 This filters a belief, you know, when the decision gets made, we'll say at the very bottom of the mind in the basement. The mind makes a decision for the ego or the Holy Spirit. When it comes up through all the dark offices and everything, on the surface, it comes out as if that it's a decision between things in the world. In other words, I decided to come to this meeting tonight. That seems like a real decision, doesn't it? You know, I could have gone off and watched a movie or done something else, but I made a real decision to come. Or I made a real decision to have the meatloaf sandwich instead of the tuna, or to buy the Pontiac instead of the Chevrolet or so forth. On the surface, on the top of the skyscraper, that all the decisions seem to be between, or between form things. In other words, it seems that we have to make continual decisions constantly between things in this world. You know, we make decisions what to wear, where to go, who to see, if we're going to go into business, what are we going into, or going to school, what do I take, da-da-da-da-da. But that's up all on where the flag's blowing. And basically Jesus is saying, well, it seems that way on the surface. It seems like you're a person and you're making decisions up here between objects. Do I wear the green sweater or the blue sweater? Well, Jesus in the end is saying, they're both projections, they're both illusions. You know, you're just choosing between illusions. There's a real choice down in the basement that you can make. And when you make it, it will bring you indescribable happiness. That's what we would call, the Course calls, a form-content distinction, where content, remember, we'll call content everything with a mind. Content is a decision of mind or a decision to choose the Holy Spirit or the ego. That's a very fundamental decision in the mind. Now, a form thing between the green sweater and the blue sweater is, in the ultimate sense, doesn't matter. So, all the things we've taught, you know, all the things you're supposed to do to be a good girl and a bad good boy and all these things, you know, those are all at the behavioral level. It's kind of like, well, that's not really where choice really is. So the Course isn't advocating anything in terms of, you know, that things are better to do than other things. A good example would be, suppose you go down to more of an inner-city area and you come upon a person who looks like a homeless person, and you decide to take out some money and give the homeless person $5 or something. Now, you know, people may have all kinds of opinions and interpretations of that. Oh, that's very kind and sweet to give that person $5 and everything. Other people may say, that guy's clearly an alcoholic. You're just going to give him $5, he'll go spend it and, you know, he's just going to continue on with his habit. What the Course is saying is, how do you feel? What is your motivation? What is the motivation that's behind the action that always the Course keeps coming back to, what is it for? What is my intention? Am I giving that money because I feel guilty? Because I'm comparing myself to that person. I'm saying I'm so much better off than they are and they should have it because they needed more than I do. And I'm guilty, so I'll give them the $5 and get on with my life. Or is it given out of an intention of totally no strings attached, just something that you feel moved to do? You know, it can be the spirit, you know, moving through, giving the money through you, so to speak, the spirit doing it. So that's that crucial thing, like you're saying, that the decisions on the surface really don't mean anything in and of themselves, but it's the motivation. What is my motivation? And that's why it's a 1200 page Course because it's a matter of really getting clear in our minds discerning and hearing between the Holy Spirit and the Eco's voice. Because they can seem to be very mixed in there. There seems to be a lot of this level confusion, you know. I give the example a lot of times, too, of just a hypothetical example of a house that's decorated with lots of artwork and an ancient gallery of ancient Chinese bases from the Ming dynasty or something, you know, worth lots of money, thousands and thousands of dollars. And then in our little example of a little girl, you know, the dog is opening the door and a dog gets in. The dog starts running through the halls, you know, and the little girl starts playfully chasing the dog, you know, and playing with the dog and goes around the corner, and here's one of the big vases starts teetering and tilting and falls over and just cracks into a thousand pieces. So we have a parent now who's watching this thing, you know. Once again, it's the interpretation, you know, of the events that have just happened that will lead to the parent's response. If the parent is absolutely furious and, you know, screaming, like, what are you doing? I told you never to come in here with a dog. You know, then basically Jesus would say that it's a misinterpretation that there's something of value on the screen that's taking priority or precedence over love. That really the Holy Spirit's response is always one of an attitude of love. But to maintain that peace of mind and to maintain holding with the Holy Spirit, you've got to let go of the priorities of thinking, you know, that certain things in form are more valuable than love or more valuable than peace of mind. So in that sense, it's a letting go of the attachments of investments in certain form things, like you were saying, into the material. And because that puts a priority in our minds that's in place of love, and we can't maintain consistent peace unless we do that. So generally, that's corrective of the level of behavior, right? Yes. And is there any other way? You know, that's just the way it is. Don't run out in the street, don't put your hands still, don't talk back. And that seems to be what they would understand. Jesus addresses that at one part in the text where he talks about teaching from the positive. He basically says that the simplest and most straightforward lesson is do only that. It's teaching by example, teaching by the affirmative as opposed to the normal way in the world or the ego's way of don't do this, don't do this, don't do this, this, this, and then coming down or punishment or retribution when it's violated. Which seems like, it seems very steep. It seems like, well, if Jesus was a parent, maybe he could critise that way because he's so clear in his mind and everything that he thinks and says and does is completely consistent. He doesn't, you know, he doesn't tell us kids, you know, it would be like telling someone, telling a child don't smoke and the parent smokes or telling a child don't drink and the parent drinks. That literally it comes down to this is the course in changing our perceptions and in changing the way we think and lining up with the Holy Spirit and then automatically as we change the way we think and perceive then that will be demonstrated to our children. You know, if all minds are joined, kids can pick up things at a deeper level than just the behavioral level. I mean