https://nordan.daynal.org/w/index.php?title=8.8_The_Body_as_Means_or_End&feed=atom&action=history8.8 The Body as Means or End - Revision history2024-03-29T06:36:47ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.35.0https://nordan.daynal.org/w/index.php?title=8.8_The_Body_as_Means_or_End&diff=115277&oldid=prevRdavis at 01:33, 24 March 20152015-03-24T01:33:37Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Acim_small.jpg|right|frame]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Acim_small.jpg|right|frame]]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Attitudes toward the body are attitudes toward attack. To the ego the body is to attack with. Equating you with the body, it teaches that you are to attack with. The body, then, is not the source of its own health. The body's condition lies solely in your interpretation of its function. Functions are part of being since they arise from it, but the relationship is not reciprocal. The whole does define the part, but the part does not define the whole. Yet to know in part is to know entirely because of the fundamental difference between knowledge and perception. In perception the whole is built up of parts that can separate and reassemble in different constellations. But knowledge never changes, so its constellation is permanent. The idea of part-whole relationships has meaning only at the level of perception, where change is possible. Otherwise, there is no difference between the part and whole.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>Attitudes<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>toward the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>body<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>are attitudes toward <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>attack<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. To the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>ego<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>the body is to attack with. Equating you with the body, it teaches that you are to attack with. The body, then, is not the source of its own <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>health<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. The body's condition lies solely in your <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>interpretation<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of its <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>function<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. Functions are part of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>being<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>since they arise from it, but the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>relationship<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>is not <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>reciprocal<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>The whole<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>does define the part, but the part does not define the whole. Yet to know in part is to know entirely because of the fundamental <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>difference<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>between <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>knowledge<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>perception<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. In perception the whole is built up of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>parts<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>that can separate and reassemble in different constellations. But knowledge never <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>changes<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>, so its constellation is permanent. The <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>idea<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of part-whole relationships has meaning only at the level of perception, where <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>change<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>is possible. Otherwise, there is no difference between the part and whole.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The body exists in a world that seems to contain two voices fighting for its possession. In this perceived constellation the body is seen as capable of shifting its allegiance from one to the other, making the concepts of both health and sickness meaningful. The ego makes a fundamental confusion between means and end as it always does. Regarding the body as an end, the ego has no real use for it because it is not an end. You must have noticed an outstanding characteristic of every end that the ego has accepted as its own. When you have achieved it, it has not satisfied you. This is why the ego is forced to shift ceaselessly from one goal to another, so that you will continue to hope it can yet offer you something.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>body<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>exists in a world that seems to contain <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>two<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>voices fighting for its <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>possession<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. In this perceived constellation the body is seen as capable of shifting its <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>allegiance<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>from one to the other, making the concepts of both <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>health<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>sickness<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>meaningful. The ego makes a fundamental <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>confusion<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>between means and end as it always does. Regarding the body as an end, the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>ego<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>has no real use for it because it is not an end. You must have noticed an outstanding <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>characteristic<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of every end that the ego has accepted as its own. When you have <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>achieved<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>it, it has not <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>satisfied<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>you. This is why the ego is forced to shift ceaselessly from one goal to another, so that you will continue to hope it can yet offer you something.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It has been particularly difficult to overcome the ego's belief in the body as an end, because it is synonymous with the belief in attack as an end. The ego has a profound investment in sickness. If you are sick, how can you object to the ego's firm belief that you are not invulnerable? This is an appealing argument from the ego's point of view, because it obscures the obvious attack that underlies the sickness. If you recognized this and also decided against attack, you could not give this false witness to the ego's stand.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It has been particularly difficult to overcome the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>ego<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>'s <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>belief<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>in the body as an end, because it is synonymous with the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>belief<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>attack<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>as an end. The ego has a profound <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>investment<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>sickness<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. If you are sick, how can you object to the ego's firm <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>belief<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>that you are not invulnerable? This is an appealing <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>argument<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>from the ego's <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>point of view<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>, because it <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>obscures<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>the obvious attack that underlies the sickness. If you recognized this and also <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>decided<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>against attack, you could not give this <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>false<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] [[</ins>witness<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>to the ego's stand.