【原版奇蹟課程】第二章 分離的幻相 2.4更正愛的缺乏

2.4 更正愛的缺乏

採取第一矯正步驟，也就是“知道那是恐懼”，
之後，在繼續下一步矯正之前，添加一個小步驟，對你可能有點益處。
試著對自己說：
你一定是在某時某處，曾經以某種方式決定不去愛，
否則就不會發生這種由行為和意願衝突而引起的恐懼。
然後繼續按先前的指示去做。

如果你細想這程序的真正意義，它只不過是在接受救贖治療法的大過程中，
一系列的實用步驟。

從這個觀點，這些步驟可以改寫如下：

1 ）首先，知道這是恐懼。

2 ）恐懼出於缺乏愛。

3 ）缺乏愛唯一的治療法，是完美的愛。

4 ）完美的愛是合一。

最後程序的步驟（3），是包含在步驟（4）的聲明之中。

我們強調過，奇蹟，或稱之為救贖的表達，
永遠是「有價值者」對「有價值者」真正尊重的象徵。

這價值是由救贖所重建的。

顯然的，當你害怕的時候，你已將自己安置在需要救贖的情況下，
理由是你做了無愛的事，因為你的意願沒有愛。

準確的說，是由於這情況，上主才提供我們救贖。
因為需要治療，才有救贖。

如果你只認識到治療的需要，你就會持續的害怕。
然而，一旦你糾正了愛的缺乏，你也同時徹底消除了恐懼。
這才是真實的治愈。

人人都經歷過恐懼，但沒有人享受它。
然而，只要少許的正確思維，就能知道為什麼會有恐懼。
你和比爾都沒有費神去想它。

（在此，我反對以復數的動詞用於單數的主詞~Helen~並且記起上次一個類似的句子，
祂說得很正確，想起來我滿心愉悅。這文法上的錯誤，使我懷疑這些筆記的真實性。
答复：這個問題真正顯示的是，你不是很願意接受。
會有那樣的結果，是因為你投射出（用不適當的方式）你的憤怒，與這些筆記無關。
你寫錯了，因為你沒有感覺到愛，所以你要我看起來傻傻的，
那麼你就不必專心的作筆記。
實際上，我正設法穿越這可觀的反抗，因為你不很快樂，而我希望你快樂。
即使你是如此的抗拒，我認為值得試試，因為我可能使你感覺好些。
你也許沒有辦法不攻擊，但多少也試著聽一點。）

很少人意識到思維的真正力量。

沒有人能夠隨時保持充分的警覺。
這是不可避免的，因為人有他必須做的許多事，所以無法持續觀察自己的思維。
但是，如果他希望自己從恐懼中釋放，
起碼在一部份的時間裡，有些事他必須完全的了解。

頭腦是一個非常強有力的創造者，從未喪失它的創造力量。
它從不睡眠。每時每刻它都在創造，而且總是如你所願。
你日常的許多話語，都反應出這現象。
例如，當你說：“不要去想它”，你暗示如果你不考慮某件事，它就不會影響你。
這是真確的。

另一方面，許多其它的話語，清楚的表現出對思維力量認識的匱乏。
例如，你說：“只是個空想”，意味著這想法不會有任何作用。
你有時評論某些人“不三思而行”，暗示如果那個人經過思考，他就不會那樣做。
你並且使用措辭如“引人深思”，非常直截了當，但“駭俗之思”一辭的意義則全然不同。【譯者註：此處用“thought provoking”和“provoking thought”的文字對比】

雖然“大處著想”一類的措辭對思維的力量有某些程度的認知，但它們仍然離真相很遙遠。
當你說這話的時候，你沒有預期會成長，因為你並不真正相信它。
人很難理解，思維和信心的結合，所產生波濤洶湧的力量，可以毫不誇張的移動山脈。

乍看之下，好像因為自大，你才會相信自己有這樣的力量，
但那不是你不相信它的真正原因。

人們寧願相信，他們的思維無法產生真正的力量，因為他們的確害怕這個事實。
臨床治療師以貶低願望的力量，設法來幫助那些害怕自己死亡願望的人。
為了“釋放”患者的恐懼，他們甚至試圖說服患者，
想什麼都沒關係，根本不會有任何影響。

有一種真正的困境，只有真實的正確思維可以避免。
死亡願望不會在物質身體上產生作用，但是卻能殺害精神感官。
所有破壞性思維都是危險的。

懷有了死亡願望，一個人沒有選擇的餘地，除了按照思想行動，就是背道而馳。
因而他只能在殺人和恐懼之間作選擇。
（參見前筆記關於意願的矛盾。）
（注意：在前面系列的筆記，我故意避免用這個詞，因為似乎太極端了點。
明顯地，上次應該使用而不用是有原因的，在這一章節使用它，有非常好的理由。）

另一可能是，他貶低自己思維的力量。
這是一般精神分析的方法。這方法雖然減輕罪惡感，代價卻是使思維變成無能。

如果你相信自己的思維毫無效力，你也許就不會過度害怕它，
但你也不可能尊重自己的思維。

世上隨處可見，人因為害怕自己的思維，而貶低自己的例子。
在某些瘋狂的例子裡，思維被過份崇拜，
只因為下意識嚴重且有效的打壓思維的力量，使當事人無法忍受。

真相是，沒有真正的“空想”。

所有的思維都會產生某些層次的形式。
人們害怕ESP 【譯者註：extrasensory perception第六感、靈感】，
並經常抵制它的原因，是因為他們知道思維可能傷害自己。
思維使他們自己變得脆弱。

