DAILY LESSON

 

L e s s o n  29

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¹The idea for today explains why you can see all purpose in anything. It explains why nothing is separate, by itself or in itself. And it explains why nothing you see means anything. In fact, it explains every idea we have used thus far and all subsequent ones as well. Today's idea is the whole basis for vision. 

²You will probably find this idea very difficult to grasp at this point. You may find it silly, irreverent, senseless, funny, and even objectionable. Certainly God is not in a table, for example, as you see it. Yet we emphasized yesterday that a table shares the purpose of the universe. And what shares the purpose of the universe shares the purpose of its Creator. 

³Try then today to begin to learn how to look on all things with love, appreciation, and open-mindedness. You do not see them now. Would you know what is in them? Nothing is as it appears to you. Its holy purpose stands beyond your little range. When vision has shown you the holiness that lights up the world, you will understand today's idea perfectly. And you will not understand how you could ever have found it difficult. 

⁴Our six two-minute practice periods for today should follow a now familiar pattern: begin with repeating the idea to yourself, and then apply it to randomly chosen subjects about you, naming each one specifically. Try to avoid the tendency toward self-directed selection, which may be particularly tempting in connection with today's idea because of its wholly alien nature. Remember that any order you impose is equally alien to reality. 

⁵Your list of subjects should therefore be as free of self-selection as possible. For example, a suitable list might include: 

God is in that waste basket.

⁷In addition to the assigned practice periods, repeat the idea for today at least once an hour, looking slowly about you as you say the words unhurriedly to yourself. At least once or twice you should experience a sense of restfulness as you do this.    

ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections 

 LESSON 29

This lesson can really raise the bar on the level of resistance you might be experiencing. How do we know we are in resistance? We may respond by finding this lesson to be silly, irreverent, senseless, funny and even objectionable. Or we may find that we are 'forgetting' to do the lessons during the day; or we may be thinking of giving up on the Course. Resistance may go on for a long time because we are not going to readily give up our investment in the body and the world. It is what we know and where our comfort is even if we suffer.  So remember, resistance is our fear of Love and of God even though we deny this and are not even aware that this is so.

Being willing to be taught, and staying open to what is being taught, without putting our own spin on the lesson, is a challenge that any student of the course will face.  However, increasing peace and happiness is a direct result of applying the lessons. The lessons and the text are intended to teach us to become disciplined and is part of the mind training so that we will be increasingly able to discern between the thought systems of the ego and of the Holy Spirit.  

This is a good time to go back to the introduction to the workbook which reminds us that we do not need to believe the ideas, accept them or even welcome them. We can even actively resist them. BUT "none of this will matter or decrease their efficacy." So it is a time for trust. Or my approach to the lessons is "just do them". The results WILL be there. Our progress will be as fast or slow as our fear will allow. Whatever your level of progress is, it is important not to fight yourself. Make whatever commitment that you can, willingly, but not out of a sense of coercion. Remember the lesson yesterday that said we would be making a series of commitments but at this point we need not be concerned whether we will keep them in the future. Only our willingness is being asked for, in taking this first step in making a commitment for today. The rest will follow.

Lesson 29 says "God is in everything I see" but  it is not about seeing with our eyes. As Jesus says "certainly God is not in a table, for example as you see it."  (2.3) But the way we are seeing now, with the body's eyes, is actually obscuring God. All of our seeing has been made by the ego to make us believe that the world of form, the world of things, this material world is real. We "begin to learn how to look on all things with love, appreciation and open-mindedness." (3.1) And that is not how we see now. Now we see forms which we deem as pretty, ugly, shiny, useful, broken, light, dark, made of wood, steel, glass, dirty, enticing, etc. And it is these forms that make up this world that we think of as reality but, in fact, it is all illusion. When we see with our eyes we are not really seeing it all. We are projecting the thought system in our minds. We are hallucinating. It is all a shadow of the thought system that we hold within.

"The concept of the self stands like a shield, a silent barricade before the truth, and hides it from your sight. All things you see are images, because you look on them as through a barrier that dims your sight and warps your vision, so that you behold nothing with clarity. The light is kept from everything you see. At most, you glimpse a shadow of what lies beyond." (T.31.VII.7)      

What we see now is a reflection of all of our past understandings which define and give meaning to what we are looking at. Our range of seeing is very limited. Jesus reminds us that "nothing is as it appears to you."  We can't see with our eyes. To see, we need vision which is of the mind. And that is where this practice is taking us, so that with vision, we can 'see' beyond the forms. Our sight obscures the meaning that is behind the form. This is exactly why in the very first lesson in this Course we were told that "nothing I see means anything." It is because what we see with our eyes is only the physical world that we have made up. The meaning is there, but we currently don't see it because it is obscured by our thoughts now projected out as images. This lesson suggests that there must be a whole other way of seeing. There is a whole other world that we will see with the help of the Holy Spirit that we don't see now. It is a world lit up by holiness! (3.6) And when we see that, we will wonder why we couldn't see it before. We are surrounded by holiness but we don't know it.  

This is an important lesson because Jesus tells us that "today's idea is the whole basis for vision."  (1.5) That is quite a statement, isn't it? Yet having said that he says "you will probably find this idea very difficult to grasp at this point."  (2.2) It may even seem silly to us, funny, objectionable. "Certainly God is not in a table, for example, as you see it.  Yet we emphasized yesterday that a table shares the purpose of the universe." (2.3-4)  What is important here is purpose. And that purpose is for us to see that what we see outside starts with our thoughts. And the purpose for this world, and everything in it, is to be used as a classroom for undoing the separation.  "Nothing is as it appears to you. Its holy purpose stands beyond your little range." (3.4-5)  The Holy Spirit's purpose is to use everything we have made which keeps us rooted in the world, as an opportunity for learning that there is another way of seeing.   

