Undoing the blocks to loves presence

Body identification as the block to Self.

I am not a body. I am free. I am still as God created me. W201

The teaching of this lesson is one of the main themes of Jesus’s teachings in A Course in Miracles. This lesson is repeated many times in the workbook, for a reason. It points directly at the problem and at the solution. The problem is body identification. The solution is to identify as Spirit, Mind or Self.

Body identification comes from listening and believing in the ego thoughts. These ego thoughts always identify us as a body. Each ego thought always “assumes” we are a body. An ego thought never says directly “I am a body”. It always IMPLIES we are a body. Typical ego thoughts say something like “They don’t love me” or “I was unfairly treated.” The ego pre-supposes us to be a body, by its thoughts that always assume us to be that.

Each of these ego thoughts “assumes” or “implies” there is a separate self that is real that needs to be loved or unloved, that can be fairly treated or unfairly treated. The ego thoughts automatically assume a body identification as a given. Each ego thought implies already, that you are a body. When we listen to the egos thought system, we can start to notice that it implies we are a body, in its thoughts.

There can be no experience of being unfairly treated if we don’t identify as a body. The body identification is the same thing as the belief in ourselves as a separate self, which is the belief that we separated from God. So, the whole idea of being unfairly treated or being loved or unloved, completely dissolves, when body identification is undone. That’s why identifying as Self, is the answer to all ego thoughts. This Self is perfect, whole, formless, holy, infinite love and limitless.

So the plug gets pulled on all upsetting thoughts, when we identify as the Self. The Love of God. The infinite eternal beingness of God. The ego has no room to enter, when we identify as Self. Its thoughts that pre-suppose us as a body, cant take hold in our mind, as they sound ridiculous. We will laugh at all ego thoughts because they will be clearly seen as trying to get us to believe we are a body.

So, we don’t need to concern ourselves with undoing the feeling of being unfairly treated or unloved. All that will dissolve, through coming to know ourselves as God created us as Spirit or Mind.

In Lesson 136 - Sickness is a defense against the truth, paragraph 20, Jesus gives us a clear guideline to follow to preserve the protection of our mind against once again, identifying as a body. He asks us to be vigilant by carefully watching our mind for any of the following:

“If you let your mind 1) harbor attack thoughts, 2) yield to judgement, or3) make plans against uncertainties to come, you have again misplaced yourself and made a body identity which will attack the body, for the mind is sick.”

I love this paragraph because here he points to three main issues that will cause us to once again, identify as a body, which will cause us to attack the body (make sick) for our mind has become sick. Our mind has become sick by us joining the egos thought system,. Each of these three issues brings back body identification. If we do any of these three, we will once again, identify as a body and loose the Peace of God. So, we must very carefully understand exactly what each issue is, so we can ensure we do not identify as a body and suffer sickness. If you find yourself sick, you can study each of the three sections below to identify which one you have done. Then apply the remedy.

1)Harbor Attack Thoughts

A harbor is a place where we shelter things. We harbor them. We want to keep them safe. In this teaching, Jesus is pointing us to the idea that when we want and desire to keep attack thoughts in our mind, we will once again, identify as a body. The reason why an attack thought, haboured in our mind, will bring back body identification, is that each attack thought will always “assume” you are a body and will assume that there are other bodies, that can attack and be attacked. So, any thought of attack that is harbored, automatically implies behind it, by pre-supposing that we are a body and are therefore vunerable to attack.

It is not the body that brings back body identification, but the belief in the attack thought that tells us that a body is vunerable. When we believe this attack thought, we harbor it. We join that ego thought and believe that it is true. And thus, through haboring that attack thought, we identify as a body that can be attacked.

We will have, at times, ego attack thoughts. They will come into our mind and so we must watch carefully that we do not harbor it by believing it. An ego attack thought will enter our mind and our job is to notice it, not attach to it and watch it leave. All ego thoughts are like clouds in the sky. We can watch them like clouds in the sky moving by. So, by not attaching to them and by not believing them, they will drift off.

