If Jesus relinquished his ego, why didnt we all? Q #852: Referring to “Redemption must be one” (W.pII.295.1:4), I ask how Jesus or any “individual” can be outside the dream while the rest of us are inside the dream. It seems that Jesus success in relinquishing his “ego” would have been accomplished for all of us. Yet here in the dream we remain. A: Yes, “here in the dream we remain,” as long as we choose to stay asleep. Meanwhile, the truth is we are all awake with Jesus, who represents the part of the mind that is “outside the dream.” The difference for him is that he identifies only with this part of the mind, while those who sleep choose to identify with the ego. Moreover, there is no “individual” who is awake, because awakening means acceptance of the oneness of Gods Son. It is a choice for the truth of oneness rather than for the separation of the ego. Neither is anyone actually “inside the dream.” For example, although you may dream of roaming the hills of Tuscany during a nocturnal dream, you know as you awake that you were not in Tuscany at all. The problem is not that we dream, but that we identify with the figure in the dream and all the events of the dream. This is a purposeful choice, the goal of which is to be separate and special, reflecting the minds decision to say no to the Identity God gave His Son. In reality there is no distinction between Jesus and “the rest of us.” Oneness is oneness and there we all remain. What keeps this from awareness is the decision to believe that separation offers “…something more than everything, as if a part of it were separated off and found where all the rest of it is not” (T.29.VII.2:3). The “something” is specialness. That is what is chosen, cherished, and preferred to redemption, and what distinguishes us from Jesus. He did not actually relinquish the ego. He is the name given to the part of the mind of the Sonship that never bought into the idea of the separation in the first place : “The man [Jesus] was an illusion, for he seemed to be a separate being, walking by himself, within a body that appeared to hold his self from Self, as all illusions do... he saw the false without accepting it as true” (C.5.2:3,5). When the “tiny, mad idea” (T.27.VIII.6:2) seemed to occur, part of the mind knew all along that it was impossible. This part of the mind was not obliterated by the sleep of separation. That is why Jesus tells us: “When I said ‘I am with you always, I meant it literally. I am not absent to anyone in any situation” (T.7.III.1:7,8). Thus, returning to the example of the nocturnal dream in Tuscany, you carry into the dream a sense (memory) of who you are. You do not dream that you are Napoleon roaming the hills, nor do you leave your bed for the trip. Nothing actually happens, although during the dream it seems very real: “ You recognize from your own experience that what you see in dreams you think is real while you are asleep. Yet the instant you waken you realize that everything that seemed to happen in the dream did not happen at all. You do not think this strange, even though all the laws of what you awaken to were violated while you slept” (T.10.I.2:3,4,5) . Our analogy ends with the significant distinction that the dream of separation is the result of a choice in the mind, and the projection of guilt for that choice. To defend its choice for separation, the mind denies its power by making a body where external agents seem to be the cause of everything that happens from birth to death. The dreams script, therefore, begins with the cry: “I dont know how I got here, and it is not my fault that Im here!” Jesus message from outside the dream is to tell us, first of all, that we are not really here, and secondly that it is our choice to believe that we are. It is resistance to hearing and accepting his message that leads to diversionary considerations, such as the “unfairness” of Jesus envious position as the first to make it out of the dream, leaving us behind. Most likely he is aware of our “mild irritation” with him for this, and so he tells us: “There is nothing about me that you cannot attain. I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else” (T.1.II.3:10,11,12) . Our goal, therefore, is to join with Jesus in our oneness by undoing our belief that we have what does not come from God, i.e., separation/ specialness. His loving message in A Course in Miracles that the mind that chose separation can choose differently is all the help we need to reach beyond the dream to the truth of our awakening. Jesus quiets every fear that we are have been left out of his redemption: “My mind will always be like yours, because we were created as equals. It was only my decision that gave me all power in Heaven and earth. My only gift to you is to help you make the same decision” (T.5.II.9:1,2,3). facimoutreach.org/qa/questions/questions166.htm#Q852
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 12:16:32 +0000
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