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November 13, 2005 Real Raj Moderators: Sun~Rose Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [60 messages per page]	View previous thread :: View next thread
General Discussion -> ACIM Gathering Audio Transcripts	Message format

Sun~Rose

Posted 2005-11-25 5:46 PM (#64050)
Subject: November 13, 2005 Real Raj

Location: New York

November 13, 2005 ©NWFFACIM

PAUL. Okay. Before we begin, let’s all get on the same page. If you’re in the Sparkly Book, it’s page 2-5-6 – 256. It’s a new chapter: God’s Plan For Salvation. If you’re in the Second Edition, it’s page 215. Again a new chapter, and it’s entitled: The Holy Spirit’s Curriculum. If you’re in the First Edition, it’s page 200. And if you’re in the JCIM, it’s page 108.

Let’s take a few moments to be still together.

Quiet Time

ANSWER. Okay. Good Evening.

AUDIENCE. (Responses)

ANSWER. And welcome to everyone who’s joining us on the Internet. … … … Well … big subject: God’s Plan For Salvation. … … Well first of all, it might be a good idea … to consider what the … word Salvation means. We throw it around a lot. God’s Plan For Salvation.

Well, Salvation is going to mean something to you, right? It’s not … Salvation … hanging out in the ethers. It’s … Something that will be an experience. And, at the bottom line, Salvation means you … never having to strive to become anything, anymore. … It means you, not being behind the 8-ball anymore. … It means you … never having to try to be right. … It means you never having to prove anything.

Salvation is the Experience of you being in your Right Mind … and knowing it. It means you being in your Right Mind, never again subject to doubt, … or the invitation to discouragement. … It means you … at Peace, and being able to Be from your Peace in all respects. …

Salvation is the absence of fear – the total, complete absence … of fear. … … It’s you, being able to be Whole – to be wholly involved in Be-ing … –- where there’s no reservation of any part of yourself that you’re keeping safe from threat … – where the saying is really true: what you see is what you get. Because what everyone will see … will be you wholly present, without reservation … without withholding yourself in any way.

Salvation … is the unobscured experience … of safety … which is another way of saying: It is the direct … Experience … of Omnipotence. Not power over anything, but the Presence of Wholeness that finds no threat, no suggestion of threat, nothing unlike Itself. …

It is the Experience of utter Peace and utter Safety.

So what is God’s Plan for this Experience for you? … Is it a Plan He had to come up with? Or is the Plan for your Salvation simply the Way Things Are – the way things … unalterably are – that you are simply going to let yourselves back into the experience of? … …

Remember, you’re not advancing toward your Salvation. You’re not advancing toward your Perfection. You’re not improving yourselves … in order to earn Salvation.

But you have these imaginative ideas … – that you have come up with and that oth--and that others have provided to you – that you are … not already there – you’re not already at the Point of Perfection. … … And so you operate – not on the basis of the Way things are – but on the basis of the way you think things are. … Period. Your Salvation lies in abandoning … the way you think things are, so that you might yield into the Way Things Are. In other words, the way God has set It up – the way God is being It/You at every moment. So that you let go of the something extra that you’ve added to the equation.

Salvation is yours. Salvation is already yours. … And what all of this– what all of this is that we’ve been talking about amounts to your yielding to It – your yielding into It – your relaxing into It. … …

God’s Plan for Salvation is utter simplicity. … Let’s go into the book.

“You have been told not to make error real, and the way to do this is very simple. If you want to believe in error, you would have to make it real … because it is not true.” – In other words, because it is not Real. So: “If you want to believe in error you would have to make it real, because it is not True. But Truth is Real in Its own right, and to believe in Truth, you do not have to do anything!”

“If you want to believe in error, you would have to” … do something. You would have to engage in acts … that attempt to make it real, so you would have something to believe in. And the reason is that it doesn’t exist in its own right. … Now: “Understand that you do not respond to stimuli, but to stimuli as you interpret them. … Your interpretation thus becomes the justification for the response.” – whatever that response might be.

