Introduction
Chapter 23
Section II of A Course In Miracles discusses the laws of
chaos. These are also the laws by which the ego operates. The text may appear
hard. This is because some of the statements presume prior understanding of
other passages in the text. The presentation below may help.
·
The laws of chaos rule the world you made
o This is the
world as you perceive it
o And the world
as it operates
o 'You' really
means 'all of us collectively', but, in the separated state, it will appear to
mean 'you individually'
·
The truth:
o The premises
behind these laws are false
o None of the
laws are real
o Nothing that
has been enacted on their basis is real
o You are safe
and have always been
o You are as God
created you
o You have never
been separated from God
o The world is an
illusion
§ As in a film,
just because you're seeing and hearing and following the plot does not mean it
is real
§ Do not be
deceived by your physical senses
§ What your
senses perceive is indeed being perceived by your senses
§ But the context is
the context of a dream—or a film
o The world never
happened
o It was over
long ago
o It was an idea
that flashed into seeming existence, then vanished
o As with a dream
o All you have to
do is wake up
o To wake up:
admit that you are mistaken
o And allow your
Friend to perform correction
The laws of chaos
·
The underlying principles of the first law of chaos
o There is a
hierarchy of illusions
o Some are more
valuable and therefore true
·
The first law of chaos is that the truth
is different for everyone
o Each person is
separate
§ This stems from
the notion of separation
§ Which is
projected outwards as a physical universe ...
§ ... in which
oneness appears fragmented in time and space
§ The table and
the window appear separate only because of space
§ Yesterday and
tomorrow seem separate only because of time
§ Collapse time
and space, and separateness disappears
§ Produce time
and space, and separateness appears
§ That is what
the big bang was:
§ An explosion of
oneness into the illusion of separateness
§ And one day the
universe will re-collapse
§ The reversal is
conditioned by and inherent in the explosion
§ Because time
and space exist inside the illusion only ...
§ ... the
explosion and collapse are really simultaneous
§ So nothing has
really happened
o Each person has
a different set of thoughts
o Each person
establishes for themselves what is more valuable
§ Have you
noticed that people's values differ?
o Each person
establishes for themselves what is more true
§ Have you
noticed that people think different things are true?
o Each person
attacks what others value
§ Have you
noticed people attacking each others' values?
o This is
justified because values differ
o People with
different values are different
o ... and
therefore enemies
o Difference is attack
o Separation is attack
o Both on the
source from which the separation occurred
o And on the
other fragments separated from the source ...
o ... and you and
they are vying for specialness
o Which, to be
special, must be limited and scarce
o With winners
and losers, which are mutually exclusive
o Mini-correction
§ The whole
universe is an illusion
§ There is no
hierarchy of illusions, therefore
§ One 'nothingness'
has no more weight than another 'nothingness'
§ All events in
the film are equally unreal
·
The second law of chaos is that everyone
must sin and therefore deserves attack and death
o How this flows
from the first law
§ There is right
and wrong
§ There is good
and bad
§ Everyone is a
mixture
§ No one does not
believe that they do not contain some badness
§ Even when they
chiefly think they are good and others are bad
§ The evidence:
§ Everyone has
anger
§ Anger implies
the presence of fear
§ Fear implies
the presence of guilt
§ Guilt is the
response to the presence of badness
§ Badness = sin
o This badness
calls for punishment not correction
o Everyone
deserves punishment not correction
o Attack is
therefore justified
§ On others
§ And on self
o Forgiveness is
not possible
§ Because
forgiveness is denial of sin
o We are under a
death sentence
§ This means that
physical existence will end
§ And after that:
nothing
o The separation
cannot be undone
§ Because it
cannot be corrected
§ Punishment does
not correct
§ It maintains the
wrongness but marries it to suffering
§ This is what
the world calls 'justice'
o God holds
different values
§ God says we are
one
§ That means
you're not separate
§ This you
perceive as an attack on your identity as a separate being
o God is the
enemy
o God deserves
your attack
o You and God:
each condemns and attacks the other
o Mini-correction
§ There is no sin
§ No attack is
justified
§ There is no
death
·
A number of premises uphold the third law of
chaos
o You have broken
away from God to establish your separate self
o This is true,
because you believe it
o God cannot be
mistaken, by His nature
o God must also
believe it, therefore
·
The third law of chaos is that God must
accept your version of the truth
o God must hate
you for it
o Because it is a
denial of His truth
o Namely that you
are part of Him
o Since God is
the avenging enemy, He cannot now save you
o Others cannot
save you, because they're competing with you for specialness
o Mini-correction
§ You do not have
a version of the truth
§ There is only
the truth
§ Which is that
you are not separate from God
§ So God is not
mistaken
·
The fourth law of chaos is the belief
you have what you have taken
o In other words,
to have, you must take
o And to take is
to take from someone else
o The thing
'taken' is separate identity = specialness
o It is formed by
separation ...
