Notes on the Text of A Course in - Stephen Wingate

<strong>Notes</strong> on Chapter Nineteen – The Attainment of Peace
our error at its source which is in our mind.
Therefore we begin the correction of our error by
forgiving others, not for their sin, but for the sin we
have projected onto them.
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And now we turn to the first obstacle to peace — the
desire to get rid of it. We do not want peace because
without conflict and separation we have no special
separate existence. Conflict proves we are real and
separate.
•
The little wall of hatred is the sin and guilt
(selfishness) we project onto our brothers. The
projection of sin and guilt is referred to as an attack.
Believing we are separate from and in conflict with
God and our brothers, we feel justified in defending
ourselves and attacking them back. This is the first
obstacle to peace we must overcome: the desire to
get rid of peace.
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The "messengers of fear" is an anthropomorphic
symbol that refers to the process of projecting our
sin, guilt and fear onto the world of bodies. "Our lord
and master" refers to sin, guilt, fear or the ego
throughout the Text. We actively seek and love to
find fault with people in the world; we love to
condemn and judge because by finding guilt in
others we believe we can maintain our innocence.
•
Many passages in the Text are disturbing because
they represent all of us as separate egos. However,
the reality of who we are is Christ Who does not
attack and cannot be preyed upon. To realize the
truth of who we are we must be willing to bring the
obstacles of darkness to the light of the Holy Spirit
Who reminds us of the light of Christ in all of us.
The ego made the body and world so it could project
its sin, guilt and fear out of the mind, and maintain
its face of innocence. Once we find sin and guilt in
others we feel justified in attacking them.
Next we look at the second obstacle to peace: the
belief that the body is valuable, and the attraction of
pain.
•
We love to be treated unfairly, attacked and
mistreated because it proves we are innocent victims,
and that sin and guilt are outside of us in our
victimizers. Pain means I am real. Identifying with
the body provides the ego a "home." Pain and
pleasure of the body seem to witness to the reality of
the ego's special separate existence. This is the
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attraction of the body and pain that we must
overcome to realize the truth of our eternal Identity
with Christ in Spirit.
•
I am attracted to finding guilt in you because that is
how I believe I can avoid guilt and pain in myself.
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The third obstacle to peace, the attraction of death,
and the fourth obstacle to peace, the fear of God, are
closely related.
•
By bringing the obstacles to peace to the light of
awareness we are able to make a conscious choice
for the Holy Spirit rather than the ego. The ego
makes the body as a distraction so the Son of God
will not choose the Holy Spirit.
•
The Universal Purpose is the Atonement. The body
has no purpose apart from the purpose the mind
assigns to it. The Holy Spirit in our right mind uses
the body as a communication device to extend
forgiveness and the Atonement. The ego uses the
body as a weapon to prove and maintain the ego's
special separate existence. We, the Son of God as the
decision maker, determine the purpose the body is to
serve by choosing the ego or the Holy Spirit as our
guide and teacher.
•
The "tiny mad idea" is the idea that the separation
from God is real. This "tiny mad idea" of separation
is embodied by the body in the world. The body is
the tiny mad idea in the mind of the Son.
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Sickness and healing are in the mind, not the body.
Dissociation is the attempt to split off two
irreconcilable thought systems in the mind by
ignoring or dissociating one of them. This is referred
to as the split mind in the Chart, and is represented
by the Holy Spirit in the right mind, and the ego in
the wrong mind. Dissociation, the split mind, is
healed by bringing the darkness of the ego to the
light of the Holy Spirit.
•
Ideas leave not their source. Sickness is the decision
for guilt in the mind. The ego's goal is to maintain its
separate existence. By having us identify our self
with the body, it maintains itself, and keeps us from
questioning our true identity in the mind. By
believing sickness is of the body, not the mind, the
ego keeps us focused on the body and maintains its
separate existence — until we choose again.