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Chapter 24: Escaping the War against Yourself

 

3. The “Laws of Chaos”

The “laws of chaos” can be brought to Light, though never truly understood. “Chaotic laws” is a contradiction of terms and meaningless, and therefore out of Reason’s Sphere. Yet they appear to constitute an obstacle to Reason and to Truth. Let us, then, observe them calmly that we may see beyond them, understanding what they are and not what they would maintain.

It is essential it be understood what these laws are for. It is their purpose to attack Truth and to make Life meaningless. Here are the laws that rule the world the separated ones made. And yet they govern nothing, and need not be broken, but merely seen and gone beyond.

The first chaotic law is that the Truth is different for everyone. Like all these principles, this one maintains that each person is separate, and has a different set of private thoughts that sets them off from others. This principle evolves from the belief that there is a hierarchy of illusions, and that in this hierarchy some illusions are more valuable, and therefore more true. And each person establishes this hierarchy for themself, and makes it true by their rejection or attack of what another values. This they justify because the values differ. And those who hold them seem to be unlike each other, and therefore antagonists.

Think how this “law” seems to interfere with the first principle of miracles. For it seeks to establish degrees of truth among illusions, making it appear that some illusions are harder to overcome than others. If it were realized that illusions are all the same, being equally untrue, it would then be easy to understand that miracles apply to all of them equally. Errors of any kind can be corrected because they are untrue. When brought to Truth, instead of to each other, they merely disappear. No part of nothingness can be more resistant to Truth than can another.

The second law of chaos, dear indeed, albeit unconsciously, to every worshipper of the belief in separation, is that each one must act against their better judgment in ways that hurt themself, and therefore, being hurtful by nature, deserves punishment and death. This principle, closely related to the first, is the belief that errors call for attack rather than correction. For the permanently flawed nature of the one who makes the error places them beyond correction and beyond forgiveness. The mistakes they have made are thus interpreted as proof of a hopeless defect in their character, and of an irrevocable sentence on themself, which the Divine Itself is powerless to undo. According to this law, error cannot be canceled out without exact payment or retribution, being the belief that the Children of the Divine can make mistakes for which their own destruction becomes inevitable, even if the ultimate cause is relegated to an “original sin” committed by something beyond themselves.

Think what this seems to do to the relationship between the Creator and Its Children. Now it appears that they can never be One again. For the Children must always be condemned, and by their Creator. Now are they different, and adversaries. And their relationship has become one of opposition, just as the unique Aspects of the Divine Family appear to meet only to conflict but not to join. One aspect becomes weak, the other strong by the one’s defeat. And fear of the Divine and of each other now appears as sensible, made real by what the Children of the Divine are believed to have done, both to themselves and to their Creator.

The arrogance on which the laws of chaos stand could not be more apparent than emerges here. Here is a principle that would define what the Creator of Reality must be, what It must think and believe, and how It must respond to Its Own Creation through believing this principle. It is not perceived by the believers of these laws as even necessary that the Creator be asked about the truth of what has been established by their belief. Its Children can tell It this, and It only has the choice whether to take their word for it, or be mistaken.

This leads directly to the third preposterous belief or law that seems to make chaos eternal. For if the Divine can only accept these laws or be mistaken, then It must accept the belief of some of Its Children in what they have become, and despise them for it. See how the fear of the Divine is reinforced by this third principle. Now it becomes impossible for these Children to turn to their Creator for help in their misery. For the Divine has become the adversary Who caused the misery, and to Whom appeal is useless. Nor can awakening from this misery be within the Children’s capability, whose every aspect seems to be at war with the Divine, and justified in their attacks against everything.

And now does conflict seem to be made inevitable, and beyond the Help of the Divine. Now awakening must remain impossible, because the Awakener has become the adversary. Now there can be no release, no escape, and no hope. Atonement thus becomes a myth, and vengeance, not forgiveness, becomes the will of the Divine. From the chaos where all this begins there is no sight of help that can succeed. Only eventual destruction can be the outcome to all things, including the perishable universe itself. And the Divine Itself seems to be siding with chaos to overcome Its Children, who have become a threat to It.