o ... and
subtraction from the whole = theft
o Specialness
therefore entails others' loss
o Others' loss
becomes your gain
o Others are
concealing what is yours: the prize
o They deserve
attack for what they are withholding
o If others were
not withholding, you would not need to attack
o So your attack
is justified
o The ultimate
taking is the separation from God
o In which you
'take' your identity away from God
o To 'have' it
separately, by yourself
o All other
takings are reenactments of this first taking
o Mini-correction
§ There is
nothing you want
§ What you want
is an illusion
§ There is
nothing to take
§ There is
nothing to have in the place of ...
§ ... everything,
§ Which you
already have
·
The fifth law of chaos holds there is a
substitute for love
o This is
referred to in the text as the final law of chaos
o Premise: love
is joining, union, oneness
o Assertion:
there is something better
o This better
thing is the substitute
o It is the
opposite of joining, union, and oneness:
o Separation,
disunity, and individuality
o This is the
prize that is sought in the world
o By attacking
and grabbing it from others
o This is the
only salvation
o Yet possession
is never made complete
§ Have you ever
felt completely special?
§ How long did it
last?
o So attack must
continue
§ Do you have
plans in the world?
§ These plans
represent the search for specialness
§ Plans are attacks
o You attack
others
o They attack you
(as they're operating in the same way)
§ Attack does not
always look like attack
§ What about
trying to impress or please someone?
§ You are trying
to 'get' something from them
§ You are trying
to 'take' something from them
§ Whatever you
take increases you and diminishes them
§ This is attack!
§ Special hate
(taking something by force) is different only in form ...
§ ... from
special love (taking something by guile and barter)
o And God (for
whom others' specialness diminishes Him) is attacking everyone
o Which is why
you hide in the body and material world and identify yourself with them
o But are intent
on pointing out others' wrongs ...
o ... so that He
punishes them first
Commentary
·
The only thing protecting this insane system is the
belief that it is true and sane
·
The only problem, therefore, is your allegiance to is
·
If this system is true, what is actually true is false
and mad
·
From the ego's point of view, oneness is insane, love is
insane, peace is insane, and forgiveness is insane
·
Thus is everything reversed, hence the 'upside-down
thinking' the Course talks about
·
When their content is revealed like this, these
laws do seem insane
·
You deny that you believe them
·
But you believe them because you are falling for the form
·
For instance:
o 'She has
stopped loving me; I feel bad'
o 'When the
kitchen is renovated, I will be happy'
o 'I haven't got
any work; I feel bad'
o These appear
normal and reasonable
o But they are
standard embodiments of an insane system
·
Whenever you believe the world has something to offer,
you believe in these laws
·
Whenever you believe you have something the world can
take away, you believe in these laws
·
Have you noticed that having and not having are both
attended by fear?
·
No solution in the world will therefore solve fear
o Because having
engenders fear
o And not having
engenders fear
o The release
from fear necessarily entails this:
§ There is
nothing to have or not have
§ In other words:
there is no world
·
Does this example not prove you are bound by the above
laws, which entail fear?
·
Look past the surface form to the substance
·
And to the madness of the underpinning laws of chaos
·
Life is in Heaven
·
Heaven is a state of oneness
·
Outside that is hell
·
Hell has occasional reprieves
·
Do not take the reprieves for Heaven
·
The moments of 'happiness' in the material realm are
based as much on the laws of chaos as the hellish moments
·
But there can be nothing outside Heaven,
which by nature is everything
·
So hell does not exist
·
Because hell is unreal
·
And nothing unreal exists
The solution
·
How do you know whether you are on the stairs to heaven
or the stairs to hell?
·
This is easy
o How do you
feel?
o Is peace in
your awareness?
o Are you certain
which way to go?
o Are you sure
the goal of Heaven can be reached?
o If not, you're
walking to hell.
·
Instead:
o Ask your Friend
to join you ...
o ... and give
you certainty of where to go
o This means: ask
for for undoing of all that is unreal
o This is merely
the recognition that what is unreal ... is unreal
o And anything
that is supported by an insane system is unreal
o See the
insanity of the system
o And what is
unreal dissolves
o Leaving behind
...
o ... Heaven
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