And with spiritual sight, we can see God in everything because there is nowhere that God is not when we "look on all things with love, appreciation and open-mindedness." So, to say God is in this coat hanger, magazine, finger, lamp, body, door, waste basket etc. does seem silly and even irreverent, and yes perhaps funny and objectionable, but the idea is that God is not in any of these forms because these forms don't even exist. There is only mind and nothing else.   Everything we see shares the purpose of the universe and that purpose is forgiveness. What this means is that we look at the meaning we are giving the forms of this world and be willing to accept that we are seeing what is not there. It is about recognizing that the thoughts that we hold about everything are a block to real vision. Forgiveness is the way to release these thoughts and choose the Holy Spirit rather than the ego as our guide to seeing. And thus we learn that nothing that we perceive about this world is real. The only reality is God/Love.

So it is important to recognize that none of these forms are to be seen as sacred or holy-they are just meaningless forms. So why are we asked to say that God is in that form?  It is to remind ourselves that  God is everywhere and all of the time and in everything because God is all there is.  Jesus reminds us that "The test of everything on earth is simply this; What is it for? The answer makes it what it is for you. It has no meaning of itself, yet you can give reality to it according to the purpose that you serve." (T.24.VII.6.1)  So it is my mind that is projecting these images and giving them reality and thus blocking real vision. All that really counts is God and His purpose, not the stuff around us. Today with this lesson let the ordinary forms around you remind you of His presence and His purpose.  

 I have to admit to resistance when I do this lesson. For me, lesson 264 "I am surrounded by the Love of God" speaks more clearly about His presence where it says "You are in all the things I look upon, the sounds I hear, and every hand that reaches for my own."  But each workbook lesson is designed to undo our perceptions bit by bit and we are asked to simply trust and do what is asked. Be aware of your reactions as they come up and be willing to release them and simply, willingly, cooperate with the process of undoing to the extent that you can.  What is important is to recognize that the resistance is not really to the lesson but to leaving this world of illusion that we have invested in. It is our investment in the self that we have invented with it thoughts and perspectives that we still think we want. But Jesus is gentle and patient with us so this undoing process is also one that asks for daily discipline while still being gentle with ourselves.

When resistance comes up,  it is good to be aware of it and ask for help. To the extent possible, we are asked to stay open-minded by recognizing any resistance, and ask for help to be willing to be taught.  Open mindedness is the tenth characteristic of the Teacher of God, talked about in the Manual for Teachers. It is not about being open to everything but only to keep our minds open to the truth.  

In the practice periods today we are asked to do six, two minute practices by repeating the lesson, then applying it randomly by choosing subjects about us, naming each specifically without using preconceptions of where we think God would be and where he would not be. "Your list of subjects should therefore be as free of self-selection as possible." (5.1)    

Now there is an additional requirement where we repeat the idea at least once an hour saying the words unhurriedly to ourselves. As you do this, you should experience a sense of restfulness.   If we feel restful in doing this lesson hourly, then it is certainly a blessing.

Love and blessings, Sarah 

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Quotes in this article are from Foundation for Inner Peace edition; To locate the same quotes in the 'Original Edition', use this link:  http://www.jcim.net/acim_us/Acim.php    

A Course in Miracles   
TEXT 

Chapter Three

Retraining the Mind

IV. Miracles as Accurate Perception 

²⁵ We have repeatedly stated that the basic concepts referred to in this course are not matters of degree. Certain fundamental concepts cannot be meaningfully understood in terms of coexisting polarities. It is impossible to conceive of light and darkness, or everything and nothing, as joint possibilities. They are all true or all false. It is essential that you realize that behavior is erratic until a firm commitment to one or the other is made.

²⁶ A firm commitment to darkness or nothingness is impossible. No one has ever lived who has not experienced some light and some thing. This makes everyone really unable to deny truth totally, even if he generally deceives himself in this connection. That is why those who live largely in darkness and emptiness never find any lasting solace. Innocence is not a partial attribute. It is not a real defense until it is total. When it is partial, it is characterized by the same erratic nature that holds for other two-edged defenses.

²⁷ The partly innocent are apt to be quite stupid at times. It is not until their innocence becomes a genuine viewpoint which is universal in its application that it becomes wisdom. Innocent (or true) perception means that you never misperceive and always see truly. More simply, it means that you never see what does not really exist. When you lack confidence in what someone will do, you are attesting to your belief that he is not in his right mind. This is hardly a miracle-based frame of reference. It also has the disastrous effect of denying the creative power of the miracle.

²⁸ The miracle perceives everything as it is. If nothing but the truth exists (and this is really a redundant statement because what is not true cannot exist) right-minded seeing cannot see anything but perfection. We have said many times that only what God creates, or what man creates with the same will, has any real existence. This, then, is all the innocent can see. They do not suffer from the distortions of the separated ones. The way to correct all such distortions is to withdraw your faith from them and invest it only in what is true.

²⁹ You cannot validate the invalid. I would suggest that you voluntarily give up all such attempts because they can only be frantic. If you are willing to validate what is true in everything you perceive, you will make it true for you. Truth overcomes all error. This means that if you perceive truly, you are canceling out misperceptions in yourself and in others simultaneously. Because you see them as they are, you offer them your own validation of their truth. This is the healing which the miracle actively fosters.

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