DAILY LESSON

 

L e s s o n  16

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¹The idea for today is a beginning step in dispelling the belief that your thoughts have no effect. Everything you see is the result of your thoughts. There is no exception to this fact. Thoughts are not big or little, powerful or weak. They are merely true or false. Those which are true create their own likeness. Those which are false make theirs. 

²There is no more self-contradictory concept than that of "idle thoughts." What gives rise to the perception of a whole world can hardly be called idle. Every thought you have contributes to truth or to illusion; either it extends the truth or it multiplies illusions. You can indeed multiply nothing, but you will not extend it by doing so. 

³In addition to never being idle, salvation requires that you recognize that every thought you have brings either peace or war, either love or fear. A neutral result is impossible because a neutral thought is impossible. There is such a temptation to dismiss fear thoughts as unimportant, trivial, and not worth bothering about that it is essential you recognize them all as equally destructive but equally unreal. We will practice this idea in many forms before you really understand it. 

⁴In applying the idea for today, search your mind for a minute or so, with eyes closed, and actively seek not to overlook any "little" thought which tends to elude the search. This is quite difficult until you get used to it. You will find that it is still hard for you not to make artificial distinctions. Every thought that occurs to you, regardless of the quality which you assign to it, is a suitable subject for applying today's idea. 

⁵In the practice periods, first repeat the idea, and then as each one crosses your mind, hold it in awareness while you tell yourself: 

That thought about _____ is not a neutral thought.

⁷As usual, use today's idea whenever you are aware of a particular thought which arouses uneasiness. The following form is suggested for this purpose: 

because I have no neutral thoughts.

⁹Four or five practice periods are recommended if you find them relatively effortless. If strain is experienced, three will be enough. The length of the exercise period should also be reduced if there is discomfort. 

ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections 

 LESSON 16 

Jesus often reminds us that there are no exceptions to the statement that "everything that you see is the result of your thoughts."  (1.2) This lesson dispels the belief that our thoughts have no effects.

We read in the lesson yesterday that our thoughts are images that we made. We learned in lesson 14 that "what God did not create does not exist. And everything that does exist, exists as He created it. The world you see has nothing to do with reality. It is of your own making, and it does not exist." So this world and everything we see in it, which God did not create, is therefore of our own making. It is projected from the thoughts in our minds and these thoughts are not neutral because they come from the ego thought system of sin, guilt and fear.

Our thoughts are not impotent, contrary to our belief. They have powerful effects. Everything we see is as a result of our thoughts and  "There is no exception to this fact." (1.3) And   we give our interpretation to everything we see.  Our thoughts are very powerful. But there is one thing that they can't do and that is that they can't change the truth of who we are as the Son of God.  And thus they also can't change who God is. In other words we can't change Reality. That is the nature of the Atonement Principle which says that while we can become oblivious to the truth of our reality we can't change it.

What is the ego thought system and how does it differ from the thought system of the Holy Spirit? Basically the ego thought system is about: separation, complexities, differences, loss, lack, guilt, anger, grievances, fear, pain/pleasure, sickness, specialness, bodies, the world, sacrifice, regrets, the past, time and death. The Holy Spirit's thought system is that of Oneness reflected in this world as sameness, innocence, worthiness; forgiveness as love's reflection; abundance; simplicity; truth; changelessness; knows there is nothing outside of the mind;  knows that to give is to receive.    

Our true thoughts (or those that come from the thought system of the Holy Spirit) "create their own likeness," (1.6) while our false thoughts "make theirs."  What this means is that true thoughts are our real thoughts that reflect the Mind of the Creator. This is about the formless, eternal, holy, and timeless, while false thoughts are those that have made the illusion of this world. BUT, all thoughts have an effect. This may feel scary to us but in actual fact it is very empowering. Why do I say that? Because allowing change of our thoughts we our experience will be changed. No thought is neutral. Every thought produces something. What is that something? It is either peace or war; it is either love or fear. (3.1)

