you hold is a declaration, an assertion in which you believe, saying: “If this were different, I would be saved.”
⁵The mental shift that is necessary for salvation is thus demanded of everyone and everything—except yourself. II
3. The role your own mind plays in this plan, therefore, is simply to determine what must change—everything but itself—in order for you to be saved.
²According to this insane plan, anything that you perceive as the source of salvation is acceptable, as long as it does not work. III
³This guarantees that you will keep searching in vain, for the illusion is sustained that although this one has failed, there is still hope in other places and things.
⁴Perhaps another person will be better, or another situation more successful.
4. Such is the ego’s plan for your salvation.
²Surely you have recognized that this plan aligns perfectly with the ego’s central doctrine: “Seek but do not find.” IV
³For what better way to ensure you never find salvation than to direct all your efforts toward seeking it where it is not?
5. God’s plan for salvation, by contrast, does work—simply because, when you follow His guidance, you seek salvation where it truly is.
²But if you wish to succeed, as God has promised you will, you must be willing to seek it only there.
³Otherwise, your purpose will be divided, and you will try to follow two plans for salvation that are completely opposed in every way.
⁴The result can only be confusion, misery, and a deep sense of failure and despair.
6. How can you escape from all of this?
²Very easily.
³Today’s idea is the answer: Only God’s plan for salvation will work.
⁴There can be no real conflict about this, because there is no possible alternative to God’s plan that can save you.
⁵His is the only plan whose outcome is certain.
⁶His is the only plan that will succeed.
7. Let us practice today by recognizing this certainty.
²And let us rejoice that there is an answer to what seems to be an insoluble conflict.
³With God, all things are possible. V
⁴You will attain salvation through His plan, which cannot fail.
8. Begin the two longer practice periods by reflecting on today’s idea and recognizing that it contains two parts, both equally important.
²The first is that God’s plan for your salvation will succeed.
³The second is that all other plans will not.
⁴Do not let yourself become depressed or angry over the second part, for it is inherent in the first. VI
⁵And in the first lies your complete release from the insane attempts and mad schemes you made to free yourself.
⁶All of them brought you only misery and pain, but God’s plan will lead you to release and joy.
9. With this in mind, devote the remainder of the longer practice period to asking God to reveal His plan to you.
²Ask Him very specifically:
³What would You have me do?
⁴Where would You have me go?
⁵What would You have me say, and to whom?
⁶Let Him take charge of the rest of the practice session, and let Him tell you what your part is in His plan for your salvation.
⁷He will answer, to the extent that you are willing to hear His Voice.
⁸Do not refuse to listen.
⁹The mere fact that you are doing these exercises proves that you have some willingness to hear.
¹⁰This is enough to claim your right to God’s answer.
10. In the shorter practice periods, repeat frequently that only God’s plan for salvation will work.
²Be alert to any temptation to hold grievances, and respond to such impulses with this variation of today’s idea:
³Holding grievances is the opposite of God’s plan for salvation.
⁴And only His plan will succeed.
⁵Try to remember today’s idea six or seven times an hour.
⁶There is no better way to spend half a minute—or less—than to remember the Source of your salvation, and to see it where it truly is.
I Here, Jesus uses the terms “salvation” and “condemnation” from the ego’s perspective. For the ego, to “be saved” means to get its own way and obtain what it desires, while to “be condemned” means the frustration of its expectations. For example, accepting God’s plan for salvation in the face of a perceived offense leads to forgiveness, but this frustrates the ego’s expectations, for it seeks vengeance. Thus, the ego interprets forgiveness as condemnation.
Simply put, the ego urges you to seek salvation outside yourself—where it is not—for outside you there is nothing but illusions. True salvation, in this world (for in Reality it is not needed), consists in the opposite: to look within and recognize that you remain as your Father created you. It is understandable, then, that the ego interprets this inward journey as condemnation. And, in a sense, it is not wrong, for it marks its own condemnation—though not yours.
You may often think that accepting God’s plan for your salvation means giving up the search for it in the things the world offers—and in that, you are right. You cannot serve two masters at once. But this leads you to believe that following God’s plan condemns you to the permanent frustration of your deepest desires, which until now you have tried to appease, more or less successfully, with trivialities. In this, however, you are completely mistaken.
