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The Atonement is the final lesson

Key Excerpts

The Atonement is the only defense that cannot be used destructively because it is not a device you made. The Atonement principle was in effect long before the Atonement began. The principle was love and the Atonement was an act of love. Acts were not necessary before the separation, because belief in space and time did not exist. It was only after the separation that the Atonement and the conditions necessary for its fulfillment were planned. Then a defense so splendid was needed that it could not be misused, although it could be refused. Refusal could not, however, turn it into a weapon of attack, which is the inherent characteristic of other defenses. The Atonement thus becomes the only defense that is not a two-edged sword. It can only heal.

The Atonement was built into the space-time belief to set a limit on the need for the belief itself, and ultimately to make learning complete. The Atonement is the final lesson. Learning itself, like the classrooms in which it occurs, is temporary. The ability to learn has no value when change is no longer necessary. The eternally creative have nothing to learn. You can learn to improve your perceptions, and can become a better and better learner. This will bring you into closer and closer accord with the Sonship; but the Sonship itself is a perfect creation and perfection is not a matter of degree. Only while there is a belief in differences is learning meaningful.

Evolution is a process in which you seem to proceed from one degree to the next. You correct your previous missteps by stepping forward. This process is actually incomprehensible in temporal terms, because you return as you go forward. The Atonement is the device by which you can free yourself from the past as you go ahead. It undoes your past errors, thus making it unnecessary for you to keep retracing your steps without advancing to your return. In this sense the Atonement saves time, but like the miracle it serves, does not abolish it. As long as there is need for Atonement, there is need for time. But the Atonement as a completed plan has a unique relationship to time. Until the Atonement is complete, its various phases will proceed in time, but the whole Atonement stands at time’s end. At that point the bridge of return has been built.

Text 1. II.4-6

The Origins of Separation

Key Excerpts

To extend is a fundamental aspect of God which He gave to His Son. In the creation, God extended Himself to His creations and imbued them with the same loving Will to create. You have not only been fully created, but have also been created perfect. There is no emptiness in you. Because of your likeness to your Creator you are creative. No child of God can lose this ability because it is inherent in what he is, but he can use it inappropriately by projecting. The inappropriate use of extension, or projection, occurs when you believe that some emptiness or lack exists in you, and that you can fill it with your own ideas instead of truth. This process involves the following steps:

    • First, you believe that what God created can be changed by your own mind.
    • Second, you believe that what is perfect can be rendered imperfect or lacking.
    • Third, you believe that you can distort the creations of God, including yourself.
    • Fourth, you believe that you can create yourself, and that the direction of your own creation is up to you.

These related distortions represent a picture of what actually occurred in the separation, or the “detour into fear.” 2 None of this existed before the separation, nor does it actually exist now. 3 Everything God created is like Him. 4 Extension, as undertaken by God, is similar to the inner radiance that the children of the Father inherit from Him. 5 Its real source is internal. 6 This is as true of the Son as of the Father. 7 In this sense the creation includes both the creation of the Son by God, and the Son’s creations when his mind is healed. 8 This requires God’s endowment of the Son with free will, because all loving creation is freely given in one continuous line, in which all aspects are of the same order.

The Garden of Eden, or the pre-separation condition, was a state of mind in which nothing was needed. When Adam listened to the “lies of the serpent,” all he heard was untruth. You do not have to continue to believe what is not true unless you choose to do so. All that can literally disappear in the twinkling of an eye because it is merely a misperception. What is seen in dreams seems to be very real. Yet the Bible says that a deep sleep fell upon Adam, and nowhere is there reference to his waking up. The world has not yet experienced any comprehensive reawakening or rebirth. Such a rebirth is impossible as long as you continue to project or miscreate. It still remains within you, however, to extend as God extended His Spirit to you. In reality this is your only choice, because your free will was given you for your joy in creating the perfect.

Text Chapter 2. I.