你和比爾，一直在抱怨恐懼，多半時間仍然持續在創造恐懼。
我告訴過你，要求我釋放你的恐懼沒有用，因為我知道它根本不存在。而你不知道。
如果我介入你的思維和它的後果之間，
實際上，我就是在擅改這個世界上最根本的因果律法。
如果我貶低了你思維的力量，對你也不會有所幫助。
這只會直接阻礙本課程的目的。

對你更有幫助的是提醒你，你根本沒有仔細的防衛你的思維，
只除了一天中的一小段時間，而且連那一小段時間都不太一致。
現在，你可能會覺得，只有奇蹟才能使你做到，這是完全真實的。
人類不習慣於奇蹟的思維，但是可以被訓練以那種方式來思考。

所有奇蹟工作者，必須被訓練以這種方式來思考。
我必須能夠信賴他們。
也就是說，我不能任由他們的思維不加防守，否則他們不可能幫助我。

奇蹟工作，需要充分認識思維的力量，和真正規避錯誤的創造。
不然，將需要奇蹟來校正工作者的思維，
這迂迴的過程，使得折疊時間的奇蹟很難達成。
也無法使奇蹟工作者尊重真正的因果律。

奇蹟，無法使奇蹟工作者從恐懼中釋放。
奇蹟和恐懼都來自他的思維，
如果他不能自由的選擇其一，他將不能自由的選擇其二。
記住，我們說過，當你選擇一個人，你就是放棄另一個。

選擇奇蹟也是一樣。
你選了奇蹟，你就因此棄絕恐懼。
恐懼不可能襲擊，除非它被創造。

你和比爾害怕上主、我、你們自己、和幾乎在任何時段認識的每一個人。
這只可能是因為你錯誤的創造了我們大家，並且相信你所創造的。
（在這一點上，我們曾經花費很多時間，但效果不彰。）
如果你不害怕自己的思維，你就不會這個樣子。
脆弱的人基本上是錯誤創作者，因為他們錯誤的覺知萬有。

你和比爾願意接受，原則上不怎麼改變你們思維的東西，如此你們就可以毫不留意。
你們堅信，當你們不是有意識的觀察你們的思維時，只是不留神罷了。

現在是了解「無意識」與「不留神」之世界的時候了。
這會嚇壞你，因為這是驚駭的根源。
如果你願意，可以將它視為基本衝突的新理論，
這不會完全是知識性的方法，因為你不可能完全不明真相。

不被注意的思維，要對整體無意識的內涵負責，這內涵是在奇蹟層次之上。
所有精神分析理論學家，對這聯繫的真實性都做了某些貢獻，卻沒有人看到全部的真相。
（這裡正確的文法，是你更加合作的徵兆。謝謝。）

楊格（Jung）的最大貢獻是，察覺個人和集體無意識層次的相對應。
並在他的概要中，公認了宗教精神的重要地位。
他的原型是意味深長的概念。
但他最大的錯誤在於，認為最深層次無意識的「內涵」是共同分享的。
最深層次無意識的「能力」才是被分享的。
因為奇蹟思維，所以內涵（或個人偶然完成的特殊奇蹟）不是關鍵。
實際上，奇蹟的內涵各各不同，因為是我在引導，我特意避免重複。
除非奇蹟真正的治愈，否則就根本不是奇蹟。

奇蹟層次的內涵，不被儲存在個人的無意識之中，
否則，奇蹟就不會如我們所一再強調的，是自然而且自發的。
無論如何，奇蹟的內涵「是」被記錄的，但「不」在個體之內。

所有心理分析家都犯了一個共同的錯誤，就是試圖去揭露無意識的「內涵」。
你無法用這種方法，去了解無意識的活動，
因為“內涵”，只適用於個人所致力的，無意識表面的層次。
在這層次，他能很輕易的放置恐懼，而且通常如此。

佛洛依德正確的稱這層次為前意識，並強調，
前意識和意識之間的數據，很容易交替發生。
他指出潛意識壓抑力是用來保護意識免於恐懼，也是正確的。
佛洛依德的主要錯誤在於，他堅持在精神結構上，這壓抑力是必要的。
如果精神包括害怕的層次，而除了分裂之外無法逃脫，
那麼精神的整體性，就永久地被威脅了。
要點不是去控制害怕，而是消除害怕。

在此，潤克【譯者註：Otto Rank 1884–1939，奧地利心理分析家】
對意願的概念尤其好，不過，他只提到人本身真實的創造能力，
而沒有適當的延伸到與上主的結合。
他另一個正確的思想“誕生的創傷”，也太狹隘了，
因為沒有提到「分離」，而分離，實際上是誕生的一個「假像」。
肉體的誕生，本質上不是創傷。
然而，它可能使人想起「分離」，那才是恐懼的真正起因。

“ 意志療法”具有非常大的潛在力量，但潤克卻沒有理解到它的真正潛力，
因為他用了自己部分的腦力去創造「思維的理論」，也是為了去攻擊佛洛依德。
他對佛洛依德的反應，源於他自己不幸的採納了，由「分離」而引起的剝奪謬論。
這謬論使他相信，只有當別人的思維創作失落了，他自己的思維創作才能站得住腳。
後果是，他的理論強調，而不是減少，防禦的雙面刃本質。
這是他思想一個突出的特色，因為對他來說，這概念是非常真實的。

而且，他錯誤解釋「誕生的創傷」的方式，
不可避免的，使他為了「消除恐懼」，去嘗試治療。
這是後來所有理論學家的特色，不依循佛洛依德所做的，以隔離恐懼為治療。

至今還沒有人完全了解，恐懼的治療價值，或真正結束恐懼的唯一方法。
當人有了錯誤的創作，他就處於痛苦中。
在這裡，因果律是臨時的加速器。
實際上，「因」是屬於上主的，而「果」則是祂的聖子。
這真正的因果關係，是完全不同於，那些因為人類的錯誤創作而引起的關係。