Therefore every thought matters. Notice how much we dismiss thoughts as unimportant, trivial or too small to make a difference. Yet this lesson counteracts that. Every thought brings us peace or war, love or fear no matter how trivial we believe that the thought is. The ego tells us that a thought is too trivial to bother with. We think that a small irritation does not really matter and it is something to just overlook as unimportant. Yet it is important because in each small thought of irritation we are actually choosing pain. We are blocking our happiness, our joy and our peace. "There is no more self-contradictory concept than that of "idle thoughts," Jesus tells us. ( 2.1.) That is quite a statement which says that thoughts always produce effects. We have come to believe that as long as we don't act on our murderous thoughts, for example, that no harm is done. This lesson contradicts those kinds of ideas. It says that all of our thoughts have effects. In fact we are responsible for the whole content of the world so how could our thoughts be said not to have effects?

So watching our thoughts is the whole process of this work because our unwatched thoughts get deposited into our unconscious minds and these unwatched thoughts are like the software always running in the background and responsible for our reactions. Our entire unconscious is made up of unwatched thoughts. It is the part of the mind that we have closed off in the basement of our being but it nevertheless rules our lives. Bringing attention to our thoughts brings forth the darkness of the hidden thoughts to our awareness which is how healing takes place. Healing requires that we look at our thoughts. Keeping them hidden is how we keep them and how we keep ourselves prisoners to the thought system of the ego.

Thoughts are not big and little, powerful or weak as we think of them. They are not impotent. There are several references in the course that affirm this.    "If you believe that what you think is ineffectual you may cease to be afraid of it, but you are hardly likely to respect it .There are no idle thoughts." (T.2.VI.9.12)  Yet we do mostly believe that our thoughts have no effects unless we act on them. Many psychologists will tell you this.  Yes, there are some thoughts we have that we feel guilty about and some that we think may even have an effect and result in something awful happening. But mostly we think our thoughts do not have an effect unless we act on them. This lesson directly confronts this notion saying that everything we see is the result of our thoughts.

Equally startling is the statement that "a neutral result is impossible because a neutral thought is impossible." (3.2) Again, every thought will be on the side of peace or on the side of war.   While we think that so many of our thoughts are simply neutral, Jesus tells us that this is not the case.  So as we watch our thoughts we are encouraged not to make exceptions that certain thoughts that we have, are unimportant. They are important because of their power but   because they only come from either one of two thought systems, love or fear, when we are not at peace we can be sure that the thoughts are coming from the ego. 

Mind watching is such an important process for our healing yet initially can be quite difficult. Our minds currently just move from one thought to another seemingly out of our awareness  much of the time. Now we are asked to notice our thoughts  and with each one tell yourself "this thought about ______is not a neutral thought."   

Jesus reminds us that "there is such a temptation to dismiss fear thoughts as unimportant, trivial and not worth bothering about..." (3.3) yet he reminds us that such thoughts are equally destructive though still equally unreal. So we must be attentive to all of our thoughts recognizing that they destroy our peace of mind and bring about effects which while not real, have power because we believe them. We be tempted to dismiss fear thoughts in the same way that we may dismiss our experience in the world as 'just an illusion.' While it is indeed just all an illusion, while we still believe in the reality of this world, it would be inappropriate to deny our thoughts about it. So to dismiss our fears as unimportant is to dismiss the fact that we have chosen the ego thought system and all the guilt and fear that comes with it.   If we dismiss the thoughts of fear, we are also dismissing the choice we have made for the ego as unimportant. That is the temptation Jesus is talking about. We absolutely need to look at all of our fear including our fear of the Atonement.  Jesus reminds us that "it is essential you recognize them all as equally destructive, but equally unreal." (3.3) They are all destructive because they keep us from recognizing ourselves as who we really are. So don't dismiss or deny your ego thoughts but be willing to bring them to awareness. "No one can escape from illusions unless he looks at them, for not looking is the way they are protected." (T. 11.V.I:1)

Today, we are asked to first repeat the idea to ourselves with our eyes closed and then to search our minds for any thoughts that are present without making any distinctions among them especially not overlooking any thoughts that we may consider little or unimportant or neutral.