“You do not respond to stimuli, but to stimuli as you interpret them.” … Well that’s what all of the mutually-agreed-upon definitions are: the interpretations … of Reality … that you’ve come up with … – and … the mutually-agreed-upon definitions that you operate according to become the justifications for your responses. … And so, as a result, you are very seldom original with a brother or a sister – with each other. You’re always doing this two-step: Bouncing off of each other, … so as to be able to do things, but not violate the mutually-agreed-upon definitions – the interpretations … that have been placed between you and Reality Itself.

“That is why analyzing the motives of others is hazardous to you.” Naturally, (laughing) it’s not the most comfortable thing for … the ones you’re analyzing.

But: “– analyzing the motives of others is hazardous to you. If you decide that someone is really trying to attack you … or desert you or enslave you, you will respond as if he had actually done so, because you have made his error real – to you! To interpret error is to give it power, and having done this, you will overlook Truth.” This is really … quite obvious. And really quite simple.

However you perceive your brother – however you interpret … his actions and him, … will govern how you’re going to behave toward him. And if … your interpretation of your brother or of his actions takes precedence over an actual connection with him, … then you are operating in a fantasy. You are … in imaginationland, and you’re out of touch. You’re not connected. You’re unable to be real, appropriate, pertinent. …

And you’re gonna trip and fall flat on your face, … and you’re going to wonder why.

You don’t usually run into problems until you have to relate to your brothers and sisters. Right? If you’re on a mountaintop all by yourself – or on a … a deserted beach, all by yourself – you can be there without any problems. But let there be one other person who comes along, and there is the potential for them to behave in a way that is offensive to you – or distracting to you … – or bothersome to you. And the problem begins. Why? Because you must be involved; and … you don’t know how to be involved with your brothers and sisters.

Now, you may argue with me and say: ‘(Oh), I sure do. And I get along with them well. And I have good working relationships. I am, along with others, able to be quite productive, ad am able to help others be productive.” … But what you don’t understand is that if you are not gathering your perception of your brother … from … a prior connectedness with Truth, … you are operating in the realm of imaginationland. And so although all of you are being able to function together with very little friction, you are not in touch with the Truth, and you haven’t learned how to be with your brother rightly. You haven’t learned how to be with your brother … from your Right Mind: a Real Connection with What Is Really There, where your brother is.

“The analysis of ego motivation” – which is all- what all of you do when you look at your brothers and sisters. You evaluate where they’re coming– ‘I wonder where she’s coming from? Mm. She’s behaving in such-and-such a way. She must have … blah, blah, blah, blah.’ And you come up with an imaginary assessment. And then, you approach her … on the basis of that assessment.

“The analysis of ego motivation is very complicated, very obscuring” – obscuring of what? Of your- of the Truth. – It a- your – your-imaginary– your imagination obscures the Truth, when you give preference to what you have imagined.

“The analysis of ego motivation is very complicated, very obscuring, and never without the risk of your own ego involvement. The whole process represents a clear-cut attempt to demonstrate your own ability to understand what you perceive.” You see? Instead of a Joint understanding of what you perceive, which you have when you abandon your independence – your autonomy – and you say: ‘Father, – or Holy Spirit – what’s really going on? What do I need to know here? What is– What is really going on?’ – So that you might respond on the basis of a Joined clarity.

“The whole process represents a clear-cut attempt to demonstrate your own” – and I’m going to say, independent – “ability to understand what you perceive. This is shown by the fact that you react to your interpretations as if they were correct, and control your reactions behaviorally, but not emotionally.”

What does that mean? (small laugh) It means that even though you come up with your own conclusions and they’re false – and they are disturbing to you, – you, for the most part, control your behavior. And you don’t behave consistent with the perception you have. But when it comes to your emotions, oh boy! Do they go wild! And in your head, you concoct stories. You concoct scenarios about your brother’s behavior, and what you can expect, and what they’re likely to do. And the longer you do this, the angrier you get. And you know what? You haven’t even had your first word with this person for the day.

