A Course In Miracles

CHAPTER 3: THE INNOCENT PERCEPTION

I. Atonement without Sacrifice

“A further point must be perfectly clear before any residual fear still associated with miracles can disappear. The crucifixion did not establish the Atonement; the resurrection did. Many sincere Christians have misunderstood this.” (1:1-3)

“If the crucifixion is seen from an upside-down point of view, it does appear as if God permitted and even encouraged one of His Sons to suffer because he was good. This particularly unfortunate interpretation, which arose out of projection, has led many people to be bitterly afraid of God.” (1:5-6)

“Yet the real Christian should pause and ask, “How could this be?” (1:8)

“It is unwise to accept any concept if you have to invert a whole frame of reference in order to justify it.” (2:2)

“Persecution frequently results in an attempt to “justify” the terrible misperception that God Himself persecuted His Own Son on behalf of salvation.” (2:4)

“The statement “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord” is a misperception by which one assigns his own “evil” past to God. The “evil” past has nothing to do with God. He did not create it and He does nothing to maintain it. God does not believe in retribution.” (3:1-4)

“Sacrifice is a notion totally unknown to God. It arises solely from fear, and frightened people can be vicious.” (4:1-2)

“Innocence is incapable of sacrificing anything, because the innocent mind has everything and strives only to protect its wholeness.” (6:1)

“The Atonement itself radiates nothing but truth. It therefore epitomizes harmlessness and sheds only blessing. It could not do this if it arose from anything but perfect innocence.” (7:1-3)

“The resurrection demonstrated that nothing can destroy truth. Good can withstand any form of evil, as light abolishes forms of darkness.” (7:6-7)

“Knowing His Son as he is, you realize that the Atonement, not sacrifice, is the only appropriate gift for God’s altar, where nothing except perfection belongs. The understanding of the innocent is truth. That is why their altars are truly radiant.” (8:3-5)

In summary, section 1: “Atonement without Sacrifice” is saying:

It may appear at first glance that the crucifixion of Jesus was a great sacrifice on His part for us. It appears to be that He gave up His body on our behalf, to “atone” for our sins against God. However, here we learn the truth: Jesus did not sacrifice His body on behalf of our sins. Rather, He willingly gave it up, without any sense of sacrifice or loss, to demonstrate through the resurrection that the body is not who we are. Our gift from Jesus was not His death, but His resurrection. The Atonement is the acceptance of the belief we are one with Christ. It is to also accept we are as innocent as He is, and there is nothing to “atone” for in the first place. To kill the body is merely a mistake in thinking it is who we are. To correct it, we must understand there is no point in harming one another’s bodies, as we are attacking what is nothing. In truth, we are innocent and perfect in our Wholeness with God and all Creation. No sacrifice need be made in order to achieve our perfection, but only acceptance of it. And with this thought, our inner altar to God becomes “truly radiant.”

II. Miracles as True Perception

“Certain fundamental concepts cannot be understood in terms of opposites. It is impossible to conceive of light and darkness or everything and nothing as joint possibilities. They are all true or all false.” (1:2-4)

“The miracle perceives everything as it is. If nothing but the truth exists, right-minded seeing cannot see anything but perfection.” (3:4-5)

“Nothing can prevail against a Son of God who commends his spirit into the Hands of his Father. By doing this the mind awakens from its sleep and remembers its Creator. All sense of separation disappears.” (5:1-3)

“Understanding the lesson of the Atonement they are without the wish to attack, and therefore they see truly.” (5:9)

“The way to correct distortions is to withdraw your faith in them and invest it only in what is true.” (6:1)

“If you perceive truly you are cancelling out misperceptions in yourself and in others simultaneously.” (6:5)

“This is the healing that the miracle induces.” (6:7)

In summary, section 2: “Miracles as True Perception” is saying:

What does it mean to see with “true perception?” It is a way of seeing the world through understanding that both truth and un-truth cannot both be real. If light is the truth, then how can darkness also be true? If our bodies are real, then how can we also be love and light? One must be false, because fundamental principles of existence cannot contradict one another. Yet we can imagine that such contradictions do indeed exist, and such fantasies then can seem to be our real experience, despite their falsity. This world is based upon the false experience of our separation. In order to correct this mistake, we must look upon the world and each other through miraculous thinking: the knowing that such separation is indeed false, and nothing but our Oneness exists in truth. Such thinking is true perception. It is to understand and live the message of the Atonement. Such seeing is the way to correct what we see now and cancel out all misperceptions in others and ourselves. This healing of the mind is the miracle of true perception.

