This 2-line phrase comes from Lesson 75 in A Course in Miracles.
We are nearing the end of our shadow-work journey -- first into and then out of the shadow: from darkness into light, the light of love, of awareness, of peace.
On the personal level of our fate or destiny, karma, dharma, or life-path, each person’s journey is unique, but there are common, universal themes. For all of us who are having a human experience in this world of duality, a shadow side comes with the territory. We cannot escape it, suppress it, outrun it, or fight it.
When we turn to face it, heal it, and integrate it – when we make it a useful part of our whole persona, we will begin to consistently have peace of mind, joy in living, and freedom from fear. It is there for a reason!
So, we learn we are to make peace with it and begin to use it, rather than run from it,
On the macro-level, in the Universal ebb and flow of Everything, we have seen how the turning of the wheel, the up and down of life can be escaped – or at least understood and turned to our advantage – when we are in tune with the rhythms of the Tao, the patterns of darkness and light that governs the world.
Knowing the signs of the times, we can make decisions on a personal level for ourselves and those around us, with every-growing mastery of the sublime, unknowable Tao that undergirds all Reality.
Life, of course, happens.
Our only choice (unless we continue to resist and get further enmeshed in pain and struggle) is to ride the waves, sail the seas, climb the mountain that appears in front of us. Confront the demons, slay the dragon, endure the monotony of war, the tedium of the hours, until the dawn breaks and we are guided to make our move.
…. illness knocked me out of complacency, swept me out to sea, and deposited me on the shores of a new continent. It altered my sense of safety and security. An enormously important event disrupted my world. The way I perceived life had been forever changed. This was my fate. My destiny involved honoring an inner voice that prompted me to go in search of healing, but I would have no map. This is exactly what fairytales teach: To find the golden egg, to escape the ravenous monster, to reunite with our lost soul we must be extraordinarily brave, abide with uncertainty, trust the helpers along the way, (instincts and intuitions are often represented in tales as helpful animals or humble elders), and most fervently bring our faith and all our heart to the task.
Chauang Tzu, who compiled a text of Taoist commentary known as “The Second Book of the Tao” is famous for (among other things) stating with unusual clarity this experience that Kushner is having: of “searching...but I would have no map.”
To have no thought and put forth no effort is the first step towards understanding the Tao. To go nowhere and do nothing is the first step towards finding peace in the Tao. To start from no point and follow no road is the first step towards reaching the Tao.
— Chuang Tzu
Stephen Mitchell in his poetic adaptation of the Second Book of the Tao, states:
One of the qualities I most treasure in Chang-tzu is his sense of the spontaneous, the uncapturable. This makes it easy to follow in his footsteps. Since there are no footsteps, all you can follow is what he himself followed: the Tao.
Lesson 75 of A Course in Miracles echoes Kushner’s experience of being “swept… out to sea and deposited on the shores of a new continent.” It states:
Dwell not upon the past today. Keep a completely open mind, washed of all past ideas and clean of every concept you have made. You have forgiven the world today. You can look upon it now as if you never saw it before. You do not know yet what it looks like. You merely wait to have it shown to you.
Destiny and fate conspire to bring us out of the old and (if we can flow with it) into new – and better! – circumstances with new energy, new life, new purpose, new wisdom, compassion, joy, love, and experience.
Older and wiser!
But we cannot know what this new paradigm, this new world, this new way of seeing the world, holds. It is futile to try and guess. We can only surrender, experience, and enjoy!
With the Course’s understanding of “forgiveness,” I translate the phrase I have forgiven the world literally .
I have looked into the heart of the shadow and loved it, forgiven it and forgiven everyone who may have played a part in the drama and trauma of my past. I have forgiven them, you, myself, and circumstances.
I have made peace with it all and let it go. I have (figuratively, but also in a very real sense) forgotten what it was all about!
The Course tells us that we are living in a vast, and very compelling illusion of our own making. It tells us that everything we see with the body’s eyes is not there in Reality.
It also tells us that, in this illusion, everything we think, say, or do brings us deeper into the illusion, except for one thing – Forgiveness, the one illusion that leads us out of the illusion.
Forgiveness.
Forgiveness is necessary in this world because we perceive others as separate entities, apart from us. Forgiveness heals this illusion of separation. It lets everyone off the hook.
Into the illusion of darkness, which the Course tells us is all we see at present: “through a glass darkly” forgiveness brings the light of Heaven into our awareness for the first time since the beginning of time.
A Course in Miracles, Chapter 27 is entitled: The Healing of the Dream (ACIM, T-27.I)
You are the dreamer of the world of dreams. Dream of your brother’s kindness instead of dwelling in your dreams on his mistakes. Select his thoughtfulness to dream about instead of counting up the hurts he gave. Forgive him his illusions, and give thanks to him for all the helpfulness he gave.
ACIM Chapter 27.VII.13 and 15
In other words:
Light has come because I have forgiven the world.
As we wind down our “Shadow Work for Dummies” series, I want to say that the work, the journey continues. I don’t know that it is ever fully done in this lifetime, or in many lifetimes.
But the slowly (sometimes quickly) dawning Light of God is in each and every one of us, blazing brightly, undimmed by the dark shadows, cloaks, and bushel baskets we have (in our imagination) put over It.
It is my job to see it in another, so I can see it in myself. This heals our “mad idea” of separation from God and from each other, and then we can truly say,
Light has come!
Happy Sunday!
John
I am available to do Prosperity Now! individual or group sessions or general life-coaching, I Ching readings, dream interpretation or join us for our weekly Wednesday Course in Miracles group. Please contact me at prosperitynowlifeofdreams@yahoo.com or sign up on my website: http://www.johnafrederick.com
Wow, Johnny, you covered it all. My personal interpretation of forgiveness is "Seeing through the eyes of Christ". Kay