Extending our minds to others in peace and joy.

To confuse a learning device with a curriculum goal is a fundamental confusion that blocks the understanding of both. Learning must lead beyond the body to the re-establishment of the power of the mind in it. This can be accomplished only if the mind extends to other minds, and does not arrest itself in its extension. This arrest is the cause of all illness, because only extension is the mind’s function. T-8.VII.12:5-8

A Course in Miracles (p. 300). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The “learning device” mentioned in the above passage is the body. The curriculum goal is the Atonement which is the healing of the separation from the non dual Oneness that some people call “God.” The Atonement is accomplished when a mind extends itself to other minds and does not stop itself in extending which facilitates the Atonement. One for all and all for one. When the mind is stopped in extending itself to others, illness occurs because the mind is stopped from doing what it was created to do.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to accept one another and encourage spiritual growth.

Today it is suggested that we look for the Divine Spark in every person and focus on that, extending ourselves to the Divine Spark in others in peace and joy.

What is A Course In Miracles?

 

Do you join with others in unconditional love or attack them when they don’t meet your expectations?

 

To communicate is to join and to attack is to separate. How can you do both simultaneously with the same thing and not suffer? Perception of the body can be unified only by one purpose. This releases the mind from the temptation to see the body in many lights, and gives it over entirely to the One Light in which it can be really understood. T-8.VII.12:1-4

A Course in Miracles (p. 300). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

To communicate with love is to join and to communicate with attack separates. The body is the means of communicating unconditional love. When we understand the purpose of the body, as a means of communicating unconditional love and facilitating the Atonement, we experience peace and bliss.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in our human relations. Enacting this principle is a constructive use of our bodies.

Today it is suggested that we be aware of how we use our bodies: to join with others in unconditional love or to attack them when they don’t meet our conditions and expectations.

What is it we wish to communicate to whom, when, how, and why?

Perceiving the body as a separate entity cannot but foster illness, because it is not true. A medium of communication loses its usefulness if it is used for anything else. To use a medium of communication as a medium of attack is an obvious confusion in purpose.T-8.VII.11:4-6

A Course in Miracles (p. 300). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Jesus, in A Course Of Miracles, teaches that the body other than a means of communication is an illusion. The body is constantly changing throughout the life cycle. Identification of the self with the body leads to confusion if not depression and anxiety.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This worth and dignity does not arise from the body but from the mind which can continually develop and extend itself to others in communion.

Today it is suggested that we consider the body as a vehicle of communication. What is it we wish to communicate to whom, when, how, and why?

Are we a mind with a body or a body with a mind?

Healing is the result of using the body solely for communication. Since this is natural it heals by making whole, which is also natural. All mind is whole, and the belief that part of it is physical, or not mind, is a fragmented or sick interpretation.T-8.VII.10:1-3

A Course in Miracles (p. 299). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The mind heals. The body cannot. The body is merely a means of communication. The body is part of the mind and is animated by it.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This worth and dignity is manifested in the mind, not the body.

Today it is suggested that we consider whether we are a mind with a body or a body with a mind. Our decision makes a huge difference in our experience of peace and bliss.

The interdependent web of which we are a part.

There is nothing so frustrating to a learner as a curriculum he cannot learn. His sense of adequacy suffers, and he must become depressed. Being faced with an impossible learning situation is the most depressing thing in the world. In fact, it is ultimately why the world itself is depressing. The Holy Spirit’s curriculum is never depressing, because it is a curriculum of joy. Whenever the reaction to learning is depression, it is because the true goal of the curriculum has been lost sight of. T-8.VII.8:1-6

A Course in Miracles (p. 299). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The curriculum of the world of the ego is depressing. The world of the ego teaches that happiness comes from obtaining idols whether the idol be money, romance, power, status, material objects. This curriculum is doomed to failure and the resulting depression. The Holy Spirit’s curriculum teaches that peace and join comes from healing the separation and unification with the non dualistic Oneness from whence we emerged. All for one and one for all.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the awareness of the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. All for one and one for all.

Today it is suggested that we reflect on the interdependent web of which we are a part.

What kind of spirit kindredship arises?

The Bible says, “The Word (or thought) was made flesh.” Strictly speaking this is impossible, since it seems to involve the translation of one order of reality into another. Different orders of reality merely appear to exist, just as different orders of miracles do. Thought cannot be made into flesh except by belief, since thought is not physical. Yet thought is communication, for which the body can be used. This is the only natural use to which it can be put. To use the body unnaturally is to lose sight of the Holy Spirit’s purpose, and thus to confuse the goal of His curriculum. T-8.VII.7:1-7

A Course in Miracles (p. 298). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

People confuse their body for their “self” all the time. Thoughts are not flesh but flesh can be used for communication. When we turn people into sex objects we lust after their bodies and their minds are irrelevant. This is called “rape.”

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which arises from their mind not their body.

Today it is suggested that we look past the body, our own and other peoples, and tune into their minds. What kind of kindred spiritship arises?