So you “control your reactions behaviorally, … but not emotionally. This is quite evidently a mental split in which you have it- you have attacked the integrity of your mind and pitted one level within it against another.” You see? You’re gonna control yourself properly here, but you’re not gonna control yourself at all here, and so you’re attempting to be inconsistent, within yourself. …

And that’s called the human condition. You also do this with … the world. You do this with spiders and snakes and centipedes and … and butterflies, and hummingbirds. … A hummingbird comes along, and there’s no fear in you. And you stand very still, in hopes that it will … stay in your vicinity, and maybe get really close, so you can get a good look at it. But you see a spider, or a wasp … or a snake, and whether it’s going to do anything to you or not – whether it even cares whether you’re there or not – you go through … great fear, and a sweat will break out. Fear will reign. Why? Because of the interpretation you have about the spider, or the snake, or the wasp. So, you’re reacting to your own interpretation. You’re off in … la la land again. Imaginationland. But you know what? … You’re putting your body through all of the responses that … would be called for – we’ll say – if, indeed, there was a threat. …

And you know what? When you live this– when you live your life this way, you wear yourself out, unconsciously, simply because … you’re constantly on guard, one way or another, … all day long.

Now … the next section is called The Judgment Of The Holy Spirit.

“There is but one interpretation of all motivation that makes any sense.” – See, we’re talking about simplicity. – “And because it is the Holy Spirit’s judgment it requires no effort a- at – it requires no effort at all on your part.”

Here it is. Here’s the Holy Spirit’s judgment. “Every loving thought is True. Everything else is an appeal for healing and help. That is what it is, regardless of the form it takes. There are only two things going on, in your behavior or in your brother’s behavior.

“Every loving thought … is True.” Every loving thought you have is Real and Eternal. … Everything else you or your brother engages in is an appeal for help – is an appeal for healing … and help. That’s why … it’s said that everything is either Love or a call for Love. …

“Can anyone be justified in responding with anger to a plea for help? … No response can be appropriate, except the willingness to give it to him; for this, and only this, is what he is asking for.”

So if your brother is behaving – or sister – in a way … that isn’t obviously Love, then … they’re engaging in what … you can imaginatively call bad behavior … – a call for correction. … … And you, at that point, are faced with a choice. Are you going to react to your perception of them and of their behavior? ‘Oh they’re in a shitty mood. I had better steer clear of them if I don’t want to get caught up in a big mess.’ Or are you going to see it for what it truly is – a call for Love – a cal for help – and not react angrily.

It makes all the difference in the world how you interpret everything you see.

And you’re going to interpret it in one of those two ways. You’re going to recognize it to be the Presence of Love – something to be grateful for – or a call for Love, which is something to be grateful for. …

“Offer him anything else and you are assuming the right to attack his reality by interpreting it as you see fit.”

You see? You make your own definition up, … and then you behave according to that definition, … as you see fit. … And there’s been no connection with that brother. You’ve inserted between your brother and yourself a picture of him, and then you’re reacting to that picture of him. And then you’re coming to conclusions as to what is … required in order for your picture of him to be pacified – settled down – dealt with. You see?

And the problem is that you carry out this response to your very own picture – not where something can be done about it, which is in your own mind – but you attempt to deal with the brother … who has made a call for Love … as though he hasn’t made a call for Love. And your behavior is recognized to be … attack – an absence of communication – an absence of connection – and yet, a coercive response from you … that doesn’t make sense to the one calling for help. …

“Perhaps the danger of this to your own mind is not yet fully apparent to you.” What does that mean – “the danger of this to your own mind”? The danger of it is that your mind is, itself, in a conflicted state. And you don’t even know it because … it’s second nature to you … to deal with your interpretations of things, instead of with the things themselves. And that’s a form of insanity. It’s certainly a concrete evidence of ignorance. 31:12:9

“Perhaps the danger of this to your own mind is not yet fully apparent to you, but this by no means signifies that it is not perfectly clear.” – the danger – “If you maintain that an ap- an appeal for help is something else” – meaning an expression of hate … – if you determine that the call for help is … … aggressive lack of ex- of respect directed toward you, … “you will react to something else.” And I’m going to put it this way: “If you maintain that an appeal for help is something else, you will react to” – the – “something else. And your response will be inappropriate to Reality as It is, but not to your perception of It.” (small laugh) Your response will be perfectly appropriate in your mind, when it’s a response to your perception of what’s going on.

“This is poor Reality-testing, by definition. … There is nothing to prevent you from recognizing all calls for help as exactly what they are, except your own perceived need to attack.” (laughing) You … you hear that? “–except your own perceived need to attack.”