（1965年11月16日）

給比爾的特別訊息：

我祈求，但願我的意願與您一致，
讚歎您完美的愛將充盈我的不完美。

我祈求，但願我以信心承受救贖，
讚歎它的無價，我的神性與您一體。

我祈求，但願我的恐懼由您生動的愛所替代，
讚歎您持續助我克服那使我陷入困境的分裂、分岐的意願。

我接受這些訊息中的神性，
我肯定我願信守救贖的原則。

主啊！我在此。

你們兩人主要的問題是不斷分岐的意願，使得你們真實的本性自然倍受干擾。
在某種程度上，你們堅持著分裂，
這明顯的將阻礙你們整合自己的努力，而必定花費更長的時間。
信任我，只要你們的忠誠沒有疏離或分裂就夠了。
持續肯定你們期望達到的目標，和了悟成功的必然性，就會加強你們的信念。
這樣做，你們將感知、「體驗」你們真實的價值，也會了解維持「完整」定位的重要。

（1965年11月16日）

在真正的基本衝突中，主要對手是「創作」和「錯誤創作」。
所有恐懼暗示著後者，正如所有的愛是前者所固有的。
由於這區別，基本的衝突，在於愛和恐懼之間的矛盾。

這~就是造成最基本矛盾的真正主角：愛和恐懼。
既然所有這類理論都會導致重新分配精神能量的治療法，
下面有必要考慮「我們的」性慾概念。

對這一點，佛洛依德比他的追隨者更準確，他們根本上是以自己的期望看待此事。
能量「可以」從「創作」和「錯誤創作」中散發出來，
而它們之間的比率，在特定的時間點「將會」決定「當時」的行為。
如果錯誤創作確實「沒有」產生能量，就無法引起「備受矚目」的破壞性行為。

人所創造的事事物物都有能量，
因為，如同上主的創作一樣，這些創造「來自」能量，
而他們的創造者也賦予了他們創造的力量。
根據潛藏的「動力」來看，錯誤創作仍然是真正的創造行動，但根據「內容」則非然。
然而，這並沒有剝奪創作物「本身」的創造力量。
只不過，它「保證」力量將被誤用，或「恐懼的被使用」。

否定這一點，便只是先前談到的貶值謬論。
雖然佛洛依德自己製造了不少的謬論，他「確實」避免了與性慾相聯的謬論。
後來的理論學家否定了能量分裂的概念，不是試圖去治愈，
而是以重新解釋來代替重新分配。

這使他們的假設不合邏輯，認為雖然療法是為了治愈分裂，但分裂其實沒有發生。
結果療法根本上成了催眠。這與佛洛依德的方法相當不同，其結果是陷入僵局。

當「創作」和錯誤創作的力量共同存在時，類似的僵局就會發生。
這是矛盾的體驗，因為當事人感覺兩者「似乎」是發生在「同一層次」。
他「相信」自己不自覺的創造，並且自然相信它是真的，「因為」是他創造的。
因此，他將自己安置在「惡夢成真」的處境裡。

只要這信念以「任何」形式存在，結果只會是層次的混淆。
對基本矛盾的「真正」因素，不適當的否定或認同，都「不」可能解決問題。
矛盾「不會」消失，除非完全了解錯誤創作「不」是真實的，所以矛盾「是」不存在的。
雖然人真切的感覺到自己過去錯誤的創作，
但需要完全認清的事實是，他不需要繼續做下去，也不必為過去的錯誤而痛苦。

所以，精神能量的「重新分配」，「不是」解決方法。
認為兩種都「必需」存在，或認為有「一種」是可以被用或被誤用，都是扭曲的想法。
「唯一」的方法是「即刻停止錯誤創作」，並為過去的錯誤創作接受救贖。

只有這樣，才能重建真正的單純思維。
如你所正確注意到的，精神的架構，是沿襲了理論學家所使用的某些性慾概念。
（海倫：我仍然認為是相反的。答复：這混淆是因為你改變了次序——還不止一次。
但沒有關係，因為這兩個概念「是」彼此互相流通的。
這是「非常」浪費時間的，而我無意效法。請注意！）

佛洛依德的精神世界，基本上是一張美與惡的圖片，而著重在罪惡的一面。
相當多次，我對他提及救贖，他卻為了保衛他的理論，而更加嚴厲的反抗。
這導致他更努力的企圖，要使不合邏輯的成為更合乎邏輯。

對此我非常遺憾，因為他的頭腦是很好的，只是很可惜被浪費了。
但是，他投胎的主要目的未被忽略。
他「確實」成功的影響了人對無意識的認知。
使人考慮自己時，將無意識計算在內。
這朝向正確的一步是功不可沒。
佛洛依德是最近我所知道最虔誠的人之一。
不幸的是，他很害怕宗教，他唯一應付的方式，是將宗教（而不是他自己）看成病態。
這也因此阻礙了治愈。

佛洛依德的「超我」論，是錯誤創作之真正力量的一個特別有趣的例子。
在他整個理論的發展過程中，值得注意的是，「超我」從未與自由聯合。
它唯一能做的，是計劃出一套停止痛苦的方案，使得雙方都「失敗」。
這覺知，使他不得不強調他對文明的不滿。

佛洛依德的「自我」論，只不過是無意識的表層而已，根本不是最深刻的層次。
這也是不可避免的，因為佛洛依德無法分辨奇蹟與魔術。
因此他不斷的努力（甚而全神貫注），繼續在意識和深層無意識之間填塞事物，
以致後者變得越來越晦澀難懂。
結果是一片混亂，沒有次序、沒有控制、和沒有意義。
這也是他真正的「感覺」。