The Illusion of Needs

Key Excerpts

You who want peace can find it only by complete forgiveness. No learning is acquired by anyone unless he wants to learn it and believes in some way that he needs it. While lack does not exist in the creation of God, it is very apparent in what you have made. It is, in fact, the essential difference between them. Lack implies that you would be better off in a state somehow different from the one you are in. Until the “separation,” which is the meaning of the “fall,” nothing was lacking. There were no needs at all. Needs arise only when you deprive yourself. You act according to the particular order of needs you establish.  This, in turn, depends on your perception of what you are.

A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct.  This sense of separation would never have arisen if you had not distorted your perception of truth, and had thus perceived yourself as lacking.  The idea of order of needs arose because, having made this fundamental error, you had already fragmented yourself into levels with different needs. As you integrate you become one, and your needs become one accordingly. Unified needs lead to unified action, because this produces a lack of conflict.Jesus speaking in the Text.

The idea of orders of need, which follows from the original error that one can be separated from God, requires correction at its own level before the error of perceiving levels at all can be corrected. You cannot behave effectively while you function on different levels. However, while you do, correction must be introduced vertically from the bottom up. This is because you think you live in space, where concepts such as “up” and “down” are meaningful. Ultimately, space is as meaningless as time. Both are merely beliefs.

The real purpose of this world is to use it to correct your unbelief. You can never control the effects of fear yourself, because you made fear, and you believe in what you made. In attitude, then, though not in content, you resemble your Creator, Who has perfect faith in His creations because He created them. Belief produces the acceptance of existence. That is why you can believe what no one else thinks is true. It is true for you because it was made by you.

All aspects of fear are untrue because they do not exist at the creative level, and therefore do not exist at all. To whatever extent you are willing to submit your beliefs to this test, to that extent are your perceptions corrected. In sorting out the false from the true, the miracle proceeds along these lines:

Perfect love casts out fear.
If fear exists,
Then there is not perfect love.

But:

Only perfect love exists.
If there is fear,
It produces a state that does not exist.

Believe this and you will be free. Only God can establish this solution, and this faith is His gift.

Text Chapter 1. VI.

The forgiven are the means of the Atonement.

Key Excerpts

When you offer a miracle to any of my brothers, you do it to yourself and me.

When you have been restored to the recognition of your original state, you naturally become part of the Atonement yourself. As you share my unwillingness to accept error in yourself and others, you must join the great crusade to correct it; listen to my voice, learn to undo error and act to correct it. The power to work miracles belongs to you. I will provide the opportunities to do them, but you must be ready and willing. Doing them will bring conviction in the ability, because conviction comes through accomplishment. The ability is the potential, the achievement is its expression, and the Atonement, which is the natural profession of the children of God, is the purpose.

The forgiven are the means of the Atonement. Being filled with spirit, they forgive in return. Those who are released must join in releasing their brothers, for this is the plan of the Atonement. Miracles are the way in which minds that serve the Holy Spirit unite with me for the salvation or release of all of God’s creations.  Jesus speaking in the Text. T-I.III.2+3

The miracle minimizes the need for time.

Key Excerpts

The miracle is a learning device that lessens the need for time. It establishes an out-of-pattern time interval not under the usual laws of time. In this sense it is timeless. T-1.I.47.

The miracle is the only device at your immediate disposal for controlling time. Only revelation transcends it, having nothing to do with time at all. T-1.I.48. 

The miracle minimizes the need for time. In the longitudinal or horizontal plane the recognition of the equality of the members of the Sonship appears to involve almost endless time. However, the miracle entails a sudden shift from horizontal to vertical perception. This introduces an interval from which the giver and receiver both emerge farther along in time than they would otherwise have been. The miracle thus has the unique property of abolishing time to the extent that it renders the interval of time it spans unnecessary.

There is no relationship between the time a miracle takes and the time it covers. The miracle substitutes for learning that might have taken thousands of years. It does so by the underlying recognition of perfect equality of giver and receiver on which the miracle rests. The miracle shortens time by collapsing it, thus eliminating certain intervals within it. It does this, however, within the larger temporal sequence. T-I.II.6

“There is nothing about me that you cannot attain.”

Key Excerpts

There is nothing about me that you cannot attain. I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else. This leaves me in a state which is only potential in you.