the parents can fight and fight and fight and then, okay, now let's get our act together before we go in there, you know. But the course teaches that minds aren't private, that minds are joined and so that literally it comes down to, instead of asking the question, well, how do I apply the course with my kids? It really comes back to this course is for me and that I need to really apply this in my own life and then when situations come up more and more I can let the Holy Spirit, I can ask the Holy Spirit on how to handle, you know, specific situations with them. So it really brings the focus back to, okay, it's my perceptual problem and I need a solution and it takes it out of the other room. So as we continue on, we've kind of got it down to now we have one big interpretation problem going here and basically we're trying to just try to lead it forth and get it. What do we need to do to clear up these interpretations? Basically a little bit further down in page 200, Jesus gives the Holy Spirit's interpretation of the world. Oh boy, this is something we need to know because this is an interpretation that will bring peace or as you said, there's another world that's not in the materialistic world, that's a world of peace and joy and if we can just consistently hold on to the Holy Spirit's interpretation, that's it. The course calls it the real world. Good news. Every loving thought is true. Everything else is an appeal for healing and help regardless of the form it takes. Well, if you look at that interpretation, you can see that there's something missing from it, from an ego perspective and that's attack. If every loving thought is true and everything else is an appeal for healing and help, then the perception or the interpretation of I'm being attacked is missing. The Holy Spirit does not perceive attacks. So clearly if we can begin to line our mind with the Holy Spirit, then we will not, remember, we don't react directly to the behaviors. We respond to our interpretations. So if we can line up with the Holy Spirit's interpretation, then we will perceive everything as either a loving thought is true or love or a call for love. And basically he says another point, whether someone is extending love to you or calling for love, you need, you'll give love, you know. Because you would answer a call for love with love, you know, perceiving the need. Now through the ego's lens, when somebody seems fearful, when they seem to be screaming and shouting and they seem to be angry, you know, through the ego's lens, that's perceived as an attack. And the defenses, that's where the defenses come up. That's where the counterattacks come in, the vicious cycle. It comes from that misperception. So, and basically it goes on in the next page to say, only appreciation is an appropriate response to your brother. Gratitude is due him for both his loving thoughts and his appeals for help, for both are capable of bringing love into your awareness if you perceive them truly. That's why relationships are so helpful in getting to these beliefs, is because when I'm in a relationship with somebody, that's why relationships are so helpful in getting to these beliefs, is because when I'm in a relationship at work or at home or whatever, and it seems to be a real difficult relationship or a real pain that's just real persistent, the reason it's so helpful is that his appeals for help are capable of bringing love into my awareness. If I can perceive them as calls for help, if I cannot judge the behavior, and just remember, oh yes, with the Holy Spirit this is a call for help, then that changes everything. That takes all the struggle out of trying to prove I'm right, making a point, defending my personal interests and all those other things that kind of get suspended. So the next thing I ask is like, okay, now that's getting clear, that's helping me more and more get clear on this. The next thing is, why is it so difficult to choose the Holy Spirit's interpretation? He's in my mind. He's always there. He never perceives attack. He always perceives love and a call for love. And in the Equality of Miracles section, there's a, I call it a little snapshot of the mind. When the mind is in a deceived state, which the everyday perceptual world is really diluted, because remember, perceiving sickness and pain and separation and death, you know, Jesus' view is hallucination. It's pretty twisted. It's not the way the Holy Spirit looks at the world. So it gives a little bit of a snapshot of what's really going on in my mind, you know, in this deceived state. And basically, he talks about thoughts in the mind and competition between the thoughts. He also says that you are also used to classifying some of your thoughts as more important, larger or better, wiser or more productive and valuable than others. This is true of the thoughts that cross the mind of those who think they live apart. For some are reflections of heaven, while others are motivated by the ego, which but seems to think. So if you can think of these bright white, brilliant white thoughts that are in the mind, these reflections of heaven, they're very light. They're reflecting the Holy Spirit's light. And then there are these dark thoughts that are, you know, just pitch black. And he says, the result is a weaving, changing pattern that never rests and is never still. It shifts unceasingly across the mirror of your mind and the reflections of heaven last but a moment and grow dim as darkness blots them out. Where there was light, darkness removes it in an instant and alternating patterns of light and darkness sweep constantly across your mind. The little sanity that still remains is held together by a sense of order that you establish. Yet the very fact that you can do this and bring any order into chaos shows you that you are not an ego and that more than an ego must be in you. For the ego is chaos and if it were all of you, no order at all would be possible. Now here's the key point. He says, yet though the order you impose upon your mind limits the ego, it also limits you to order is to judge and to arrange by judgment. So here we've got all these thoughts and the mind's kind of in a deluded state now. It's forgotten its creator and its source. And it's got a mixture of the heaven thoughts, the reflections of heaven and thoughts of the ego in it. And it tries to order and judge things to try to bring some kind of order. But remember the mind in its natural state is very expansive. It doesn't have this classification and ordering. And these are like the mindsets of the perceptual world. Everybody seems to have a different view of the world. Everybody has different preferences. Everybody has different likes and dislikes. And these are like the mindsets of the perceptual world. Everybody seems to have a different view of the world. Everybody has different preferences. Everybody has different likes and dislikes. personal interests, hobbies, you know. This is the ordering that's taking place in the deceived mind. I like my women this way. Well, I like my men this way. I like these kinds of foods. I like these kinds of weather. These kinds of climate. You know, this is all...