It’s helpful to review the Four Principles of God once again:
First Principle of God – Pure, unmanifest, life-awareness; abstract, unlimited potentiality.
Second Principle of God – Consciousness; the unaffected, still witness. All things manifest are made of this principle; therefore, all things are consciousness.
Third Principle of God – The ongoing activity of creation, which occurs naturally through the interaction of the witnessing principle with that which is witnessed. It is how consciousness forms itself into the many temporary forms that make up the manifest universe.
Fourth Principle of God – Manifestation.
The discussion in today’s reading is about awakening to Heaven, which is awakening to the First Principle of God. It is also about the disappearance of the world. These two—awakening to the First Principle and the disappearance of the world—are not two steps; they are one simultaneous step. Full enlightenment and disappearance of the world occur simultaneously.
In today’s reading, Jesus talks to the apostles about the world as it appears. He speaks of wars, of natural disasters and of discord within families. He asks the apostles to accept everything they see without fear. In other words, he asks the apostles to practice discernment: to let go of their own fearful thinking and let it be replaced by acceptance and detachment.
As A Course in Miracles says:
Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. (Chapter 21, Introduction)
That is Jesus’ teaching. He lets the apostles know that under the most extreme of circumstances—such as arrest and flogging—one has the opportunity to choose his perception, and he recommends choosing the highest perception that one can choose.
Jesus’ teaching is reminiscent of The Code, which we studied in Year 1. The Code says:
The code is ideas, just as all things within illusion are ideas. The code can be seen as specific manifestations in form, can be felt as feelings or can be heard as thoughts. The best way to look at the code is as the potential driver of experience. I say it is the potential driver of experience, because code will only drive your experience if you fully believe the code. Even if you let go of your belief in the code partially, it no longer has full influence over you. The code can only drive your experience to the degree that you believe the code.
… the code is a layered code, and the layers are different vibrational levels of the same basic code. … by choosing another way to see, you are choosing to shift vibrationally to another layer of the same basic code.
In other words, Jesus is teaching the apostles to shift their vibration above the vibration of the world by seeing differently—that is, by choosing a higher perception. When we studied The Code, we learned to choose the highest perception or thought available to us in each moment. In that way, we raise our vibration and even higher perceptions become available to us. It is as Peace Pilgrim said:
As I lived up to the highest light I had, higher and higher light came to me.
As one practices discernment and chooses the highest way of seeing that is possible, one rises in vibration. This is also called purification. At some point, one transcends the vibration of separation. This transcendence is awakening to the Second Principle of God. At this higher vibrational level, one experiences oneness. One sees God—consciousness—in everything and as everything. In today’s reading, Jesus describes it this way:
…you will look out on the world and see the Christ as if it rains upon the earth from clouds held up by angels.
Jesus tells the apostles that when this way of seeing occurs:
…you know that Heaven (the First Principle of God) is near, right at the door awaiting you.
It is as it says in A Course in Miracles:
Knowledge is restored after perception first is changed, and then gives way entirely to what remains forever past its highest reach. ~ Workbook Lesson 336
In other words, the final awakening is beyond vibrational levels entirely, and therefore beyond consciousness, perception and the idea of a world.
Note: If you are interested in a more thorough teaching about the process of awakening to full enlightenment, which is awakening to the First Principle of God, listen to this audio. Advance the audio to 9:30. From that point, the audio is about 49 minutes long.