後來理論上強調「憂慮」的重要性，是一個有趣的策略，
意圖否定破壞的能力，和錯誤創作力量的影響。
用強調「結果」的方式，來減少創作力的再生性。

破壞行為「是」本能的。
創作的天性「不會」因為錯誤創作而被淹沒。
這就是為什麼，它總以逼真的姿態出現。

（1965年11月20日）

我們已經說過，基本的衝突在於愛和恐懼，而精神的正確整合基礎是沒有層次的混淆。
應該非常仔細地再讀一遍，關於精神能量的部分，
因為在完成這部分之前，它很可能被誤解。

我們說過，人「無法」控制恐懼，因為他自己創造了恐懼。
由於對恐懼的信任，他確定的放棄了對恐懼的控制權。
因此，任何企圖通過掌握恐懼，來解決基本衝突的概念，都是無意義的。
實際上，單單假設恐懼需要被掌握，就已經鞏固了恐懼的力量。

根本解決的方法在於愛的圓融。
在過渡時期，衝突是不可避免的。
原因是，人很奇怪的將自己擺在不合邏輯的位置。
既然我們一再強調，更正必須是應用在錯誤發生的層次，
我們應該很清楚，奇蹟「應該」是不合邏輯的，
因為奇蹟的目的是改正不合邏輯的，並恢復秩序。

「空無」與「一切」是無法共存的兩種概念。
你相信其中之一到某種程度，另一個就相對的「被」取消。
在這衝突中，恐懼是空無，而愛才是一切。
（這認知是閹割情結的依據）這是因為每當光穿透黑暗，黑暗「就」消失了。
不情願被察知，或不想錯誤曝光，其結果是裝模作樣的主動行為。
這種恐懼，可能以戀母情結，和伴隨而來的「閹割恐懼」而展現。

然而，以更長遠及更有意義的方式來說，
戀母情結是恐懼「分離」的縮版，
而閹割情結是用來否定「分離」曾經發生過。

像所有虛假的解答一樣，這種扭曲的想法雖然有創意，但仍舊是假的。
「分離」「是」發生了。
否定它，僅僅是否定的誤用。
但是，集中註意力於錯誤，也僅僅是正統精神機制的進一步誤用。
正確的改善方法，是已經描述過的，靈眼（或真見）的適當運用，
也就是暫時接受錯誤，「但只」象徵「即刻」更正的必要。
因此而確立，即刻接受救贖的心態。

必須再重複，「一切」與「空無」之間，最終是沒有妥協的可能。
時間的目的，基本上是為革除所有此類妥協而設計。
看起來，似乎妥協的消除是漸進的，
實際是因為時間給人「間隔」的概念，但這間隔並不真正存在。
創作的誤用，使時間成為必要的矯正設施。

“ 上主深愛世人，因此將唯一的聖子給了他們，只要信了祂，就不會死亡，而得永生。”
這一段文字，只需要稍微修改，整個的意義就很鮮明。
應該說是：“上主深愛世界，因此將它「給了」祂唯一的聖子。”
注意，上主「只有一個」聖子。

如果你相信上主所創造的所有靈魂都是祂的聖子，
同時你也相信聖子是一個整體，
那麼每個靈魂「必然」是上主的聖子，或聖子整體的一部分。

整體大於各個部分的概念，並不難理解。
因此你應該不會有太大的困難來了解這個關係。
聖子的「整體性」，「確實」超越各個部分的總和。
但是，只要任何部分有了缺失，整體的特殊狀態就不存在。
這就是為什麼衝突終究無法解決，「除非」聖子整體的所有部份都已返回。
「只有」那時，整體的真正意義才能被了解。

減法，一直被認為是數學的概念，而不是個權宜之計。
（這是目前人類對數學了解的主要局限。）
任何暗示程度上負數差異的聲明，基本上是無意義的。
換個想法，事實是，必需認知只要缺少了聖子的一個部份
（即使十萬或百萬個部份也都一樣），祂就「不」是完整的。

在神性中，聖父和聖靈是完整無缺的。
聖子有獨特的本領，可以選擇去相信錯誤、或相信殘缺不全。
但是很明顯，如果這樣選擇的話，「是」相信「空無」的存在。
這個錯誤的更正就是救贖。

我們已經簡要的講到過「準備就緒」。
但另外有些認知，也許會有用。
準備就緒是成就的必要條件。兩者不應該混淆。
一旦準備就緒，必定有事等待完成，但這不一定是連貫的。
就緒的狀態，只是暗示意志轉換的潛力。
除非你們能完全掌握，否則無法建立充分的信心。
這一章節的開始，我們企圖改正人的根本錯誤，認為恐懼可能被掌握。
正確的是，「唯有」愛可能被掌握。
當我告訴你們，你們已準備接受“啟示”，我並沒有說，你們已經能夠掌握這種溝通形式。
但是，你們堅稱如果不是真的，我就不會說，因而也證實了你們已準備就緒。
這「是」準備就緒的肯定。
愛的圓融，涉及對自己能力更完整的信心，而你們尚未達成。
但準備就緒，至少是你們相信可能達成的徵兆。這只是信心的起點。

