“Let us not wander into temptation, for the temptation of the Son of God is not Your will” - (T-16.VII.13:8).
Temptation is the whispering of sin, to believe in sin. the weakness of the ego/mind to fall into separation, to believe in the illusion of sin, death, fear hate…
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Ne me sinas errare in tentationem.
“Let me not wander into temptation.”
Alternative phrasings:
- Ne vagari me sinas in tentationem. (Emphasizing “wander” more literally with vagari.)
- Ne me inducas errantem in tentationem. (Closer to the structure of the traditional prayer while incorporating “wander.”)
The wish to make illusions real
What is temptation but a wish to make illusions real? ²It does not seem to be the wish that no reality be so. ³But it is an assertion that some forms of idols have a powerful appeal which makes them harder to resist than those you would not want to have reality. ⁴Temptation, then, is nothing more than this: a prayer the miracle touch not some dreams, but keep their unreality obscure and give to them reality instead. ⁵And Heaven gives no answer to the prayer, nor can the miracle be given you to heal appearances you do not like. ⁶You have established limits. ⁷What you ask is given you, but not of God, Who knows no limits. ⁸You have limited yourself. [CE T-30.IX.3]
There is no miracle you cannot have when you desire healing, but there is no miracle that can be given you unless you want it. ⁶Choose what you would heal, and He Who gives all miracles has not been given freedom to bestow His gifts upon God’s Son. ⁷When he is tempted, he denies reality, and he becomes the willing slave of what he chose instead. [CE T-30.IX.4:5-7]
73 instances of the word/idea of “Tempation” in The Course
The Temptation to Fall from your Throne
Whatever form temptation seems to take it always but reflects a wish to be a self that you are not. ²And from that wish a concept rises, teaching you you are the thing you wish to be. ³It will remain your concept of yourself until the wish that fathered it no longer is held dear. [CE T-31.VIII.6:1-3]
Temptation is the Choice of Hell instead of Heaven
Be vigilant against temptation, then, remembering that it is but a wish, insane and meaningless, to make yourself a thing which you are not. ²And think as well upon the thing which you would be instead. ³It is a thing of madness, pain, and death; a thing of treachery and black despair, of failing dreams and no remaining hope except to die and end the dream of fear. ⁴This is temptation; nothing more than this. ⁵Can this be difficult to choose against? ⁶Consider what temptation is, and see the real alternatives you choose between. ⁷There are but two. ⁸Be not deceived by what appears as many choices. ⁹There is hell or Heaven. ¹⁰And of these you choose but one. [CE T-31.VIII.8]
“Let me not wander into temptation”
“Let me not forget my function” (Workbook lesson 64)
Today’s idea is merely another way of saying, “Let me not wander into temptation.” ²The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness, and provide you with the justification for forgetting it. ³It is the temptation to abandon God and His Son by taking on a physical appearance. ⁴It is this which the body’s eyes look upon. Nothing the body’s eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself. ²Yet we have learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all of the illusions you have made and therefore sees another purpose in them. ³To the Holy Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as your sins. ⁴In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation. To review our last few lessons, your function here is to be the light of the world, a function given you by God. ²It is only the arrogance of the ego that leads you to question this, and it is only the fear of the ego that induces you to regard yourself as unworthy of the task assigned to you by God Himself. ³The world’s salvation awaits your forgiveness because through it does the Son of God escape from all illusions and all temptation. ⁴The Son of God is you.4 Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy. ²That is because your function is to be happy by using the means by which happiness becomes inevitable. ³There is no other way. ⁴Therefore, every time you choose whether or not to fulfill your function, you are really choosing whether to be happy or not. Let us remember this today. ²Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning and again at night, and all through the day as well. ³Prepare yourself in advance for all the decisions you will make today by remembering that they are all really very simple. ⁴Each one will lead to happiness or to unhappiness. ⁵Can such a simple decision really be difficult to make? ⁶Let not the form of the decision deceive you. ⁷Complexity of form does not imply complexity of content. ⁸It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a content different from just this one simple choice. ⁹That is the only choice the Holy Spirit sees. ¹⁰Therefore, it is the only choice there is.
Today, then, let us practice these thoughts often: Let me not forget my function. Let me not try to substitute mine for God’s. Let me forgive and be happy.
At least once, devote ten or fifteen minutes to reflecting on this with closed eyes. ²Related thoughts will come to help you, if you remember the crucial importance of your function to you and to the world. In the frequent applications of today’s idea to be practiced throughout the day, devote several minutes to reviewing these thoughts and then to thinking about them and about nothing else. ²This will be difficult, at first particularly, since you are not proficient in the mind discipline which it requires. ³You may need to repeat “Let me not forget my function” quite often to help you concentrate. Two forms of shorter practice periods are required. ²At times, do the exercises with your eyes closed, trying to concentrate on the thoughts you are applying. ³At other times, keep your eyes open after reviewing the thoughts, and look slowly and unselectively about you, telling yourself: This is the world it is my function to save.