“No man cometh unto the Father but by me” does not mean that I am in anyway separate or different from you except in time, and time does not really exist. The statement is more meaningful in terms of a vertical rather than a horizontal axis. You stand below me and I stand below God. In the process of “rising up,” I am higher because without me the distance between God and man would be too great for you to encompass. I bridge the distance as an elder brother to you on the one hand, and as a Son of God on the other. My devotion to my brothers has placed me in charge of the Sonship, which I render complete because I share it. This may appear to contradict the statement “I and my Father are one,” but there are two parts to the statement in recognition that the Father is greater.

Revelations are indirectly inspired by me because I am close to the Holy Spirit, and alert to the revelation-readiness of my brothers. I can thus bring down to them more than they can draw down to themselves. The Holy Spirit mediates higher to lower communication, keeping the direct channel from God to you open for revelation. Revelation is not reciprocal. It proceeds from God to you, but not from you to God. 

Jesus speaking in the Text. T-I.II.3-5

Miracles are seen in light.

The Way

Miraclesareseen

“To be told that what you do not see is there sounds like insanity. It is very difficult to become convinced that it is insanity not to see what is there, and to see what is not there instead.

You do not doubt that the body’s eyes can see. You do not doubt the images they show you are reality. Your faith lies in the darkness, not the light. How can this be reversed? For you it is impossible, but you are not alone in this.” Lesson 91

Your awakening procedure, as you advance through the curriculum, must emphasize the fact that you are not alone. As long as you continue to try to organize, manage your affairs and make decisions by yourself, on your own terms, you will be frustrated and peace will elude you.

Changing our minds about our minds is the fundamental lesson, so that our reliance is on the power of Spirit, the Holy presence of God, His communication link to the eternal, that will bring about the impossible change necessary. And with Him all miracles are not only possible, natural but have already been accomplished!

It may not be obvious that this Course in the enlightenment of mind is wholly unacceptable to ego-mind. It is the opposite of everything the world believes and any and every belief which the mind has accepted as “truth”. Therefore experience is necessary. The human mind generally has no references for this whatsoever, new references are needed to give you faith in what seems an outrageous supposition. Yet, the light is there and can be seen and known. It is natural, the only natural experience, the only thing you bring with you from your Home (Lesson 188). Nothing beside it exists or can in fact be found if you cared to really examine your objective phenomenal paradigm.

“The body’s eyes see only form. They cannot see beyond what they were made to see. And they were made to look on error and not see past it. Theirs is indeed a strange perception, for they can see only illusions, unable to look beyond the granite block of sin, and stopping at the outside form of nothing. To this distorted form of vision the outside of everything, the wall that stands between you and the truth, is wholly true. Yet how can sight that stops at nothingness, as if it were a solid wall, see truly? It is held back by form, having been made to guarantee that nothing else but form will be perceived.” T.22.III.8

“Let yourself be brought unto your Self. Its strength will be the light in which the gift of sight is given you. Leave, then, the dark a little while today, and we will practice seeing in the light, closing the body’s eyes and asking truth to show us how to find the meeting place of self and Self, where light and strength are one.” W.92.10

Prayer:-

“I cannot see in darkness. Let the light of holiness and truth light up my mind, and let me see the innocence within.” W.111.1.(91)

What is the body?

Workbook Readings

Readings from the Workbook
Workbook pII. 5. What is the body?

Crossing the Bridge of Unknowing Retreat

Personal Experiences

Expressions of personal experiences from a 16-day retreat with Tim Christopher at La Finca de Milagros, Benitachell, Spain.

“We are discovering the innate need of the spiritual adept as a student, or disciple of Jesus in A Course in Miracles, is to cross the bridge of unknowing that leads directly from the illusions of love to love’s reality, where all meaning lies. And this is no small step, for in it lies the complete escape from the strange attraction of the illusion of death. God awaits us on the other side, for the reality of love we share with Him, in Whom there is one life, without beginning and without end.”