為了免於被誤認為，從準備到精通，必需要大量的時間，
我再次提醒你，時間和空間是在我的控制之下。

用來改正對魔術與奇蹟混淆的主要方法之一，是要記住，人沒有創造自己。
當我執變大時，就很容易忘記這一點，而使人不可避免的相信魔術。
創作主在萬有中展現祂創作的天性，也賦予了人創作的天性。
因為創造的能力只存在於思維中，人所創造的一切必然來自於本能。
結果是，在自己的眼中，他所創造的都是真的，但在上主看來卻不盡然。
這基本的差別，直接引導我們進入最後審判的真正意義。
（我知道你很想繼續討論其它基本矛盾的類似理論。
但是，除非你認為很重要，否則只會延遲我們的工作。）

T 2 E. The Correction for Lack of Love (*N 271 5:120)

T 2 E 1.            After taking the first corrective step, ie, “Knowing it IS fear,” you might benefit temporarily by adding another next step BEFORE going on with the corrective process. Try saying to yourself that you MUST have willed not to love somehow or somewhere, or that fear which arises from behavior-will conflict could not have happened. Then follow previous instructions. T(100) -99 

T 2 E 2.            If you consider what the process really means, it is nothing more than a series of pragmatic steps in the larger process of accepting the Atonement as THE remedy. From this viewpoint, the steps can be reworded as follows:

1.) Know first this is fear.

2.) Fear arises from lack of love.

3.) The ONLY remedy for lack of love is perfect love.

4.) Perfect love IS the Atonement.

T 2 E 3.            The final procedural step (3) is inherent in the last statement (4). We have emphasized that the miracle, or the EXPRESS-ION of Atonement, is always a sign of real respect from the worthy TO the worthy . This worth IS re-established by the Atonement.

T 2 E 4.            It is obvious, then, that when you are afraid you have placed yourself in a position where you NEED Atonement BECAUSE you have DONE something loveless because you WILLED without love. This is precisely the situation for which the Atonement was offered . The need for the remedy inspired its CREATION.

T 2 E 5.            As long as you recognize only the NEED for the remedy, you will remain fearful. However, as soon as you REMEDY it, you have also abolished the fear. This is how TRUE healing occurs. T(101) - 100 

T 2 E 6.            Everyone experiences fear, and nobody enjoys it. Yet, it would take very little Right-thinking to know why it occurs. Neither you nor Bill have thought about it very much, either. ( I object at this point to the use of plural verb with a properly singular subject - - Helen Schucman - - and remember that last time in a very similar sentence, He said it correctly and I remembered it with real pleasure. This real grammatical error makes me suspicious of the genuineness of these notes.  ANSWER: What it really shows is that YOU are not very receptive. The reason it came out that way, is because you are projecting (in the inappropriate way) your own anger, which has nothing to do with these notes. YOU made the error, because you are not feeling loving, so you want me to sound silly, so you won't have to pay attention. Actually, I am trying to get through against considerable opposition, because you are not very happy, and I wish you were. I thought I'd take a chance, even though you are so resistant, because I MIGHT be able to make you feel better. You may be unable not to attack at all, but do try to listen a little, too.)

T 2 E 7.            Very few people appreciate the real power of the mind. Nobody remains fully aware of it all the time. This is inevitable in this world, because the human being has many things he must do, and cannot engage in constant thought -watching. However, if he hopes to spare himself from fear, there are some things he must realize, and realize them fully, at least some of the time. T(102) -101 

T 2 E 8.            The mind is a very powerful creator, and it never loses its creative force. It never sleeps. Every instant it is creating, and ALWAYS as you will. Many of your ordinary express-ions reflect this. For example, when you say “don't give it a thought”, you are implying that if you do not think about something, it will have no effect on you. This is true enough.

T 2 E 9.            On the other hand, many other express-ions are clear express-ions of the prevailing LACK of awareness of thought-power. For example, you say, “just an idle thought”, and mean that the thought has no effect. You also speak of some actions as “thoughtless”, implying that if the person HAD thought, he would not have behaved as he did. You also use phrases like “thought provoking”, which is bland enough, but the term “ a provoking thought” means something quite different.

T 2 E 10.          While express-ions like “think big” give some recognition to the power of thought, they still come nowhere near the truth. You do not expect to grow when you say it, because you don't really believe it . It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a power-surge that can literally move mountains.[123]

T 2 E 11.          It appears at first glance that to believe such power about yourself is merely arrogant, but that is not the real reason why you don't believe it.

T 2 E 12.          People prefer to believe that their thoughts cannot exert real control because they are literally AFRAID of them. Therapists try to help people who are afraid of their own death wishes by depreciating the power of the wish. They even attempt to “ free” the patient by persuading him that he can think whatever he wants, without ANY real effect at all. T(103) -102 

T 2 E 13.          There is a real dilemma here, which only the truly right-minded can escape. Death wishes do not kill in the physical sense, but they DO kill spiritually. ALL destructive thinking is dangerous. Given a death wish, a man has no choice except to ACT upon his thought, or behave CONTRARY TO it. He can thus choose ONLY between homicide and fear. (See previous notes on will conflicts.) ( NOTE   I avoided this term in the last series of notes intentionally, because it seemed too Rankian. Apparently, there was a reason why this word should have been used last time. It is used in this section for a very good reason.)

T 2 E 14.          The other possibility is that he depreciates the power of his thought. This is the usual psychoanalytic approach. This DOES allay guilt, but at the cost of rendering thinking impotent. If you believe that what you think is ineffectual, you may cease to be overly afraid of it, but you are hardly likely to respect it, either. The world is full of endless examples of how man has depreciated himself because he is afraid of his own thoughts. In some forms of insanity, thoughts are glorified, but this is only because the underlying depreciation was too effective for tolerance.

T 2 E 15.          The truth is that there ARE no “idle thoughts.” ALL thinking produces form at some level. The reason why people are afraid of ESP, and so often react against it, is because they KNOW that thought can hurt them . Their  OWN  thoughts have made them vulnerable.