‘What are you talking about? I’m not going around feeling a need to attack! I never think about attacking. I never engage in anything … that comes anywhere near attack … unless I’m really, really, really upset. What are you talking about?’

… “There’s nothing to prevent you from recognizing all calls for help as exactly what they are, except your own perceived need to attack.” Well you can understand it a little bit better if we change the words to: ‘your own perceived need to defend yourselves’. And every day – in one way or another – you get up, ready to defend yourself.

Ready to defend yourself against traffic jams, inconsiderate drivers that are behaving poorly and causing slow-ups that will make you be late … to work – and perhaps threaten your job security because you’ve been late three times already.

You get up … careful … to see that … you run into the least obstacles … to having a successful day – which means that you expect obstacles – that you believe that you live in a hostile world, … one that you have to be on guard for … so that it won’t trip you up, and leave you at a loss at the end of the day. This attitude of being ready to defend yourself by … all the means you use: having a good plan, thinking things through ahead of time, so that you’re prepared, and so on. …

These defenses – even though you … describe them in glowing terms of respect – constitute an approach to your day and your world as though … it is against you and you are prepared for it not to take you down. And so, that is an attitude of attack. It is not … a state of mind that can be described as Love.

Your very approach to your days is a call for Love. Your very own approaches are calls for Love.

Again, because it’s important: “There is nothing to prevent you from recognizing all calls for help as exactly what they are” – calls for help – “except your own perceived need to attack. It is only this that makes you willing to engage in endless battles with Reality, in which you deny the Reality of the need for healing by making it unreal.” … How do you make it unreal?

You make the need for healing and you make the call for help unreal, by naming it something else. ‘What can you expect? She’s a bitch. What else can you expect? He’s a chronically dishonest person.’ You’ve made their behavior – which is a call for help … unreal … – invalid – by naming it something else – and then acting on the basis of what you have named it. And do you see that every time you do this, you miss connection – even though, on a camera, it might appear that there’s involvement.

And if you are missing the connection with your brother, but are still having … a mutual activity with him, what is going on? How would you describe what’s happening? Nonsense. Meaninglessness. And you know what? That’s what most of you see on the evening news.

“You would not do this” – in other words, … change the need for healing into something unreal – “You would not do this except for your unwillingness to perceive Reality” – “your unwillingness to perceive Reality” – “which you withhold from yourself.” (small laugh) You see? The Truth … sort of hits under the belt. It uncovers things that you’re doing, that you … didn’t know you were doing, and that you would say you weren’t doing.

‘What do you– … what do you mean, I have an unwillingness to perceive Reality?’ Well, if you give preference to your definitions of everything – in place of Reality – the Thing you’re giving definitions to – you’re withholding the experience of Reality from yourself. And of course, there’s a reason you’re doing it. And the reason is – which goes back to our initial … problem – the reason is that it’s your task … to practice the skill, which you believe your Father gave you, … to be like your Father, alongside Him.

And so you engage in making up these definitions – and then behaving toward everything on the basis of these definitions – because that is the way you are going to ultimately – you think – prove that you’re just like God – prove that you are … an authority – and prove that you’re right, not wrong.

And so it’s an emotionally-charged situation. You all hold– withhold Reality from yourself by trying to create an alternate reality … right where Reality is and right with the stuff of Reality. …

And that’s why I keep talking about the need to look at everything with innocent eyes. You haven’t realized you’ve been doing this, but you have been doing it, and you must break the cycle! And you break the cycle … by being willing to assume that maybe you’re not seeing everything as it is. And that maybe you’re not seeing everything as it is is causing discomfort, distress, … suffering … and all the negatives that seem to be part of life.

Continuing: “It is surely good advice to tell you not to judge what you do not understand.”

‘Oh, but I do understand. I know Joe … so well. I grew up with him. I know all his idiosyncracies. I understand him perfectly. You know, he came from … … a deprived home life. And he’s done really well … in the face of it. Lifted himself up by his own bootstraps.’ And blah, blah, blah. Got the whole picture down.

But wait a minute. … Is he … a product of his environment? Is his behavior predictable and understandable because of everything you know about all the physical aspects of his growing up? Or might there be more to him that he’s not aware of? Might there not be something Divine about him? … Might there not be another way to look at him – besides through your perception, your definitions?