“Waken from time, and answer fearlessly the Call of Him Who gave eternity to you in your creation. On this side of the bridge to timelessness you understand nothing. But as you step lightly across it, upheld by timelessness, you are directed straight to the Heart of God.”  T-16.IV.13

la finca 2

‘Having a teacher like Tim, the presence of Lambie and her beautiful messages through art presentations, being with 23 brothers all day is incredibly powerful. In the Course I’ve often read about God’s gifts, well the whole retreat is a gift. Seeing all the brothers transformed from darkness in light and feeling grateful for all the gifts. It was not only the beautiful and clear sessions of Tim, but also experiencing the first 50 lesson reviews each morning, the vespers in the evening, the blue sky meditations, the energetic meditation, the day of fasting-discovering how much you care about your body, the silent day hearing yourself talking and talking inside, the collaboration in managing the house, the day off going to the sea to swim, the prayer-tent, the lunch and dinner time eating and being together. Every moment is a complete experience of love’

 

“Every moment is a complete experience of love”

gonny

Gonny

“It has been an increasingly deep and firm experience”

 
‘It has been a sublime experience for me, from the words received by Lambie’s email, which were a challenge to decide whether or not to attend this retreat, to the demonstration of Christ through Tim.
I am grateful to Tim, for sharing his faithful message of the Truth and for taking me to an experience that is dethroning every personal idol. I am grateful too for his insistence, his clarity, and for his 70 times 7 ways to take us by the hand and lead us Home. I also had a personal experience of the light induced by Philly, which has instilled certainty in me. It has been an increasingly deep and firm experience. THANK YOU.’
rosa

Rosa

steve

“I have always experienced something new.”

‘Saying “yes” to be there at a retreat is a willingness to put aside all my negative thoughts and to remember that I have always experienced something new. Something that I could never have expected but something I truly want.’

           Steve

‘Imagine a space where you can really be yourself, where you can find a sanctuary where you can stay focused on the continued remembrance of Who you are, and the unraveling of the illusions of pain, through the teachings of Jesus transmitted in his purity by Tim C. Imagine a space where all your processes in that awakening will be received with total understanding and love, where love is reflected in each person who attends there, where each assistant – some with awakened minds share their experiences of light with you. That’s what the retreat experience is. And it’s an experience that is really hard to put into words. Its fruits are exponential and continue unfolding afterwards. Immense gratitude.’

“Its fruits are exponential and continue unfolding afterwards.”

maribel

          Maribel

allan

           Allan

“La Finca retreats with Tim Christopher are a celestial speed up extraordinaire ..”

‘For those of you who want to actually experience the amazing truth about Who you really are, and have direct communication with God Himself, as promised in our amazing ‘Course in Miracles’, La Finca retreats with Tim Christopher are a celestial speed up extraordinaire ..
Tim’s uncompromising teaching of the Course, coupled with the incredible power of other minds (some already advanced) joining in true purpose, produces an energy not of this world and you will feel it. Come to La Finca and you will have an experience I can guarantee you that . I most certainly did and continue to have. No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth. Love and Light’
 
 
 
‘This retreat offered a wonderful opportunity to join in true purpose with brothers in a singular and intensive experiential immersion in the teachings of a Course in Miracles in a beautiful and quiet sanctuary of sanity set apart from the world. The Holy Spirit simply pours through Tim who is a Course teacher of great vision, integrity, clarity and dedication.
There were many opportunities throughout the retreat experiences for service and for applying the Mind training in a supportive environment.
I can say without a doubt that the accumulative effect of these ongoing retreats and events has helped me to increasingly remain within the safe protection of the holy instant regardless of what seems to be happening in the dream, and brought about much deeper and more consistent experience.’

“There were many opportunities throughout the retreat experiences for service and for applying the Mind training in a supportive environment”

garry

           Garry

carlos

         Carlos

“It is a special place of transformation to look beyond the bonds of space-time.”

‘My experience of this retreat at la finca has been of a great transformation, wrapped in a love for all the brothers that supported me at all times. It is a special place of transformation to look beyond the bonds of space-time. Thank you very much to everyone who makes this possible. A hug.’