T 2 E 16.          You and Bill, who complain all the time about fear, still persist in creating it most of the time. I told you last time that you cannot ask ME to release you from it, because I KNOW it does not exist . YOU don't. If I merely intervene between your thoughts and their results, I would be tampering with a basic law of cause and effect, in fact the most fundamental one there is in this world. T(104) -103  I would hardly help if I depreciated the power of your own thinking. This would be in direct opposition to the purpose of this course.

T 2 E 17.          It is certainly much more useful to remind you that you do not guard your thoughts at all carefully, except for a relatively small part of the day, and somewhat inconsistently even then. You may feel at this point that it would take a miracle to enable you to do this, which is perfectly true. Human beings are not used to miraculous thinking, but they CAN be TRAINED to think that way.

T 2 E 18.          All miracle-workers HAVE to be trained that way. I have to be able to count on them. This means that I cannot allow them to leave their mind unguarded, or they will not be able to help me. Miracle -working entails a full realization of the power of thought, and real avoidance of miscreation. Otherwise, the miracle will be necessary to set the mind ITSELF straight, a circular process which would hardly foster the time-collapse for which the miracle was intended. Nor would it induce the healthy respect that every miracle-worker must have for true cause and effect.

T 2 E 19.          Miracles cannot free the miracle-worker from fear. Both miracles AND fear come from his thoughts, and if he were not free to choose one, he would also not be free to choose the other. Remember, we said before that when electing one person, you reject another.

T 2 E 20.          It is much the same in electing the miracle. By so doing, you HAVE rejected fear. Fear cannot assail unless it has been created. You and Bill have been afraid of God, of me, of yourselves, and of practically everyone you know at one time or another. T(105) -104  This can only be because you have miscreated all of us, and believe in what you have created. (We spent a lot of time on this before, but it did not help very much.) You would never have done this if you were not afraid of your own thoughts. The vulnerable are essentially miscreators, because they misperceive Creation. 

T 2 E 21.          You and Bill are willing to accept primarily what does NOT change your minds too much, and leaves you free to leave them quite unguarded most of the time. You persist in believing that when you do not consciously watch your mind, it is unmindful.

T 2 E 22.          It is time to consider the whole world of the unconscious, or unwatched mind. This will frighten you, because it is the source of fright. You may look at it as a new theory of basic conflict, if you wish , which will not be entirely an intellectual approach, because I doubt if the truth will escape you entirely.

T 2 E 23.          The unwatched mind is responsible for the whole content of the unconscious, which lies above the miracle-level. All psychoanalytic theorists have made some contribution to the truth in this connection, but none of them has seen it in its true entirety. (The correct grammar here is a sign of your better cooperation. Thank you.) Jung's best contribution was an awareness of individual vs. collective unconscious levels. He also recognized the major place of the religious spirit in his schema. His archetypes were also meaningful concepts. But his major error lay in regarding the deepest level of the unconscious as shared in terms of CONTENT. The deepest level of the unconscious is shared as an ABILITY. As MIRACLE-MINDEDNESS, the content, (or the particular miracles which an individual happens to perform) does not matter at all. T(106) -105 They will, in fact, be entirely different, because, since I direct them, I make a point of avoiding redundancy. Unless a miracle actually heals, it is not a miracle at all.  

T 2 E 24.          The content of the miracle-level is not recorded in the individual's unconscious, because if it were, it would not be automatic and involuntary, which we have said repeatedly it should be. However, the content IS a matter for the record, which is NOT within the individual himself.

T 2 E 25.          All psychoanalysts made one common error, in that they attempted to uncover unconscious CONTENT. You cannot understand unconscious activity in these terms, because “content” is applicable ONLY to the more superficial unconscious levels to which the individual himself contributes. This is the level at which he can readily introduce fear, and usually does.

T 2 E 26.          Freud was right in calling this level pre-conscious, and emphasizing that there is a fairly easy interchange between preconscious and conscious material. He was also right in regarding the censor as an agent for the protection of consciousness from fear. HIS major error lay in his insistence that this level is necessary at all in the psychic structure. If the psyche contains fearful levels from which it cannot escape without splitting, its integration is permanently threatened. It is essential not to control the fearful, but to ELIMINATE it.

T 2 E 27.          Here, Rank's concept of the will was particularly good, except that he preferred to ally it only with man's own truly creative ability, but did not extend it to its proper union with God's. His “birth trauma”, another valid idea, was also too limited, in that it did not refer to the Separation, which was really a FALSE idea of birth. Physical birth is not  T(107) -106 a trauma in itself. It can, however, remind the individual of the Separation, which was a very real cause of fear. 

T 2 E 28.          The idea of “will-THERAPY” was potentially a very powerful one, but Rank did not see its real potential because he himself used his mind partly to create a theory OF the mind, but also partly to attack Freud. His reactions to Freud stemmed from his own unfortunate acceptance of the deprivation-fallacy, which itself arose from the Separation. This led him to believe that his own mind-creation could stand only if the creation of another's fell. In consequence, his theory emphasized rather than minimized the two-edged nature of defenses. This is an outstanding characteristic of his concepts, because it was outstandingly true of him.

T 2 E 29.          He also misinterpreted the birth-trauma in a way that made it inevitable for him to attempt a therapy whose goal was to ABOLISH FEAR. This is characteristic of all later theorists, who do not attempt, as Freud did, to split off the fear in his own form of therapy.

