Baptism in the River Jordan
Commentary to JWK, MJL #12 Blessing in Disguise
This is one of the places were JWK explicitly discusses the illusory, dream-like nature of our so-called life, that we think is so all important, but which in the end is nothing but a distraction. When the experience of John the Baptist enters in the picture that is disruptive to the ego, but that experience is born when we stop opposing God and viewing everything in our life as an imposition on what we want to do, and instead entertain the notion that it might be a Blessing in Disguise. The name Yehochanan, (in Hebrew, English John) means God gives Blessings. It is the first step from dualism into a semi-dualism. We are now starting to shift a little bit out of the victim role, where life happens to us, and begin to entertain a positive potential in incidents in our lives which disrupt our idea of how things should work. We are starting now to entertain the notion that indeed there are more things between heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, and we open up our mind to a new direction, instead of fighting against change.
Our biggest problem is that we take ourselves too seriously (I speak from experience, and Ken Wapnick used to call me Harpo to remind me!). As long as we do so, we see the world, and other people, in those terms, and we are stuck in the ego’s valuations, in which my will is in conflict with everybody else, and ultimately with God’s Will. The experience of John the Baptist, is the beginning of change, it is the experience of being submerged in the river of life to the point of what almost feels like drowning at times, until the skies open up and we “hear” the message that what we are is indeed God’s son, in whom he is well pleased. At that point all ego judgments are gone and permanently left behind.
The way JWK words it is: “We are fast asleep. The dream figures come and go, as Keepers of that sleep.” As long as we identify with the ego, we are caught in the matrix, in the dream. There is no red pill, there is only letting go of the ego identification which is born of guilt and fear. We experience everything as figures in our dream as long as we are limiting our awareness to me, myself and I. And in that ego world, confusion reigns, which ACIM calls the “laws” of Chaos, and nothing makes any sense.
Projection makes perception. ²The world you see is what you gave it, nothing more than that. ³But though it is no more than that, it is not less. ⁴Therefore, to you it is important. ⁵It is the witness to your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition. ⁶As a man thinketh, so does he perceive. ⁷Therefore, seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. ⁸Perception is a result and not a cause. ⁹And that is why order of difficulty in miracles is meaningless. ¹⁰Everything looked upon with vision is healed and holy. ¹¹Nothing perceived without it means anything. ¹²And where there is no meaning, there is chaos. (ACIM, T-21.in.1:1-12)
The appearance of John the Baptist, as an experience or a form, is the beginning of change, and an expression of the beginning of a change of mind. Kaiser’s article focuses entirely on the symbolism of John as the beginning of this change, the start of a turning of the soul, which we tend to experience as disruption, but it is actually a Help in making the change. The Course makes clear that the change is in the mind, and Jesus’ term in the biblical tradition is metanoia, change of mind.
Changes are required in the minds of God’s teachers. ²This may or may not involve changes in the external situation. ³Remember that no one is where he is by accident, and chance plays no part in God’s plan. ⁴It is most unlikely that changes in attitudes would not be the first step in the newly made teacher of God’s training. ⁵There is, however, no set pattern, since training is always highly individualized. ⁶There are those who are called upon to change their life situation almost immediately, but these are generally special cases. ⁷By far the majority are given a slowly evolving training program, in which as many previous mistakes as possible are corrected. ⁸Relationships in particular must be properly perceived, and all dark cornerstones of unforgiveness removed. ⁹Otherwise the old thought system still has a basis for return. (ACIM, M-9.1:1-9)
JWK phrases this as follows: “Gradually realizing this, we learn to know John, who demands the Turning of our Soul, so that the burden of wrongness be taken from us and the true, imperishable peace can live in us.” John’s significance as helping us to recognize God’s Blessing, amounts to abandoning our fight with God, and gradually learning to accept what is as a Blessing and a learning opportunity, a classroom in the school of life. In the article Blessing in Disguise, JWK says it as follows:
John calls and willingly we let ourselves be submerged in the living water of his Word that elevates above the earth, which gives rise to hope and trust because it speaks of the true goal and the achievability of it.