III. Perception versus Knowledge

“We have been emphasizing perception, and have said very little about knowledge as yet. This is because perception must be straightened out before you can know anything. To know is to be certain.” (1:1-3)

“All your difficulties stem from the fact that you do not recognize yourself, your brother or God.” (2:1)

“You can see in many ways because perception involves interpretation, and this means that it is not whole or consistent.” (2:3)

“Questioning illusions is the first step in undoing them. The miracle, or the right answer, corrects them.” (2:6-7)

“To perceive the truth is not the same as to know it.” (5:13)

“If you attack error in another, you will hurt yourself. You cannot know your brother when you attack him.” (7:1-2)

“Perceive him correctly so that you can know him. There are no strangers in God’s creation.” (7:6-7)

“God knows His children with perfect certainty. He created them by knowing them. He recognizes them perfectly. When they do not recognize each other, they do not recognize Him.” (7:9-12)

In summary, section 3: “Perception versus Knowledge” is saying:

To perceive the truth and to know it are two different things. We can look upon the world and perceive it as an illusion of separation, but still act as though we are all separate. Once we have embraced the knowledge of the truth of our Union, we will also behave accordingly. Our actions will match what we perceive in our minds. This means we will cease to attack others, knowing we are attacking a part of our One Self. Kindness and love will abound in all we do in relation to everything in the world around us. When perception has moved into knowledge, we will love one another without thinking, for we will recognize God in everyone we see.

IV. Error and the Ego

“The ego is the questioning aspect of the post-separation self, which was made rather than created. It is capable of asking questions but not of perceiving meaningful answers, because these would involve knowledge and cannot be perceived.” (3:1-2)

“Right-mindedness is not to be confused with the knowing mind, because it is applicable only to right perception. You can be right-minded or wrong-minded, and even this is subject to degrees, clearly demonstrating that knowledge is not involved.” (4:1-2)

“The mind returns to its proper function only when it wills to know. This places it in the service of spirit, where perception is changed.” (5:6-7)

“The ability to perceive made the body possible, because you must perceive something and with something.” (6:1)

“The interpretative function of perception, a distorted form of creation, then permits you to interpret the body as yourself in an attempt toescape from the conflict you have induced. Spirit, which knows, could not be reconciled with this loss of power, because it is incapable of darkness.” (6:3-4)

“God and His creations remain in surety, and therefore know that no miscreation exists.” (7:1)

“I was a man who remembered spirit and its knowledge. As a man I did not attempt to counteract error with knowledge, but to correct error from the bottom up. I demonstrated both the powerlessness of the body and the power of the mind.” (7:3-5)

“Only your misperceptions stand in your way.” (7:8)

“The “chosen ones” are merely those who choose right sooner. Right minds can do this now, and they will find rest unto their souls.” (7:14-15)

In summary, section 4: “Error and the Ego” is saying:

The ego is our “wrong mind.” It is the aspect of our thinking that is capable of questioning but not of accepting an answer that is the truth. When we are in our right mind, we can accept degrees of truth, but true knowledge means we have accepted it without compromise. The fact that we do make compromises is indicated by our chaotic behavior. Sometimes we act lovingly towards one another and sometimes we attack. We have such erratic reactions to one another, because we are only capable of sometimes perceiving the truth and sometimes not. We do not fully know the truth until our understanding consistently causes us to align with love. The only thing that stands in our way of total understanding is our choice to misperceive – to see the body rather than perceiving God within the body. To choose to see beyond the misperception of the body is to choose correctly. We can do this at any instant we so decide. In fact, we can do this now, and instantly find inner peace and rest.

V. Beyond Perception

“I have said that the abilities you possess are only shadows of your real strength, and that perception, which is inherently judgmental, was introduced only after the separation. No one has been sure of anything since. I have also made it clear that the resurrection was the means for the return to knowledge, which was accomplished by the union of my will with the Father’s. We can now establish a distinction that will clarify some of our subsequent statements.” (1:1-4)

“Since the separation, the words “create” and “make” have become confused. When you make something, you do so out of a specific sense of lack or need.” (2:1-2)

“When you make something to fill a perceived lack, you are tacitly implying that you believe in separation.” (2:4)

“The confusion between your real creation and what you have made of yourself is so profound that it has become literally impossible for you to know anything. Knowledge is always stable, and it is quite evident that you are not.” (3:2-3)

“You keep asking what it is you are.” (4:2)

“Yet you cannot perceive correctly. You have no image to be perceived. The word “image” is always perception-related, and not a part of knowledge. Images are symbolic and stand for something else.” (4:4-7)

“Knowing is not open to interpretation.” (5:1)

“Prayer is a way of asking for something. It is the medium of miracles. But the only meaningful prayer is for forgiveness, because those who have been forgiven have everything. Once forgiveness has been accepted, prayer in the usual sense becomes utterly meaningless. The prayer for forgiveness is nothing more than a request that you may be able to recognize what you already have.” (6:1-5)

“Forgiveness is the healing of the perception of separation. Correct perception of your brother is necessary, because minds have chosen to see themselves as separate.” (9:1-2)

“As long as perception lasts prayer has a place. Since perception rests on lack, those who perceive have not totally accepted the Atonement and given themselves over to truth.” (10:1-2)

“Communion, not prayer, is the natural state of those who know.” (10:4)

