The beauty and simplicity of A TRAINING COURSE in Miracles (ACIM) really shines through one of its major principles: The Law of Cause and Effect. That is different from the Law of Attraction, a subject which so much has been written about these last few years. ACIM answers not merely why things are the way they are with the mind, but also how exactly to implement these mind corrections needed to change your life. What it ultimately boils down to may be the choice to change beliefs while residing in this world, or the choice to correct the mind and return home.
Affirmations are not part of A Course in Miracles as they are not essential and here’s why: There exists a “wrong” ego mind, and a “right” ego mind, both which are still the main same ego side of the split mind. Within the ego mind (error), the incorrect side is all of the negative judgments; and the right side is all of the negative judgments trying to convince you how wonderful it really is to live within this negative world. Neither may be the truth of one’s nature nor where you are trying to return your brain, according to ACIM.
REGULATIONS of Cause and Effect is this: In line with the mind you use as cause, you will notice the corresponding effect. Ideas do not leave their source: You.
Let’s use this example:
Someone is feeling the effects to be “poor,” or lack, in this world and wants to change their beliefs to will have “rich” (abundance, prosperity, money) show up. Both “poor” and “rich” are judgments of the ego deploying it as cause that may only produce ego effect. Ego as an unstable thought system, everything you choose as “rich” will eventually go and you also find yourself back with “poor.” It’s only a question of “when.”
The ego’s choice system is: (1) one or the other: (2) poor or rich; and, (3) ego or God. It asks one to choose between two things within the ego illusion rather than to choose from the illusion.
This is in contrast to choosing correction of your brain (forgiveness) where both “poor” and “rich” usually do not exist. A selection for correction of your brain allows the Holy Spirit Right Mind to be your cause which affects the you nowadays; however, it does not have the effects you imagine because the ego cannot relate. It returns some of your brain to peace and ends senseless worry over rich and poor. It also produces effects in your life here but you must choose correction to see them.
Let’s look at how ACIM breaks this all into a simple set of principles predicated on Cause and Effect. It only includes a few components and when understood and used, they could be “mind” correcting!
The Metaphysics:
Remember, according to ACIM, your brain is split by the ego’s judgment that we could be separate, also referred to as the “tiny mad idea,” or the error that never occurred. This portion of the mind is merely hidden in darkness because it banished itself from Knowledge (Heaven and Oneness) whenever we forgot to laugh off what cannot be true. It did not, however, separate.
So in ACIM it is not about affirmations or changing beliefs, as the mind never left God but still resides at home with Him. There are no “belief” judgments in Love, Oneness, Heaven and Knowledge as everything may be the same, all one, and nothing to believe or judge between.
Instead, it is all about changing your internal Teacher or rather, who you’re listening to for interpretation of events nowadays. The only change is in the choice between your split mind (error) of the ego or the Holy Spirit Right Mind (correction) as that internal Teacher.
This is where the simplicity is evident in ACIM because there’s no convincing the ego wrong and right mind of another way of thinking. You simply quit what you no more want. We take action all the time with ego stuff; and today we just do it with the ego beliefs themselves.
Forgiveness:
This says everything: Forgiveness is correction of your brain. In ACIM, you’ll find nothing to forgive because no error has happened, i.e., no separation happened. What you are doing is simply returning your brain to God, where it never left, and to its natural state of peace. To achieve that is simply either which side of the split mind to hear for interpretation of events and turning on the judgments you no longer want to the Holy Spirit Right Mind for correction (forgiveness).
The Holy Spirit is the treatment for the separation put into the mind by God and every answer is there waiting for you. Atonement, forgiveness, salvation and True Perception are other words that are synonymous. You have to be willing to utilize the Holy Spirit Right Mind for interpretation of events and do the specific work of giving judgments (beliefs) to the side of your brain, via your decision maker, because you no longer want them.
It really is that simple and only confusing as a result of belief that the only real choice is between ego judgments of “poor” and “rich,” to utilize the earlier example, and not understanding relating to this third option being available. acim The choice for True Perception would be to choose neither ego judgment and relinquish both for correction of your brain. This is what is takes to come back the mind to God.
Decision Maker:
ACIM is aimed at your choice maker in your brain. The complete point is that you have a choice of which side of your brain to hear and use for interpretation. That’s all that ever happened to begin with. It was a choice to pay attention, believe and choose judgments of the ego that separation happened and the ensuing sin, guilt and fear. Judgments could be dismissed as easily as you dismiss other things you do not want because they’re not real.
A couple of things stop you from relinquishing judgments: (1) your attachment to them as being true and real; and, (2) not acknowledging the method that you feel keeps them hidden which means you don’t realize they are judgments.
You do not “feel” in Heaven, Knowledge and Oneness. It is an experience shared by One.
The decision maker is the mechanism between your two sides of the split mind. It really is neutral, an observer and is something you should employ to watch the mind and the judgments being made by the ego. When you realize you purchased something from the ego error of the wrong or right mind, you need to be ready to hand them to the perfect solution is, or the correction, of the Holy Spirit Right Mind. It takes care of the others because the Atonement or solution has already been there. No affirmations are essential. You are simply quitting that which you no more want. It is, and certainly can, be that easy.
Form and Content:
The last component to know from the Course in Miracles is form and content. Form is this world and everything inside it. In ACIM, form does not matter and is part of the “beliefs” to be turned over. However, you utilize everything in form, combined with the judgments in your thoughts, as the curriculum of what to turn over for correction (forgiveness).
What does matter is content and in ACIM, content may be the mind. The mind you’re using for interpretation (perception) of people, places, and things, etc., counts for everything. It is possible to only have one master: (1) the Holy Spirit Right Mind (correction); or, (2) the ego wrong mind (error) and which includes both interpretations of the ego mind.
In conclusion, think about the simplicity of ACIM which is a Course in training your brain how exactly to perceive properly. You must return your brain to peace because the Kingdom of God is peace and you cannot start to see the doorway from judgment. You merely see peace in peace and while sharing peace with everyone.
All ACIM says is you have the willingness to understand how to do that, study the ideas and put it into practice. The help you need will arrive; but you, my pal, must do the task of the inward journey back into the mind.
REGULATIONS of Cause and Effect may be the form, or mind, you’re using for interpretation will be your effect in this world. It’ll affect you in other ways by returning your mind back to back again to peace where you eventually see the illusion of preference, because no separation occurred, and choose to give it up once and for all.