The seals on the scroll are the blocks and barriers to Truth that the mind thinks are real.
As it states so clearly (6-10) 2-3 "So what blocks this knowledge from your awareness?
It is the belief that you are what you are not, and that you could have done what you could not do."
Make a list of all the definitions you have of yourself and throw them all away. You are none of these.
There are no definitions of the Self, the Self simply IS.
This chapter is all about WORTHINESS.
In the Old New Testament version none are worthy except the "Lamb who has been slain." That leaves all the rest of us out in the cold.
The ONT also references the phrase, "Oh, Lord, I ma not worthy" any number of times, and that phrase has been incorporated into the Catholic liturgy and other places as well, I am sure.
If you were brought up Catholic, then the words, "Oh, Lord, I am not worthy" are probably indelibly written in your mind.
You might also know that the quote comes from at least two places in the Gospel: 1) John the Baptist speaks of being unworthy to "loose the sandal strap" of Jesus, and 2) the Roman soldier who was askign for healing for his servant said to Jesus, "I am not worthy that you should enter my under my roof."
In the past it seems saying "I am not worthy" was a way of showing honor and respect to another person, but we have turned it around to simply focusing on ourselves in a negative way. Most unfortunate. Jesus never told anyone they were not worthy.
NTI tells us very simply that everyone is worthy. No one is unworthy. You can't be. You are God's perfect creation.
We have been so pummeled by this false idea of unworthiness that it becomes quite difficult for us to be aware of our Divine nature. In fact, the false idea of unworthiness has been so deeply ingrained that to think we are One withe God and God's perfect creation is seen as arrogance. It is just the opposite that is true: to see ourselves as anything but the perfect creation of God is arrogance. Holding onto our unworthiness is a way of saying to God, "I'm right and You're wrong."
And so it is the belief "that you are what you are not, and that you have done what you could not do" that keeps us from the Truth.
We think we are unworthy; we think we did something that separated us from God. Do you get a sense of how powerful the ego thinks it is? Not only does it know more than God, but it also thinks it did the impossible, caused creation to be separate from its creator.
I'm thinking of a quote from ACIM (speaking of the ego): This fragment of your mind is such a tiny part of it that, could you but appreciate the whole, you would see instantly that it is like the smallest sunbeam to the sun, or like the faintest ripple on the surface of the ocean.
In its amazing arrogance, this tiny sunbeam has decided it is the sun, this almost imperceptible ripple hails itself as the ocean.
Think of how alone and frightened is this little thought, this infinitesimal illusion, holding itself apart from the universe...Do not accept this little, fenced-off aspect as yourself.
The sun and the ocean are nothing beside what you are.