T 2 E 30.          No one as yet has fully recognized either the therapeutic value of fear, or the only way in which it can be truly ended. When man miscreates, he IS in pain. The cause and effect principle here is temporarily a real expeditor. Actually, Cause is a term properly belonging to God, and Effect, which should also be capitalized, is HIS Sonship. This entails a set of cause and effect relationships which are totally different from those which man introduced into the Miscreation. T( 108) -107[124]

T 2 E 31.          The fundamental opponents in the real basic conflict are Creation and miscreation. All fear is implicit in the second, just as all love is inherent in the first. Because of this difference, the basic conflict IS one between love and fear .

T 2 E 32.          So much, then, for the true nature of the major opponents in the basic conflict. Since all such theories lead to a form of therapy in which a re-distribution of psychic energy results, it is necessary to consider OUR concept of libido next. In this respect, Freud was more accurate than his followers, who were essentially more wishful. Energy CAN emanate from both Creation  AND miscreation, and the particular ratio between them which prevails at a given point in time DOES determine behavior  AT  that time. If miscreation did NOT engender energy in its own right, it would be unable to produce destructive behavior, which it very patently DOES.

T 2 E 33.          Everything that man creates has energy because, like the Creation of God, they (it) come FROM energy, and are endowed by their creator with the power to create. Miscreation is still a genuine creative act in terms of the underlying IMPULSE, but NOT in terms of the CONTENT of the creation. This, however, does not deprive the creation of its OWN creative power. It DOES, however, GUARANTEE that the power will be misused, or USED FEARFULLY.

T 2 E 34.          To deny this is merely the previously mentioned fallacy of depreciation. Although Freud made a number of fallacies of his own, he DID avoid this one in connection with libido. The later theorists denied the split-energy concept, not by attempting to heal it, but by re-interpreting it instead of T(109) -108 redistributing it.  

T 2 E 35.          This placed them in the illogical position of assuming that the split which their therapies were intended to heal had not occurred. The result of this approach is essentially a form of hypnosis. This is quite different from Freud's approach, which merely ended in a deadlock.

T 2 E 36.          A similar deadlock occurs when both the power of Creation and of miscreation coexist. This is experienced as conflict only because the individual feels AS IF both were occurring AT THE SAME LEVEL. He BELIEVES in what he has created in his own unconscious and he naturally believes it is real BECAUSE he has created it. He, thus, places himself in a position where the fearful becomes REAL.

T 2 E 37.          Nothing but level-confusion can result as long as this belief is held in ANY form. Inappropriate denial and equally inappropriate identification of the REAL factors in the basic conflict will NOT solve the problem itself. The conflict CANNOT disappear until it is fully recognized that miscreation is NOT real, and therefore there IS no conflict. This entails a full realization of the basic fact that, although man has miscreated in a very real sense, he need neither continue to do so, nor to suffer from his past errors in this respect.

T 2 E 38.          A  REDISTRIBUTION  of psychic energy, then, is NOT the solution. Both the idea that both kinds MUST exist, and the belief that ONE kind is amenable for use or misuse, are real distortions. The ONLY way is to STOP MISCREATING NOW, and accept the Atonement for miscreations of the past. T(110) -109  Only this can re-establish true single-mindedness. The structure of the psyche, as you very correctly noted yourself, follows along the lines of the particular libido concept the theorist employs. (I still think it was the other way around - - Helen Schucman. Answer: This confusion arises out of the fact that you DID change the order - - several times in fact. Actually, it didn't matter, because the two concepts DO flow from each other. It was a TERRIFIC waste of time, and one in which I hardly care to become engaged myself.  PLEASE !)

T 2 E 39.          Freud's psyche was essentially a good and evil picture, with very heavy weight given to the evil. This is because every time I mentioned the Atonement to him, which was quite often, he responded by defending his theory more and more against it. This resulted in his increasingly strong attempts to make the illogical sound more and more logical.

T 2 E 40.          I was very sorry about this, because his was a singularly good mind, and it was a shame to waste it. However, the major purpose of his incarnation was not neglected. He DID succeed in forcing recognition of the unconscious into man's calculations about himself, a step in the right direction which should not be minimized. Freud was one of the most religious men I have known recently. Unfortunately, he was so afraid of religion that the only way he could deal with it was to regard IT (not himself) as sick. This naturally prevented healing.

T 2 E 41.          Freud's superego is a particularly interesting example of the real power of miscreation. It is noteworthy throughout the whole development of his theories that the superego never allied itself with freedom. The most it could do in this direction was to T( 111) -110  work out a painful truce in which both opponents LOST. This perception could not fail to force him to emphasize discontent in his view of civilization. 

T 2 E 42.          The Freudian id is really only the more superficial level of the unconscious, and not the deepest level at all. This, too, was inevitable, because Freud could not divorce miracles from magic. It was therefore his constant endeavor, (even preoccupation) to keep on thrusting more and more material between consciousness and the real deeper level of the unconscious, so that the latter became increasingly obscured. The result was a kind of bedlam, in which there was no order, no control, and no sense. This was exactly how he FELT about it.

T 2 E 43.          The later theoretical switch to the primacy of anxiety was an interesting device intended to deny both the instinctive nature of destructiveness, and the force of the power of miscreation. By placing the emphasis on the RESULT, the generative nature of the power was minimized.

T 2 E 44.          Destructive behavior IS instinctual. The instinct for creation is NOT obliterated in miscreation. That is why it is always invested with reality. *One of the chief ways in which man can correct his magic-miracle confusion is to remember that he did not create himself. He is apt to forget this when he becomes egocentric, and this places him in a position where belief in magic is virtually inevitable. His instincts for creation were given him by his own Creator, who was expressing the same instinct in His Creation. Since the creative ability rests solely in the mind, everything which man creates is necessarily instinctive .[125]  T ( 112) -111[126] IV 

T 2 E 45. ( This goes after basic conflict theory.) (Dictated without notes by Helen Schucman)      

T 2 E 46.          We have already said that the basic conflict is one between love and fear, and that the proper organization of the psyche rests on a lack of level confusion. The section on psychic energy should be re-read very carefully, because it is particularly likely to be misinterpreted until this section is complete.