Yes. … … You’ve go to dare to break the habit of perception.

Or put another way: You’ve got to do whatever it takes to break your habits of misperception … by being willing to look with new eyes – look with a willingness to see what is there that you have been overlooking. … You must be willing to … risk the chance that there might be some benefit in looking at things that you’re sure of, and saying to yourself: ‘I may not understand all there is to understand about this. There may be a lot more for me to understand.’ Your scientists are doing that in spite of the … power with which they declare what they already know. They are still digging, or reaching beyond … what they acknowledge is their present limited perception.

“It is surely good advice to tell you not to judge what you do not understand. No-one with a personal investment is a reliable witness, for Truth, to him, has become what he wants it to be.” …

‘Well, you know, I don’t want Joe to be … in the situation he’s in. … I don’t want to be unhappy because of what I see is going on with Joe.’ But the question is: Do you want to let go of the perceptions you have developed – the concepts, the definitions you have developed? …

Are you willing to let your mind be changed? … That’s the real question. So that Truth can be more than you want it to be from whatever your limited level of perception is? …

“If you are unwilling to perceive an appeal for help, as what it is, it is because you are unwilling to give help, and to receive it.” – because the two are one and the same thing.

“The analysis of the ego’s ‘real’ motivation is the modern equivalent of the ‘inquisition’, for in broth– for in both, a brother’s errors are ‘uncovered’, and then– he is then attacked, for his own good. What can this be but projection, for his errors lay in the minds of his interpreters, for which they punished him.” You see? They didn’t handle the problem where it lay, which was in their own mind, in … the criteria they were using to define … … the one they determined to be … at fault. … The one making a call for help, … who is being interpreted to be … a malicious, law-breaking citizen … – calling for justice, … – punishment, in other words, – instead of healing. And in this procedure, those analyzing him, … and then … judging him according to their analysis, and punishing him – for what they analyzed him to be – saved themselves from having to become involved; I’m going to say, involved at a heart level – involved at a level where real connection occurred. …

It saved them the effort and the trouble. And so they could stand … and look down … on the poor soul, and come to their judgment, … and send them on the way for their punishment and not be disturbed. (all said in a dainty voice)

“Whenever you fail to recognize a call for help,” … – as a call for help – “you are refusing help. Would you maintain that you do not need it? Yet this is what you are maintaining when you refuse to recognize a brother’s appeal, for only by answering his appeal can you be helped. Deny him your help, and you will not perceive God’s Answer to you.”

Healing is a together thing. Healing is … not something one does to another. …

“The Holy Spirit does not need your help in interpreting motivation, but you do need His. Only appreciation is an appropriate response to your brother. Gratitude is due him, for both his loving thoughts” – which are real – “and his appeals for help, for c- both are capable of bringing Love into your awareness if you perceive them truly. And all your sense of strain comes from your attempts not to do (just) this.” … … … ….

PAUL. Just a moment. … … … …

ANSWER. … … Paul is … getting hung up … …because what’s being said and what I’m sharing … creates a dilemma, … when someone who is expressing a call for help does not want to receive the help. … … When this happens … and a response of Love is not received, what happens? The temptation is provided by the ignorant behavior of the brother not wanting to receive the Love offered – the healing or the help offered – to– … It provides the opportunity for the one offering the help to … come to a judgment. ‘Wow, he or she really is a difficult person.’ You see? The temptation is … to succumb to … creating a definition … – even though originally a refusal to make a definition and operate according to it had been successfully accomplished. The refusal to accept the Love provides the opportunity and truly the demand not to abandon … staying with innocent vision … – not to formulate a definition … and then make commitment to it – and then behave toward that person as though the definition you’ve made up is true. …

This is part of the involvement. This is part of … giving the answer … of Love. It is – you might say – part of what you would call the stickiness of involvement. … Why? Because it appears then that a war is going on – a tug-of-war – where you are being invited to abandon your innocent vision – in favor of making up a definition, and behaving according to it, and thus moving into la la land – imaginationland … – where you’re lost. …

What it does is – this invitation to a tug-of-war – what it does is … it gives you the opportunity to make commitment to seeing with innocence – … just because. In other words, not because there’s a payoff for you – not because there’s a quick payoff … – but because it is what represents your Sane Mind. You see? Making commitment to being Sane seems like … hard work because you’ve been so used to doing something else. (laughing)

And so you look for alternatives to the hard work, not realizing that to see with innocence is natural to you – and is not the hard work it appears to be. … There’s a point at which you have to stand behind a commitment … to see what’s Real, and not be distracted from It by another’s behavior, or your very own inclination to move into the realm of imagination and live there, where you cannot be Conscious of Reality.

