Does cause-and-effect exist only in this world ? Q #829: There is a passage in the text (T.2.VI.4; VII.1) of A Course in Miracles where Jesus tells us that we are making a mistake when we ask him to release us from our fear. The correction of fear is our responsibility, he states; he cannot take it away, as that would be “tampering with a basic law of cause and effect, the most fundamental law there is. I would hardly help you if I depreciated the power of your own thinking. This would be in direct opposition to the purpose of this course.” Is it correct to say that the law of cause and effect exists only within this world, as part of a dualistic world and belief in separation? Our only responsibility to accept the correction for the error, the Atonement, and forgive, and that once we accept the only cause, God, as causing us, we will recognize that everything else is an unreal effect of an unreal cause, the ego. Are we bound by cause and effect only to the degree that we fail to accept, or defend against, the Atonement, and to the degree we think sin and guilt are real? One particular workbook lesson comes to mind: “Gods Will for me is perfect happiness. There is no sin, it has no consequence” (W.pI.101.6:6,7). This seems to break the cause and effect connection, saying that if we forgive in this moment and accept that we are inflicting the perceived pain on ourselves and accept Gods happiness again, we are free of the illusory effect because we gave up the illusory cause, the ego. Does Jesus mean there is cause and effect in that we willingly have to participate in forgiving the illusory cause, ego and accept the only Cause again? A: You are definitely heading in the right direction. We have devoted an entire tape album to this topic because of its centrality in the Courses thought system, and to do justice to your question we would have to say far more than we have space for here. But we will try to cover the key points. First, the principle applies to Heaven as well as to this world. In Heaven God is the First Cause and the Effect is His Son, beautifully rendered in the Lesson “I am forever an Effect of God” (W.pII.326) . The text also describes this cause-effect principle in a poetic way: “The cause a cause is made by its effects; the Father is a Father by His Son” (T.28.II.1:2) . In the world the cause-effect principle is commonly defined as “every action will have a reaction.” The essence of it is that for a cause to be a cause, it must have effects; if there are no effects, then it cannot be said to be a cause. An effect requires a cause, and if there is no cause, then it cannot be said to be an effect. The relevance of this to our personal work with the Course -- to state it in the briefest way possible -- is that our belief that we separated from God (our “sin”) is the cause of our being here in the world and of all our problems here as well; therefore, if we can show that that cause has had no effects, then the cause will have been nullified as a cause. In other words, we will have “undone” the separation (our “sin”), and then the awareness of loves presence will have been restored to our minds. The world and our individual selves would have disappeared back into the nothingness from which they came. We would once again be our true Self, Christ, Gods one Son. Thus, “I am forever an Effect of God” (W.pII.326) . Abbreviating, again, what would take many pages to unfold, forgiveness is the way we learn that sin has had no effect. And that, of course, is what the entire Course is about. So you are correct in saying that our only responsibility is to accept the Atonement for ourselves, and that forgiveness is the means of our doing that. In the passages you referred to, the main point Jesus is making is that we are decision-making minds -- very powerful minds -- and that he will never interfere with that power, for if we do not recognize and respect the power of our minds to choose the ego, we will not be able to call upon that same power to correct that mistake. The entire Course rests on this -- its whole purpose is to get us to respect the power of our thinking, not to depreciate it. Thus, when we ask the Holy Spirit things like getting us a parking space, or to heal cancer, bring about world peace, or to do anything in this world, we are asking Him to tamper with the law of cause and effect and thus to depreciate and deny the power of our minds. He will not do that. “This is a course in cause and not in effect,” Jesus reminds us (T.21.VII.7:8) . And the cause he always brings us back to is that we believe we live as individuals in a world outside God and Heaven -- the “tiny, mad idea” he describes in the text (T.27.VIII.6:2) . In one paragraph in the section called “The ‘Hero of the Dream,” (T.27.VIII) , Jesus essentially presents us with a model of the gentle process of forgiveness as it is meant to be. We do not deny how terrible we feel; we just bring these terrible effects to him or the Holy Spirit, where we will look together at them, and then beyond them to their cause. And when we realize the cause is just a silly thought not deserving of our belief any longer, we will simply smile and then be at peace: “In gentle laughter does the Holy Spirit perceive the cause, and looks not to effects. How else could He correct your error, who have overlooked the cause entirely? He bids you bring each terrible effect to Him that you may look together on its foolish cause and laugh with Him a while. You judge effects, but He has judge their cause. And by His judgment are effects removed. Perhaps you come in tears. But hear Him say, ‘My brother, holy Son of God, behold your idle dream, in which this could occur. And you will leave the holy instant with your laughter and your brothers joined with His” (T.27.VIII.9). facimoutreach.org/qa/questions/questions160.htm#Q829
Posted on: Sun, 04 May 2014 13:00:54 +0000
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