T 2 E 47.          It has already been said that man CANNOT control fear, because he himself created it. His belief in it renders it out of his control by definition. For this reason, any attempt to resolve the basic conflict through[127]  the concept of mastery of fear is meaningless. In fact, it asserts the power of fear by the simple assumption that it need be mastered at all.

T 2 E 48.          The essential resolution rests entirely on the mastery of love. In the interim, conflict is inevitable. The reason for this is the strangely illogical position in which man had placed himself. Since we have frequently emphasized that correction must be applied within the level that error occurs, it should be clear that the miracle MUST be illogical because its purpose is to correct the illogical and restore order.

T 2 E 49.          Two concepts which CANNOT coexist are nothing and everything. To whatever extent one is believed in, the other HAS BEEN abolished. In the conflict, fear is really nothing, and love is really everything. (This recognition is really the basis for the castration complex.) This is because whenever light penetrates darkness,[128]  it DOES abolish it. The unwillingness to be seen, or submit error to light, is spuriously associated with active doing. In this incarnation, this can take the form of oedipal involvement and concomitant castration anxiety.  T(113) -112

T 2 E 50.          However, in more long range and meaningful terms, the oedipal complex is a miniature of the true Separation fear, and the castration complex is a way of denying that it ever occurred. Like all pseudo-solutions, this kind of distorted thinking is very creative, but false. The Separation HAS occurred. To deny this is merely to misuse denial. However, to concentrate on error is merely a further misuse of legitimate psychic mechanisms. The true corrective procedure, which has already been described as the proper use of the spiritual eye (or true vision), is to accept the error temporarily,  BUT ONLY  as an indication that  IMMEDIATE  correction is mandatory. This establishes a state of mind in which the Atonement can be accepted without delay.

T 2 E 51.          It is worth repeating that ultimately there is no compromise possible between everything and nothing. The purpose of time is essentially a device by which all compromise in this respect can be abolished. It seems to be abolished by degrees precisely because time itself involves a concept of intervals which do[129]  not really exist. The faulty use of creation has made this necessary as a corrective device.

T 2 E 52.          “And God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son so that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have Eternal Life”[130]  needs only one slight correction to be entirely meaningful in this context. It should read “And God so loved the world that he gave it TO His only begotten Son.” It should be noted that God HAS begotten only ONE Son. T (114) 113  If you believe that all of the Souls that God created ARE His Sons, and if you also believe that the Sonship is One, then every Soul MUST be a Son of God, or an integral part of the Sonship. You do not find the concept that the whole is greater than its parts difficult to understand. You should therefore not have too great difficulty with this. The Sonship in its Oneness DOES transcend the sum of its parts. However, it loses this special state as long as any of its parts are missing. This is why the conflict cannot ultimately be resolved UNTIL all of the individual parts of the Sonship have returned. Only then, in the true sense, can the meaning of wholeness be understood.

T 2 E 53.          The concept of minus numbers has always been regarded as a mathematical rather than an actual expedient. (This is a major limitation on mathematics as presently understood.) Any statement which implies degrees of difference in negation is essentially meaningless. What can replace this negative approach is a recognition of the fact that as long as one part (which is the same as a million or ten or eight thousand parts) of the Sonship is missing, it is NOT complete.

T 2 E 54.          In the Divine psyche, the Father and the Holy Spirit are not incomplete at all. The Sonship has the unique faculty of believing in error, or incompleteness, if he so elects. However, it is quite apparent that so to elect IS to believe in the existence of nothingness. The correction of this error  T(115) -114  is the Atonement.

T 2 E 55.         We have already briefly spoken about readiness. But there are some additional awarenesses which might be helpful. Readiness is nothing more than the prerequisite for accomplishment. The two should not be confused. As soon as a state of readiness occurs, there is always some will to accomplish, but this is by no means undivided. The state does not imply more than the potential for a shift of will. Confidence cannot develop fully until mastery has been accomplished. We began this section with an attempt to correct the fundamental human error that fear can be mastered. The Correction was that ONLY love can be mastered. When I told you that you were “ready for Revelation”, I did not mean that you had in any way mastered this form of communication. However,you yourself attested to your readiness by insisting that I would not have said so if it had not been true. This IS an affirmation of readiness. Mastery of love necessarily involves a much more complete confidence in the ability than either of you has attained. But the readiness at least is an indication that you believe this is possible. This is only the beginning of confidence.

T 2 E 56.          In case this be misunderstood as a statement that an enormous amount of time will be necessary between readiness and mastery, I would again remind you that time and space are under My control. T(116) -115 ( Dictated without notes by Helen Schucman) 

T 2 E 57.          One of the chief ways in which man can correct his magic-miracle confusion is to remember that he did not create himself. He is apt to forget this when he becomes egocentric, and this places him in a position where belief in magic is virtually inevitable. His instincts for creation were given him by his own Creator, who was expressing the same instinct in His Creation. Since the creative ability rests solely in the mind, everything which man creates is necessarily instinctive. T(117) -116 

T 2 E 58.          It also follows that whatever he creates is real in his own eyes, but not necessarily in the sight of God. This basic distinction leads us directly into the real meaning of the Last Judgment. (I am aware of the fact that you would much rather continue with the parallels involved in other theories of basic conflict. However, this would merely be a delay which we will engage in only if you regard it as essential.)