Corresponding Text Section

Chapter 5: Understanding the Holy Spirit’s Purpose

4. Being Reinterpreted on Behalf of the Divine

The way to learn to know your sisters and brothers is by perceiving the Holy Spirit in them. It was stated earlier that the Holy Spirit is the Bridge or thought-transfer of perception to Knowledge, so we can use the terms as if they were related, because in Spirit’s Mind they are. This relationship between perception and knowing must be in Spirit’s Mind because, unless it were, the separation between the two ways of thinking would not be open to healing. The Holy Spirit is of the Holy Trinity because Its Mind is One with the Divine’s Mind and also our true or whole mind. This needs clarification not in words but in experience.

The Holy Spirit is the Idea of healing. Being thought, the Idea gains as It is shared. Being the Call for the Divine, It is also the Idea of the Divine. Because you are Part of the Divine, It is also the Idea of yourself, as well as of all the Aspects of the Divine. The Idea of the Holy Spirit shares the property of other ideas, because It follows the Laws of the eternal Universe of which It is a Part. Therefore, It is strengthened by being given away. It increases in you as you give It to your sisters and brothers.

Since thoughts do not have to be conscious to exist, your sisters and brothers do not have to be aware of the Holy Spirit, either in themselves or in you, for this miracle of increase and strengthening to occur. They may have dissociated the Call for the Divine, just as you have at times. But the dissociation is healed in both of you as you hear the Call in them, and thus acknowledge the Divine’s Being.

You have made a number of vital contributions to our joint venture of awakening which you yourself may not yet appreciate or even understand. If we recognize their value together we will be able to use them together, because they are ideas and must therefore be shared to be held. For instance, when you become determined not to perceive your sisters and brothers in the way that you have in the past, knowing the pain and imprisonment that that way of perceiving them brings you both, the intention in this form is stated negatively. If you will state the same idea positively, you will see the power of the idea. You will realize that there are two ways of perceiving yourself and your sisters and brothers, and also that these ways are diametrically opposed to one another. These two ways must be in your mind because you are referring to yourself as the perceiver. They must also be in the mind of your sisters and brothers, because you are perceiving them. What you are really saying in such a statement is that you intend not to perceive others through your ego, or perceive their egos in them. Stated positively, you intend to see others through the Holy Spirit in your mind, and perceive the Holy Spirit in theirs.

What you acknowledge in your sisters and brothers you are acknowledging in yourself. What you share you strengthen. The Voice of the Holy Spirit still needs to be strengthened in you. That is why you must share It, because It must be increased in Strength before you can hear It unequivocally. It is difficult to hear this Voice in yourself while It still needs to be strengthened in your own mind. It is not weak in Itself, but It is limited by your unwillingness to hear It, just as It becomes unlimited by your willingness to hear It.

Will itself is an Idea, and is therefore strengthened by being shared. If you make the mistake of looking for the Holy Spirit in your split mind, or conflicted will, it is likely that attempts at attunement, such as meditation, will frighten you. By adopting the ego’s viewpoint while attempting to awaken, an ego-alienating journey is undertaken with the ego as guide. This is bound to produce fear. The better idea, and approach, is the intention to see others through the Holy Spirit in your mind, and perceive the Holy Spirit in theirs.

Delay is of the ego, because time as delay is its concept. Delay is obviously a “time” idea. Both delay and time, even the right use of time, are meaningless in Eternity. It was stated earlier that the Holy Spirit is the Divine’s Answer to the ego. Everything the Holy Spirit reminds you of is in direct opposition to the ego’s notions, because false perceptions are themselves opposed to true ones. The Holy Spirit has the task of undoing what the ego has made. It must undo it in the same realm of discourse in which the ego itself operates or the mind will be unable to understand the change.

