I have
said you have but two emotions, love and fear. One is changeless but continually
exchanged, being offered by the eternal to the eternal. In this exchange it is extended,
for it increases as it is given. The other has many forms, for the content of individual
illusions differs greatly. Yet they have one thing in common; they are all insane. They
are made of sights that are not seen, and sounds that are not heard. They make up a
private world that cannot be shared. For they are meaningful only to their maker, and so
they have no meaning at all. In this world their maker moves alone, for only he perceives
them.
Each
one peoples his world with figures from his individual past, and it is because of this
that private worlds do differ. Yet the figures that he sees were never real, for they are
made up only of his reactions to his brothers, and do not include their reactions to him.
Therefore, he does not see he made them, and that they are not whole. For these figures
have no witnesses, being perceived in one separate mind only.
It is
through these strange and shadowy figures that the insane relate to their insane world.
For they see only those who remind them of these images, and it is to them that they
relate. Thus do they communicate with those who are not there, and it is they who answer
them. And no one hears their answer save him who called upon them, and he alone believes
they answered him. Projection makes perception, and you cannot see beyond it. Again and
again have you attacked your brother, because you saw in him a shadow figure in your
private world. And thus it is you must attack yourself first, for what you attack is not
in others. Its only reality is in your own mind, and by attacking others you are literally
attacking what is not there.
The
delusional can be very destructive, for they do not recognize they have condemned
themselves. They do not wish to die, yet they will not let condemnation go. And so they
separate into their private worlds, where everything is disordered, and where what is
within appears to be without. Yet what is within they do not see, for the reality of their
brothers they cannot recognize.
You
have but two emotions, yet in your private world you react to each of them as though it
were the other. For love cannot abide in a world apart, where when it comes it is not
recognized. If you see your own hatred as your brother, you are not seeing him. Everyone
draws nigh unto what he loves, and recoils from what he fears. And you react with fear to
love, and draw away from it. Yet fear attracts you, and believing it is love, you call it
to yourself. Your private world is filled with figures of fear you have invited into it,
and all the love your brothers offer you, you do not see.
As you
look with open eyes upon your world, it must occur to you that you have withdrawn into
insanity. You see what is not there, and you hear what makes no sound. Your manifestations
of emotions are the opposite of what the emotions are. You communicate with no one, and
you are as isolated from reality as if you were alone in all the universe. In your madness
you overlook reality completely, and you see only your own split mind everywhere you look.
God calls you and you do not hear, for you are preoccupied with your own voice. And the
vision of Christ is not in your sight, for you look upon yourself alone.
Little
child, would you offer this to your Father? For if you offer it to yourself, you are
offering it to Him. And He will not return it, for it is unworthy of you because it is
unworthy of Him. Yet He would release you from it and set you free. His sane Answer tells
you what you have offered yourself is not true, but His offering to you has never changed.
You who know not what you do can learn what insanity is, and look beyond it. It is given
you to learn how to deny insanity, and come forth from your private world in peace. You
will see all that you denied in your brothers because you denied it in yourself. For you
will love them, and by drawing nigh unto them you will draw them to yourself, perceiving
them as witnesses to the reality you share with God. I am with them as I am with you, and
we will draw them from their private worlds, for as we are united so would we unite with
them. The Father welcomes all of us in gladness, and gladness is what we should offer Him.
For every Son of God is given you to whom God gave Himself. And it is God Whom you must
offer them, to recognize His gift to you.
Vision
depends on light. You cannot see in darkness. Yet in darkness, in the private world of
sleep, you see in dreams although your eyes are closed. And it is here that what you see
you made. But let the darkness go and all you made you will no longer see, for sight of it
depends upon denying vision. Yet from denying vision it does not follow you cannot see.
But this is what denial does, for by it you accept insanity, believing you can make a
private world and rule your own perception. Yet for this, light must be excluded. Dreams
disappear when light has come and you can see.
Do not
seek vision through your eyes, for you made your way of seeing that you might see in
darkness, and in this you are deceived. Beyond this darkness, and yet still within you, is
the vision of Christ, Who looks on all in light. Your “vision” comes from fear,
as His from love. And He sees for you, as your witness to the real world. He is the Holy
Spirit's manifestation, looking always on the real world, and calling forth its witnesses
and drawing them to you. He loves what He sees within you, and He would extend it. And He
will not return unto the Father until He has extended your perception even unto Him. And
there perception is no more, for He has returned you to the Father with Him.
You
have but two emotions, and one you made and one was given you. Each is a way of seeing,
and different worlds arise from their different sights. See through the vision that is
given you, for through Christ’s vision He beholds Himself. And seeing what He is, He
knows His Father. Beyond your darkest dreams He sees God’s guiltless Son within you,
shining in perfect radiance that is undimmed by your dreams. And this you
will see as you look with Him, for His vision is His gift of love to you, given Him of the
Father for you.
The
Holy Spirit is the light in which Christ stands revealed. And all who would behold Him can
see Him, for they have asked for light. Nor will they see Him alone, for He is no more
alone than they are. Because they saw the Son, they have risen in Him to the Father. And
all this will they understand, because they looked within and saw beyond the darkness the
Christ in them, and recognized Him. In the sanity of His vision they looked upon
themselves with love, seeing themselves as the Holy Spirit sees them. And with this vision
of the truth in them came all the beauty of the world to shine upon them.
A Course in Miracles
Chapter 13