The truth is that you have never consistently accepted and followed God’s plan; you have always kept one eye on the ego’s gifts. This lack of consistency and determination has divided your mind and created an entirely avoidable tension. It is absolutely impossible for you to feel any sense of lack or need of any kind if you embrace God’s plan with all your heart. And here lies the key: to do it with all your heart and with all your mind.
Unity of purpose means focusing the mind in only one direction. This causes the mind to devote all its energy to achieving a single goal; in doing so, it forgets everything else, which then disappears for it—it no longer considers it, takes no account of it, and it simply fades from awareness because it has ceased to matter. The mind has become devoted to a single love, and thus, how could it possibly miss anything?
II The ego is a mental illness. It is the condition of a mind so immersed in arrogance that it cannot even conceive of the possibility that its assumptions might be wrong. For this reason, it is an extraordinarily stable condition. It is not that the ego thinks it is right; rather, it is the condition of the mind that believes itself to be right—that the last foolish notion it has conceived is perfectly appropriate. When the egoic mind faces adversity, it always thinks that life is wrong; it never considers that its expectations might be misplaced.
The ego is the epicenter of a thought system that manages perception in relation to itself. It is the center of the universe it perceives. The attributes it assigns to its perceptions are the coordinates of a frame of reference that originates within itself. Thus, it interprets everything it perceives according to how that thing relates to it, in either positive or negative terms. When the ego looks at anything, it always evaluates whether what it perceives will bring it something or take something away. It is perfectly utilitarian, manipulative, predatory, and cowardly.
The ego experiences a permanent inner void and lunges voraciously toward what it perceives as an external space in order to fill its appetites, preying mercilessly upon its surroundings. It is restrained only by the fear that its cravings will be seen as excessive and thereby make it harder to achieve the goals of its peculiar sense of salvation. The only direction in which its code of behavior leads is to negotiate an arrangement that will allow it to gain as much as possible in every relationship.
Thus, the ego is incapable of true altruism, for that concept is antithetical to its very essence. It is enough to recall that altruism comes from alter, “the other” in Latin, which is the opposite of ego, “I.” Egoism and altruism are perfect opposites. That is why the ego will always demand change in others, never in itself; that is the principle that sustains its stability and permanence. This makes the ego unwilling to learn anything, for to learn is to change, and the only change it understands and accepts is that which can magnify its own self-image.
III This is an idea repeated frequently throughout this Course, and one that is difficult to grasp or accept, for it is incomprehensible—and indeed it is to any rational mind. Yet it must be understood that the ego uses rationality only for its own benefit and only when it serves its purposes, for its nature is intrinsically irrational.
The “reason” the ego abhors true salvation—which would perfectly fulfill every longing—is precisely its aversion to change. The ego, in truth, does not want to stop seeking. It will proclaim to the heavens, with loud cries and tears, that it is desperately seeking the love that will fill its heart and the peace that will bring rest to its mind—and that is perfectly true. However, remember that the Will of the Son of God is always fulfilled, even that of his sick mind, and it is always fulfilled in the present.
The key to understanding this madness lies precisely there: it is always fulfilled in the present. The ego’s will is to seek salvation, and that is exactly what it attains—the search for salvation. If the ego—this black hole, the symbol of absence, lack, and nothingness—were to find salvation, it would simply disappear, and that terrifies the ego; it terrifies the “I”; it terrifies you who so long to seek salvation. But do you truly wish to find it? For if you did, and desired it with all your heart, it would surely be yours. And when? Now—this very instant. When else could it be?
IV Matthew 7:7: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
T-12.VI.1:4: “Its dictates, therefore, can be summed up simply as: ‘Seek and do not find.’”
V Matthew 19:26: “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’”
VI If this happens to you—if you feel a twinge of unease when you think that the things of the world might offer some kind of “salvation”—it is because there are still things that delight you, that is, there is still something that creates illusion for you. Do not worry, do not become anxious, and certainly do not feel guilty about it.
This Course is not meant to make you feel bad about anything—quite the opposite! Forgive your illusions, forgive yourself for harboring them in your heart, and forgive yourself for feeling guilty for having them. Forgive everything and move on. You are on the right path. You are doing the best you can, and above all, be absolutely certain that Jesus goes with you.
And even if you do not pay Him much attention, do not be concerned; His patience is perfect, and He will not allow you to stray too far. After all, you have already come too far for that.
Remember what Jesus tells us in the Psychotherapy supplement: “Setbacks are temporary. From a broader perspective, progress is always being made toward truth.” (P-3.II.1:8–9)