Think not that the ego’s insane frame of mind will provide you with the means to find release from what it wants. That is the function of awakening, which does not value what the ego cherishes. The ego cherishes only what it can take.

This leads to the fourth law of chaos that, if the others are accepted, must be true. This seeming law is the belief that you have only what you have taken. By this law, another’s loss becomes your gain, and thus it fails to recognize that you can never “take away” except from yourself. Yet all the other laws must lead to this. For enemies do not give willingly to one another, nor would they seek to share the things they value. And what your enemies would keep from you must be worth taking from them and having, just because they protect it by keeping it hidden from your sight.

All of the mechanisms of madness can be seen emerging here: the “enemy” made strong by keeping hidden the valuable inheritance that should be yours; your justified attack for and possession of what has been withheld; and the inevitable loss the enemy must suffer to save yourself. Thus do the guilty ones protest their “innocence.” Had they not been forced into this foul attack by the unscrupulous behavior of their enemy, they would have responded only with neutrality. But in a savage world the kind cannot survive. So they must take or else be taken from.

At this stage in the laws of chaos there is a vague, unanswered question, not yet “explained:” What is this precious thing, this priceless pearl, this hidden secret treasure to be wrested in righteous wrath from this most treacherous and cunning enemy? It must be what you want but never found. And now you “understand” the reason why you found it not. For it was taken from you by the enemy, and hidden where you would not think to look for it. The enemy hid it in their body, making this the cover for their guilt, the hiding place for what belongs to you. Now must their body be conquered so that you may have that which belongs to you. Your enemy’s treachery demands their demise so that you may live. And you attack only in self-defense.

But what is it you want that requires your enemy’s demise? Can you be sure that your attack is justified unless you know what it is for?

And here a fifth and final principle of chaos comes to the “rescue.” It holds that there is a substitute for Love. This is the enchantment magic that will cure all of your pain, the missing factor in your madness that makes it sane. This is the reason you must attack, and that which makes your aggression justified. Look, unveiled, upon the ego’s secret gift, torn from your brother’s or sister’s body after being hidden there in malice and disdain from the one to whom the gift belongs. For this last principle of chaos maintains that your brother or sister would deprive you of the secret component that would give meaning to your life.

The magic substitute for Love, born of your enmity toward one another, must be believed to be what gives “salvation” to its possessor. There can be no other possibility for obtaining this magic love, there being only one of it to be had. So all the ego’s relationships have but the purpose of seizing it and making it your own. Yet never is your possession made complete. And never will your sisters and brothers cease their own attacks on you for what they also madly believe you stole from them. Nor, in this madness, will the Divine end Its vengeance upon both of you, for, in Its madness, It must also have this substitute for Love, and kill you both in order to get it.

You who believe you walk sanely, with feet on solid ground, through a world where meaning can be found, consider this: These are the laws on which the world’s “stability” appears to rest. These are the principles that are unconsciously believed to make the foundation of the world seem solid. And it is to these laws that the separated ones look for meaning, for these are the laws they made for their “salvation.” These hold in place the substitute for Heaven that they prefer, though they are never quite sure what this substitute is because it always remains hidden. This is their purpose, for which the laws were made.

There is no point in asking what these laws mean. This is apparent. The means of madness must also be insane. Are you as certain you realize that their goal is madness? No one in their right mind wants madness, nor does anyone cling to their madness if they see that this is what it is. What protects madness is the belief that it is rational and sane and true. For it is the function of insanity to take the place of Truth. To be believed it must be looked upon as truth. And if it is truth, then must its opposite, which was the Truth before, be madness now. Such a complete reversal of Truth and falseness – with madness become sanity, illusions true, attack a kindness, hatred love, and murder benediction – is the goal the laws of chaos serve. These are the means by which the Laws of the Divine appear to be reversed. Here do the laws of separation appear to hold Love captive, and let fear go free.