 
 
‘My experience of the retreats and events with Tim is that they are enormously helpful on many levels for the purification of my separate self-identity, whilst also giving me direct experiences of what I am in my real identity in the perfection of whole/Christ mind. 
On a personal level the events offer me clarity as to the ways in which I am blocking myself from receiving love. A level of honesty and awareness becomes available that I can’t access on my own. I then become acutely aware that I need healing, and become available to the teachings, to the miracle.
 

“My experience of the retreats and events with Tim is that they are enormously helpful on many levels, and completely mind-blowing on others!

holly

           Holly

“I will never be the same…which is both scary and exciting!!”

philly

           Philly

‘I recently attended a 2 week retreat in Spain at La Finca where Tim Christopher was teaching the teachings of Jesus Christ as we know him from his Course in Miracles and my real experience was ….I felt I received an injection of Jesus Christ so I could really hear him clearly…what a treat!! Remember when Jesus told us 2000 years ago to love our neighbor as ourselves?..I struggled with that idea for a long time….and now I caught a glimpse ….a real glimpse ..into the possibility of truly being able to actually do that…this is the miracle!! and it’s just the beginning of really knowing Jesus …God….myself…my neighbor…and you!! Thank you Tim for an amazing retreat..and I know I will never be the same…which is both scary and exciting!!….Love from Philly..who continues to be grateful for all the gifts I have received through the grace of God!’

‘So if you are reading this then you must be thinking what it is like to be in in Tim’s Course of Miracles retreat. Lets just say you have to be in acceptance in order to get the most out of everything. The only prerequisite is to be of flexible mind and active with the course. Tim is an advanced teacher, not many teachers will get you out of a world of suffering into a world of a happy dream. The progress you make towards this happy dream and further is what ascension is. You realize that Truth is True and only Truth is True. Tim is a Course of Miracles teacher that will take you to the top of the ladder and fly. For that is the only experience that the Holy Instant brings. Experiences are of elation. This is why brothers all love being at One in Tim’s illuminated mind retreats. The only imperative is “come as you are”, and remember God is incomplete without you.’

“Experiences are of elation. This is why brothers all love being at One in Tim’s illuminated mind retreats.”

david h

           David H.

“When I join in mind with my brothers, powerful forces, unlike anything I could begin to explain are brought into being.”

david r

          David R.

 
 
‘I am aware that I am undergoing a process to heal the schism in my mind. As testament to the efficacy of my healing certain truths are being revealed to me as I learn to remove the blocks to loves presence. When I join in mind with my brothers (whom it transpires are not ‘the others’ I had previously perceived them as) powerful forces, unlike anything I could begin to explain are brought into being. And when I commune with those brothers, I perceive myself as whole and loved. That in itself fills me with gratitude and the joy it provides is palpable but there is so much more and it is at our retreats such as the recent La Finca in Spain, when our minds are joined in common purpose, where I undergo the most radical processes of healing.
I wish I could bottle this love medicine and give it to everyone, however it doesn’t work like that because ‘you’ have to want it, and then ‘you’ have to turn up and experience it. I could not recommend this action more highly, indeed it is my salvation.’
 
 
‘I always have great experiences when I go to the finca to a retreat with Tim and brothers. In fact, the best; is having an out of world experience which has nothing comparable with time and space . Every single time I go to la finca, I empty myself completely in order to receive eveything and remember my true identity. Nothing gives me a bigger buzz than a holy instant.
This last retreat I went down on my knees and I asked for help because I was sick of having the same issues with my daughters evey single day. The help was given inmediately; I had a revelation and I experienced that my daughters are memories of the past. They are not truly here. They are here for my salvation and for me to remember the truth about myself. So, that was a great experience that goes with me wherever I go. The tendency that I have to be in conflict as a human being is huge, but now there are not excuses; I know about the truth, therefore, I can inmediately step back if I wish to keep at peace. It´s about taking responsibility for my dream.’

“Every single time I go to la finca, I empty myself completely in order to receive eveything and remember my true identity.”

juani

          Juani

begonya

        Begonya

“Tim creates a safe place where you always find true support in your process and where all kinds of miraculous experiences happen, before, during and after his retreats.”

