July 30th 2014 Lesson 134
Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.
- Intention: To practice true forgiveness.
- Practice:
Spend fifteen minutes twice today with the Guide Who understands the meaning of forgiveness, and was sent to us to teach it. In
addition, practice forgiveness throughout the day, by reminding yourself that forgiveness stands between illusions and the truth.
- Application:
-- Begin by asking your Guide:
Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.
Then choose one brother as He will direct, and catalogue his "sins," as one by one they cross your mind. Be certain not to dwell on any one of them, but realize that you are using his "offenses" but to save the world from all ideas of sin. Briefly consider all the evil things you thought of him, and each time ask yourself, "Would I condemn myself for doing this?".
Let him be freed from all the thoughts you had of sin in him. And now you are prepared for freedom. If you have been practicing thus far in willingness and honesty, you will begin to sense a lifting up, a lightening of weight across your chest, a deep and certain feeling of relief. The time remaining should be given to experiencing the escape from all the heavy chains you sought to lay upon your brother, but were laid upon yourself.
Throughout the day, practice forgiveness for there will still be many times when you forget its meaning and attack yourself. When this occurs, allow your mind to see through this illusion as you tell yourself:
Let me perceive forgiveness as it is. Would I accuse myself of doing this?
I will not lay this chain upon myself.
In everything you do remember this:
No one is crucified alone, and yet no one can enter Heaven by himself.
Insights/comments:
- This is a difficult lesson for us to grasp only because we believe so strongly in the idea of "sin," which itself rests on the beliefs that we are separate from each other and from God, and that this world and all its happenings are real and not a dream.
To truly understand forgiveness we must see "sin" in the context it truly is, i.e. a fantasy, a dream, an illusion of reality not based on what is eternally truth as God created it. God did not create separation, individual bodies, nor space and time. These are all part of our dream world, in which things that have no reality seem to be real. We can also contextualize "sin" in light of God who is real and perfect, as is His creation. Nothing that contradicts his perfection can be real for only what God created has any reality. This does not mean that "sin" cannot be experienced, for we know that it can, but it does mean that "sin" is no more real than a dream, which we know is unreal even though we can experience it as real.
Once we understand the unreality of this dream world that we perceive, we can better understand the unreality of all that it supports, like the concepts of separation, and sin. If this world is a dream, then these concepts must also be a dream. Despite what we perceive to the contrary, they are only illusions in our minds. I and my brother and God are one, and to condemn anyone is to condemn myself and God. This is not something I wish, so this is why forgiveness is needed, for my own sake. While we still perceive the illusions as real, forgiveness, which is also another illusion, but one that does not generate further illusions, is needed to help us bridge the gap between illusions and the truth.
I and my Creator are One. 
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