Today we will be talking about a line in "The Holy Encounter"
in Chapter 8 in the text. When you meet anyone,
remember it is a holy encounter.
And so we want to talk about what does a holy encounter mean,
and what does Jesus say when you meet anyone.
And this as so many other sentences in the Course
goes right to the heart of the Course's message,
that we are to treat everyone in the same way.
We are to see everyone through the eyes of Christ.
We are to see everyone through the vision that Jesus offers us.
We are to see everyone through the true perception of the Holy Spirit.
All of these terms are synonyms for the process,
or that describe the process, of looking differently on people;
not seeing them as different from ourselves,
not seeing them as having something that we want,
not seeing them as being sinners,
but seeing them as brothers and sisters in Christ
who are walking the same journey we are walking.
Another key theme in the Course is that within the dream,
within the illusion of separation and fragmentation,
we're all the same. We are not different.
The ego always has us see differences.
In a sense it accentuates differences
and the core difference that underlies every single perception of difference,
and by this I mean every perception that we see
something in this world...that the differences between us are significant.
Obviously in the perceptual universe we are
all different on the level of form, but on the level of content
we are all the same, and so whenever we are tempted
to see someone as different, we are really saying
the core of that is that you are sinful and I am innocent.
The basic principle that governs everything in the ego thought system
is one or the other. If you are sinful I must be sinless.
If I am sinful you are sinless.
Just as right at the beginning either there is God or there is the ego,
and if there is the ego there can be no God.
If there is God there can be no ego.
As Lesson 190 says, if there is pain there is no God.
If there is God there is no pain; it's one or the other.
And so whenever we see differences among us as significant,
as having some kind of effect on us,
we are saying ultimately, you are the sinner and I am innocent,
and that's how I get my innocence at your expense,
so God will see your sin and punish you instead of me.
That's the core of how the ego...that's the kernel of how the ego
determines our everyday living.
So every encounter then to the ego is an unholy encounter
in which we see the unholiness of God's Son
but the unholiness rests in you and not in me,
and I prove it doesn't rest in me because I
I could prove that it rests in you.
Then I call to my defense all of the witnesses that prove
that you are the evil person, you are the sinner,
you are the abuser, the victimizer, the oppressor
and I am the innocent victim,
or those people with whom I identify.
But once we become aware that this is the ego's judgment,
which is governing our everyday life
and we realize the pain implicit in this,
we then could say there must be another way of looking.
There must be another thought system that can govern my life.
There must be another teacher.
That's what Jesus or the Holy Spirit are waiting for.
That's what the Course refers to by the invitation to the Holy Spirit.
It's recognizing that my perceptions
and the whole world I build around these perceptions is false.
And what is true is the vision of Christ
that sees everyone as the same.
That's what makes it a holy encounter,
because when I...the Course says the ego speaks first
and is wrong, and the Holy Spirit is the Answer.
Speaking first is always from the perception of differences.
I have bodily needs and you have to meet those needs.
I have psychological needs and you have to meet those needs.
And the ultimate need, again, is to demonstrate my innocence at your expense.
And when, again, when I finally begin to experience the pain
of this and the discomfort of this
I can say help,,,there has to be another way of looking.
And the answer that Jesus gives us is to say
this encounter, this special relationship is really a holy relationship
and it's a holy encounter because it is the opportunity
of recognizing, through your misperception of differences,
how alike all of you are...all of God's Sons are.
Because on the level of the mind we all have the same ego
that thrives on hate and judgment and guilt and pain.
We all have the same right mind that corrects this wrong-minded thought system
and promotes healing and peace and the remembrance of God's Love.
And we all have the same power to choose between these two.
That's what makes every relationship, every encounter,
every circumstance, every situation, every event in our daily lives
potentially holy, and it simply awaits
our decision for the Teacher of holiness
as opposed to the teacher of unholiness who would see
everything in this world as unholy and would bless it
because once again the unholiness means I am holy at your expense
and you are the unholy one.
But in each and every circumstance
Jesus is tapping us on the shoulder,
as he tells us right at the end of the text,
that Christ is doing that and says my brother choose again.
And the choice is to see holiness instead of unholiness;
the choice is to see mind instead of body;
the choice is to see God's one Son
reflected in His universal sameness
rather than the fragmented son that the ego has established as its truth.