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Lesson 113
Review 3
Practice Instructions
See Practice Instructions Review 3
Commentary
There is something inexpressibly appealing about the idea of being “one Self.” Much of modern psychology talks about “integration” of the disparate aspects of our being. So much of the time we feel as if we are made up of varying segments, sometimes cooperating but more often than not conflicting with one another. There is what the Jungian analysts refer to as our “shadow” self, all the dark, repressed tendencies that follow us around as dark figures in our dreams.
The Course holds out the vision of a unified Self. It speaks of “a mind at peace within itself” (W-WI.8.3:4). It tells us that because we must be only one Self, we cannot be in conflict. The Text talks about our war against ourselves (Chapter 23), and says that the apparent conflict we see in the world around us is nothing but a reflection of the illusion of conflict we all carry within our own minds. It says, “[Peace] begins within the world perceived as different, and will lead from this fresh perception to the gate of Heaven and the way beyond” (W-200.8:2). The peace must begin within us, in the serenity and calm of an integrated self, in a mind free of conflict and attack.
The Self we are speaking of is more than just a whole individual, however. It is one Self shared by all, “at one with all creation and with God” (1:2). The two are really different aspects of the same thing, for as we free ourselves of conflict within ourselves, our conflict with the world will miraculously disappear.
This is why salvation comes from this one Self. When we have consolidated ourselves, recognized the truth of our unified being, this condition of wholeness naturally extends to others. From within the circle of Atonement (T-14.VII), we draw others to their own wholeness, shared with us.
Today I still my mind from all its conflicts. I dissociate myself from the dissociation, I separate myself from the separation. I take time in quiet to break my sense of identification with this image of a shattered self, and I let myself sink down into the awareness of “one Self” within me, Who I really am. Conflicting images of myself come and go with startling frequency; they cannot be my reality. Something persists beneath it all, the “hum” of being in which all the flash and drama seems to occur. It is this steadiness that I am, not the ephemeral shooting stars of thought that seem to demand my attention. I embrace this one Self, avidly, saying, “Salvation comes from my one Self. This oneness is my salvation. This oneness is my reality.”