Is the World Really an Illusion? – Q&A with David Hoffmeister A Course in Miracles
Question: What is the meaning of the terms, "world" and "earth", as used in A Course in Miracles?Can the terms be used interchangeably when referring to the ego world? Are our feelings about one term more useful than the other term towardreaching salvation, our destination on the spiritual path?
David Hoffmeister: The world/earth can seem to reflect God or the ego, depending on the purpose given it, until the complete impossibility of error is accepted. The world was made in anger, but it Now is used to inspire and to bless. The world was made in fear, yet the Holy Spirit has Now transformed it into a witness for Love. The world was made in guilt; however it has Now been cleansed of all judgment and grievances by the Holy Spirit.
Projection made perception. Forgiveness is its end. The ego world or earth was false perception, the attempt to see the error of separation on the screen. Yet the image maker and image were one error, and the world left not its "source." The world or earth is an unreal effect of an unreal cause. Once it is apparent that the ego was never a real cause, having no real source, the world has been forgiven or seen to be an illusion. Salvation is Now. The real world is the awareness that error is past and gone, and within the Present Moment it has been forgiven.
https://youtu.be/mAzR5DS04C4?list=PLXR6KmNsDBjS885wu4M6B66K3doI3iTfO
"I am calling you out of the world" really means I am calling you out of ego thinking. In this sense, the ego and the world are synonymous. Perception is reborn or seen anew as the Holy Spirit's Purpose for the world is accepted in place of the ego's purpose of separation. "And God will take the final step" means that once Atonement has been accepted, there is no need for perception at all.
Divine Mind is purely abstract (formless) and creation is the light of understanding. God, Being Eternal, does not take steps. Creation Is, and thus is beyond the concepts of alpha and omega, beginning and end. Christ is the creation of God, and therefore has no beginning or end. The Christ Idea is eternal and never left Its eternal Source. You have perhaps heard of the phrase "forgive and forget." God and Christ are remembered as the world of illusion is forgotten.
Love and Blessings,
David Hoffmeister
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