T-4.VIII – The Rewards of God (paragraphs 12 – 23)
April 15, 2021
This section opened by stating that “correcting perception is merely a temporary expedient,…right perception…itself is unnecessary.” Knowledge is the goal, and that exists outside perception. The emphasis is on drawing a distinction between the temporary and the eternal. This recognition is also how we learn to distinguish between our true identity and the ego.
We do not lose sight of the ego by obsessively trying to escape from it, or by “humbling it, controlling it, or punishing it” (13:1) but merely by refusing to identify with it. We see ourselves standing outside of it. The entire separation (escape from knowledge) is maintained through dissociation and repression. We must acknowledge this is a deep and profound dissociation from our true self, our spirit, for it produced the “reality” we believe we exist in (and even the invisible aspects and dimensions that are not plainly seen (3:2)).
The solution then, our “mission” as Jesus calls it, is to “live so as to demonstrate that you are not an ego” (14:2). Jesus explains that we have been carefully chosen for this mission, and his decision is fully endorsed by the Holy One. His statement of accessibility to us deserves our full attention:
“I have told you several times that I am in charge of the whole Atonement. This is only because I completed my part in it as a man and can now complete it through others. My chosen receiving and sending channels cannot fail, because I will lend them my strength as long as theirs is wanting. I will go with you to the Holy One, and through my perception He can bridge the little gap. Your gratitude to your brother is the only gift I want. I will bring it to God for you, knowing that to know your brother is to know God” (15:1-6).
The way in which we learn we are not egos is to recognize our brother. “One moment of real recognition makes all men your brothers” (16:3). If we can find the eternal in one brother, we will find it in all brothers. This will open our mind to our own creations in Heaven which are awaiting our acknowledgement of them. The teaching about our creations will continue to develop in the text. The basic understanding is that are father to them, like how God is father to us, because we are created like God and therefore create like Him. They were discussed earlier in T-4.III.6:6 and V.2:5. Our creations, then, share those same attributes as well: perfect, whole, changeless, eternal, formless.
Beginning in paragraph 18, Jesus shares that repression and dissociation are two different types of defenses that are stronger or weaker in each individual, citing Bill and Helen as examples. Here is the original dictation:
“Wisdom always dictates that a therapist work through weaker defenses first. That is why I suggested to Bill that he persuade you to deal with repression first. We have only just about reached the point where dissociation even means much to you, because it is so important to your misbeliefs. Bill might do well—and you could help him here—to concentrate more on his dissociative tendencies and not try to deal with repression yet. I hinted at this when I remarked on his habit of disengaging himself, and when I spoke to him about distantiation and detachment. These are all forms of dissociation, and these weaker forms were always more evident in him than in you. That is because dissociation was so extreme in your case that you did not have to hide it because you were not aware that it was there.”
“Bill, on the other hand, does dissociate more than he thinks, and that is why he cannot listen. He does not need to go through the same course in repression that you did, because he will give up his major misdefense after he has rid himself of the lesser ones. Do not disturb yourself about repression, Bill, but do train yourself to be alert to any tendency to withdraw from your brothers. Withdrawal is frightening, and you do not recognize all the forms it takes in you. Helen is right that she will experience things that will cut across all her perceptions because of their stunning knowledge. You were right in that this will occur when she learns to recognize what she already knows and has dissociated. You, Bill, will learn somewhat differently, because you are afraid of all complete involvements, and believe that they lessen you. You have learned to be so much more clear-sighted about this that you should be ready to oppose it in yourself relatively easily. As you come closer to a brother, you do approach me, and as you withdraw from him I become distant to you.”
All this material is generalizable to each of us, because we also have tendencies to repress or dissociate. Because Bill represses (and thereby disengages from others) – that is his “major” defense – he should focus on his dissociative tendencies. By focusing on his “lesser” defense of dissociation he will “give up” the major defense of repression. The reverse is true of Helen. As she dissociates more strongly, her focus should be on learning where she represses, chipping away at that lesser defense so that she more readily recognizes and lets go of her dissociation.
Helen is not even aware of her dissociation it is so strong. You can see the difference between the two of them in how they react to the teacher role. Helen had absolutely no fear of teaching to audiences. Whatever distance she placed between herself and her brothers was buried and dissociated as to not produce any symptom of fear. Bill, on the other hand, immediately felt the weight of engagement with others, and it provoked anxiety in him to temporarily release himself from his tendency to withdraw.
Bill had already demonstrated in his “better way” speech to Helen that he was capable of engagement, and so Jesus cites this as an exemplary behavior for what he is trying to teach Bill (21:1). In fact, this step is the whole Course: learn of your brother so that you may learn of God (21:7).
Jesus is conditioning us to learn to associate misery with the ego and joy with the spirit. Doing so we will be conditioned toward engagement with our brother. This engagement with our brother, where we learn to cooperate and see the holiness within him, because the key the unlocks the door to our release. The way we do this is to join with our brother in a collaborative venture. More specifically, when we are joined in a spiritual journey with another, we can meditate and receive guidance together:
“This [a collaborative venture] does not go against the true spirit of meditation at all. It is inherent in it. Meditation is a collaborative venture with God. It cannot be undertaken by those who disengage themselves…” (21:2-5).
The goals of meditation and guidance become the topic of the next section and essay.
Suggested Practice
My brother is my guide to joy. As I approach my brother, I come closer to Jesus. By closing this gap, I learn to recognize and accept the role he has given me; the plan he completes through me.