The fact that one level of the mind is not understandable to another is an idea that has been emphasized in different contexts in this Course. So it is with the ego and the spirit, and with time and Eternity. Eternity is an Idea of the Divine, so the spirit understands It perfectly. Time is a belief of the ego, so the split mind, which is the ego’s domain, accepts it without question. The only aspect of time that can reflect Eternity is now, this Instant. That is what is meant by saying that now is the only time. The literal nature of this statement does not mean anything to the ego. It interprets it, at best, to mean “don’t worry about the future.” This is not what the statement really means at all. Not worrying about the future does not mean that you will be present in this Instant of now.

The Holy Spirit is the Mediator between the interpretations of the ego and the knowing of the spirit. The Holy Spirit’s Ability to deal with symbols enables It to undo the ego’s beliefs in its own language and through this to undo your belief in the ego. Spirit’s equal Ability to see beyond symbols into Eternity also enables It to understand the Laws of the Divine, or Divine Will, for which It speaks. The Holy Spirit can thus perform the Function of reinterpreting what the ego makes, not by destruction but by understanding. True Understanding is Light, and Light leads to Knowledge. The Holy Spirit is in Light, because It is in you and your Creator, who are Light. But you have not yet remembered this and so do not currently know it. It is therefore the Task of the Holy Spirit to reinterpret you to yourself on behalf of the Divine.

You cannot understand yourself alone. This is because you have no Meaning apart from your rightful Place in the Divine Family, and the rightful Place of the Divine Family in the Divine. This is your Life, your Eternity, and your Self. It is this that the Holy Spirit sees. It is of this that the Holy Spirit reminds you. This Vision invariably frightens the ego because It is so calm and vast. Peace is the ego’s greatest enemy because, according to its interpretation of reality, conflict is the guarantee of its survival. The ego becomes strong in strife because if the idea of threat has entered your mind, and if you believe there is strife, you will react defensively, strengthening the idea of the ego. The idea of conflict itself is an appeal to the ego.

The Holy Spirit is as vigilant as the ego to the call of danger, conflict, strife, viciousness, and war, opposing it with Its Strength just as the ego welcomes it with all its might. The Holy Spirit counters this welcome by welcoming Peace. Peace and Eternity are as closely related as are conflict and the ego’s use of time to delay.

Perception as well as Knowledge derive meaning from relationships. Those relationships that you accept are the foundations of your beliefs.

The separation is merely another term for the split mind. The separation was not an act but a thought. Therefore, the idea of separation can be given away, just as the Idea of Unity can, and either way the idea will be strengthened in the mind of the giver. The ego is the symbol of the separation, just as the Holy Spirit is the Symbol of Unity and Peace. What you perceive in others you are strengthening in yourself. You are still much too willing to let your mind misperceive, but the Holy Spirit lets your mind reinterpret its own misperceptions. The Holy Spirit is the perfect Teacher. It uses only ideas that your mind believes it already understands to teach you that you do not yet truly understand them.

The Holy Spirit can deal with an unwilling learner without countering their will because Part of their will is still aligned with the Divine’s Will. Despite the ego’s attempts to conceal this Part, It is still much stronger than the ego, even though the ego does not recognize It. The Holy Spirit recognizes It perfectly because It is Its Own dwelling Place, or the Place in the mind where It is at home. You are at home there, too, because It is a place of Peace, and Peace is of the Divine.

You who are Part of the Divine are not at home except in Its Peace. Because Peace is eternal, you are at home only in Eternity. The ego made the world as it perceives it, but the Holy Spirit, the Reinterpreter of what the ego made, sees the world only as a teaching device for bringing you Home. The Holy Spirit must perceive time and reinterpret it into the Timeless. The mind must be led into Eternity through time, because, having made time, it is capable of perceiving its opposite. The Holy Spirit must work through opposites because It must work with and for a mind that is in opposition to itself.

Correct and learn, and be open to learning. You are not the source of Truth, and because of that Truth will yet set you free. See as the Holy Spirit sees and understand as It understands. Its Understanding sees to the Divine, in remembrance of me and of you. The Holy Spirit is in the deep Connection of holy relationship always, and It is Part of you. It is your Guide to awakening because It holds the Remembrance of things past and to come. It holds the Joy of what is to come gently in your mind, asking only that you increase this by sharing It, to increase Its Joy in you.