Notes on the Text of A Course in - Stephen Wingate

Main Theme: In Chapter Five we are formally
introduced to the Holy Spirit. It is the first time in the
Course the Holy Spirit is addressed in detail. The
Holy Spirit is the loving teacher of oneness that
guides us through the chaos of the separation of the
ego. The Holy Spirit is always with us but is covered
over by the loud voice of the ego.
It is important to be aware that the Course uses
dualistic and anthropomorphic words and symbols
that represent the ego, God, Jesus, and the Holy
Spirit; and we should not take the words and symbols
literally. The underlying content of the Course is to
be taken literally, but not the form. The Holy Spirit is
a thought in our mind that represents the memory of
our oneness with God.
•
The Holy Spirit speaks to us on the same level at
which we believe we are — separate bodies in a
world. We perceive most of our problems are in our
special relationships, so the Holy Spirit addresses our
special relationships and that is where our healing
occurs. In reality there are no relationships between
bodies; relationships are the projections of thought in
our mind. As long as we believe we are bodies in
relationship with other bodies, the Holy Spirit helps
us heal our relationships. In reality healing only
occurs in the mind. Strictly speaking it is not the
Holy Spirit who heals, we heal, because we chose the
ego which is the source of our problems, and we
choose the Holy Spirit Who reminds us of our
oneness with God's love that heals all problems. The
Course uses what the ego made, and reinterprets and
transforms it to facilitate healing.
•
The ego uses our perceived problems to keep us
prisoner of the body and world. The Holy Spirit uses
problems in the world as a classroom to help free us
from identification with the body and world. The
Holy Spirit operates in our mind with loving and
gentle strength.
•
The Holy Spirit does not take action in our world or
body. It does not heal sickness in the body or resolve
conflicts in our world for us. The Holy Spirit is the
quiet presence in our mind that reminds us of what
we have forgotten — our oneness with God. When
we choose to identify with the separation and
CHAPTER FIVE
HEALING AND WHOLENESS
18
conflict of the ego, the Holy Spirit is the Voice that
reminds us to choose again.
•
Our original problem was not the "tiny mad idea"
(the idea we separated from God), but our problem is
that we believed it and took it seriously. As a later
section in the Course says, "We remembered not to
laugh." Even when we feel embroiled in our world of
"serious" problems, the tender loving smile of the
Holy Spirit is with us and reminds us there is another
way to see this.
•
The Workbook for Students refers to the world as
"the place where starved and thirsty creatures come
to die." The ego made the world as an attack on
God's oneness. The Holy Spirit uses the world we
made to help us realize the world can have another
purpose. We are not asked to deny the body or the
world, but to see them differently. We cannot skip
steps in our understanding. We need a gradual
approach with a patient teacher who will help us look
at the body and world differently at a pace that will
not evoke fear. We must look at the world and
realize it is a projection of the mind. So we use what
we see in the world to get back to what our mind has
chosen — the ego's conflict and separation rather
than God's love and oneness.
•
Ideas make our world. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are
ideas in our mind that represent symbols of the right
minded choice for the Atonement rather than the
ego's wrong minded choice for separation. I am an
idea. You are an idea. The world is an idea. The ego
is an idea. God is an idea. Everything is an idea.
•
Ideas are strengthened as they are shared. The more
love you extend, the more you feel. The more guilt
you project, the more you feel. Forgiveness is the
way we share the Atonement. The Holy Spirit is an
idea in the mind that represents the choice for God's
oneness and shared interests. The ego is an idea in
the mind that represents the choice for separation and
selfish interests. The Holy Spirit serves as a reminder
that we can choose the oneness of God's love rather
than the ego's separation. The Course comes as a
Text and Workbook because we must learn to
remember the true identity of who we are, and
unlearn our identity with the ego. We must learn the
difference between reality and illusion.