“The mind can be right or wrong, depending on the voice to which it listens. Right-mindedness listens to the Holy Spirit, forgives the world, and through Christ’s vision sees the real world in its place. This is the final vision, the last perception, the condition in which God takes the final step Himself. Here time and illusions end together.” (C-1.5)

The “final step” is metaphorical, a representation of the return to that which was never left. This step can’t be taken by the separate self, because the idea of separation inherent in the separate self is the very idea that gives rise to the sense of being separated from Source. It is this sense of separation from which the separate self must find its way back by uncovering and then relinquishing all its beliefs of separation.

The illusion of separation is created by mind, which takes Wholeness and splits it into parts. In and of itself the illusion is not a problem, and splitting Wholeness into parts for the practical application of interacting with form is not a problem. The only problem is thinking that the parts are indeed separate, and that separation has actually occurred. There is no separation. There is only Source.

When the “real world”—the world of manifestation, without the overlay of any coloring by ego (“Sometimes, Dr. Freud, a cigar is just a cigar”)—is seen and known for what it is, the sense of separation can dissolve, merging self with Self. This isn’t some far-out experience; it’s simple and natural. Knowledge can then permeate beingness, and inform every action, and shine its light in the world of form.