Lesson 126: All that I give is given to myself.
In the Manual for Teachers section of A Course in Miracles, we’re told: “The teacher of God is generous out of Self-interest.”
Which is a great jumping-off point for those who criticize the Course as mumbo-jumbo spiritual bypass, but they neglect the next sentence: “This does not refer, however, to the self of which the world speaks. The teacher of God does not want anything he cannot give away, because he realizes it would be valueless to him by definition.”
Why does the teacher of God not want anything they can’t give away? Because those who understand that giver and receiver are the same – and that there’s really only one of us here – knows that whatever can be given away will ultimately return to the giver. Perhaps not in the same form – but it will return.
Think of a time when you have been genuinely loving or generous to another person. How did it make you feel? Pretty good, probably. That feeling we receive when we give is proof that giving and receiving are the same. Works in the opposite direction, too. When we’ve been mean or hateful to others, we feel badly. Our egos tell us we’re justified in our hatred and fear, but we feel so hateful and fearful afterward. Nobody, no matter what they tell you, feels good after hating on others. What they’re feeling is the ego’s love of revenge and specialness.
This is what we do, this lesson says, we use things such as generosity and forgiveness as weapons – as ways to feel superior or more “spirit-chul” than others. We get to feel like the bigger person when we forgive. We may get our ego stroked by telling others, “You were so bad to me, but I’m so much better than you, so I’ll forgive you,” but we’re still missing the whole point of forgiveness.
“True forgiveness,” this lesson tells us, “must heal the mind that gives, because giving is receiving.”
Which means, if you “forgive” someone, but then continue to mull their “offense” over and over in your mind, or remind them time and again that you have “forgiven” them for that past offense, then you haven’t even approached true forgiveness. You’re just playing the ego’s controlling game, seeing “forgiveness” as “a check upon overt attack without requiring correction in your own mind.”
The poet Hafiz reminds us that we are surrounded by God. Perhaps it’s simply best to put down our weapons and surrender.
He writes:
Sound said to me, “I want to be holy,” and
I replied, “Dear, what’s is the problem? You
already are.”
Then sound quipped back, “What do you
mean?”
“Well, the wind speaks, does it not? And what
about the refrain of geese? And what of the moo
and the baa and the rooster at dawn,
and the chorus from the sea and the rain, and
the thunder? Is not all a part of God, thus
sacred?
I think He has surrounded us; we better give
up, or He might bring out the heavy
artillery … like just outright lifting His skirt
everywhere. Think of all the sweet madness
that would cause.”
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