This does not seem to be the goal of the laws of chaos. For, by the great reversal, they appear to be the laws of order. How could illusions not seem to be real to those embedded in them? That is their purpose. Chaos is, by definition, lawlessness, and therefore has no laws. To be believed, its seeming laws must be perceived as real. Their goal of madness must be perceived as the goal of sanity. And fear, with ashen lips and sightless eyes, blinded and terrible to look upon, is substituted in place of the Altar of Love, Its conqueror in Its death, Its replacement, the savior from awakening. How lovely do the laws of fear make death appear! Give thanks unto the hero at Love’s Altar who saved the Children of the Divine for fear and death!

And yet how can it be that laws such as these could be believed? There is a strange device that makes this possible. Nor is it unfamiliar. We have seen many times before how it appears to function. In Truth it does not function, yet in dreams, where only shadows play the major roles, it seems most powerful. No law of chaos could compel belief except for the emphasis on form and disregard of content. No one who thinks that even one of these laws is true sees their actual content. Some forms they take seem to have meaning, and that is all.

How can some forms of attack not mean harm? Can attack in any form be Love? What form of condemnation is a blessing? Who makes their awakener powerless and finds awakening? Let not the form of the attack on your sisters and brothers deceive you. You cannot seek to harm them and be awakened. Who can find safety from attack by turning on themself? How can it matter what form this madness takes? It is a judgment that defeats itself, condemning what it declares it wants to save. Be not deceived when madness takes a form you think is lovely. What is intent on your destruction is not your friend.

You would maintain, and believe that it is true, that you do not believe such senseless laws, or act upon them. And when you observe clearly what they actually say, they cannot be believed. Sisters and brothers, you have believed them. For how else, with content such as this, could you perceive the form these laws of chaos take? Can any form of this be tenable? Yet you believe them when the forms they take seem sensible to you, given the context, and thus do not recognize the content. The content never changes even if the forms do. Can you paint rosy lips upon a skeleton, dress it in lovely attire, pet it and pamper it, and make it live? And can you be content with an illusion that you are living?

Where the Divine created Life, there Life must be. Real Life in Its Totality is only in Heaven, and life outside of this can only be a dream. In any state apart from Heaven, life is illusion. At best it seems like life, at worst, like death. Yet both are judgments on what is not true Life, equal in their inaccuracy and lack of Meaning. Real Life not in Heaven is impossible, and what is not in Heaven is not anywhere. Outside of Heaven, only the conflict of illusions flickers: senseless, impossible, beyond Reason, and yet perceived as an insurmountable barrier to Heaven. Illusions are only forms. What appears to be their content is never true.

The laws of chaos govern all illusions. Their forms conflict, making it seem quite possible to value some above others. Yet each one rests as surely as do the others on the belief that the laws of chaos are the laws of order. Each split mind upholds these laws completely, offering a certain witness that they are true. The seeming gentler forms of attack are no less certain in their witnessing, or its results. Certain it is that illusions will bring fear because of the beliefs that they imply, not because of their form. And lack of faith in Love, in any form, attests to chaos as one’s chosen reality.

The faith in chaos must follow from the belief in separation. It is because it follows that it seems to be a logical conclusion, a valid step in ordered thought. The steps to chaos do follow neatly from their starting point. Each is a different form in the progression of Truth’s reversal, leading still deeper away from Truth and into terror. Think not that one step is smaller or larger than another, or that return from one is easier or harder. The entire descent from Heaven lies in each one. And where your erroneous thinking starts, there must it end.

Sisters and brothers, take not one step in the descent to hell. For having taken one, you will not recognize the rest for what they are. And they will follow. Attack in any form has placed your feet upon the twisted stairway that leads from Heaven. Yet in any Instant it is possible to have this all undone. How can you know whether you have chosen the Way to Heaven or the steps to hell? Quite easily. What do you feel? Is Peace in your awareness? Are you certain which way you go? And are you sure that the Goal of Heaven can be reached? If not, you walk alone. Ask, then, your Friend to join with you, and give you Certainty of where you go.