Search in this category
SearchIf we are one with God, and all else is illusion, why did Jesus give the Sermon on the Mount?
Question:
I have a question that has been worming around in my head about some teachings of the Course. Here goes: We are ONE with God and that's all there is! I get this. We are NOT separate from God. I get this. In some way, that I have not yet been able to understand, we had a fleeting desire to be equal to, or greater than God. That "instant" of indecision somehow caused this illusionary state in which we now find ourselves. If I am understanding what I am hearing, none of this physical experience has any relevance, significance or importance to us in any way and will never account for anything. We will never be "judged" by anyone.
If all that is accurate then why did Jesus continually teach us to be loving to each other and give the Sermon on the Mount? I believe that we live in "levels" and that we "select" the environment before we come into each level but then use our "free will" to live and grow through it taking what we've learned from level to level in Spirit until there is no need to return. I also believe that Jesus is just like us but on a higher LEVEL of spirituality, thus being able to manifest the things He did. (Probably from the wisdom gathered from previous incarnations allowing Him to be predisposed to understand the Christ/Divinity within each of us.)
If it is true that when we transform from this life back into our Spirit form and "awaken from the dream" are we not then totally OUT of the dream and a part of the GOD Energy expressed only in God form? Are there levels in between?
Also, if Jesus is the One speaking through Helen in the textbook, does He have some ability to go "back and forth" into and out of our "dream state"? What about angels and guides? If we are only in an "illusion" or "dream" how can anyone communicate with us? Or do we only IMAGINE there are angels and guides and Jesus?
Also, what is meant by, "The only 'unforgivable sin' is denouncing the Holy Spirit"? I'd like your take on these if you have the time and the inclination. I choose to be as wide open-minded as I can... without my brains falling completely out!
Answer:
Thanks for your sincere questions and your devotion to Awakening. The Sermon on the Mount pointed to the remembrance of the Abstract Love of God and the Be-attitudes of this State of Being. It is distorted perception that seemed to involve levels, and forgiveness dissolved the belief in levels and showed a whole tapestry that is one illusion. Free Will is our Inheritance in Heaven, yet this Free Will is beyond perception. Free Will is the State of Grace that God creates Eternally. Choice seemed to arise after the belief in separation, for choice required alternatives or opposites—and in Heaven there are no opposites. Heaven is Pure Oneness. Jesus demonstrated or symbolized this Pure Oneness, and in this sense Jesus was the way-shower. As the seeming levels of perception are dissolved, the Perspective of the Holy Spirit is apparent.
God is formless Reality, as is Christ. The approach to this recognition only seemed to involve levels. In the Holy Instant of recognition it is apparent that there is only One Mind, and this One Mind has no levels. The dream is gone, and never was in the recognition of Reality.
Jesus, guides, and angels are all symbols in the imagination of the dreamer. They point the way to the happy dream of non-judgment, and beyond perception to Abstract Reality (the Light). Christ, like God, is Pure Light. Symbols may seem to come and go, to appear and disappear, yet Truth never "comes into" illusion. Jesus was a symbol that pointed beyond all symbols, demonstrating that one must forgive all appearances and transcend the veil of images entirely.
"Sin" was an error or mistake. The Holy Spirit shone away this error/mistake in one Instant. There is no error or mistake that has not already been forgiven or overlooked by the Holy Spirit. Atonement is simply accepting the Correction that the Holy Spirit already has offered. This world was over long ago and but seems to continue for the mind that seems to sleep and dream. It is "time" to accept the Correction and Wake Up. This is our shared Purpose.
Love & Blessings,
David