Category: Libro de Ejercicios

God’s Peace and Joy are mine.^I

1. God’s Peace and Joy are yours.

²Today we will accept them, knowing they belong to us.

³And we will try to understand that they increase as we receive them. ^II

⁴They are not like the gifts the world can give, where the one who gives loses by the giving, and the one who receives is richer for another’s loss.

⁵Such gifts are not real gifts, but bargains made with guilt.

⁶A true gift entails no loss.

⁷It is impossible for one to gain at the expense of another.

⁸For this would mean that limits and lack are real.

2. No gift is given in that way.

²Such “gifts” are but deals to gain a greater return; loans with interest that must be paid in full; temporary credits with a promise to repay more than what was received.

³This strange distortion of what it means to give prevails at every level of the world you see. ^III

⁴It robs all giving of its meaning and renders anything you receive worthless.

3. One of the major learning goals of this Course is to reverse your view of giving, so you may receive.

²For giving has become a source of fear, and thus you cannot receive by means of it.

³Accept God’s Peace and Joy, and you will see giving in a different light.

⁴God’s Gifts never diminish when they are given.

⁵Instead, they increase.

⁶Just as the Peace and Joy of Heaven grow when you accept them as God’s Gift to you, so does your Creator’s Joy increase when you accept His Joy and His Peace.

4. True giving is Creation.

²It extends the limitless to the limitless, the eternal to the timeless, and Love to Itself.

³True giving adds to a fullness already complete—but not by adding more, for that would imply it lacked before.

⁴It adds in the sense that it allows what cannot be contained to fulfill its purpose of giving all of Itself away, increasing and preserving Itself forever.

5. Accept God’s Peace and Joy as yours today.

²Let Him complete Himself as He defines completion.

³You will understand that what completes Him must also complete His Son.

⁴He cannot give through loss.

⁵And neither can you.

⁶Accept today His Gift of Joy and Peace, and in doing so, He will thank you for the gift you give to Him.

6. Today our practice sessions will begin a little differently.

²Begin the day by thinking of those brothers to whom you have denied the peace and joy that rightfully belong to them under God’s just and equal Laws.

³In doing so, you denied them to yourself.

⁴And that is where you must return to reclaim them as your own.

⁵Think for a while of your “enemies,” and say to each one who comes to mind:

⁶My brother, I offer you peace and joy,

⁷That God’s Peace and Joy may be mine.

7. In this way you prepare yourself to recognize God’s Gifts to you, and let your mind be freed of everything that might prevent success today. ^IV

²Now you are ready to accept the gift of peace and joy that God has given you.

³Now you are ready to experience the joy and peace you have denied yourself.

⁴Now you can say: God’s Peace and Joy are mine, for you have given what you wish to receive.

8. If you prepare your mind as we suggest, today will be a day of success for you, for you will have removed all obstacles to peace and joy, and what is truly yours will come to you at last.

²So say to yourself: God’s Peace and Joy are mine, close your eyes for a while, and let His Voice assure you that the words you speak are true.

9. Give Him five minutes as often as you can today. But if you cannot, do not let that thought discourage you.

²At the very least, remember to say each hour the words that call Him to give you what it is His Will to give, and yours to receive. ^V

³Resolve not to interfere today with His Design.

⁴And if a brother seems to tempt you to deny the Gift of God, see it as another chance to let yourself receive the Gifts of God.

⁵Then bless your brother gratefully, and say:

⁶My brother, I offer you peace and joy,

⁷That God’s Peace and Joy may be mine.

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^I The Peace and Joy of God are what I am, for to have and to be are the same.

^II The Gifts of God are ideas, and they increase both when they are given and when they are received, because ideas grow through awareness, which occurs in both instances.

^III Perhaps the most surprising thing about the thinking that governs the world is that no one realizes how absurd it is. Everyone thinks more or less the same way and believes more or less in the same things. That is what we could call “the human condition.” The variations among people’s ways of thinking are minimal, yet their vision is so incredibly focused on this shared madness that those variations seem significant, though in truth they are not at all.

One of the characteristics of this shared insane thought system is that the less meaningful an idea is, the more important it becomes.

Think, for example, of the notion of “having.” Certainly, “having” is an extremely important idea in the world’s thought system—but what does it mean “to have”? Have you ever asked yourself that? What does it mean to “have” something?

Now think of the richest man in the world. What does it really mean that he has so much money? If he does nothing with that money, then having such a fabulous amount means nothing at all; we could say that, in that case, he is just like you, who do not have what he has. If that millionaire does not spend his money, you are exactly the same—which means that the notion of “having,” in itself, has no meaning at all. Yet the world gives it enormous importance.

The difference between that person and you is that he can give much, and you cannot. But again, notice that the difference between you and him manifests only when he gives, not because he has. The only way to become aware of what one has is to give it.

Only “giving” makes “having” meaningful. The value and the power of “having” do not lie in possession but in giving—that is, precisely in the opposite of “having,” in ceasing to have.

This may at first appear to be a play on words, but it is not. The value lies in giving, not in having—and that is why happiness is found in giving, not in having. Yet the world sees it the other way around. The world interprets “having” as a happy fact, and “giving” as something stressful.

Do you see now that this is madness? The more absurd an idea is, the more important it is to the world.

And indeed, the opposite is also true. The ideas that are fully meaningful are those the world does not understand at all, and its thought system does not know what to do with them. Do you think there is anything more meaningful than the idea of “being”? But do you understand what “being” means? Probably not.

The first two paragraphs of this Lesson may seem attractive to you and you may sympathize with what they say, but acknowledge that you are still among those who, when they give something, experience a certain sense of loss.

This happens because you still do not understand what it means to “give,” and this, in turn, is because you do not yet understand the idea of “being.” If you understood it, you can be sure that you would never again experience any sense of loss. Indeed, you would never have any problem or any concern, and you would know with absolute certainty that the Joy and the Peace of God are yours.

To put the idea of “being” into words is not difficult—it is impossible. To understand the idea of being collapses perception, and then the world disappears. And that may frighten you a little; you close your eyes and say to yourself, “My God! I don’t want the world to disappear!” But do not worry—when you open them, the world will still be there. Such is the power of your will, and your will is always fulfilled, for you are the holy Son of God and have the power to perceive the world if that is your will. And since it seems that it is—voilà—there is the world!

^IV Few exercises in this Workbook have greater power than this one. Recognize that this is an incredibly powerful practice when done wholeheartedly, and that it produces immediate effects. If you perform it correctly, at the very moment you offer peace to your brother, you will feel it yourself and emerge from the practice strengthened, serene, and joyful.

When you practice it honestly, you are proclaiming with all your strength, and in the most radical way, that you would rather be happy than be right; that you are willing to stop listening to your ego when it tells you all those awful things your brother has done to you, because you desire peace and joy more than paying attention to it.

Practice sincerely, and be certain that you are already on the path to happiness. Do not turn away from it.

^V Perhaps, having read the previous note, you are now more willing to reconcile yourself with the idea of giving. That is good—but it is only half the story.

It is also essential that you acknowledge, and make your own in mind and heart, the notion of receiving, which is equally valuable. In fact, giving and receiving are the same.

In this world, very few know how to give wholeheartedly, but even fewer know how to receive naturally.

Now, in your present condition, before giving, it is essential that you learn to recognize and receive your Father’s Gifts, for unless you open yourself to receive them, you will never be able to give them.

Everything you have and can give is borrowed; it has been given to you so that you may receive it with gratitude and give it with joy, for thus does the extension of love work in Creation.

Look around you and notice how few people you know who are willing to be loved, how few believe they deserve God’s Love, your own, or that which life itself feels for them.

The poor opinion they hold of themselves has made them ungrateful, withdrawn, cynical, and resentful. Be not among them, and heal them by showing yourself willing to receive the love they have, so that they may thus become aware of the love they are.

I seek only what truly belongs to me.^I

1. Today’s idea continues the thought that joy and peace are not idle dreams.

²You are entitled to them because of what you are.

³They come from God, Who cannot fail to give you what He wills.

⁴But there must be a place made ready to receive His Gifts.

⁵For His Gifts are not welcomed by a mind that has instead accepted the gifts it made for itself, to take the place of His.

2. Today we would set aside all the foolish gifts we gave ourselves, and place upon the holy altar—where God’s Gifts belong—those very gifts that are truly ours. ^II

²These are the gifts that truly belong to us.

³These are the gifts we inherited before time was, and that will still be ours when time has passed into eternity.