Ego Attack thoughts are not our thoughts. Our thoughts are ones we think with Infinite Love. Ego attack thoughts are thoughts that float in and out of our mind. They are not our thoughts. They are the egos dead thoughts of the past. They are nothing. Like clouds in the sky, they contain nothing and effect nothing. If we don’t attach or believe in them, they will not disturb our peace. They can come and they can go. They cannot hurt us. Thoughts can never hurt us. It is our belief in the thought, that hurts us. Our job is to not harbor them. Our job is to not keep them safe in our mind by believing them. Our job is to LET THEM GO.

So, to summarise this teaching, Jesus asks us NOT TO HARBOR attack thoughts. He is asking us not to keep them in our minds and join them and make a big story out of them. He says that we need to carefully watch our mind so we do not shelter these thoughts in our mind, but instead, quickly notice that an attack thought has entered and let it go. When we let the thought go, we are practicing forgiveness. Our mind will quickly go back to peace as we do not harbor the attack thought. We will remain as the Self.

2) Yield to Judgement

This issue is similar to the one above. Here, Jesus has the emphasis on yielding to judgement. To yield, means to “give way to”. So, when we have an ego judgment thought, we have chosen to yield to this judgement thought. He asks us NOT TO GIVE WAY TO THEM. Not to yield to them. He asks us to be very vigilant to yielding to ANY judgment thought.

All judgment thoughts are of the ego. When we yield to them, when we give way to them, when we join them and believe them and go down that rabbit hole with them, we suffer. When we yield to judgement, when we join that thought as if it is true, we are identifying as a body.

Every judgement thought, once again, assumes us to be a body. It always talks about us as a body and everyone else as a body. So, when we yield to these judgements, we fall for the ego trap of body identification.

Jesus is trying to help us in these clear messages. His message is that it is in our best interests that we do NOT yield to judgement thoughts, for if we do, we will identify as a body, which means our mind is sick.

In truth, who we are, could never be sick. But, through the power of our mind, we have seemed to make up a world of bodies, houses, trees, shops etc. Jesus says that what we see, hear, feel, touch and smell are not our real experiences but a part of our mind that is dreaming the body and its senses. The Sons Mind fell asleep into a dream of a world of separation. When we experience sickness as part of the dream, we are dreaming of a sick body. Even a healthy body is still part of the dream. It is impossible for the Son of God to enter a body or be in a body, which means it is impossible for the Son of God to get sick.

The teachings of A Course in Miracles must be accepted fully for the mind to heal. If we try to change something in the course or leave it out, we cannot awaken. The courses teachings are like a jigsaw puzzle, where every piece fits together perfectly. As we practice the lessons and start to trust the Holy Spirit more, our mind will start to illuminate and the teachings will join together to make a unified thought system.

So, the key to this clear teaching of not “yielding to judgement”, can help you identify as the Self and remain as the Self.

The remedy is to notice the judgement, not yield to it but LET IT GO. If you cant let it go, you need to ask for help from the Holy Spirit or Jesus, to help you shift your perception. The Holy Spirit is in our mind and will answer any call for help, if asked truly.

3) Make plans against uncertainties to come.

His last clear message of pointing us to, what we may have done, if we find ourselves sick. We can check in to see if we have made any plans by ourselves against uncertainties to come. When we make our own plans for what we think, is an uncertain future, we will always be thinking of ourselves as a body. The reason why we make these plans, is because we think we are a body and that we need to plan for its security and safety. Thus, we identify again as a body. And thus, we become prey to sickness.

So ,the remedy is to quieten our mind and see if we are trying to plan against uncertainties. If we find that we have done so, we can quickly straighten out our mind and hand everything over to the Holy Spirit.

We surrender our future to God and give over all our plans. We let them go. We remind ourselves that “Trust will settle every problem now”. We decide to trust the Holy Spirit now, which settles all our problems. Our problems will disappear now, as we hand it all over to one that knows what we need and will replenish it, as we believe we need it.

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Isn’t it wonderful to have such a clear teaching from Jesus that outlines exactly what we have done, when we find ourselves sick. He gives us a prayer to say which he says will give instant remedy, should we once again, identify as a body through any one of these three issues.

He asks us to tell ourselves...

I have forgotten what I really am

For I mistook my body for my Self

Sickness is a defense against the truth

But I am NOT a body.

And my mind cannot attack.

So I cannot be sick.

Love and hugs everyone

Cate xxx