Throughout the article, Kaiser reminds his readers that words do not matter, that it is all about the experience. We realize the same thing in the Course, where there is a constant reminder that an intellectual understanding of the material is the booby prize, what matters is only the experience, that is how we learn.
Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a vast illusion in which figures come and go as if by magic. ²Yet there is a plan behind appearances that does not change. ³The script is written. ⁴When experience will come to end your doubting has been set. ⁵For we but see the journey from the point at which it ended, looking back on it, imagining we make it once again; reviewing mentally what has gone by. (ACIM, W-158.4:1-5)
The article further explores extensively in gory detail all the mistakes we make if we listen to the ego, and focused on the successes of the dream figure, the hero of our dream.
The body is the central figure in the dreaming of the world. ²There is no dream without it, nor does it exist without the dream in which it acts as if it were a person to be seen and be believed. ³It takes the central place in every dream, which tells the story of how it was made by other bodies, born into the world outside the body, lives a little while and dies, to be united in the dust with other bodies dying like itself. ⁴In the brief time allotted it to live, it seeks for other bodies as its friends and enemies. ⁵Its safety is its main concern. ⁶Its comfort is its guiding rule. ⁷It tries to look for pleasure, and avoid the things that would be hurtful. ⁸Above all, it tries to teach itself its pains and joys are different and can be told apart. (ACIM, T-27.VIII.1:1-8)
Although Kaiser excels in painting our struggles with what these changes mean in our lives, he does lighten up some time, by acknowledging, as he does in this article, “And this Sacrificing seems heavy to us.” The Course addresses the same issue when it points out we give up nothing to gain everything.
Listen to the story of the prodigal son, and learn what God’s treasure is and yours: This son of a loving father left his home and thought he had squandered everything for nothing of any value, although he had not understood its worthlessness at the time. ²He was ashamed to return to his father, because he thought he had hurt him. ³Yet when he came home the father welcomed him with joy, because the son himself was his father’s treasure. ⁴He wanted nothing else. (ACIM, T-8.VI.4:1-4)
Inevitably, there are reverberations of the very Christian environment in which Kaiser grew up, and thus the idea of Sacrifice is prominent. A Course in Miracles makes this easier to understand and accept by pointing out that all we are doing through forgiveness is letting go of our ego attachments. Logically, this can be understood when you focus on the idea that at the moment of the separation, the mind projects the body and the world, and the bodily identity needs the world to define itself. We do this constantly, by our likes and our dislikes, our tastes. The world is simply the background for this self portrait that we try to get taken seriously.
The article further explores our belief in sin and guilt, by the parable where the question comes up about the blind person, “who has sinned, this one or his parents?” And yet this very burden turns out a blessing in disguise when it leads us to our baptism in spirit.
Throughout the article reminds us that our decision for the ego is what is holding us back, but fortunately our attempts to hold on to it are doomed, for ultimately we must realize that our allegiance to the ego is the cause of all pain, and brief flourishes of ecstasy cannot make up the difference. Our soul hungers for the true Love of God, and that is what will pull us through.
Error cannot really threaten truth, which can always withstand it. ²Only the error is actually vulnerable. ³You are free to establish your kingdom where you see fit, but the right choice is inevitable if you remember this:
⁴Spirit is in a state of grace forever.
⁵Your reality is only spirit.
⁶Therefore you are in a state of grace forever.
⁷Atonement undoes all errors in this respect, and thus uproots the source of fear. ⁸Whenever you experience God’s reassurances as threat, it is always because you are defending misplaced or misdirected loyalty. ⁹When you project this to others you imprison them, but only to the extent to which you reinforce errors they have already made. ¹⁰This makes them vulnerable to the distortions of others, since their own perception of themselves is distorted. ¹¹The miracle worker can only bless them, and this undoes their distortions and frees them from prison.