⁴These are the gifts that dwell within us now, for they are timeless.

⁵And we do not need to wait to have them.

⁶They are ours today.

⁷And so we choose them now, knowing that in doing so we simply join our will with what God wills, and recognize that His Will and ours are One.

3. Our longer practice periods today—the five minutes each hour we dedicate to the truth for our salvation—should begin with this:

²I seek only what truly belongs to me.

³Joy and peace are my inheritance.

⁴Then set aside all worldly conflicts that offer other gifts and other goals—gifts and goals that witness to illusions and are found only in a world of dreams.

4. Today we let all that go, and seek instead what is truly ours by asking to recognize what God has given.

²We clear a sacred space in our minds today before His altar, where His Gifts of peace and joy are welcomed, and where we come to find what He has given us.

³We come in confidence today, knowing that what truly belongs to us is what He gives.

⁴And we will want for nothing else, for nothing else truly belongs to us.

5. Thus, today we clear the way for Him, simply by acknowledging that His Will has already been fulfilled, and that joy and peace belong to us as His eternal Gifts.

²We will not let them slip from our awareness during the time between our practice periods of seeking where He placed them.

³To do so, we will bring this reminder to mind as often as we can:

⁴I seek only what truly belongs to me.

⁵The only things I want are God’s Gifts of joy and peace.

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^I I seek only what I truly am.

This Lesson speaks of how the mind can focus in two opposite directions in its search for what it so deeply longs for. One of these is outward, into an imaginary realm it calls the world, where it has projected its supposed lacks onto symbols it calls “things” or “circumstances,” and which this Course calls “symbols.”

The other direction is inward, into itself, to find the reality of its own Being.

^II This is the most important part of today’s Lesson.

You may sincerely say that you seek the gifts God gave you, but in truth you do not seek them; rather, you search for them among all those things you have gathered for yourself and that now clutter your mind. “My God,” you ask, “where could those gifts that they say God gave me possibly be? Surely they must be somewhere—but there are just so many things here!”

Do you really believe you must search for God’s Gifts? Do you think He hides from you the things He gives you? The truth is you do not have to search for anything; you only need to let go of all that you have been accumulating in your mind because you thought it would make you happy. But realize that these are not objects, but ideas; the material things that may come to mind are nothing more than “idols,” physical symbols to which you attributed the underlying ideas you were truly seeking. Those things, places, circumstances, or even people, merely represented your own deep longings, which, if you reflect a little, you will have no difficulty identifying.

Anything you imagine and find attractive is an idol to you; it is what the world offers so that you may find the joy and peace you so greatly desire. The list is nearly endless. The first things that may come to mind are likely physical—beautiful clothes, delicious food, a comfortable home, or a body that attracts you. But to that list you may also add more abstract things, such as a spectacular sunrise, inspiring music, social prestige, greater intelligence, or romantic love… And also included are those spiritual qualities you believe would make you a better person, which, indeed, they would—virtues such as kindness, patience, generosity, or even trust.

Notice how, without realizing it, you have built a pyramid with a base grounded in the coarser things—those you might be ashamed of—and with upper levels increasingly abstract.

The world has the lower ones for sale; the higher ones you search for within yourself, and there are many that you find in between. But all of them share one thing: you desire them because you believe you do not have them and that you need them.

But do you truly believe that God created His Son to concern himself with such things?

You do not need to search for anything—not even for the gifts God has given you. Jesus, in truth, does not want you to search for them; He wants you to find them. He tells you to seek them only to draw your attention, to make you realize that you already have them, that all of this is already within you. Notice how He speaks of “recognizing what God has given us.”

What is imperative is that you stop searching for anything else, because you would only be wasting your time and the little energy you believe you have. That is why He exhorts you to clear “a holy place.”

Do not be distressed, and do not blame yourself when you find yourself searching for something you think you need and want, even that distressing problem that torments you or someone you love.

Forgive yourself, but become fully aware that you are losing direction and wasting time in this world of illusions.

You need nothing—except perhaps a miracle for yourself that brings you this understanding. You need nothing! Well, perhaps only a little faith.

Be at peace.

As God is Love, He is also happiness.

1. Happiness is an attribute of Love.

²It cannot be apart from It, nor can it be experienced where Love is not.

³Love has no limits, for It is everywhere.

⁴And therefore, joy is everywhere as well.

⁵But the mind can deny that this is so by believing there are gaps in Love through which sin can enter, bringing pain instead of joy. ^I

⁶This strange belief seeks to limit happiness by redefining Love as something limited, and by introducing opposites into that which has no limits and no opposite. ^II

2. Fear is then associated with Love, and its effects become the inheritance of minds that think what they have made is real. ^III

²These images, which are truly unreal, bear witness to the fear of God, forgetting that since God is Love, He must also be Joy.

³Today we will once again bring this fundamental error to the truth, and teach ourselves:

⁴As God is Love, He is also happiness.

⁵To fear God is to be afraid of joy.

⁶Begin your longer practice periods today by joining these ideas, which correct the false belief that God is fear.

⁷And they also affirm the idea that happiness is yours because of what God is. ^IV

3. Let this correction enter your mind every hour today.

²Then welcome all the happiness that comes from replacing fear with truth; and joy will become what you expect to take the place of pain.

³And since God is Love, that is what will be given you.

⁴Strengthen this hope often throughout the day, and quiet all your fears with this gentle and entirely true assurance:

⁵As God is Love, He is also happiness.

⁶And happiness is what I seek today.

⁷I cannot fail, because I seek the truth.

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^I As theText points out, the “gaps in love” are the apparent “gap between you and your brother” (T-28.VII.3:1) and the world itself: “What is the world except a tiny gap that seems to tear eternity apart and fragment it into days and months and years?” (T-28.III.6:4).

Review also the first section of Chapter 29 of the Text: “The Closing of the Gap.”

^II The “strange belief” is to conceive, value, and uphold the idea that absences exist, which has already been discussed in the previous Lesson and in many others.

However, because it is the root idea of all illusions, it will continue to appear frequently throughout the Workbook.

Becoming aware of this harmful cognitive bias is crucial for the healing of your mind. Try to remain aware that everything you perceive, feel, or think is in continual change; therefore, it has no reality and, in truth, does not exist: it is illusion—everything is.

In this world of illusions, the only thing that saves you from it—from believing it is real and allowing it to affect you—is your forgiveness.

Forgive everything. Let it pass, for it is not real.

^III Questioning the message that comes from a perceptual system that regards absences as entities is the next step in freeing your mind from the terrifying stories you now tell yourself. What you see and what you think you did are not real. You are misusing your mind; therefore, the conclusions you reach are mistaken, and your heart warns you of this at every moment.

Pay attention to your heart and understand that an absence of love is not to be permitted. Do not allow it; do not fall into the self-absorption of the world; there is nothing for you in what does not exist.

Your heart will warn you of this, for when you do not feed it with something real—with love—it goes hungry and protests: your heart reacts like a baby when you stop feeding it… with the Love of God.

^IV Jesus speaks to you as to a frightened little child because, in truth, that is what you now are because of the way you think. Mature a little, be reasonable, order your mind, think clearly. Quiet your mind and become aware of your own existence; think of nothing else. Stay only with that—with your very existence—rest in existence.

Existence is your Mother, it is your Father, and it is what you are: the infinite fullness of your Being. Do not be afraid; mature, grow, do it by giving, by loving.

I share God’s Will for me to be happy.

1. You do not want to suffer.

²You may think that suffering brings you something, and you may still believe, to some extent, that it can give you what you want. ^I

³Yet it is likely that this belief is now beginning to waver—at least enough for you to question it and suspect that it truly makes no sense.

⁴It has not yet disappeared, but it no longer has the deep roots that once held it firmly in the dark and hidden places of your mind.

2. Today we will try to loosen its weakened hold even more, and realize that pain has no purpose, no cause, and no power to accomplish anything at all.

²Pain can bring you nothing.

³It offers you nothing, and it does not exist.

⁴And all that you believe it offers you is equally unreal.

⁵You have been enslaved by nothing. ^II

⁶Be free today to join in the joyful Will of God.

3. For several days we will continue devoting our longer practice periods to exercises designed to help you reach the happiness God’s Will has placed in you.

²There is where your home and safety lie.

³There is your peace, and there is no fear.

⁴There is salvation.

⁵There is where you finally find rest.

4. Begin today’s longer practices by accepting what God’s Will provides for you:

²I share God’s Will for me to be happy.

³And I now accept happiness as my function.

