Lesson 35
My mind is a part of God’s. I am very holy.
We have wandered to a peculiar place down the rabbit hole today. We are finally getting some answers, Alice, “because the emphasis for today is on the perceiver, rather than on what (s)he perceives (ACIM Lesson 35 3:3).” Perceiver, are you ready? Are you ready for the bold truth that is in today’s lesson? I know you are. Even if you think are not, trust me, because if you have picked up A Course in Miracles or something similar, your soul is more than ready for you hear this.
A yoga colleague of mine years ago once did a unique Savasana where during the time in corpse pose she asked, “Who Are you?” She would then follow a pause for contemplation with, “No, not that. Who are you?” And with the most loving and soft voice she once again said, “No, not that either. Who are you?” Round and round this cycle went for quite a while bouncing back and forth with “No, not that. Who are you?…No, not that either. Who…are…you?…No, not that. Who are you?” It was one of the more powerful and truthful Savasanas I have experienced. I have done this exercise since then in various workshops and have even known those who have been on retreats where you sit across from a partner and ask each other all weekend long, “Who are you?” Powerful, no? But we need not go far for the same experience or realization.
We are truly Alice in Wonderland, today, for our practice period is similar to her encounter with the Caterpillar:
From Walt Disney’s 1951 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Caterpillar: “Who Are You?”
Alice: “I, I , I hardly know, sir, I have changed so many times since this morning you see and…”
Caterpillar: “I do not see. Explain yourself.”
Alice: “I’m afraid I can’t explain myself, sir, because I am not myself, you know?”
Caterpillar: “I do not know.”
Alice: “Well, I cannot put it any more clearly, for it is not clear to me.”
Caterpillar: “You…who are you?”
Alice: “Well, don’t you think you ought to tell me….who you are first?”
Caterpillar: “Y?”
Alice: “Oh, dear, everything is so confusing.”
Caterpillar: “It is not.”
Alice: “Well it is to me.”
Caterpillar: “Y?”
Alice: “Well I can’t remember things as I used to.”
As Alice has changed so many times since her journey began so have we. We are sisters on this journey as we come to realize that we are not who we thought we were. But it is not just on this journey that we begin to appear different but in each moment when we relate to something outside ourselves, leaving our eternal truth that is completely within.
“You will believe that you are part of where you think you are. That is because you surround yourself with the environment you want. And you want it to protect the image of yourself that you have made (ACIM Lesson 35 2:1-3).”
As we identify ourselves with our environment, one that changes, we too change as well. And what we are working towards today is that which is eternal and not changing. That which needs no protection. That which IS regardless of where the journey takes us in our physical world. That which IS regardless of whatever is said or done to us.
As we walk together on our journey we can sympathize with Alice’s confusion in her dialogue with the Caterpillar. What we have associated ourselves with, who we thought we were, and the world we thought we envisioned, are not so. The Caterpillar speaks as our Comforter when he explains that what we are contemplating it is not, in fact, confusing. It is simple,
“By establishing your Source it establishes your Identity, and it describes you as you must really be in truth (ACIM Lesson 35 3:2).”
The Caterpillar reminds us to come back to the simple Source, making who we are very clear, real, and closer we can imagine. Our practice periods today give us the glimpse of our true vision as we wade through the glorious muck of what we think we are. I say “glorious muck” because although it may be murky and sometimes dark, it is glorious in its place in our journey of remembrance. As we go through our practice periods we notice that we tend to sift through those not so appealing things we associate ourselves with first and foremost:
I see myself as selfish.
I see myself as a failure.
I see myself as hopeless.
I see myself as sad.
I see myself as alone.
I see myself as…and I can go on….
But recall from lessons past, nothing is good or bad, better or worse. That is why it is important to not devalue the items that seem to come to mind first, which tend to be the more negative ones. Everything serves a purpose for our higher good, if only to remind us that we are not that.
Yet, as we go on we find that more appealing roles or identification eventually come to mind:
I see myself as a friend.
I see myself as a good listener.
I see myself as a good planner.
I see myself as an active person.
I see myself as…and, yes, we can go on with the positive too…
By the end of our practice period we have a good idea of the various roles and personifications we think we have in this world. Thus, this is why we build up such a world around us to protect it. It is apparent that we have spent our time being more comforted by false identities than with the truth. But today that changes and we start to break free from the fortress of identifications we have built around ourselves.
A quote from The Way of Mastery says “we become more and more to be less and less.” To get down to the holy mind, which we are, we must be less of what we thought we were and more of what we truly are, that which is of God and that which is holy. We are not the negative things we list. We are not the positive either. What we have listed are only illusions,
“All of them are equally unreal, because you do not look upon yourself through the eyes of holiness (ACIM Lesson 35 4:4).”
There is another piece of wisdom awaiting our step today. We are in a human body. We are having the experience of being a human on this planet and in this dimension. This is so. So by all means, human it up! Experience all sorts of things. Be Alice in Wonderland. But as we do this, let us come from a place that is holy, the One Holy Mind. And the One Holy Mind does not need your effort to protect it or a certain environment for it to thrive. It just does.
This Walk in Miracles can be like a visit to Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom and as exciting as the most thrilling roller coaster, because what we are discovering is the “The One Magic (Queen)dom” that we are which resides in each of us. It is a wonderland full of play and excitement as you come to know your “mind is a part of God’s.” It is a glorious journey of uncovered treasures. And the great thing is you do not need a special map to get there. You just get down the bottom of the one question, “Who Are You?” Very holy, indeed.
From the Alice in Me to the Alice in You. Namaste.