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Today it will be given you to feel a touch of Heaven, though you will return to paths of learning (W-157.3:1).

So what Jesus is saying is when you begin to have the experience of letting go of judgment, you will have this experience of love and of peace that is unlike anything else that you have ever experienced. It doesn’t last because you’re still too enamored of your own specialness. But you’ve allowed enough of a light in that you get a glimpse of what it’s like. And when we have an experience like this, it’s like a traffic sign or a direction on a freeway that tells you you’re going in the right way. It still may be 150 miles to the city you want to go to, but when you’re not sure that you’re going the right way and all of a sudden there’s a sign, you say, oh, thank god. I’m on the right way. I’m not there yet, but when you have the experience of being lost and all of a sudden you see a sign that says you’re not lost, you have a wonderful feeling.

Now that’s just a slight, slight, slight hint of what it feels like when you let go of judgment. You still have to travel. You’re still on the journey. You're not there yet but you at least know you're going the right way. So when you do something that you think is such an egregious sin and you realize it had no effect, that feels wonderful. You still identify with a personal self, but you’re now getting glimpses. That’s what this lesson is about. It’s saying you will have glimpses. And Jesus is basically giving us a pep talk...don’t lose heart and don’t lose faith. Keep on going. Yes, we’re not there yet, but it’s worth the journey, and it’s all brought about by seeing everyone as the same as we will see in a little while.

Excerpt and Audio: Commentary on “Into His Presence would I enter now” (W-pI.157.3) specifically about glimpses into the rewards of not judging, along with a pep talk from Jesus not to lose heart and not to lose faith.

AUDIO

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Today it will be given you to feel a touch of Heaven, though you will return to paths of learning (W-157.3:1).

So what Jesus is saying is when you begin to have the experience of letting go of judgment, you’ll have this experience of love and of peace that is unlike anything else that you have ever experienced. It doesn’t last because you are still too enamored of your own specialness. But you’ve allowed enough of a light in that you get a glimpse of what it’s like. And when we have an experience like this, it’s like a traffic sign or a direction on a freeway that tells you you’re going in the right way. It still may be 150 miles to the city you want to go to, but when you’re not sure that you’re going the right way and all of a sudden there’s a sign, you say, oh, thank god. I’m on the right way. I’m not there yet, but when you have the experience of being lost and all of a sudden you see a sign that says you’re not lost, you have a wonderful feeling.

Now that’s just a slight, slight, slight hint of what it feels like when you let go of judgment. You still have to travel. You’re still on the journey. You’re not there yet but you at least know you’re going the right way. So when you do something that you think is such an egregious sin and you realize it had no effect, that feels wonderful. You still identify with a personal self but you’re now getting glimpses. That’s what this lesson is about. It’s saying you will have glimpses. And Jesus is basically giving us a pep talk…don’t lose heart and don’t lose faith. Keep on going. Yes, we’re not there yet, but it’s worth the journey, and it’s all brought about by seeing everyone as the same as we will see in a little while.

Yet you have come far enough along the way to alter time sufficiently to rise above its laws, and walk into eternity a while. This you will learn to do increasingly, as every lesson, faithfully rehearsed, brings you more swiftly to this holy place and leaves you, for a moment, to your Self (W-157.3:2-3).

So you have more and more glimpses of what this is, and everybody will experience this differently. It doesn’t have to be where the heavens open up and the angels play their trumpets and the halleluiah chorus is shouted out. It will be something very simple and very quiet but it will be something that you will recognize is different from what you’ve had before. When you’ve lived all your life being angry or being anxious and all of a sudden it disappears if only for a second, that’s all you need. That’s the signpost that says you are going the right way. And even if you fall back into the ego’s arms, you know what you’re doing.

Excerpted from The Heights of Happiness

Video: Commentary on “I can escape the world I see by giving up attack thoughts” (W-pI.23.5), including the origins of the three steps of forgiveness.

VIDEO EXCERPT

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Audio: Why it can be helpful to live in today’s world filled with such hatred, cruelty and devastation, plus a suggestion of a specific exercise for students who have worked with the Course for many years.

Audio: Why if we try not to be special, it will never work. Why if we try to change our ego, we won’t get home.

Video: How the Course’s structure establishes a process of learning instead of merely setting forth a theoretical system, and the importance of not fighting the Course but instead letting it lead us.

VIDEO EXCERPT

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Audio: The importance of loving beyond seeing Jesus as our older brother, and eventually growing up spiritually in order to become like him.

Audio: Learning to be peaceful despite our interferences such as physical or emotional pain.

Audio: Why the Course’s definition of forgiveness is “a somewhat strange one,” and why anger is never justified.