Continuing: “How simple then … is God’s Plan for Salvation. There is but one response to Reality, for Reality evokes no conflict at all. There is but one Teacher … of Reality, Who understands What It Is” … – the Holy Spirit – “He does not change His Mind about Reality, because Reality does not change, although your interpretations of Reality are meaningless in your divide- divided state – His remain consistently True. He gives them to you because they are for you. Do not attempt to quote ‘help’ a brother in your way, for you cannot help yourselves, but hear his call for the Help of God,” – your brother’s – but hear your brother’s call for the Help of God – “and you will recognize your own need for the Father.”

Unless of course you decide you are going to get back into your old habit of making definitions, and behaving on the basis of them. But if you’re not going … to make up a new definition that justifies your uninvolvement, … and makes you better than him, then you’re going to find yourself feeling at a loss … because you don’t know what the answer is. And so you’re going to recognize you need God, as much as … the one calling for help recognizes that he or she needs something, even though it’s probably not God, as far as they’re concerned – but just something that will reconfirm for them the rightness of what they’re doing, and that they shouldn’t be suffering for doing it the way they’re doing it. So this is very important. 1:03:21:9

… … “Your interpretations of your brother’s need is your interpretation of yours. … By giving help, you are asking for it.” And I … I would say: if you haven’t asked for it, you won’t have anything to give. So the two are inseparable.

“By giving help, you are asking for it. And if you perceive but one need in yourself, you will be healed. For you will recognize God’s Answer, as you want It to be.” – Meaning, truly want It to be, as God’s Answer. – “And if you want It in Truth It will be truly yours.”

You see? So the question is: ‘Do you want be– Do you want to be able to … make up a definition … of a brother, who’s calling for help, … by behaving badly – do you want to be able to make up a definition about it … that provides you with a handy way to resolve it through judgment, and no involvement, … and continue to be ignorant of your own … Place of Excellence – the Place of Excellence in you, and remain unconscious of your access to It – … and continue on with your brother, where both of you are missing each other – where both of you are not connecting with each other, even through it … appears that there is involvement. Do you want that? … Or do you want … what really heals?

“Every appeal you answer in the Name of Christ brings the remembrance of your Father closer to your awareness.” – “Every appeal you answer in the Name of Christ” – in the Name of your True Nature – in the Name of the Place of Excellence in you – “brings the remembrance of your Father closer to your awareness.” – Why? Because you’re breaking the isolation – the bill of divorcement. … – And when you break it, … the experience of Family – connection with your Father – your Source – immediately, … it would seem – resurges in you … and fills you up, … because you’re no longer blocking it.

“For the sake of your need, then, hear every call for help as what it is,” – why? – “so God can answer you.” …

… Complicated? No. … Simple to understand? Yes. … Happifying? No. Relieving? No. … … Why? … It’s a question you all need to ask yourselves.

Well I’m gonna tell you: it’s because you don’t think you can … rise to the occasion. You don’t think you can really be this way. You don’t think you have what it takes. … It will … be too much work. Why? Because it’s not natural to you, you don’t think. …

And so, someone else’s definition of you … has settled in you, and you’ve taken it to heart, and you believe it. … And so you never even begin to wriggle inside of the chrysalis you’re in – or stretch inside of the egg and peck away at it, … when that’s what’s absolutely essential. Why? Because although you can manage to … put up with … the distresses of your daily life – the human condition … – they’re not … bad enough to motivate you to peck at the shell or strain at the confinement of the chrysalis so that the chrysalis might snap, so that your definitions might … break – and you can see … that they had not the strength to confine the Christ That You Are – the Divine One That You Are. …