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It is hard to perceive sickness as a false witness, because you do not realize that it is entirely out of keeping with what you want. This witness, then, appears to be innocent and trustworthy because you have not seriously cross-examined him. If you had, you would not consider sickness such a strong witness on behalf of the ego's views. A more honest statement would be that those who want the ego are predisposed to defend it. Therefore, their choice of witnesses should be suspect from the beginning. The ego does not call upon witnesses who would disagree with its case, nor does the Holy Spirit. I have said that judgment is the function of the Holy Spirit, and one he is perfectly equipped to fulfill. The ego as a judge gives anything but an impartial judgment. When the ego calls on a witness, it has already made the witness an ally.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It is hard to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>perceive<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>sickness as a false witness, because you do not realize that it is entirely out of keeping with what you want. This <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>witness<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>, then, appears to be <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>innocent<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>and trustworthy because you have not seriously cross-<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>examined<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>him. If you had, you would not <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>consider<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>sickness such a strong witness on behalf of the ego's views. A more <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>honest<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>statement would be that those who want the ego are predisposed to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>defend<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>it. Therefore, their <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>choice<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of witnesses should be <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>suspect<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>from the beginning. The ego does not call upon witnesses who would disagree with its case, nor does the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>Holy Spirit<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. I have said that <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>judgment<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>is the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>function<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>Holy Spirit<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>, and one he is <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>perfectly<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>equipped to fulfill. The ego as a judge gives anything but an impartial judgment. When the ego calls on a witness, it has already made the witness an <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>ally<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It is still true that the body has no function of itself, because it is not an end. The ego, however, establishes it as an end because, as such, its true function is obscured. This is the purpose of everything the ego does. Its sole aim is to lose sight of the function of everything. A sick body does not make any sense. It could not make sense because sickness is not what the body is for. Sickness is meaningful only if the two basic premises on which the ego's interpretation of the body rests are true; that the body is for attack, and that you are a body. Without these premises sickness is inconceivable.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It is still true that the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>body<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>has no <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>function<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of itself, because it is not an end. The ego, however, establishes it as an end because, as such, its true function is <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>obscured<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. This is the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>purpose<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of everything the ego does. Its sole aim is to lose <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>sight<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of the function of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>everything<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. A sick body does not make any sense. It could not make sense because sickness is not what the body is for. Sickness is meaningful only if the two basic <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>premises<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>on which the ego's <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>interpretation<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of the body rests are true; that the body is for attack, and that you are a body. Without these premises sickness is inconceivable.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Sickness is a way of demonstrating that you can be hurt. It is a witness to your frailty, your vulnerability, and your extreme need to depend on external guidance. The ego uses this as its best argument for your need for its guidance. It dictates endless prescriptions for avoiding catastrophic outcomes. The Holy Spirit, perfectly aware of the same situation, does not bother to analyze it at all. If data are meaningless there is no point in analyzing them. The function of truth is to collect information that is true. Any way you handle error results in nothing. The more complicated the results become the harder it may be to recognize their nothingness, but it is not necessary to examine all possible outcomes to which premises give rise in order to judge them truly.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>Sickness<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>is a way of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>demonstrating<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>that you can be <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>hurt<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. It is a witness to your frailty, your <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>vulnerability<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>, and your <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>extreme<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>need to depend on <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>external<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] [[</ins>guidance<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. The ego uses this as its best <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>argument<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>for your need for its guidance. It <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>dictates<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>endless prescriptions for avoiding <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>catastrophic<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>outcomes. The <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>Holy Spirit<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>, perfectly <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>aware<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of the same situation, does not bother to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>analyze<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>it at all. If <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>data<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>are meaningless there is no point in analyzing them. The function of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>truth<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>is to collect <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>information<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>that is true. Any way you handle <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>error<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>results in nothing. The more <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>complicated<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>the results become the harder it may be to recognize their nothingness, but it is not <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>necessary<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>to examine all possible outcomes to which premises give rise in order to judge them truly.