Teach Only Love
by Tom Baker
Lesson: Chap 6, The Lessons of Love, Intro and I. The Message of the Crucifixion, pp. 91-96.
Date: August 3, 2008
What follows is an outline I used in class this past Sunday. It looks at a quote from the introduction to Chapter 6 about anger. I then look at the three parts of anger from several different points of view and support them with quotes, all from the first section entitled The Message of the Crucifixion. I began the class with the dis-identification exercise to illustrate the "I am" consciousness: I have a body but I am not a body, I have a past but I am not my past, I have fears but I am not my fears, and so on, with the conclusion that "I am".
Introduction
"Anger cannot occur unless (1) you believe that you have been attacked, (2) that your attack is justified in return, and (3) that you are in no way responsible for it." Paragraph one, sentence 3.
The way we might experience the above is
- You attacked me (you insulted me, you hit me, you criticized my clothes, my car, my family, my profession, my house, my spiritual beliefs, you destroyed my reputation, you forgot my birthday, and you called me a poopoo head.) In "I am" consciousness, I cannot be attacked.
- So it is right that I attack you. (it is only just that I make you feel what I felt, that you pay for what you did, and having been attacked you will know not to ever attack me again.) This response to attack is an example of the Revenge Consciousness that dominates the thinking of the world.
- And don't blame me for attacking you because your attack on me made me attack you. I couldn't help it! (how I feel and what I do is mostly determined by how you behave. Since you attacked me, I had no choice but to attack you. You caused my attack.) This rationalization is an example of Victim Consciousness that works hand-in-glove with Revenge Consciousness to keep the ego flow of retaliation going.
A Course In Miracles says:
Your body can assault my body but you can't really attack me.
"Assault can ultimately be made only on the body. There is little doubt that one body can assault another, and can even destroy it. Yet if destruction itself is impossible, anything that is destructible cannot be real. Its destruction, therefore, does not justify anger. To the extent to which you believe that it does, you are accepting false premises and teaching them to others. The message the crucifixion was intended to teach was that it is not necessary to perceive any form of assault in persecution, because you cannot be persecuted. If you respond with anger, you must be equating yourself with the destructible, and are therefore regarding yourself insanely." Chap. 6, I. The Message of the Crucifixion, p. 92.
The real me, which is eternal and one with God, cannot be attacked. However, things I confuse with me can be attacked and destroyed, such as my body, my possessions, my personality, my reputation. If I hold these things lightly then I will not feel attacked and I am in a position to see your attacks as the projections of fear that they are.
"I elected, for your sake and mine, to demonstrate that the most outrageous assault, as judged by the ego, does not matter. As the world judges these things, but not as God knows them, I was betrayed, abandoned, beaten, torn, and finally killed. It was clear that this was only because of the projection of others onto me, since I had not harmed anyone and had healed many." Chap. 6, I. The Message of the Crucifixion, p. 93-94.
When people attack, what they are actually doing is projecting their fear onto us. The ego conditioned mind expresses fear aggressively as blame, accusation, assault, deception, apathy, coldness, etc. These are the projections of fear. The obvious innocence of Jesus makes it especially clear that those persecuting him were projecting their fear onto him.
When I attack back, I am teaching that attack is a helpful response to being attacked. This teaches two things. First I am teaching that I am what is being attacked and, second, I am teaching the belief that revenge will keep us safe.
"As I have said before, 'As you teach so shall you learn.' If you react as if you are persecuted, you are teaching persecution. This is not a lesson a Son of God should want to teach if he is to realize his own salvation. Rather, teach your own perfect immunity, which is the truth in you, and realize that it cannot be assailed. Do not try to protect it yourself, or you are believing that it is assailable. You are not asked to be crucified, which was part of my own teaching contribution. You are merely asked to follow my example in the face of much less extreme temptations to misperceive, and not accept them as false justifications for anger. There can be no justification for the unjustifiable. Do not believe there is, and do not teach that there is. Remember always that what you believe you will teach. Believe with me, and we will become equal as teachers." Chap. 6, I. The Message of the Crucifixion, p. 93.
Reacting as if we are persecuted is also seeing ourselves as the victim. We use the idea of ourselves as a victim as a justification for attack. In fact, if I see myself as your victim it will be almost impossible for me not to attack you and feel justified.
I have begun to experiment with not being offendable. Since you are never attacking the real me I will not be offended. This works oddly well.
Another way to think of this is that I do not take your perceptions of me seriously or personally. In fact who you think I am is not important. What is important is that we can communicate appreciation of one another beyond who either of us thinks we are.
My ego-conditioned mind tries to explain my feelings, thoughts, and actions as resulting from your behavior: when you do this, I feel that; when you say this, I do that; when you make that face, I feel a certain emotion. This is how the ego-conditioned mind explains the world through guilt. This extends out to the environment and to my circumstances. If I had more money I would feel cheerful, If I had better friends I would feel more secure, If I had more time I would feel more relaxed. This cause and effect relationship suggests that everyone and everything is responsible for how I feel and think and act but me. The other is always choosing for me. Notice that, in this schema, my mind has no power of its own.
Choice is power. We can always choose again. In the Holy Spirit we choose for the truth. With more money I might choose to feel generous, with better friends I might choose to feel more trusting, with more time I might choose to relax more. Thus I am always choosing what I believe. What I believe will determine whether or not I am happy in any circumstance or with any person.
"The power of the Sons of God is present all the time, because they were created as creators. Their influence on each other is without limit, and must be used for their joint salvation. Each one must learn to teach that all forms of rejection are meaningless. The separation is the notion of rejection. As long as you teach this you will believe it. This is not as God thinks, and you must think as He thinks if you are to know Him again.
Remember that the Holy Spirit is the Communication Link between God the Father and His separated Sons. If you will listen to His Voice you will know that you cannot either hurt or be hurt, and that many need your blessing to help them hear this for themselves. When you perceive only this need in them, and do not respond to any other, you will have learned of me and will be as eager to share your learning as I am." Chap. 6, I. The Message of the Crucifixion, pp. 95-96.
This final quote emphasizes that, as Sons of God, our influence on one another is unlimited. Influence is not control, it is what a teacher does, and teaching is what we are doing all the time.
The assignment for next week continues to be Chapter 6.
© Copyright Tom Baker 2008