Notes on the Text of A Course in - Stephen Wingate

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The body is the embodiment of the ego's thought
system of separation, sin, guilt and death.
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The ego makes the body and world in an attempt to
make itself real.
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The unholy relationship is the special love or hate
relationship. The holy relationship is in the holy
instant which is our timeless, formless identity as
spirit. Judgment is when we see bodies as
instruments of separation. Vision is when we see
bodies as instruments for communication of the
Atonement through forgiveness.
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Strength is in the realization that our brother is a
projection of our mind. We choose the body as our
home so we can keep our separate identity from God,
but blame others for it. Our power is in our mind, not
the body. When we identify with the body we lose
awareness of our true power in the mind. We use the
body to attract other bodies, which keeps us
distracted, powerless and out of our mind.
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The mind is the cause, the body is an effect. Our
actions as bodies in the world are a reflection of the
purpose we hold for them in the mind. The purpose
we hold for the body in the mind is a reflection of
who we choose to identify with: the Holy Spirit or
the ego, which determines whether our relationships
are holy or unholy. The temple of the Holy Spirit is
in the mind, not the body.
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Idols are the sin and guilt of special relationships
which are projections of the ego's thought system.
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Relationships are not between two bodies.
Relationships are in the mind, and are either a
relationship with the ego which is not real, or the
Holy Spirit which is real.
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The face of Christ is the symbol for the face of
innocence and forgiveness.
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Your true self is the Son of God, one with the Father
in Spirit. The Holy Spirit has set His temple in the
Son of God's mind, not the ego's body.
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We look closer now at the importance of purpose in
our lives. Our goal is to either awaken from the
dream of separation with the help of Jesus or the
Holy Spirit through forgiveness and the Atonement;
<strong>Notes</strong> on Chapter Twenty – The Vision of Holiness
71
or to stay asleep in our nightmare by holding onto
the ego and staying identified with the body and its
special relationships based on sin and guilt. Our goal
determines the purpose we assign to our relationships
and will make them holy or unholy accordingly.
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The Course will seem difficult when we try to use it
for mutually exclusive goals. If we try to use it to
awaken from our nightmare of special separate
existence, and at the same time hold on to our special
separate existence, we will be conflicted. The
darkness of the ego must dissolve in the light of the
Holy Spirit. The means to awakening are
forgiveness, the Atonement, and looking within with
Jesus and the Holy Spirit to bring the darkness of the
ego to the light of love.
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And now we turn to the holy relationship and the
Holy Spirit's purpose for the body. The perception of
the body and world serve as a reflection of what we
believe we are in the mind.
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Through forgiveness, our special unholy
relationships become the holy relationship. Jesus
represents the egoless state in us, and as we walk
with him he takes us through the darkness of the ego
and on to the light of love on the other side.
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We offer the thorns of crucifixion to Jesus when we
offer thorns to our brother. We offer the lilies of
forgiveness to Jesus when we offer lilies to our
brother.
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The fear of God is the final obstacle to peace.
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Our savior is our brother because we projected our
guilt onto him, burying it in our mind. By letting
Jesus reinterpret the relationship for us we become
aware that what we condemned in our brother is a
projection of what we condemned in ourselves. And
looking within we realize the attack on ourselves was
in the decision our mind made to put our belief in the
ego instead of the Holy Spirit, and now we can
choose again.
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My fear of you is due to the sin and guilt I have
within me, projected onto you, and now I fear your
retaliation. When I am free of the illusion of sin and
guilt in me, I have no fear of you. We walk in fear of
the world because we have projected our own self
image of a murderer onto the world. All fear is a