Principle 17: Miracles transcend the body. They are sudden shifts into invisibility away from the bodily level. This is why they heal. (T-1.I.17)

COURSE REFERENCES

“Who transcends the body has transcended limitation.” (M-23.2:10)

Definition of “transcend”:

     1. to rise above or go beyond the limits of

     2. to be prior to, beyond, and above (the universe or material existence)

It is only the awareness of the body that makes love seem limited. (T-18.VIII.The Little Garden)

***The Holy Spirit’s temple is not a body, but a relationship. (T-20.VI.p1-4)

Your brother’s body is of as little use to you as it is to him. For minds do not need the body to communicate, and the sight that sees the body has no use which serves the purpose of a holy relationship. (T-20.V.5:1-4) It is the sight of the ego that wills to see the body, which, in a holy relationship, is considered to be a distraction and a blockage rather than an asset. Used as the Holy Spirit teaches, the body has no function.

The ego would limit your perception of your brothers to the body. The Holy Spirit will release your vision and let you see the Great Rays shining from them, so unlimited that they reach to God! It is this shift to vision that is accomplished in the holy instant when all judgment is entirely suspended – as discussed in Miracle Principle 16 in the last lesson. (T-15.IX.1:1-2)

What could the purpose of the body be but specialness? It is this that makes it frail and helpless in its own defense because the body was conceived to make you frail and helpless. The goal of separation is its curse. Yet bodies do not have a goal because purpose is of the mind, and minds can change as they desire. But what they hold as purpose can be changed, and body states must then shift accordingly. Of itself the body can do nothing. See it as a means to hurt, and it is hurt. See it as a means to heal, and it is healed. (T-24.IV.2:1-12) Remember the “Helpers Prayer”? “I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.” Healing others is healing yourself, just as giving is receiving.

Recognizing that sickness is a decision of the mind, for a purpose for which it would use the body, is the basis of healing. (M-5.II.12:1) What is the single requisite for this shift in perception? It is simply this: the recognition that sickness is of the mind and not of the body (not viruses or bacteria or lack of sleep or eating fatty foods or even from not eating). (M-5.II.3:1-2) With this idea, pain is forever gone. The final outcome of this lesson is the remembrance of God. (M-5.II.4:1,6) Thus the idea is to allow yourself to make healing decisions with the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Certainly, sickness does not appear to be a decision. Nor would anyone actually believe he wants to be sick. Perhaps he can accept the idea in theory, but it is rarely if ever consistently applied to ALL specific forms of sickness, both in the individual’s perception of himself and of his perception of all others as well. Nor is it at the level of perception that the teacher of God calls forth the miracle of healing. He overlooks the mind and body, seeing only the face of Christ shining in front of him, correcting all mistakes and healing all perception. (M-22.4:1-5) It is at the level of Christ that all healing is accomplished. Given this single shift, all else will follow. (P-2.IV.11:7)

Read “Beyond the Body.” (T-18.VI.all)

Healing must occur in exact proportion to which the valuelessness of sickness is recognized. First, it is obvious that decisions are of the mind, not of the body. The resistance to recognizing this is enormous, because the existence of the world as you perceive it depends on the body being the decision maker. (M-5.III.1:1,4,7) Second, the fact that sickness is a waste of time that could be better used to be happy and truly helpful instead of needing help, is a large factor as well. Thus, the body appears to draw a circle that is infinitely small, around a very little segment of Heaven, splintered from the whole, proclaiming that within this body is your kingdom, where God cannot enter. (T-18.VIII.2:5-6) Yet he who attempts to limit God does not know.

As God’s messengers, His teachers are the symbols of salvation. The simple presence of a teacher of God is a reminder. With God’s Word in their minds, they come in benediction (in blessing), not to heal the sick but to remind them of the remedy God has already given them. They remind him that he did not make himself and must remain as God created him. Attempting to remake what God created perfect is an exercise in futility and is a wasteful approach to life even in the dream world. It is obviously wiser to recognize and to accept your perfection as it is already created, and to share it with your brothers. (M-5.III.2:2,4,7:3:4)

When you made visible what is not true (bodies, the world and all that is in it), what IS true became invisible to you. Yet it cannot be invisible because the Holy Spirit sees it with perfect clarity. It is invisible to you because you are looking at something else. Yet the definition of reality is God’s, not yours. He created reality and He knows what reality is. You who once knew reality have forgotten it and unless He had given you a way to remember it, you would have condemned yourself to oblivion. (T-12.VIII.3:1-8)

The ego’s way is not Jesus’, but it is also not yours. The Holy Spirit has one direction for all minds, and the one He taught Jesus is yours, too. Do not lose sight of His direction through illusions, for only illusions of another direction can obscure the one for which God’s Voice speaks in all His Sons. Never accord the ego the power to interfere with hearing God’s Voice. The ego has no power to do that. Leave all illusions (all born of the ego) behind and reach beyond all attempts of the ego to hold you back.

Jesus goes before you because he is beyond the ego. His strength will never be wanting, and if you choose to share it you will do so. He gives it willingly and gladly, because he needs you as much as you need him.

What does this mean for you? It means in remembering Jesus you are remembering God. The whole relationship of the Son to the Father lies in Jesus. His part in the Sonship is also yours, and his completed learning guarantees your own success. John 14:12 (KJV) “. . .the works that I do shall he do also. . .” Is Jesus still available for help? What did he say about this? John 14:2 (KJV): “In my Father's house are many mansions . . . I go to prepare a place for you.” Remember his promises and ask yourself honestly whether it is likely that he will fail to keep them. Can God fail His Son? And can one who is one with God be unlike Him? Would the greatest teacher be unavailable to those who trust him and follow Him?

Yet because of your Father’s Love you can never forget Him, for no one can forget what God Himself placed in his memory. A Voice will answer every question you ask, and a vision will correct the perception of everything you see. For what you have made invisible is the only truth, and what you have not heard is the only answer -- for only GOD IS. (T-12.VIII.4:1-4)