You Are Not Really There

In "Disappearance of the Universe" by Gary Renard (Pg 256), Pursah has given us one of the most commonly used thought process example for true forgiveness:

You’re not really there. If I think you are guilty or the cause of the problem, and if I made you up, then the imagined guilt and fear must be in me. Since the separation from God never occurred, I forgive “both” of us for what we haven’t really done. Now there is only innocence, and I join with the Holy Spirit in peace.

Have you thought about who the "You", "I", "both" and "we" really are in this thought process? After reading "Volume One: All are Called" from "The Message of A Course in Miracles", I have a much better understanding from Kenneth Wapnick's excellent explanation in the book.

Allow me to summarize the teachings of Kenneth Wapnick from "Volume One: All are Called".

Seven-Stage Development of the Self-Concept

1) Christ

In our true reality, there is no aspects since in non-dualistic Oneness, there is only one Self. We are God's Son, one Self — Christ, with one Creator and one goal.

2) Decision Maker

When the "tiny, mad idea" seemed to occur and the dream of separation began, it appeared that the Son of God was able to accomplish the impossible and split into two parts: the wrong mind, ruled by the ego; and the right mind, the home of the Holy Spirit. This split mind is governed by the self-concept of a decision maker that represents the power of the Son of God to choose between the ego and the Holy Spirit.

3) Individual Self

Once the decision is made for the ego, the separated yet still one Son of God forgets his decision and identifies with his newly won individual self, existing on his own and independent of God.

4) Self A: Sinful, Guilty and Fearful

As part of its concealed strategy of making the mind into a fearful place, impelling the Son of God to leave it and become mindless, the ego convinces him of the truth of its made-up tale of selfishness and murder. The Son's self-concept now becomes a sinful, guilty and fearful one (self A), resulting in his being stricken with horror at the thought of what he has done.

5) Self B: Fearful

The ego cajoles the Son into splitting off the sin and guilt and projecting it into a new self (C) that now becomes their home. This leaves the Son of God with his individuality intact, but without the sin and guilt: innocent self B that has now come into existence. This new self is just as fearful since the miscreated self C is perceived as the killer.

6) Body

The Son, seeking to save himself from certain annihilation, fragments into an almost countless number of thoughts, which are then projected out from the mind making up an individualized body (individualized self B), seemingly protected forever from God's intrusion.

7) Innocent Victim

Finally, the bodily self (B) is experienced as an innocent victim of the world (fragmented selves C), with the sins of the world being responsible for all his pain and suffering.

Interpretation of Pursah's Forgivenss Thought Process

Let us now substitute the ideas of self-concept into the wonderful thought process example given by Pursah.

You’re (self C) not really there. If I think you (self C) are guilty or the cause of the problem, and if I (self A) made you up, then the imagined guilt and fear must be in me (self A). Since the separation from God never occurred, I (decision maker) forgive “both” of us (self B and C) for what we (self B and C) haven’t really done. Now there is only innocence, and I (decision maker) join with the Holy Spirit in peace.

I hope this interpretation will help you to engage the forgiveness thought process on a deeper level. The above section on the seven stages is highly summarized and I highly recommend that you read Kenneth Wapnick's "The Message of A Course in Miracles" which consists of "Volume One: All are Called" and "Volume Two: Few Choose to Listen". The two volumes are among the most important works of the Course's premier teacher Kenneth Wapnick and they will greatly help the students of the Course to understand and practice it better.