⁴Then seek this function deep within your mind, for there it is, awaiting only your decision. ^III

⁵You cannot fail to find it once you realize that your function is also your will—the same will you share with God.

5. Be happy, for your only function here is happiness.

²Be not less loving to the Son of God than He Whose Love created him as loving as Himself.

³In addition to your five-minute rest each hour, take frequent pauses today to remind yourself that you have now accepted happiness as your only function.

⁴And you can be sure that in doing so, you are joining with God’s Will.

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^I Today we continue to go deeper into the world’s concept of morality.
It may seem unnecessary to you to repeat ideas already covered, but make no mistake: reversing your way of thinking is such an immense task that it cannot be achieved through mere intellectual acceptance. Your mind has a strong tendency to fall back into its old habits, and if you are not very watchful, you will soon find yourself thinking as you did before. The repetition of fundamental ideas is, for a while, a necessary pedagogical tool.

However, there is an even more effective way to anchor these new concepts in your mind: teach them to others. You will see how, in doing so, they truly become yours.

The idea that suffering is redemptive is deeply rooted in almost everyone’s consciousness. The origin of this strange belief lies in the assumption that evil exists—that is, that the absence of good exists.

Human beings are essentially utilitarian; they understand everything in terms of usefulness. Therefore, if evil exists, they reason that it must serve some purpose and must somehow be positive.

According to this insane logic, the negative must also be positive—which is, of course, absurd. From there, attributing to God the creation of evil and its function is but a small step. Now God has not only created good but also evil—probably for some obscure reason.

Thus, God must will evil, and it must be His Will that His Children suffer for their wickedness. Suffering becomes the medicine that will heal the Son of God so that he will not transgress His Laws again. And from all this, pure logic concludes that if God has created defective creatures, God Himself must be a clumsy craftsman, for He makes things that do not work properly.

As can clearly be seen, the entire preceding reasoning—deranged as it is—arises from conceiving the existence of evil, from thinking that the absence of something that exists must also exist. Once again: the cognitive bias of believing in the existence of absences is so widespread that it cannot even be recognized. Human beings think that what is missing is real, and they treat it as though it existed—and thus absences rule their sad lives.

When this Course tells you to fix your gaze on light and love, and not to consider sin because it does not exist, it is simply trying to heal that cognitive distortion which afflicts your mind with terrible consequences. That is why it is important that you pay attention and recognize in yourself this pernicious distortion.

The idea that suffering is redemptive also derives from the idea of sacrifice. In a world where everything has a price, and where to obtain something one must lose something else, it is inevitable to conclude that the cost of salvation must be suffering.

Thus, suffering becomes a revered and precious concept that, sadly, has managed to penetrate the very core of many religions.

^II Pain, evil, suffering, darkness, separation, and death—these are all negative concepts, and therefore imaginary. They are not real; they are interpretations, not facts.

They do not exist, but the mind is free to consider them, and from there, it can either entertain them or reject them.

Therefore, you must watch your mind carefully and be conscious of what you accept and what you choose to dismiss. Choose wisely, for anything unreal that you allow to dwell in your holy mind will cause you suffering—and then you will likely blame God for it.

God has created only the positive. Do you not see that it is impossible to create otherwise? God has not created evil for the simple reason that He cannot. No one can create the impossible—neither can God. That is precisely why it is called impossible.

The Will of God is that you be happy—not because God is “good,” but simply because God is God.

It is not that God is good because He is not evil; He is good because to be evil is to not be, and God Is.

The same is true of you—and of your brother. To be “evil,” to suffer, to die, or to be alone are not realities—they are merely considerations of the condition of non-being.

For God’s sake, do not think such madness! Do not torture yourself anymore. It serves no purpose—and besides, it is not the Will of Him who created you.
Quiet your mind, look within, and become aware of your own existence—and of the fact that existence itself is utterly satisfying and is happiness.

Rejoice and delight in your Being, for when you become fully aware of It, you will realize that you need nothing else—and that there is nothing else.

In any case, do not become anxious, depressed, or distressed over your apparent inability to be happy. Realize that when this happens, it is simply because you have returned to your favorite activity: hurting yourself. You have long confused pain with pleasure, and that is why you need to train your mind into healthier habits.

You can be absolutely certain that you will succeed. Your happiness is not only possible—it is inevitable, because it is timeless, and your confusion exists only within an illusory, transient time.

All the suffering you experience comes from your great efforts to protect error. A moment will come when you will cease to do so and finally rest in truth. This Course merely aims to hasten that process.

^III The happiness you so deeply long for lies in the very depths of your mind, waiting for you to accept it, claim it, and enjoy it forever.

Happiness is not something you have, but what you are.

God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.

1. Today we will continue with the theme of happiness.

²This is a key idea for understanding what salvation really means.

³You still believe that salvation demands suffering as penance for your “sins.”

⁴But it does not.

⁵Yet that is what you will surely think as long as you believe that sin is real and that the Son of God can sin.

2. If sin is real, punishment is both just and unavoidable.

²Therefore, salvation can only be attained through suffering.

³If sin is real, then happiness must be an illusion, for both cannot be true.

⁴Sinners deserve only death and pain; and this is what they seek.

⁵For they know this is what awaits them, what will pursue them, and what will find them in the end.

⁶It will come for them somewhere, sometime, in some way that will settle the debt they owe to God.

⁷They want to escape Him out of fear.

⁸But He will hunt them down, and they cannot escape.

3. If sin is real, salvation must be pain. ^I

²Pain is the cost of sin, and if sin is real then suffering is inevitable.

³Salvation must be feared, for it will kill—but slowly—taking everything before granting its victims the pleasant mercy of death, when they are little more than bones and dust.

⁴Its wrath is vast and ruthless, but entirely just.

4. Who would seek such savage punishment?

²Who would not run from salvation and try in every way to silence the Voice that offers it?

³Why would anyone try to listen and accept its gift?

⁴If sin is real, then what that Voice offers is a cruel death, in keeping with the twisted wishes in which sin was born.

⁵If sin is real, salvation has become your fiercest enemy—God’s curse upon you, for having crucified His Son.

5. Today you must practice with all your heart.

²These exercises are teaching you that sin is not real, and that all the things you think must come from sin will never happen, for they have no cause.

³Accept the Atonement with an open mind—one that does not hold to the persistent belief that you have turned the Son of God into a devil. ^II

6. Sin does not exist. ^III

²Today we will practice this thought as often as possible, for it is the foundation of today’s idea.

³God’s Will for you is perfect happiness, because sin does not exist and suffering has no cause.

⁴Joy is wholly fitting; pain is only a sign that you have misunderstood yourself.

7. Do not be afraid of God’s Will.

²Instead, go toward it with full confidence, knowing it will free you from all the consequences that sin has brought about in your feverish imagination.

³Say:

⁴God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.^[iv]

⁵Sin does not exist, and it has no effects.

⁶This is how your practice sessions should begin.

⁷Then, once again, try to find the joy these thoughts will bring into your mind.

⁸Gladly give five minutes to lifting off the heavy burden you laid upon yourself with the mad belief that sin is real.

8. Escape from madness today.

²You are already on the path that leads to freedom, and now today’s idea gives you wings to quicken your advance, and hope to go still faster toward the goal of peace that waits for you.

³Sin does not exist.

⁴Remember this today, and tell yourself as often as you can:

⁵God’s Will for me is perfect happiness.

⁶This is the truth, because sin does not exist.

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^I If the sin (of my brother) is real, then salvation (mine) must be his pain.

This is the world’s way of thinking; but if history has proven anything, it is that this way does not work. It resolves nothing: the fear of punishment does not dissuade the guilty from doing evil; on the contrary, it fuels them. The most punitive societies are also those that harbor the greatest number of criminals.

It is obvious that we must think differently.

^II This is an extremely important point in the ontology of this Course and one that must be well understood.

The “moral” reasoning of the world’s thought system runs more or less as follows: your sins deserve punishment in the form of suffering so that you may learn not to sin again; and sinning means doing wrong deliberately—voluntarily breaking the laws of the world.

Those who sin believe that the world is real, that their wrongful actions are real, and they also hold an ingrained sense of “justice,” which leads them to believe that their wrongdoings deserve a just punishment that will cause them real suffering.

Everyone believes and accepts—even the vast majority of students of this Course—that those who do evil suffer and that those who do good are happy, because deep down, everyone assumes there is a kind of retributive system that punishes the wicked and rewards the good. And isn’t that, after all, what our life experience constantly seems to confirm? Do we not feel good when we act rightly and bad when we act wrongly?