… “By applying … the Holy Spirit’s interpretation … of the reactions of others, more and more consistently, you will gain an increasing awareness that His criteria are equally applicable to you. For to recognize fear is not enough to escape from it, although the recognition is necessary to demonstrate the need for escape. The Holy Spirit must still translate it … into Truth. If you were left with the fear, having recognized it, you would have taken a step away from Reality” – away from Reality – “not towards It. Yet we have repeatedly emphasized the need to recognize fear and face it – without disguise – as a crucial step in the undoing of the ego.” “–in the undoing of the ego”: in the undoing of the habit pattern that you have adopted as your identity, and the reason for your behavior – and the justifications for your behavior – including your habit of giving definitions and evaluations to everyone else about them – and using them as your criteria … for … behaving the way you do toward them. … …

“Consider how well the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of the motivus– motives of others will serve you then.” Well they will serve you very well. … … This is … this is not a spot – in terms of the unfoldment of … the things needing to be understood – for me to tell you sweet things, … and to give you words of encouragement … that would allow you to relax. Because the moment you … feel … relaxed, you’ll stop paying attention with earnestness … at what you need to pay attention to, which is … first of all, your inclination to approach your day as though … it’s hostile world – with things you need to be guarded against – so that you are in … a dull mode of self-defense, which is really attack. And second, where you … – where you don’t just give preference to, but you make commitment to … your … defining everything without ever connecting to What It Really Is. … And, thirdly – and perhaps most importantly, … your habit … of defining your brother’s – I’m just going to say: behavior, because … none of you … consistently express Love so that it’s the predominant thing that everyone recognizes about you as they observe you, as you go through your day.

Your behavior … is a call for Love. That means anyone you look at – their behavior, for the most part, is a call for Love – a request for help, … because so much of their day is approached from a feeling of ignorance that must somehow become equal to the demands of the day, so as not to cause that one to feel depressed at the end of the day, because everything went so badly. … And so their behavior is not inspired … with Love. Your behavior, for the most part, isn’t inspired with Love. But that’s … your Birthright – for it to be inspired with Love.

So, … you’ve got to be alert to … your very definite inclination to interpret what a brother is, and what he’s being, as you are in relation to him, and … your reluctance to step past the definition you create … – so as to perhaps really connect with that one and have the opportunity to find out whether their behavior is- truly is a call for Love – a call for help – or whether it was an expression of Love perhaps that pushed you beyond the limits you wanted to be pushed. And therefore, you said: ‘That one … is behaving badly.’ And then you proceeded to … treat that individual on the basis of the definition you gave. …

We’re talking about being more Conscious. You could say: We’re talking about using a little more … discipline of your mind. Oh, oh. Work, work, work, work. Discipline, discipline.

You know what? (small laugh) What … what would you call it if … you sat down one day and you neglected to worry? You just neglected to worry? Well you would find you were in your Peace the whole day.

Were you in your Peace because you used self-discipline? Yes, but not in terms of work. You expressed discipline by consistently neglecting to do what doesn’t work. It’s simple. … You aren’t going to abandon what doesn’t work without a Conscious choice to do it. There’s going to have to be focus. … … The rewards are great. … The rewards are … your … unchangeable Birthright – Divine Birthright – beginning to register with you – because you’re … neglecting to obscure It … – with your personal effort to be something on your own.

So, … this week I invite you to conscientiously – which means consistently and persistently – observe … how quickly – how spontaneously – you bring definitions into play about your fellow man. And then, watch … how long it takes you to abandon them. Notice whether or not you spend an hour building on … that definition; as I said, fabricating a scenario of events in your mind. Notice how much valuable conscious experience – I’m not going to say how much time – how much valuable conscious experience you’ve wasted … in imaginationland – so you might see … just how effectively you’re keeping yourself unconscious of Reality. – Because once you see that, it will be much easier for you to make a choice … for using your mind well.

And it will be that much easier … to recognize that you don’t want to choose for what doesn’t work, so that you might more easily choose for God’s Plan for Salvation … – which is choosing for (small laugh) what works. Choosing … for what works because … that’s the way it’s … been set up. It’s … the setup that’s already in place. … Unchangeably.