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A learning device is not a teacher. It cannot tell you how you feel. You do not know how you feel because you have accepted the ego's confusion, and you therefore believe that a learning device can tell you how you feel. Sickness is merely another example of your insistence on asking guidance of a teacher who does not know the answer. The ego is incapable of knowing how you feel. When I said that the ego does not know anything, I said the one thing about the ego that is wholly true. But there is a corollary; if only knowledge has being and the ego has no knowledge, then the ego has no being.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>learning<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>device is not a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>teacher<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. It cannot tell you how you <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>feel<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. You do not know how you feel because you have <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>accepted<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>ego<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>'s <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>confusion<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>, and you therefore believe that a learning device can tell you how you feel. Sickness is merely another example of your insistence on asking <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>guidance<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of a teacher who does not know the answer. The ego is incapable of knowing how you <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>feel<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. When I said that the ego does not know anything, I said the one thing about the ego that is wholly true. But there is a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>corollary<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>; if only <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>knowledge<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>has <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>being<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>and the ego has no knowledge, then the ego has no being.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>You might well ask how the voice of something that does not exist can be so insistent. Have you thought about the distorting power of something you want, even if it is not real? There are many instances of how what you want distorts perception. No one can doubt the ego's skill in building up false cases. Nor can anyone doubt your willingness to listen until you choose not to accept anything except truth. When you lay the ego aside, it will be gone. The Holy Spirit's voice is as loud as your willingness to listen. It cannot be louder without violating your freedom of choice, which the Holy Spirit seeks to restore, never to undermine.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>You might well ask how the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>voice<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of something that does not exist can be so insistent. Have you <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>thought<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>about the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>distorting<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] [[</ins>power<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of something you want, even if it is not real? There are many instances of how what you want distorts <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>perception<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. No one can doubt the ego's <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>skill<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>in building up <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>false<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>cases. Nor can anyone doubt your willingness to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>listen<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>until you choose not to accept anything except <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>truth<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. When you lay the ego aside, it will be gone. The <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>Holy Spirit<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>'s voice is as loud as your willingness to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>listen<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. It cannot be louder without violating your <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>freedom<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>choice<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>, which the Holy Spirit seeks to restore, never to undermine.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The Holy Spirit teaches you to use your body only to reach your brothers, so he can teach his message through you. This will heal them and therefore heal you. Everything used in accordance with its function as the Holy Spirit sees it cannot be sick. Everything used otherwise is. Do not allow the body to be a mirror of a split mind. Do not let it be an image of your own perception of littleness. Do not let it reflect your decision to attack. Health is seen as the natural state of everything when interpretation is left to the Holy Spirit, Who perceives no attack on anything. Health is the result of relinquishing all attempts to use the body lovelessly. Health is the beginning of the proper perspective on life under the guidance of the one Teacher Who knows what life is, being the Voice for Life Itself. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>Holy Spirit<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>teaches you to use your <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>body<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>only to reach your brothers, so he can teach his <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>message<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>through you. This will <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>heal<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>them and therefore heal you. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>Everything<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>used in accordance with its <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>function<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>as the Holy Spirit sees it cannot be <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>sick<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. Everything used otherwise is. Do not allow the body to be a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>mirror<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of a split mind. Do not let it be an image of your own <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>perception<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of littleness. Do not let it <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>reflect<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>your <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>decision<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>attack<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]]</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>Health<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>is seen as the natural state of everything when <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>interpretation<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>is left to the Holy Spirit, Who perceives no attack on anything. Health is the result of relinquishing all attempts to use the body lovelessly. Health is the beginning of the proper <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>perspective<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>on life under the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>guidance<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>of the one Teacher Who knows what <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[[</ins>life<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] </ins>is, being the Voice for Life Itself. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l23" >Line 23:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 23:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category: Chapter 8 - The Journey Back]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category: Chapter 8 - The Journey Back]]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">[[Category: Body]]</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">[[Category: Function]]</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">[[Category: Healing]]</ins></div></td></tr>
