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Photo by Rikki Vieira

Photo by Rikki Vieira

By Nouk Sanchez

You cannot compare the world’s perception of magic and miracles to A Course in Miracles’ interpretation of these. There is a fundamental incompatibility between the two because they originate from two completely opposed thought systems. As such they are mutually exclusive.

From the ego world perspective, the principle of cause and effect is opposite of that which is taught in A Course in Miracles. The ego is our unconscious fear of Love and love of fear. It’s the personal self that thinks and acts independently apart from the Holy Self within. Through the ego we believe that we are at the mercy of causes outside us. For instance, we believe the body, others and the world are causes that can affect us independently from our mind. We believe that these phenomena operate independently from our own mind. They appear real, and depend on particular universal laws, such as time and space. The body is given autonomy; it seems to have its own will, in that it appears to change according to biological laws, i.e. disease and aging, etc.

The ego’s world paradigm attempts to prove that we are powerless victims of the body, others and the world. From this perspective the world is being done to us and not by us. The body and world are perceived as cause and we, as effect. Miracles are seen as rare and extraordinary. In this perceptional dynamic, the truth of our Divine Power within is silenced and invisible.

From the Course’s perspective, cause and effect are reversed. The body and world are not outside but literally, in our mind. We learn that our mind is the source of all we see and experience. The mind is cause and the body/world is the effect. We choose to undo our faulty ego beliefs, values and conditioning which are based on fear. Instead we learn to trust the Voice for Love within. This is our Holy Self or the Holy Spirit within.

As our perception is reversed, so are cause and effect. The body, others and the world are accepted as being direct projections emanating from our own mind. To the degree that they upset us is the extent to which the ego projects its unconscious guilt as “self-attack.” When we know this we can invoke the miracle. The miracle occurs in any “now” moment that we choose to apply forgiveness; this is forgiveness of our ego-self for using the body, others or the world to attack us.

The miracle is from out of time/space; from the same changeless state in which our Holy Self exists. It abides in the Right-mind as opposed to the wrong-mind of the ego. It is invoked the instant we prioritize healing of our own perception, signaling a willingness to forgive what we have unconsciously projected outside us, in order to attack ourselves.

The miracle’s efficiency is all inclusive because it always heals the fundamental cause of all adversity by undoing it’s only cause which is in our mind and not out there as the ego believes. The miracle heals the cause in our mind, and because the effects (seeming world outside) are always together with the cause in our mind, once cause is healed then the effects are free to be healed as well.

As an analogy, the miracle undoes the error in the projector itself so the movie is thus changed from a movie of fear, doubt and control, to one of Love and trust. There are no errors in the movie, only in the projector.

The unconscious ego projects a movie of life from birth to death. It sees the movie (body/world) as the cause and the projector (mind) as effect. It spends its life attempting to control the screen, not remotely aware that the entire movie has but one cause and that it originates from the projector (mind). It believes that what appears on the screen either sustains its life (the body, food, relationships, money, medicine, etc.) or threatens it (disease, aging, scarcity, conflict, etc.). It does not know its own cause (projector) and thus it does not recognize the futility of its attempts to change the picture on the screen by using what the Course calls “magic”.

All attempts to alter the screen instead of the projector are called magic.

The ego sees a problem such as illness on the screen. Instead of recognizing the real cause of illness in the projector (mind), it attempts to find an illusory solution. For instance it might use a medicine that it projects as well, out there on the screen. This is the devious means that it uses to keep us forever focused outside on magic, so we never heal the one cause of all problems, which is fear in our mind.

Through the ego thought system both miracles and magic are seen and believed as being caused by what appears out there on the screen. Yet both come from the cause in our mind. The question is, “Which part of the mind do you choose to live out from, the ego or the Holy Self?”

When we attempt to control our life independently from the Holy Self within, we implement magic, ignoring and rejecting true cause and effect. Every moment, and each decision that we seek to direct independently apart from Love is controlled by the unconscious ego whose goal is our death. Magic is the belief in two powers; the ego and God’s Love. Yet only one is real. Either fear is real or Love is real. Healing the cause of all adversity is to remember that there is only one Power and that is the part of our mind/heart that rests eternally in God’s Love.

Magic includes every phenomenon that the ego believes sustains its life. It also includes everything it believes threatens its life. Illusion is illusion. There is no hierarchy of illusions; they are either all false or all true. Do you trust in magic more than you trust in God’s Love within? So be it. Don’t judge yourself for this. Ideally, practice mindful awareness while you continue to depend on magic and gently ask for a miracle; the healing of your fear of Love.

All real healing arises from our willingness to recognize and forgive the areas of our life that we still depend on magic – the belief in two powers, fear and Love. The miracle of forgiveness is the means by which all illusions are seen and undone; and true cause and effect is restored to our awareness. While there appears to be a hierarchy of illusions the truth is that there is no order of difficulty in miracles.

One miracle is not harder to accomplish or bigger than any other because all illusion is just that, illusion! Can it be more difficult to heal a bigger illusion over a smaller one? When you genuinely surrender your life wholly to the Holy Self then Love and joy and peace are the outcome. Here there is no more hierarchy of illusions therefore there must be no order of difficulty in miracles.

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