The moral principle of good and evil is so deeply rooted in our consciousness that it is almost impossible to see that, in truth, morality is the foundational structure of the ego—its nourishment. Recall how Genesis describes the birth of the ego and of guilt after eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

This Course, very gently and tenderly, urges you—vehemently—to discard the idea of evil, and, in a far subtler way, it also encourages you to forgive the idea of good as something relative to the world.

What do you think it means when it says that the world is an illusion? What could you possibly find in an illusory world but illusions of evil and illusions of good?

You will not find anything real in this world, because this world is not real. Reflect deeply and recognize that this Course is not moral. How could it be, if God is not? Do you see it now?

Morality is a dualistic code that presupposes the existence of good and also of its opposite—its absence: evil.

You probably remember that absences do not exist. How could they? Only a confused mind could take them into account.

This Course constantly urges you to forgive—to forgive everything—because everything you will let pass was never really there: neither evil nor good.

Your best experience in this world is to witness the miracles that your healed mind will perceive, but understand that even those miracles you see will be illusions—the only real component in them is the Love that inspires them.
Remember the third principle of miracles. Only from this perspective will you understand expressions such as “sin is not real” or “sin does not exist.”

You probably make a great effort to be a good person—but wake up! You are not a person! You are the Son of God!

When this Course tells you to forgive, it is not so that you may become a better person; it tells you this because there is nothing to forgive. Sin, offense, harm, resentment, and pain are not real. That is why you must forgive everything. It has nothing to do with good or evil—it has to do with the unreality of evil.

This is not a moral Course, but neither is it amoral. This is a Course on Truth, and Truth is Goodness—Reality—the infinite Love of God, your unlimited Self, the only thing that exists.

Yet as long as you believe yourself to be in this world, all that will be, for you, little more than beautiful words. That is why what you need now is to train your personal mind with patience and perseverance, so that little by little it may be purified of the fearful beliefs that now enslave it.

^III 1 John 3:5 “You know that He appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.”

^IV Today’s idea is very simple, very beautiful, and very obvious—but notice that it is supported by a basic premise: sin is not real, and therefore it has no consequences. And perhaps you ask again: how, then, is it possible that when I act wrongly, I feel bad, and when I act rightly, I feel good?

Again, none of that is real. Everything you interpret as something happening in your mind or your emotional system is a projection of beliefs arising in the mind of the Son of God.

The first belief—derived from the idea of separation—is that you are a person, a separate being. To this belief—false, like all beliefs, and mother of illusions—are added countless others that, although not truly related, appear to be: the moral beliefs.

Now, the belief in being a person becomes the belief in being a good or bad person, a happy or suffering one, and that is why you always feel as the mind believes it ought to feel. It is the moral principles that feed the ego principle, which cause what you—as a now-separated person—interpret as your emotions. All this is nothing but a fable of the mind. None of it is true. You are the holy Son of God.

The ego will always recoil in horror at the notion of being an effect and not a cause. But trust—you are not an ego, nor a person. You are the holy Son of God, and the sins you believe to be real—yours or anyone else’s—are not real.

To accept this, the separated mind requires the Grace of faith. The real Self that you are, however, knows nothing of such intrigue.

Yet as a separated mind, you will need all your good will and constant practice to heal your nightmare and turn it into a happy dream—a fiction that serves as the antechamber to your true awakening.

Rejoice, then, for you are walking in the right direction.

My part is essential in God’s plan for salvation.

1. Just as the Son of God completes His Father, your contribution completes your Father’s plan.

²Salvation must reverse the insane belief in separate thoughts and separate bodies, living separate lives and going their separate ways.

³When separate minds share one single function, they are united in one purpose, for each of them is equally essential to all the rest.

2. God’s Will for you is perfect happiness.

²Why would you choose to go against His Will?

³The role He has assigned to you in His plan was given so you could be restored to what He wills.

⁴That role is as essential to His plan as it is to your happiness.

⁵Your joy must be complete so that those to whom He sends you may understand His plan. ^I

⁶They will see their own function in your shining face, and hear God calling to them in your happy smile.

3. Indeed, you are essential to God’s plan.

²Without your joy, His is incomplete.

³Without your smile, the world cannot be saved.

⁴As long as you remain sad, the Light God Himself appointed as the means to save the world is dim and without brilliance.

⁵And no one smiles, for all laughter is but an echo of your own.

4. Truly, you are essential to God’s plan.

²Just as your Light increases the radiance of every Light that shines in Heaven, your joy on earth calls all minds to leave behind their sorrow and take their place with you in God’s plan.

³God’s messengers are joyful, and their joy heals all sorrow and despair.

⁴They are the proof that God wills perfect happiness for all who will accept their Father’s gifts.

5. Today we will not allow ourselves to be sad.

²For if we are, we are failing to assume our role, which is essential to God’s plan and to our vision.

³To be sad is to signal that you would prefer to play another part, rather than the one God has given you.

⁴In that way, you are unable to show the world how great is the happiness He wills for you.

⁵And so, you do not recognize that it is already yours.

6. Today we will try to understand that our function here is to be happy.

²If you are sad, you are not fulfilling your role, and then the whole world is deprived of joy along with you.

³God asks you to be happy so that the world may see how much He loves His Son, and that His Will is that no sorrow shall diminish his joy, nor fear disturb his peace.

⁴Today you are God’s messenger.

⁵You carry His Happiness to everyone you look upon, and His Peace to all who gaze on you and see His message in your happy face.

7. Today we will prepare for this in our five-minute practices, feeling happiness rise within us, just as it is the Will of our Father—and our own.

²Begin the exercises with the thought that contains today’s idea.

³Then realize that your role is to be happy.

⁴This is the only thing ever asked of you or anyone who wants to take their rightful place among the messengers of God.

⁵Think of what this means.

⁶Truly, you were very mistaken in believing that you were asked to sacrifice.

⁷According to God’s plan, you only receive, and never lose anything, nor sacrifice, nor die.

8. Now let us try to find that joy which proves to us—and to the world—the true Will of God for us.

²Your function is to find it here and now.

³This is why you came. ^II

⁴Let this be the day you succeed.

9. Look deep within yourself, undismayed by all the foolish thoughts and meaningless goals you pass as you rise to meet the Christ in you.

²He will be there.

³And you can reach Him now.

⁴What would you rather look upon instead of Him Who waits for you to see Him?

⁵What petty thought could hold you back?

⁶What foolish goal could keep you from success, when it is God Himself Who calls to you?

10. He will be there.

²You are essential to His plan.

³Today you are His messenger.

⁴And you will surely find what He would have you give.

⁵Do not forget today’s idea between your longer practice periods.

⁶It is your Self Who calls to you today.

⁷And it is to Him you answer each time you remind yourself that you are essential to God’s plan for the salvation of the world.

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^I John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

John 16:24 “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

^II At last we are told what our function and our role are in God’s plan for the salvation of the world! This is the answer to that fundamental question that few ever ask: What am I living for?

Perhaps you have never asked yourself this question so directly, and it is curious that, although everyone recognizes the importance of asking it, the world offers no satisfactory answer—and probably no one has ever offered you one. It is also quite surprising that, while you can find endless manuals explaining the purpose of every object imaginable, not one of them explains what you are for—what your function is, the reason you have come.

Well, now you know why you were created; now you know what your role is—which should not surprise you either. Is it not precisely what you have instinctively sought throughout your existence: to be happy? For it is perfectly evident that everything you do and have ever done—absolutely everything—has always had exactly that purpose: happiness. You will find nothing truer than this—you were born to be happy.

Therefore, when you are not happy, it is also evident that you are malfunctioning, just like any mechanism with a broken internal part. In fact, when you are sad, depressed, or feel fear, anger, or any state of mind other than happiness, it is because you too have a damaged internal mechanism—your mind. Whenever you are not happy, it is because your mind is functioning wrongly; it is because you are thinking things that are not true. It is as simple as that.

Perhaps you understand this reasoning, which is perfectly logical, and probably you agree with it, and yet you will often find yourself feeling bad—fully aware that you are not happy—and unable to escape that situation.

When that happens, remember that it is because your mind is conceiving falsehoods, erroneous thoughts, and unjust condemnations. At times these are conscious contents—and those are relatively easy to address, as long as you have the humility to recognize that you must have been mistaken when you thought that way. Only your pride can prevent the healing of such thoughts; only if you cling to the need to be right can you deprive yourself of happiness in that instant.