</table>Rdavishttps://nordan.daynal.org/w/index.php?title=8.8_The_Body_as_Means_or_End&diff=114559&oldid=prevRdavis: Created page with 'Image:lighterstill.jpgframe Attitudes toward the body are attitudes toward attack. To the ego the body is to attack with. Equating you with the...'2014-11-13T21:23:04Z<p>Created page with '<a href="/wiki/File:Lighterstill.jpg" title="File:Lighterstill.jpg">Image:lighterstill.jpg</a><a href="/wiki/File:Acim_small.jpg" title="File:Acim small.jpg">right|frame</a> Attitudes toward the body are attitudes toward attack. To the ego the body is to attack with. Equating you with the...'</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Acim_small.jpg|right|frame]]<br />
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Attitudes toward the body are attitudes toward attack. To the ego the body is to attack with. Equating you with the body, it teaches that you are to attack with. The body, then, is not the source of its own health. The body's condition lies solely in your interpretation of its function. Functions are part of being since they arise from it, but the relationship is not reciprocal. The whole does define the part, but the part does not define the whole. Yet to know in part is to know entirely because of the fundamental difference between knowledge and perception. In perception the whole is built up of parts that can separate and reassemble in different constellations. But knowledge never changes, so its constellation is permanent. The idea of part-whole relationships has meaning only at the level of perception, where change is possible. Otherwise, there is no difference between the part and whole.<br />
<br />
The body exists in a world that seems to contain two voices fighting for its possession. In this perceived constellation the body is seen as capable of shifting its allegiance from one to the other, making the concepts of both health and sickness meaningful. The ego makes a fundamental confusion between means and end as it always does. Regarding the body as an end, the ego has no real use for it because it is not an end. You must have noticed an outstanding characteristic of every end that the ego has accepted as its own. When you have achieved it, it has not satisfied you. This is why the ego is forced to shift ceaselessly from one goal to another, so that you will continue to hope it can yet offer you something.<br />
<br />
It has been particularly difficult to overcome the ego's belief in the body as an end, because it is synonymous with the belief in attack as an end. The ego has a profound investment in sickness. If you are sick, how can you object to the ego's firm belief that you are not invulnerable? This is an appealing argument from the ego's point of view, because it obscures the obvious attack that underlies the sickness. If you recognized this and also decided against attack, you could not give this false witness to the ego's stand.<br />
<br />
It is hard to perceive sickness as a false witness, because you do not realize that it is entirely out of keeping with what you want. This witness, then, appears to be innocent and trustworthy because you have not seriously cross-examined him. If you had, you would not consider sickness such a strong witness on behalf of the ego's views. A more honest statement would be that those who want the ego are predisposed to defend it. Therefore, their choice of witnesses should be suspect from the beginning. The ego does not call upon witnesses who would disagree with its case, nor does the Holy Spirit. I have said that judgment is the function of the Holy Spirit, and one he is perfectly equipped to fulfill. The ego as a judge gives anything but an impartial judgment. When the ego calls on a witness, it has already made the witness an ally.<br />
<br />
It is still true that the body has no function of itself, because it is not an end. The ego, however, establishes it as an end because, as such, its true function is obscured. This is the purpose of everything the ego does. Its sole aim is to lose sight of the function of everything. A sick body does not make any sense. It could not make sense because sickness is not what the body is for. Sickness is meaningful only if the two basic premises on which the ego's interpretation of the body rests are true; that the body is for attack, and that you are a body. Without these premises sickness is inconceivable.<br />
<br />
Sickness is a way of demonstrating that you can be hurt. It is a witness to your frailty, your vulnerability, and your extreme need to depend on external guidance. The ego uses this as its best argument for your need for its guidance. It dictates endless prescriptions for avoiding catastrophic outcomes. The Holy Spirit, perfectly aware of the same situation, does not bother to analyze it at all. If data are meaningless there is no point in analyzing them. The function of truth is to collect information that is true. Any way you handle error results in nothing. The more complicated the results become the harder it may be to recognize their nothingness, but it is not necessary to examine all possible outcomes to which premises give rise in order to judge them truly.<br />
<br />
A learning device is not a teacher. It cannot tell you how you feel. You do not know how you feel because you have accepted the ego's confusion, and you therefore believe that a learning device can tell you how you feel. Sickness is merely another example of your insistence on asking guidance of a teacher who does not know the answer. The ego is incapable of knowing how you feel. When I said that the ego does not know anything, I said the one thing about the ego that is wholly true. But there is a corollary; if only knowledge has being and the ego has no knowledge, then the ego has no being.<br />
<br />
You might well ask how the voice of something that does not exist can be so insistent. Have you thought about the distorting power of something you want, even if it is not real? There are many instances of how what you want distorts perception. No one can doubt the ego's skill in building up false cases. Nor can anyone doubt your willingness to listen until you choose not to accept anything except truth. When you lay the ego aside, it will be gone. The Holy Spirit's voice is as loud as your willingness to listen. It cannot be louder without violating your freedom of choice, which the Holy Spirit seeks to restore, never to undermine.<br />
<br />
The Holy Spirit teaches you to use your body only to reach your brothers, so he can teach his message through you. This will heal them and therefore heal you. Everything used in accordance with its function as the Holy Spirit sees it cannot be sick. Everything used otherwise is. Do not allow the body to be a mirror of a split mind. Do not let it be an image of your own perception of littleness. Do not let it reflect your decision to attack. Health is seen as the natural state of everything when interpretation is left to the Holy Spirit, Who perceives no attack on anything. Health is the result of relinquishing all attempts to use the body lovelessly. Health is the beginning of the proper perspective on life under the guidance of the one Teacher Who knows what life is, being the Voice for Life Itself. <br />
<br />
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[[Category: Chapter 8 - The Journey Back]]</div>Rdavis