| T3:13.2 | We proceed by further defining the temptations of the human experience. In “A Treatise on the Art of Thought,” we spoke of these temptations in regards to extremes of the human experience, saying that these things that draw you from the peace of God draw you from the state in which you are aware of who you are, and so cause you to be aware only of a self of human experience, or a personal self. While you may still feel a connection to God during such times, you will not be dwelling within the peace of God. Your Self and God will be but memories to you while your reality remains that of the physical experience and the personal self. In such times you can conceive only of a God outside of yourself and trust not in the benevolence of the experience, whether it be an extreme experience of pain or of pleasure. You begin to fear that pleasure will end or that pain will not end. Once fear has entered, doubt and guilt are never far behind. |