But other times—and this happens with most human beings, most of the time—it is old mental contents buried deep in consciousness which, though not surfacing in identifiable form, manifest as nameless depression, anonymous apathy, or a tendency toward anger that betrays hidden fears. These are ancient habits of erroneous thinking, forgotten by the conscious mind, yet still active in its depths.

This Course heals in both cases, and if practiced wholeheartedly, it always heals. Be honest and courageous with the first kind. Acknowledge the harmful thought that poisons your heart and correct it at once. You can be healed of that in an instant. It is very easy. Look upon the situation with clean eyes and correct it. Change your way of thinking by seeking the light present in every circumstance—you already know how; you need only place your will in it. And of course it is worth it! The relief is immediate and the reward immense. As said: this is very easy and requires only honesty, humility, and courage.

The old hidden resentments require another strategy. Here patience, perseverance, and faith are needed. You will have noticed the great emphasis this Course places on mental discipline. You will also have noticed that you are asked to do the same thing, many times, and over many days. Changing your old mental habits requires deep work over a long period. Understand that you have been deceiving yourself for most of your life. This is not about a single specific error that you can easily identify and immediately correct—it is about completely reversing an entire thought system. It is no trivial task. Still, you will accomplish it.

You may recall that at the beginning of the Text of this Course you were told that everyone is entitled to miracles, but that purification must first come. This is precisely that: the purification your mind needs in order to work miracles as a natural habit—because of your miracle-mindedness, and because you are happy. You always see the luminous side of life because you live in the certainty of being the Son of God—you know it, you live it, and you are joyful. You have been healed, and now you inevitably heal others. You need not even try to—you heal because you are happy and have become a healer.

Rejoice that you are practicing today’s Lesson of happiness—number one hundred. Never forget it. Think of how far you have come and how much you have discovered about yourself and about truth. It is a genuine privilege and an honor to be where you are and to be doing what you are doing. Make no mistake: you did not arrive here by chance—you have earned it.

Take this opportunity and recognize what true happiness is: joy in the heart, peace in the mind, and the absolute certainty that it will always be so.

How simple it is to be happy!

But how difficult it is to be simple!

(Gururaj Ananda Yogui)

Being happy is very easy, but it requires a condition that is often difficult to meet: you cannot focus on or follow the world’s interpretation of reality. You need another—one that is almost its opposite.

This individual who has said “yes” to God’s plan for salvation and who has found happiness—what must he do to maintain that happiness and bring and offer it to others?

He must completely disregard all the world’s stories and keep his mind fixed on God. If this is not the case, it is utterly impossible to be truly happy in this world.

If you believe the story the world tells about itself, how could you be happy?
How could you be happy if you believe the stories you see on television, those you read in newspapers, the misfortunes your friends, neighbors, or family recount—or those you tell yourself most of the time?

Believing those, how could you possibly be happy? Thus, to be happy is impossible.

How can you be happy if, after hearing those stories, you believe that they are true, that they are important, and that they concern you?

For, look closely: all the world’s efforts at communication are aimed at involving you in its insane way of interpreting reality.

Do you see now why happiness is impossible that way?

In that discouraging situation, the first thing you must tell yourself is: those problems are not real, they are not important—but they do concern me, because I have the responsibility of assuming my role in God’s plan for salvation. And next: the remedies the world proposes are not the solution. They will never work. They will only perpetuate and worsen the problems.

God’s plan for salvation is spiritual, because the problem is spiritual. The world is disturbed by effects but knows nothing of the true cause. The world’s problem is separation, and by addressing that single cause, all the world’s problems are resolved.

The mind of the Son of God is fractured, like two tectonic plates colliding deep beneath the sea. The world is concerned with the devastating effects of the waves that the quake causes on the surface, but the problem lies at the depths.

Heal that—and you will have healed everything.

My only function here is salvation.

1. Salvation and forgiveness are the same. ^I

²Both imply that something has gone wrong—something from which you need to be saved or forgiven; something mistaken that calls for a corrective shift; something apart from or different than the Will of God.

³Both terms, therefore, imply the impossible, yet something that seems to have occurred, now resulting in a state of conflict between what is and what could never be.

2. Truth and illusion are now placed on equal footing, for both appear to have occurred.

²The impossible becomes that which you must forgive or be saved from.

³Salvation is the borderland between truth and illusion.

⁴It reflects truth, for it is the means by which you can escape illusions.

⁵But it is not the truth, because it undoes what never happened.

3. How can there be a meeting place where earth and Heaven may be reconciled within a mind that holds both?

²The mind that sees illusions believes they are real.

³They exist, in that they are thoughts.

⁴But they are not real, for the mind that thinks such thoughts is separate from God. ^II

4. What could join a separated mind and its thoughts with the Mind and the Thought that are forever One?

²What plan could preserve truth untouched, while also recognizing the needs that arise from believing in illusions, and provide the means to undo them without attack and without pain?

³What plan could this be but a Thought of God by which what never happened is overlooked, and sins that never were are gently left behind?

5. The Holy Spirit holds this plan of God exactly as He received it from Him, within the Mind of God, and also within your own.

²This plan is not bound by time, because its Source is timeless.

³Yet it works within time, because you believe time is real.

⁴The Holy Spirit is unmoved by all you see—sin, pain, death, grief, separation, and loss.

⁵For He knows one thing remains forever true: God is still Love, and what you see is not His Will. ^III

6. This is the Thought that brings illusions to the truth and sees them as appearances behind which lies what is changeless and sure.

²This is the Thought that saves and forgives, for it places no faith in anything not created by the only Source it knows.

³This is the Thought whose function is to save, by offering you Its Function as your own.

7. Salvation is the function you must fulfill, together with Him to Whom the plan was given.

²Now that plan is entrusted to you, along with Him.

³He has one answer to all appearances, regardless of their form, their size, their intensity, or any attribute they seem to have:

⁴My only function here is salvation.

⁵God is still Love, and this is not His Will.

8. You, who are destined to work miracles, be sure to practice today’s idea well.

²Try to feel the strength in what you say, for these words hold your freedom.

³Your Father loves you.

⁴That world of pain is not His Will.

⁵Forgive yourself for believing that He wanted that for you.

⁶Then let the Thought with which He has replaced all your errors enter the shadowed places of your mind that gave birth to such thoughts, which were never His Will.

⁷That part of your mind belongs to God, as does the rest.

⁸It holds no private thoughts, nor makes them real by hiding them from Him.

9. Let the Light come in, and you will see no obstacles to what He wills for you.

²Open your secrets to His gentle Light, and see how bright this Light still shines in you.

³Practice His Thought today, and let His Light seek out and light up all your darkened corners, shining upon them to unite them with the rest of your mind.

10. God’s Will is that your mind be One with His.

²God’s Will is to have one Son.

³God’s Will is that His only Son is you.

⁴Reflect on this during today’s practice, and begin the longer sessions with this teaching that leads the way to truth:

⁵My only function here is salvation.

⁶Salvation and forgiveness are the same.

⁷Then turn to Him Who shares your function with you, and let Him teach you what you need to learn to leave behind all fear, and know your Self as Love, which has no opposite within you.

11. Forgive all thoughts that stand in opposition to the truth of your wholeness, your oneness, and your peace.

²The gifts your Father gave you cannot be lost.

³You do not want to be someone else.

⁴You have no function but the one God gave you.

⁵Forgive yourself the function you believed you made for yourself.

⁶Forgiveness and salvation are the same.

⁷Forgive what you think you have done, and you will have been saved.

12. Today a special message has been given you that holds the power to remove all doubt and fear from your mind forever.

²If you are tempted to believe your doubts and fears are real, remember that no appearance can withstand the truth contained in these mighty words:

³My only function here is salvation.

⁴God is still Love, and this is not His Will.

13. Your only function tells you that you are One.

²Remind yourself of this often when you are not spending five minutes with the Voice that speaks for God.

³Remind yourself:

⁴My only function here is salvation.

⁵In this way, you place forgiveness in your mind, and gently lay all fear aside, so that Love may find Its rightful place in you and show you that you are the Son of God.

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^I Forgiveness is the act of ceasing to give importance to illusion—that is, to what does not exist—and in that very instant… you have already been saved, for from then on you remain only with what is real. How, then, could forgiving and being saved not be the same?

