I then got wrapped around the question "Are we dreaming or just sitting in a trance remembering a dream?" I fell right back into being concerned about changing the dream and lost site of the fact that no matter if we are asleep dreaming or just remembering a dream, the dream is still a dream and cannot be changed. I so want to make this illusion real so my ego can continue to exist. Another miracle! I thought back to a recent dream I had and thought about trying to change it. Not!

Hal

I recently experienced a miracle that I will share with you and then share with you an ego attack to myself that was viscious, to say the least.

This collective illusion we are all sharing is so powerful and convincing that when we become Course students we almost immediately want to help change the world. The problem with this is that our awakening is directely connected to understanding and accepting that this world is an illusion, or dream if you prefer. And since it is a dream and it is not real, what is there to change? If you are familiar with lucid dreamers, those that come to know they are dreaming during a dream, you know they can change the dream or more likely let the dream go as not being real. When you really know that what you are seeing is a dream it is no longer a dream as it becomes more like imagining while you are awake. Wide awake imaginings can also be powerful but most likely one lets them go after being interupted by some outside noise. We are into our collective dream so deep that it is very difficult to accept that it is not real. And even though Course students intellectually understand and accept that this is all a dream continue to accept its reality off and on throughout the days.

What I experienced was the realization my desire to awaken was motivated by the desire to change the illusion. This is a fundamental error that I was making because we all know that we must change the mind that is dreaming the dream, not change the dream itself. I was in the middle of level confusion. It was after reading a blog written Liz Cronkhite of www.acimmentor.com regarding this issue when I came to realize my mistake. The results were instantaneous and I immediately began to see the illusion for what it is - it is not real and that it became more of a movie on a screen. It was amazing and I felt joy in being released. For a few more hours as I observed the dream rather than participate I continued to feel the joy of release, and then came the ego's sledge hammer to my face. Another blog from Liz discussing the fact that all this has already happened put me in a spin. In the Manual for Teachers (M-2.3) it says   "The world of time is the world of illusion. What happened long ago seems to be happening now. Choices made long since appear to be open; yet to be made. What has been learned and understood and long ago passed by is looked upon as a new thought, a fresh idea, a different approach. Because your will is free you can accept what has already happened at any time you choose, and only then will you realize that it was always there." (I will continue this is the next post).