‘My experience in a retreat with Tim Christopher always exceeds my expectations. I always heal what I have to heal in every moment. We heal with contrasts and there you experience so much light that it is almost impossible not to see the blocks that prevent us from experiencing the greatness of our Self. Tim creates a safe place where you always find true support in your process and where all kinds of miraculous experiences happen, before, during and after his retreats.’

“I am observing the fruits and I am immensely grateful for the gift you gave me.”

‘What I experienced with Tim and Lambie was very intense (and at the same time I was terrified and wanted to run away) where I stayed until the last day. Tim showed me from the first day. I’d met him at a different retreat and I’d had several experiences with him which in this retreat were intensified much more. I’m still settling into everything I’ve experienced in the retreat. I am observing the fruits and I am immensely grateful for the gift you gave me. Thank you for allowing it to be so. I love you.’

yessica

          Yessica

debra 1

          Debra

“It was a beautiful and life changing experience”

‘It’s indescribable really but if I had to write a sentence it would be that it was a beautiful and life changing experience that bought about a huge undoing from my fixed ideas about what I think love is.’

 
 
When I read the possibility of a retreat at la finca, I felt an impulse from within that told me ‘yes’- to go.
I started my stay at the beginning of 4 days, and on my second day, I was very clear that I wanted to be there for the whole retreat.
THANKS to Tim, Lambie and the whole team of the Illuminate Mind Foundation and the rest of the participants, I have been able to live the most wonderful experience of my life.
There were many moments of tears, but they were tears of happiness, well-being, inner peace, immense gratitude.
At La Finca I have “seen” better than ever, I have “felt” like never before and I have felt with a lot of Light and Love.
This Holy Place marks a before and an after, with a commitment to the Father, of “service and attention” to the other brothers.

“THANKS to Tim, Lambie and the whole team of the Illuminate Mind Foundation and the rest of the participants, I have been able to live the most wonderful experience of my life.”

 

julian

            Julian

a-part-of-lambies-multimedia-art-class-and-vespers-session copy
A part of Lambie's multimedia art class and vespers session.
late night vespers copy
A late night vespers
rafa
Rafa on drums
the grounds at la finca de milagros
The grounds at la finca de milagros
view from la finca de milagros
spanish brothers
a day out in moraira
A day out in Moraira
tea with philly
Tea with Philly
the surrounding area at la finca de milagros
The surrounding area at La Finca de Milagros
tim and philly
Tim with Philly
the sun rising
The sun rising
light session
Light session
blue sky meditation
At this retreat (and others) we practiced blue sky meditation which comes from a meditative tradition called Dzogchen - which strongly emphasises resting in a natural state free from conceptual elaborations. This natural state is wide open, clear and lucid; it neither rejects anything or clings to anything and is sometimes referred to as spontaneous awareness.

 

Non-judgment

Charity

Non-judgment –the entire mind-training is directed towards the undoing of the judgmental mind of the ego-self-construct. Learned perception is inherently judgmental, therefore a new perception of everyone and everything is required if we are to see truly and learn to appreciate our brothers as the holy and beloved Sons of God they are.

  • “You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgment. When you recognize what you are and what your brothers are, you will realize that judging them in any way is without meaning. In fact, their meaning is lost to you precisely because you are judging them.”  T-3.VI.3

  • “How can you estimate the worth of him who offers peace to you? What would you want except his offering?.. What is in him will shine so brightly in your grateful vision that you will merely love him and be glad. You will not think to judge him, for who would see the face of Christ and yet insist that judgment still has meaning? For this insistence is of those who do not see. Vision or judgment is your choice, but never both of these.” T-20.V.4

  • “Without judgment are all things equally acceptable, for who could judge otherwise? Without judgment are all men brothers, for who is there who stands apart?”  M-4.III.1

  • “It is necessary for the teacher of God to realize, not that he should not judge, but that he cannot. In giving up judgment, he is merely giving up what he did not have… This is no sacrifice. On the contrary, he puts himself in a position where judgment through him rather than by him can occur. And this judgment is neither “good” nor “bad.” It is the only judgment there is, and it is only one: “God’s Son is guiltless, and sin does not exist.” M-10.2
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