^II Without a doubt, this is the most difficult Lesson in this Course. It is so difficult, in fact, that it cannot be understood. It is impossible for your particular mind to understand it for the simple reason that your particular mind does not exist—it is illusory. And this statement is also impossible to understand, and the personal mind will never understand it, because mind is not personal. This is the ontological principle upon which this Course is based: you are not the being you believe yourself to be, and the place in which you think you find yourself is an illusion conceived by a confused mind. You are everything you long for and believe you lack.

Acknowledge that it is difficult for you to accept that the world you perceive is an illusion, even though reason confirms it, for you see nothing permanent in it—everything changes. What is now soon ceases to be, and that disturbs you. You cannot halt that constant change which time imposes upon matter; physics itself confirms it. On the microscopic level, everything moves at dizzying speed. Then, what does it mean “to be”? For in that way of being there is no being, only becoming—but Heraclitus said that long ago. Parmenides, the enlightened one, on the other hand, says that this is not existence, that it is an illusion of existence—it is not being, but only seeming to be. What, then, could it be but a deception of the mind?

At this stage of the Course, though you may not have fully accepted the illusory nature of the world, you have opened your mind to the possibility, and perhaps even regard it sympathetically, for you understand that your liberation lies precisely in that. Yet what triggers all the alarms is the realization that your personal mind—the “instrument” with which you perceive this illusory world—is itself an illusion, and therefore does not exist. The being you believe yourself to be does not truly exist. And your mind rebels against that—how could it not?

Indeed, that which so fervently resists acknowledging its own nonexistence is precisely your ego. But is it not perfectly legitimate for something to refuse to recognize that it does not exist? Could anything be more legitimate than that? What is happening here? Where is truth? Do you now understand why this is the most difficult Lesson of the Course? Now, probably, you do.

The idea you hold of yourself is false. You are not what you think you are. How, then, can this be?

Try to see it this way: you are, indeed, real—you are a real mind; you exist. What has happened is that this real mind that you are conceived a thought whose content is untrue: the idea that it is a separate being. And it has identified itself with the content of that idea which it itself conceived. Now the mind no longer believes itself to be the mind that conceived the thought, but the very content of that false idea—that separate being.

The situation is simple yet utterly perverse. The mind has remained fixated on that bastard conception for an illusory span of time seemingly immense. And now that mind lovingly “nurtures” that aberrant “creature”—alone and separate—for it gave birth to it. That ghastly content is the idea the confused mind harbors. Is the mind separated? No! But it believes it is.

This is the tangle Jesus seeks to undo with this Course: the restoration of the mind to its natural state by dissolving the fictitious idea of separation. This he calls the healing of the mind. Realize, however, that Jesus invites you to heal a mind that in itself is perfectly whole, for it remains exactly as God created it. But since that mind believes in the madness it conceived, Jesus has no choice but to relate to it on its own terms, for in order to communicate with a mind that believes itself an individual, alone and separate, he must use its own language.

This Course does not operate within a real realm—it operates within an illusory one, for that is where it is needed, since the individual mind to which it is addressed does believe that what it perceives in its hallucination is real. Within the realm of the world, everything this Course says is strictly true and absolutely helpful—therefore, you would do well to give it your full attention. Yet in Reality, this Course is completely superfluous, for there it is not only unnecessary but inconceivable. But remember: your personal mind does not know Reality—it perceives only illusions. And as long as you believe yourself to be an individual in this world, so it will seem to be. That is why Jesus urges you to “forgive,” to disregard what you perceive—even your own thoughts.

Do not worry if you do not understand all this; it is not understandable, nor do you need to understand it. Nevertheless, you will probably grasp intuitively the idea that the Mind of your One Self—which is the Mind of God—does not “comprehend” anything. To comprehend is to grasp and incorporate, and the real mind does not do that; the real mind is everything. So return to your affairs, joyful in your new consecration, and celebrate that you are on the path to peace. Nothing more is needed.

A time will come when time itself will end for you—and with it, all your fears and doubts. Remember these words you will find in T-7.I.7: “We have said that the final step in the reawakening of knowledge is taken by God. This is true, but it is hard to explain in words, because words are but symbols, and what is true needs no explanation. Yet the Holy Spirit always has the task of translating the useless into the useful, the meaningless into the meaningful, and the temporal into the timeless. He therefore can tell you something about this last step. But this you must know: through this step you know what you are. This step is your being.”

^III 1 John 4:8 “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”

I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.

1. Today is a day of special dedication.

²Today we take a stand on one side only.

³We align ourselves with Truth and abandon illusions.

⁴We will not waver between these two choices, but instead take a firm position in favor of what is One.

⁵Today we devote ourselves to Truth and to salvation as God has planned it.

⁶We will not argue that it is something else, nor will we seek it where it cannot be found.

⁷We gladly accept salvation as it is, and take on the role God has given us.^I

2. How joyful it is to be certain!

²Today we set aside all our doubts, and take our stand with clear purpose, grateful that doubt has vanished and certainty has come. ^II

³We have a mighty purpose to fulfill, and all that we need to reach the goal has been given to us.

⁴Not a single mistake stands in our way.

⁵For we have been absolved of every error.

⁶All our sins have been forgiven in the understanding that they were nothing but mistakes.

3. Those who are guiltless are unafraid, for they feel secure and know they are safe. ^III

²They do not turn to magic, nor invent ways of escaping from imagined threats.

³They rest in the quiet certainty that they will do what has been given them to do.

⁴They do not question their own ability, for they know they will fulfill their function perfectly, in the perfect time and place.

⁵They made the choice we make today, that we may share their certainty, and so increase it by accepting it for ourselves.

4. All those who have taken the stand we now take will be with us, and gladly offer us all that they have learned and every gain they made.

²Those who still feel uncertain will also join us, and by sharing our certainty will make it stronger still.

³Even those yet unborn will hear the call we heard, and answer it when they come to choose once more. ^IV

⁴Today we do not choose for ourselves alone. ^V

5. Is it not worth five minutes of each hour to accept the happiness God has given you?

²Is it not worth five minutes of each hour to recognize your special function here?

³Do you not think five minutes is a small request in exchange for such a great reward it cannot be measured?

6. You have made thousands of bargains in which you gave away everything.

²Yet here is an offer that guarantees your full release from every kind of pain, and joy not of this world.

³You are asked to exchange a little of your time for peace of mind and certainty of purpose, with the promise of complete success.

⁴And since time means nothing, you are being given everything for nothing.

⁵This is a bargain you cannot lose. ^VI

⁶And what you gain is truly unlimited!

7. Give Him your small offering of five minutes each hour today.

²He will infuse the words you use in practicing today’s idea with deep conviction and the certainty you lack.

³His Words will join with yours, making each repetition of today’s idea a full dedication, with faith as perfect and as firm as His in you.

⁴His trust in you will light up every word you speak, and you will go beyond their sound to what they truly mean. ^VII

8. Practice with Him today, saying:

²I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.

³In every one of the five minutes you spend with God, He will accept your words and give them back to you radiant with faith and trust, so firm and sure they will light the world with hope and joy.

⁴Miss not one chance to be the happy bearer of His Gifts, that you may give them to the world today.

9. Offer your words to God, and He will do the rest.

²He will help you understand your special function.

³He will open the path to happiness, and peace and trust will be His Gifts and His answer to your words.

⁴God will respond with all His faith, His joy, and His certainty that what you say is true.

⁵And then you will possess the same conviction as He Who knows the function given you, both on earth and in Heaven. ^VIII

⁶God will be with you in every practice you share with Him, and He will exchange every moment you offer Him for timelessness and peace.

10. Spend the rest of each hour joyfully preparing for the next five minutes you will spend again with Him. ^IX

²Repeat today’s idea as you wait for this happy time to come.

³Repeat it often, and remember that each time you do, you prepare your mind for the joyful moment that approaches.

11. And when the hour has passed, and He is there once more to spend another moment with you, be grateful and lay aside all worldly tasks, all petty thoughts and limited ideas, and enjoy another blessed moment with Him.

²Tell Him once again that you accept the role He would have you take, and that He helps you to fulfill, and God will give you the certainty that you truly want this choice He has made with you, and you with Him.

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^I Today’s Lesson is a firm declaration of will. You are urged today to place your will wholly and exclusively in one direction: to fulfill the role assigned to you by God for the salvation of the world.

You do not yet know exactly what is required of you. Do not worry: in two Lessons you will. In the preceding Lessons we have learned who we truly are, and now the time has come to begin the work. We have moved from contemplation to being called to action—to profess our newfound faith.

^II Since you have chosen, the alternatives have vanished from your mind, and with them, all doubts. You can now rest relieved of all tension. There are no longer any conflicts draining your energy. Today you have consecrated yourself to a single cause.

