Manuscript 10 De Oorzaak Van De Afscheiding - a podcast by Een Cursus in Wonderen

II. The Cause of the Separation

This section deals with a more fundamental misuse of knowledge, referred to in the Bible as the cause of the fall (or separation).27 2There are several introductory remarks which are intended to make these explanations less fear provoking. 3First, I draw your attention to a couplet from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

4Be as thou wast wont to be;

See as thou wast wont to see.28

5These words were said by Oberon in releasing Titania from her own errors, both of being and perceiving. 6These were the words which reestablished her true identity as well as her true abilities and judgment.29 7The similarity to your release is obvious.

2 There are also some dictionary definitions which will be helpful. 2Their somewhat unusual nature is due to the fact that they are not usually the first definitions listed. 3Nevertheless, the fact that each of them does appear in the dictionary should be reassuring.

4project (verb): to extend forward or out30

5project (noun): a plan in the mind31

6world: a natural grand division32

3 We will refer later to projection as related to both mental illness and mental health.33 2It has also been commented on that Lucifer literally projected himself from Heaven.34 3We also have observed that you can make an empty shell, but cannot make nothing at all.35 4This emptiness provides the screen for the misuse of projection.

4 The Garden of Eden, which is described as a literal garden in the Bible, was not originally an actual garden at all. 2It was merely a mental state of complete need-lack. 3Even in the literal account, it is noteworthy that the pre-separation state was essentially one in which man needed nothing. 4The tree of knowledge, again an overly literal concept (as is clearly shown by the subsequent reference to “eating of the fruit of the tree”), is a symbolic reference to some of the misuses of knowledge referred to in the section immediately preceding this one.36 5There is, however, considerable clarification of this concept which must be understood before the real meaning of the “detour into fear” can be fully comprehended.

5 Projection, as defined above (this refers to the verb), is a fundamental attribute of God, which He also gave to His Son. 2In the creation, God projected his creative ability out of Himself toward the Sons whom He created, and also imbued them with the same loving will to create. 3We have commented before on the fundamental error involved in confusing what has been created with what is being made.37 4We have also emphasized that you have not only been fully created, but also been created perfect.38 5There is no emptiness in you. 6The next point, too, has already been made, but bears repetition here: The Son, because of his own likeness to his Creator, is creative.39 7No child of God is capable of losing this ability, because it is inherent in what he is.

6 Whenever projection in its inappropriate sense is utilized, it always implies that some emptiness (or lack of everything) must exist, and that it is within your ability to put your own ideas there instead of the truth. 2If you will consider carefully what this entails, the following will become quite apparent:

7 First, the assumption is implicit that what God has created can be changed by your own mind.

8 Second, the concept has intruded that what is perfect can be rendered imperfect or wanting.

9 Third, the belief has arisen, and is tolerated, that you can distort the creations of God, including yourself.10 Fourth, the idea has entered that since you can create yourself, the direction of your own creation is up to you.

11 These related distortions represent a picture of what actually occurred in the separation. 2None of this existed before, nor does it actually exist now. 3The Sonship was created as a natural grand division, or projecting outward of God. 4That is why everything which He created is like Him. 5Projection as undertaken by God was very similar to the kind of inner radiance which the children of the Father inherit from Him. 6It is important to note that the term “project outward” necessarily implies that the real source of projection is internal. 7This is as true of the Son as of the Father.

12 The Kingdom of God, in its original connotation, included both the proper creation of the Son by God and the proper creation by the Son in his right mind. 2The latter required the endowment of the Son by God with free will, because all loving creation is freely given. 3Nothing in either of these statements implies any sort of levels, or, in fact, anything except one continuous line of creation, in which all aspects are of the same order.

13 When the “lies of the serpent” were introduced, they were called lies because they are not true.40 2When man listened, all he heard was untruth. 3You do not have to continue to believe what is not true, unless you choose to do so. 4All of your miscreations can disappear in the well-known “twinkling of an eye,” because they are a visual misperception.41 5Your spiritual eye can sleep, but remember, a sleeping eye can still see.42

14 One translation of the fall, a view emphasized by Mary Baker Eddy and worthy of note, is that “a deep sleep fell upon Adam.”43 2While the Bible seems to regard this sleep as a kind of anesthetic utilized for the protection of Adam during the creation of Eve, Mrs. Eddy was correct in emphasizing that nowhere is there any reference made to his waking up. 3While Christian Science is clearly incomplete, this point is much in its favor.

15 The history of humanity in the world as you see it has not been characterized by any genuine or comprehensive reawakening or rebirth. 2This is impossible as long as humanity projects in the spirit of miscreation. 3It still remains within you to project as God projected His Own Spirit to you. 4In reality, this is your only choice, because your free will was made for your own joy in creating the perfect.

16 All fear is ultimately reducible to the basic misperception that you have the ability to usurp the power of God. 2It is again emphasized that you neither can nor have been able to do this.44 3In this statement lies the real justification for your escape from fear. 4This is brought about by your acceptance of the Atonement, which places you in a position to realize that your own errors never really occurred.

17 When the deep sleep fell upon Adam, he was then in a condition to experience nightmares, precisely because he was sleeping. 2If a light is suddenly turned on while someone is dreaming and the content of his dream is fearful, he is initially likely to interpret the light itself as part of the content of his own dream. 3However, as soon as he awakens, the light is correctly perceived as the release from the dream, which is no longer accorded reality. 4I would like to conclude this with the biblical injunction “Go, and do thou likewise.”45

18 It is quite apparent that this depends on the kind of knowledge which was not referred to by the “tree of knowledge,” which bore lies as fruit.46 2The knowledge that illuminates rather than obscures is the knowledge which not only makes you free, but also shows you clearly that you are free.47

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