“Do not perceive yourself in different lights. Know yourself in the One Light where the miracle that is you is perfectly clear.” (10:8-9)

In summary, section 5: “Beyond Perception” is saying:

We do not see ourselves as we truly are; our self-perception is completely opposite of What We Are in truth. This has been our state since the idea of separation entered our One Mind. Because nothing appears to us as it is in truth, we cannotbe sure of anything we see. What we currently see is a world we made – not created. Something “made” is anything that is not eternal. Only what is eternal can be created. This is the vast difference between the words “made” and “created.” Currently we only perceive what we made and not what God created in truth. The way beyond the perception of the world we made is through forgiveness. As quoted earlier, “forgiveness is the healing of the perception of separation.” When we struggle to forgive the falsity of the world we see, we must pray the only prayer that has any value here–the prayer to forgive the idea of separation. Pray only to accept the Atonement, to see yourself in the One Light that is your One Self beyond perception entirely.

VI. Judgment and the Authority Problem

“We have already discussed the Last Judgment, but in insufficient detail. After the Last Judgment there will be no more. Judgment is symbolic because beyond perception there is no judgment.” (1:1-3)

“The choice to judge rather than to know is the cause of the loss of peace.” (2:1)

“In the end it does not matter whether your judgment is right or wrong. Either way you are placing your belief in the unreal.” (2:10-11)

“You have no idea the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgment. When you recognize what you are and what your brothers are, you will realize that judging them in any way is without meaning.” (3:1-2)

“When you feel tired, it is because you have judged yourself as capable of being tired.” (5:1)

“The strain of constant judgment is virtually intolerable. It is curious that an ability so debilitating would be so deeply cherished.” (5:6-7)

“I have spoken of different symptoms, and at that level there is almost endless variation. There is, however, only one cause for all of them: the authority problem.” (7:1-2)

“Theissue of authority is really a question of authorship. When you have an authority problem, it is always because you believe you are the author of yourself and project your delusion onto others.” (8:1-2)

“God’s creations are given their true Authorship, but you prefer to be anonymous when you choose to separate yourself from your Author.” (8:7)

“This leaves you in a position where it sounds meaningful to believe that you created yourself.” (8:9)

“The problem everyone must decide is the fundamentalquestion of authorship.” (10:3)

“There is no one who does not feel that he is imprisoned in some way.” (11:1)

“Judgment always imprisons because it separates segments of reality by the unstable scales of desire.” (11:4)

In summary, section 6: “Judgment and the Authority Problem” is saying:

There is only one Author of all creation and that is God. When the thought of separation came into our mind, we tried to become something other than Oneness and thus forgot Who our Author was. Since we could not remember how we came into being, we decided we must have created ourselves. To judge ourselves as separate bodies is to try and usurp the Authorship of God. The strain of maintaining this constant false judgment is debilitating in endless variations of suffering in the world. At its base level it feels like imprisonment. To be released, we have only to walk the world totally without judgment; to see the separation and yet know what is the truth: judgment is pointless when all there is, is One Self, created by one Authority.

VII. Creating versus the Self-Image

“Every system of thought must have a starting point. It begins with either a making or creating, a difference we have already discussed.” (1:1-2)

“You cannot resolve the authority problem by depreciating the power of your mind. To do so is to deceive yourself, and this will hurt you because you really understand the strength of the mind.” (2:1-2)

“We have discussed the fall or separation before, but its meaning must be clearly understood. The separation is a system of thought real enough in time, though not in eternity. All beliefs are real to the believer.” (3:1-3)

“You can perceive yourself as self-creating, but you cannot do more than believe it. You cannot make it true. And, as I said before, when you finally perceive correctly you can only be glad that you cannot.” (4:6-8)

“Your starting point is truth, and you must return to your Beginning. Much has been seen since then, but nothing has really happened. Your Self is still in peace, even though your mind is in conflict.” (5:6-8)

“Your Kingdom is not of this world because it was given you from beyond this world. Only in this world is the idea of an authority problem meaningful. The world is not left by death but by truth, and truth can be known by all those for whom the Kingdom was created, and for whom it waits.” (6:9-11)

In summary, section 7: “Creating versus the Self-Image” is saying:

We have two choices in seeing: we can either see the world of separation we made ourselves, or perceive the eternal world God created. One will show us bodies, and the other will show us our true Self. Whichever identity we believe to be true is the one we will see. And only one is true. The world of form and all its long history and many happenings has been a kaleidoscope of things to behold, however, nothing has really happened here because a world made by the ego is no real world at all. Nothing we see here is eternal and only what is eternal is part of God’s creation. Therefore, our Kingdom is not of this world, and we have no authority here. Let us give up all authorship of a world destined to disintegrate as time passes and thus leave it, not through death, but by embracing the truth of our eternal Identity as God created us.

This concludes CHAPTER 3: THE INNOCENT PERCEPTION

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A Course In Miracles: CHAPTER 3: THE INNOCENT PERCEPTION (Summary)