^III You will not only cease attacking yourself with your doubts—you will, above all, stop attacking yourself by feeling guilty. What for? Under the new interpretation you have already recognized that guilt serves no good purpose. You have realized that guilt does not make you a better person—quite the opposite. Now you know that you have never sinned. Now you understand that, yes, you have made mistakes—but to sin? Never!

You can now use all your energy to correct your mind, and even to repair whatever harm your errors may have caused—but you will do so joyfully and relieved, for you no longer feel guilty. Now you will truly be effective.

^IV This is a veiled allusion to the illusory process of reincarnation in bodies.

^V With today’s consecration you enter the company of God’s messengers. You are not alone; you join with many others who have made the same decision you make today. With the Love of God in your heart and your mind radiant with light, you embody in yourself the gospel of Jesus.

Now you have chosen the salvation of the world, for that is the mission entrusted to you. And to fulfill it you need neither speak a word nor act on your own. In a couple of Lessons your single role will be clearly defined.

^VI It is indeed touching how Jesus presents salvation to you in almost mercantile terms. Moreover, it is a genuine offer! Give that little bit that is asked of you with all your heart, and you will see what happens. Nothing more need be said.

^VII The support given to your little faith is entirely real—it is no abstraction. You need only give it a chance to manifest itself, and it will appear in your awareness. All that is asked of you is a little willingness on your part, and you will see how the path to a new understanding opens in your mind. Try it. It costs you nothing, and you will see it for yourself.

^VIII The function that has been assigned to you will soon be revealed.

Matthew 6:10 “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

^IX During those five minutes you reaffirm your consecration to your new function, and for the rest of the time you enjoy the certainty and peace that come from having unified your will. You do not need to neglect your worldly affairs—on the contrary, you carry them out joyfully and impeccably, applying your new way of seeing. You will find that everything goes much better for you. You are no longer alone. You walk through the world performing your tasks accompanied by Jesus, for he goes beside you and is at your disposal for all that you may need.

And when doubts assail you and you feel without strength, recognize that:

① Your consecration is an idea.

② Your doubts are also an idea.

③ Feeling that you have no strength is also an idea, which you may associate with either of the other two.

And then…

④ Associate the idea of lacking strength with the idea of harboring doubts, and you will find you have no strength left to doubt.

Then rest your mind, reaffirm your special consecration, and move forward.

I am Spirit.

1. Today’s idea identifies you with your one Self. ^I

²It accepts no split identity, nor attempts to weave opposing factors into unity.

³It simply states the truth.

⁴Practice this truth today as often as you can, for it will bring your mind out of conflict and lead it into the calm fields of peace.

⁵Now no fear can enter, for your mind has been absolved of madness by abandoning the illusion of a divided identity.

2. Today we reaffirm the truth about your Self, the holy Son of God Who rests in you, whose mind has been restored to sanity.

²You are the Spirit, lovingly endowed with all the Love, the Peace, and the Joy of your Father.

³You are the Spirit Who completes God Himself, and Who shares His function as Creator.

⁴He is always with you, as you are always with Him.^II

3. Today we seek to bring reality still closer to your mind.

²Each time you practice, you become at least a little more aware, and sometimes thousands of years or more are saved. ^III

³The minutes you give are multiplied again and again, for the miracle makes use of time but is not ruled by it.

⁴Salvation is a miracle—the first and the last.

⁵The first is also the last, for salvation is a miracle that is one.

4. You are the Spirit in Whose Mind the miracle in which all time stands still abides, the miracle in which one moment spent in using these ideas becomes a time of timelessness and infinite release.

2Give these minutes gladly, and count on Him Who promised to infuse them with eternity. ^IV

³He will strengthen every little effort you make with all His Strength.

⁴Give Him the minutes He needs today, that He may help you understand with Him that you are the Spirit who abides in God, who calls through His Voice to every living thing.

⁵He offers His Vision to all who ask, and replaces error with the simple truth.

5. The Holy Spirit will be glad to take five minutes of each hour from your hands and carry them around this aching world, where pain and misery seem to rule.

²He will not overlook one open mind that is ready to accept the healing gifts your practice brings and He will place them everywhere He knows they will be welcomed. ^V

³And every time someone accepts them as his thoughts and uses them to heal, their healing power will grow.

6. Thus will every gift you give be multiplied a thousandfold and tens of thousands more.

²And when it is returned to you, it will surpass in might the little gift you gave, just as the sun outshines a fading spark from a firefly that only lives a moment and is gone.

³The lasting brilliance of this light will stay with you, guiding you out of darkness, and you will never forget the way again.

7. Begin these happy exercises with the words the Holy Spirit speaks to you, and let them echo throughout the world through Him:

²I am Spirit,

³A holy Son of God,

⁴Free of all limits,

⁵Safe, healed and whole,

⁶Free to forgive,

⁷And free to save the world.

⁸And once you have expressed this, the Holy Spirit will accept the gift you received from Him, increase its power, and return it to you.

8. Gladly give Him each practice today.

²And He will speak to you, reminding you that you are Spirit, that you are one with Him and with God, with your brothers and with your Self.

³Listen to His promise every time you speak the words He gives you today, and let Him tell your mind they are the truth.

⁴Use them in every moment of uncertainty, and you will escape the mournful consequences of believing you are something else.

⁵The Holy Spirit brings you peace today.

⁶Receive His words, and offer them to Him.

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^I This is the fifth and final consecutive Lesson devoted to your One Self—a sign of the crucial importance the Course gives to this concept. This term expresses the consistency and integrity of your reality. You are much more than merely analogous to God; you are identical to Him, for you were created exactly in His image and likeness. You are His Extension, His beloved Son.

Being One—identical and forever unchangeable—alternatives are impossible, and with them, conflict and doubt. This is the perfect monopolarity of Existence, of What Is, of God, of what you are.

You are That: pure Being, Being pure. Your only function is to be What You Are—the perfect and sole expression of the three aspects of Being: Love, Knowledge, and Will, manifested without limit, infinitely and eternally. You love Reality with infinite love—all that exists—which is what you are and which you know perfectly, because it is your own Self, which you create in eternity by extending your own existence without end.

Words fall far too short to describe your Reality. That is your One Self. Your ego is utterly dazzled by even the faintest vision of your Self. And it cannot even be said that your light “dispels” the darkness of your ego, for there never was any darkness—only the faint belief that once there had been, in an illusory time. That is what you are: all that is, has been, and ever will be.

^II Matthew 28:20 “…and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Amen.

^III In the dream, a thousand years of sleep are saved; Reality continues within its own continuity. Reality is forever and ever.

^IV Here—and in the three lines that follow—the reference is to the Holy Spirit.

^V These lines highlight the importance and profound value of time dedicated to sincere contemplation and prayer. They remind us that any moment given to the Holy Spirit becomes a powerful instrument of healing for the world. Every receptive mind receives the benefit of such dedication, for mind—being shared—is positively influenced by the spiritual practice of a few.

In this sense, the quiet yet extraordinarily effective work of those who, like cloistered monks and nuns, offer their entire lives in contemplation and prayer stands out in particular. Their silent, constant, and humble commitment contributes significantly to transforming and healing the collective consciousness, thus expanding peace and alleviating suffering in a world where pain seems to predominate.

Salvation comes from my one Self.

1. Though you are one Self, you experience yourself as if you were two.

²You see yourself as both good and evil, loving and hating, mind and body.

³This sense of being split into opposites induces constant conflict within you, and leads you to try frantically to reconcile the opposing views of what you think you are.

⁴You have sought many such solutions and none has worked.

⁵The opposites you see in you will never be compatible.

⁶Only one of them is true. ^I

2. To be saved, you must accept the fact that truth and illusion cannot be reconciled.

²No matter how you try, what means you use, or where you see the problem,

³Until you accept this, you will pursue a countless string of goals that you cannot reach.

⁴You will invest in time and effort, in hopes and doubts, over and over again.

⁵And each attempt will fail as the one before, and as the one to come.

3. Nonsensical problems cannot be resolved within the frame in which they are set.

²Two selves in conflict is a condition that cannot be resolved.

³There is no meeting ground between good and evil.

⁴The self you made can never be your Self.

⁵And your Self cannot be split in two and still remain what It is and must forever be.

4. Mind and body cannot both exist.

²Do not try to reconcile the two, for one denies the other’s presence as reality.

³If you are physical, your mind has disappeared into a concept of yourself in which it has no meaning.