[CE W-64] Robert Perry’s footnote: “This is the Course’s rephrasing of “Lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13), from the Lord’s Prayer. It is found in the Course’s version of the Lord’s Prayer in Chapter 16 in the Text, which says, “Let us not wander into temptation, for the temptation of the Son of God is not Your will” (T-16.VII.13:8). Whereas the original suggests we need to ask God to not lead us into temptation, the Course’s version asks Him to keep us from wandering into temptation ourselves, since our temptation is not His will.”
The Belief that your Salvation is outside you in the world
My salvation comes from me. All temptation is nothing more than some form of the basic temptation not to believe the idea for today. ²Salvation seems to come from anywhere except from you. ³So too does the source of guilt. ⁴You see neither guilt nor salvation as in your own mind and nowhere else. ⁵When you have realized that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you will also realize that guilt and salvation must be together in the same place. ⁶In understanding this you are saved. - [CE [W-70:1]-[W-70.1]]
The constant tempting of the world and the body and your mind to get you to go asleep and succumb to it.
Response to Temptation: Choose again.
The Response to Temptation: Choose Again
Protect yourself from Temptation
(a certain workbook phrase and excercise) - “The purpose is to protect yourself from temptation throughout the day.” [CE W-34.5:2]
The idea for today is a particularly useful one to use as a response to any form of temptation. ²It is a declaration that you will not yield to it and put yourself in voluntary bondage. [CE W-31.5]
⁴Watch your mind for the temptations of the ego, and do not be deceived by it. ⁵Know it offers you nothing. [CE T-4.VI.8:4-5]
Beyond temptation is glory
Let not the little nuisances and interferers pull you toward littleness. ²There can be no attraction of guilt in innocence. ³Think what a happy world you walk, with truth beside you! ⁴Do not give up this world of freedom for a little sigh of seeming sin, nor for a tiny stirring of guilt’s attraction. ⁵Would you, for all these little and meaningless distractions, lay Heaven aside? ⁶Your destiny and purpose are far beyond them, in the clean peace where littleness does not exist. ⁷Your purpose is at variance with littleness of any kind. ⁸And so it is at variance with sin. Let us not let littleness lead God’s Son into temptation. ²His glory is beyond it, measureless and timeless as is eternity. ³Do not let time intrude upon your sight of him. ⁴Leave him not frightened and alone in his temptation, but help him rise above it and perceive the light of which he is a part. ⁵Your innocence will light the way to his, and so is yours protected and kept in your awareness. ⁶For who can know his glory and perceive the little and the weak about him? ⁷Who can walk trembling in a fearful world and realize that Heaven’s glory shines in him? CE T-23.I.4-5
The Last Temptation of the Christ
The Last Temptation of the Christ
The last temptation is the enticement to believe in death His crucifixion and resurrection was the passing of the initiation, the final initiation. Passing the final great temptation….
How can illusions satisfy God’s Son? [CE W-272:1]
How can illusions satisfy God’s Son? Today we pass illusions by. ²And if we hear temptation call to us to stay and linger in a dream, we turn away and ask ourselves if we, the Sons of God, could be content with dreams, when Heaven can be chosen just as easily as hell, and love will happily replace all fear. [CE W-272.2]
Yet will there be temptation along the way the teacher of God has yet to travel, and he has need of reminding himself throughout the day of his protection. ²How can he do this, particularly during the times when his mind is occupied with external things? ³He can but try, and his success depends on his conviction that he will succeed. ⁴He must be sure success is not of him, but will be given him at any time, in any place and circumstance he needs it. ⁵There are times his certainty will waver, and the instant this occurs he will return to earlier attempts to place reliance on himself alone. ⁶Forget not that this is magic, and that magic is a sorry substitute for true assistance. ⁷It is not good enough for God’s teacher because it is not enough for God’s Son. The avoidance of magic is the avoidance of temptation, for all temptation is nothing more than the attempt to substitute another will for God’s. ²These attempts may indeed seem frightening, yet they are merely pathetic. ³They can have no effects; neither good nor bad, neither rewarding nor demanding sacrifice, healing nor destructive, quieting nor fearful. ⁴When all magic is recognized as merely nothing, the teacher of God has reached the most advanced state. ⁵All intermediate lessons will but lead to this and bring this goal nearer to recognition. ⁶For magic of any kind, in all its forms, simply does nothing. ⁷Its powerlessness is the reason it can so easily be escaped. ⁸What has no effects can hardly terrify. - [CE M-16.8-9]
Invite Him in
“Child of God, you were created to create the good, the beautiful, and the holy. ²Do not lose sight of this. ³Invite me to enter anywhere temptation arises.” [CE T-1.46.7:1-3]
The Course’s Lord’s Prayer
Forgive me my illusions, Father, and help me to accept my true relationship with You, in which there are no illusions, and where none can ever enter. My holiness is Yours. What can there be in me that needs forgiveness, when Yours is perfect? The sleep of forgetfulness is only the unwillingness to remember Your forgiveness and Your love. Let me not wander into temptation, for the temptation of the Son of God is not Your will. And let me receive only what You have given, and accept but this into the mind which You created, and which You love. Amen. [CE T-16.VII.13:4-10] (altered from “us” to “me”)