A Course in Miracles (ACIM) clearly points out how perception and choice are very closely linked together. As long as we perceive error, the tendency is to continue to choose error through judgment thereby making error more real. We are the source choosing perceptions, placing judgment on corresponding results, and finally judging those results as being real as well. All of this leads us back to perception and choice and to start the cycle once again.
As you perceive, you judge and project; and as you judge and project, you perceive back. Having perceived the judgments and projections back with you, you will now judge those and project them outward until you perceive the results back. The ego knows no other way. It is a continuous judgmental cycle until you choose to break it; and yes, there is a way to do just that. There is one obvious choice off the merry-go-round, and it is so simple you will scratch your head in wonder you had not thought of it before now.
Choice remains unsettling because so long as you make choices that further the error, or take you deeper into the illusion, it seems as though you are merely making choices between the lessor of two evils. That's because you are only choosing between the sides of the wrong mind. The ego has a "wrong" and "right" side but neither is the true Right Mind of the Holy Spirit. If there was ever a New Year's resolution worth keeping, it would be: Stop judging and turn them over to the Holy Spirit for correction instead.
The Tiny Mad Idea:
The original separation is considered a "tiny mad idea" wherein you thought you were separated from source. This is also called "the error" and is the original choice for judgment of the ego. Already down that road in the mind, it becomes another layer each time you judge the consequences, or corresponding effect, from the error as cause. What this means is every time you judge what you see or what is happening in the world, and you choose to believe the ego about it, you are choosing the error as cause once again. Corresponding effects show up which reinforce your belief in error.
These judgments further divide out the split mind instead of returning it to peace. Hence, this is why is seems like you are choosing between the lessor of two evils with neither one really being "less". The error has not occurred and only seems real because of your choice of internal Teacher. Choosing the ego is like choosing a revolving door with only one exit.
ACIM says there is no order of difficultly in miracles and that means there is no order of difficulty in choices. One is exactly the same as the next, handled in precisely the same manner. Every problem is equal because they all stem from the same cause. You only think one is harder because of your belief and attachment to it as being more real than another.
The Decision Maker:
The fastest way to turn choice from an unsettling phenomena to one of illusion is to use your decision maker, or observer, to choose differently. Actually, if you wanted to make a judgment against the ego, there is only one appropriate choice to make: Choose to use your decision maker to choose against the ego and in favor of the Holy Spirit. This has such enormous power when harnessed and used to choose instead for the truth.
Using the decision maker can be difficult to understand without practical application. It is an action-oriented mechanism of using, or choosing. That really is its big secret and now you know it. You have to do the work of choosing. Reading these ideas is not enough. Practical application is everything. Simply be willing to learn how. You will make mistakes, but so what? We all do. Try again.
Think of the ego like a coin system in a can. Every time you listen to and believe an ego judgment, you put a coin in the can for that subject matter because you chose it. Keep on doing this, and you will fill the can until overflowing. Step back into neutral, which is the decision maker, and be willing to turn over those judgments to the Right Mind for correction, and you actually spend a coin from the can instead.
Stay in the neutral decision maker, or observer, and wait out the tantrum of the ego. It is merely an indication of how much you have invested in that part of the thought system. Don't act on it! The ego spends the rest of the can of coins trying to convince you back into the judgments. You don't have to do anything except be willing and actually hand over everything you hear to the Right Mind via the decision making capability. You are choosing between the sides of the split mind. That is choice as an illusion.
Forgiveness:
Stay with the process and the ego runs its race and then, if you've not re-invested in the judgments, correction occurs. You will know you have received it because of the peace, love, joy and freedom associated with it. That subject matter is now gone forever.
This is what it takes to make the choice for love, forgiveness, correction, healing, true perception and God. The Holy Spirit, the voice for God, takes care of it all if you are simply willing, and actually do the work of turning over to Him that which you no longer want: The ego's judgments. You cannot heal what you keep hidden so for heaven's sake, go ahead and own up to it and turn it over to the Holy Spirit. Only the ego judges. God does not.
Illusion of Choice:
When the mind returns more and more to the peace of God, an interesting realization begins to dawn on the once dark mind. This light, or the voice for God, is an ever growing remembrance of home where all things are one, only sameness exists and where even choice is no longer necessary because there is nothing to choose between.
Your work of mind training from un curso de milagros is to return your mind to True Perception while you are here because in this state, you find the ego actually does not exist. There is no error and you end up seeing only what is real. Most of the split mind is healed. Sure, you hear a small squeak somewhere in the distance while you are still here, but you will not care. The ego universe disappears as you make the last choice you will ever make: The choice to return home by giving up separation completely. The illusion of choice is that there is a separate identity and something to choose between. You only thought there was one. The split mind is healed and gone forever.