⁴But if you are Spirit, then the body must be meaningless to your concept of yourself.

5. The mind is the means by which Spirit expresses Its Self. ^II

²And the mind that serves Spirit is at peace and full of joy.

³Its power comes from Spirit, and it fulfills its function gladly.

⁴Yet mind can also see itself divorced from Spirit, and believe it dwells within a body, confused and limited.

⁵In that case, it does not fulfill its function, is not at peace, and cannot even grasp the idea of happiness.

6. Moreover, a mind apart from Spirit cannot think.

²It has denied its Source of strength and sees itself as helpless, limited, and weak.

³Dissociated from its function, now it thinks it is alone and separate, attacked by enemies it cannot understand, and hiding in the fragile shelter of a body.

⁴Now it must reconcile the different with the same, for it believes that is its function. ^III

⁵Waste no more time on this.

⁶Who can resolve the senseless conflicts a dream presents?

⁷What could their resolution mean?

⁸What purpose could it serve?

⁹What use could it be?

7. Salvation cannot make illusions real, nor solve a problem that does not exist.

²Perhaps you hope it can.

³But would you have God’s plan for your deliverance be only painful, and not release you?

⁴Your Self retains God’s Thoughts, and They remain within your mind and in the Mind of God.

⁵The Holy Spirit holds salvation in your mind and offers it the way to peace.

8. Salvation is a Thought you share with God, because His Voice accepted it for you and answered in your name that it is done.

²Thus, salvation is among the Thoughts your Self cherishes and keeps for you.

³Today we will try to find this Thought, whose presence in your mind is guaranteed by Him Who speaks to you from your one Self.

⁴Our five-minute practices each hour will be devoted to the search for your Self within your mind.

⁵Salvation comes from this one Self, through Him Who is the bridge between your mind and It. ^IV

9. Wait patiently and let the Holy Spirit speak of your Self and what your mind can do, restored to It and free to serve Its Will.

²Begin by saying:

³Salvation comes from my one Self.

⁴Its Thoughts are mine to use.

⁵Then seek Its Thoughts, and claim Them as your own.

⁶These are your real thoughts, which you have denied while you wandered aimlessly through a world of dreams in search of substitutes.

⁷Here are your Thoughts—the only ones you have.

⁸Salvation is among Them.

⁹Find it there.

10. If you succeed, the Thoughts that come to you will tell you you are saved and that your mind has found the function it had sought to lose.

²Your Self will welcome it and give it peace.

³And after its strength is restored, it will flow from Spirit to Spirit, throughout all creation, in loving blessing and perfect union.

⁴Your mind will bless all things.

⁵And now that confusion has ended, you are restored to your Self, for you have finally found It.

11. Your Self knows that today you cannot fail.

²Perhaps your mind is still uncertain for a time.

³Do not be dismayed by this. ^V

⁴The joy your Self experiences It will save for you, and you will come to be fully aware of it once more.

⁵Each time you devote five minutes of each hour to seeking the One Who joins your mind to your Self, you add another treasure to the store He keeps for you.

12. Each time today you remind your restless mind that salvation comes from your one Self, you add another treasure to your growing store.

²And all of it will be given to anyone who asks and will accept the gift.

³So think of how much you can give today, so that it may be given you.

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^I The fundamental idea of this Lesson is the monopolarity of existence, which, from a strictly ontological standpoint, is self-evident: existence is one and positive. This is the foundational idea of the non-dualistic paradigm, which in itself is a tautological declaration: only what exists, exists. Yet the simplest and truest ideas are often inaccessible to minds that function poorly.

The world’s thought system, adhering to a dualistic paradigm, is complex, magical in nature, and, at its core, extraordinarily naïve. The world—though for no clear reason—assumes that if something exists, its absence must also exist, and on that assumption it builds its entire thinking. To accept the existence of absences is the conclusion of a sick mind, and it constitutes in itself a disastrous cognitive bias. It is a bias so universally shared that the world does not recognize it as such. This belief is devastating to the mind, which then derives from it an imaginary world based on something that is not there—and does not exist.

Only what is exists, what is there, and that is always positive. This is a truth so simple that any small child can understand it. But when people grow up, sadly, they begin to see phantoms, for they have trained their eyes to show them what is not there. Thus they go mad and begin to dream and to fear.

To consider the existence of the nonexistent is the mental illness of this world. To think that if love is real, its opposite—its absence, fear—must also be real is madness. Yet that is how everyone thinks. And then they call the absences of light “shadows,” seeing them everywhere and fearing them—for are they not “there,” they say? But shadows neither are nor exist, for they are the absences of what does exist. And so they build in their fragmented minds a world made of absences of love, and they believe they see it—and live in it. Does it seem logical to think in that way? Probably not. You are too accustomed to it, and to you the sole existence of love seems an appealing proposal, but nothing more than a fantasy.

The idea of separation in the mind of the Son of God—the ego as cause—has led him to regard the absence of being as a real possibility, one that has now become significant. Now the egoic mind—the ego as effect—believes in absences, perceives itself as lacking, and projects, and believes it lives, in an imaginary world constructed from absences of love.

For God’s sake—absences do not exist! Only what exists, exists. What is real is not, has never been, and can never be in danger. And all that you think is in danger is not real and should not concern you at all. That is why the peace of God is guaranteed.

You are a Single Being—what else could you be? Something that simultaneously is and is not? Stop dreaming that you are evil or that you lack something. Existence is a strictly positive condition, and that is so evident that it is almost embarrassing to have to declare it. Only Existence exists. You may regard it, if you wish, as love, as light, or as will—but that is only a way of conceiving it, for in essence, Existence is One and ineffable. What exists cannot be perceived, because that is Reality, and that can only be known. And indeed, that is what you know well, and, moreover, you know nothing else. Everything else is addition—fabrications of your own invention that dull your mind with sinister imaginings. That is your eternal reality, and it is not “experiential,” for only subjects (note the word) perceive and experience—but you are not a subject; you are Existence Itself.

You, as a subject—to your own interpretations of reality—will perceive this Course as something profoundly negative precisely because this Course is absolutely positive. Here error is denied, everything that is not true is denied—and that includes everything you now believe in, for belief is what has led you to that pitiful condition. You need believe in nothing! You do, however, need to stop believing. When you do, suddenly and for a brief instant, you will understand your immense mistake with astonishment—and then you will see it dissolve into the nothingness that never was.

It is also true that, from the conflicted thought of the world, these statements are incomprehensible—but what is truly incomprehensible is the world’s thought. Now, in your present state of confusion, simply allow for another possibility—another way of seeing. Practice these Lessons of light diligently, and trust. The Love of God and your One Self await that small gesture of yours.

Read this Lesson with gentleness and attention. Each of its lines is filled with light and truth. Relax your mind and seek understanding. Do not struggle, do not defend, do not attack, and do not believe anything—simply open your mind and trust.

^II In very few instances of this Course is the ontological nature of the mind discussed. This is one of them. Another appears in the Glossary: “The term ‘mind’ is used to represent the active principle of spirit, which supplies it with its creative energy.” (G-2.1:1)

Mind here is not the ultimate origin, but an instrument, a channel, a medium of communication. Spirit—the spiritual essence—is the true nature of Being: eternal, unlimited, and perfect. Yet to manifest its identity, Spirit uses the mind, which functions as a medium capable of reflecting, recognizing, and expressing its authentic reality.

To put it abstractly, mind would be the vehicle of Will; Love, its content; the light of Truth, its direction; and Creation, its destination.

Thus mind has no autonomy or independent power, for it is a potential realm that acquires meaning only when it is placed in service to Spirit, allowing Its Light, Its Love, and Its Truth to flow through it. When the mind recognizes and accepts this role, it becomes a transparent instrument that facilitates the manifestation of the true Self. Conversely, when the mind mistakenly identifies with the ego, it blocks that communication and obscures the knowledge of our real identity.

The fundamental teaching implied here is that healing and spiritual awakening occur when we consciously allow our mind to fulfill its true function: to express faithfully the Self we are—that is, the perfect presence of Spirit.

^III Mind, which is spiritual in nature, differs from all the things of the world, which are alike among themselves because they are “physical.” The mind believes its function is to manage its interests with the things of the world—something impossible, for they belong to completely different realms. The mind is abstract and real, whereas the things of the world are concrete and illusory.

^IV The Holy Spirit is the bridge uniting your mind—divided and afflicted by the ego—with your Self.

^V The phrase “Do not be dismayed” appears several times in the Bible. For example, Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”