As each thought comes up, say "this thought about _______is not a neutral thought" and so on with each thought. Our thoughts are not readily noticed at first when we start this practice. So it does take some work initially on this path to "catch" the thoughts we think we are thinking. But stay with it. Four or five practice periods are recommended today as long as there is no strain. Be gentle with yourself. And if some difficulty confronts you today, you can apply the thought to address it as follows:"This thought about ___________is not a neutral thought because I have no neutral thoughts" Close your eyes and repeat the idea. We are beginning to recognize in this exercise is that there is no order of difficulty in regard to our problems just as there is no order of difficulty in miracles. Regardless of the enormity of our difficulties that we hold in our mind, all problems are the same because they are all equally unreal. And we also need to see that no matter how small and unimportant our thoughts are to us, they still hold a thought system that has brought a state of suffering and it is this that we are learning to release by recognizing that all of our distress comes from our own minds.

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 Two

The Illusion of Separation

II. The Reinterpretation of Defenses 

continued  

³⁶ The Atonement is the only defense which cannot be used destructively. That is because, while everyone must eventually join it, it is not a device which was generated by man. The Atonement principle was in effect long before the Atonement itself began. The principle was love, and the Atonement itself was an act of love. Acts were not necessary before the separation because the time-space belief did not exist. It was only after the separation that the defense of Atonement and the necessary conditions for its fulfillment were planned.

³⁷ It became increasingly apparent that all of the defenses which man can choose to use constructively or destructively were not enough to save him. It was therefore decided that he needed a defense which was so splendid that he could not misuse it, although he could refuse it. His choice could not, however, turn it into a weapon of attack, which is the inherent characteristic of all other defenses. The Atonement thus becomes the only defense which is not a two-edged sword.

³⁸ The Atonement actually began long before the crucifixion. Many Souls offered their efforts on behalf of the separated ones, but they could not withstand the strength of the attack and had to be brought back. Angels came, too, but their protection did not suffice because the separated ones were not interested in peace. They had already split their minds and were bent on further dividing rather than reintegrating. The levels they introduced into their minds turned against each other, and they established differences, divisions, cleavages, dispersions, and all the other concepts related to the increasing splits which they produced.

³⁹ Not being in their right minds, they turned their defenses from protection to assault and acted literally insanely. It was essential to introduce a split-proof device which could be used only to heal, if it were used at all. The Atonement was built into the space-time belief in order to set a limit on the need for the belief and ultimately to make learning complete. The Atonement is the final lesson. Learning itself, like the classrooms in which it occurs, is temporary. The ability to learn has no value when change of understanding is no longer necessary. The eternally creative have nothing to learn. Only after the separation was it necessary to direct the creative forces to learning because changed behavior had become mandatory.

⁴⁰ Men can learn to improve their behavior and can also learn to become better and better learners. This serves to bring them into closer and closer accord with the Sonship, but the Sonship itself is a perfect creation, and perfection is not a matter of degree. Only while there are different degrees is learning meaningful. The "evolution" of man is merely a process by which he proceeds from one degree to the next. He corrects his previous missteps by stepping forward. This represents a process which is actually incomprehensible in temporal terms because he returns as he goes forward.

⁴¹ The Atonement is the device by which he can free himself from the past as he goes ahead. It undoes his past errors, thus making it unnecessary for him to keep retracing his steps without advancing to his return. In this sense the Atonement saves time, but like the miracle which serves, it does not abolish it. As long as there is need for Atonement, there is need for time. But the Atonement as a completed plan does have a unique relationship to time. Until the Atonement is finished, its various phases will proceed in time, but the whole Atonement stands at time's end. At this point, the bridge of the return has been built.

⁴² The Atonement is a total commitment. You still think this is associated with loss. This is the same mistake all the separated ones make in one way or another. They cannot believe that a defense which cannot attack is the best defense. This is what is meant by "the meek shall inherit the earth." They will literally take it over because of their strength. A two-way defense is inherently weak precisely because it has two edges and can turn against the self very unexpectedly. This tendency cannot be controlled except by miracles.

⁴³ The miracle turns the defense of Atonement to the protection of the inner self, which, as it becomes more and more secure, assumes its natural talent of protecting others. The inner self knows itself as both a brother and a Son. You know that when defenses are disrupted, there is a period of real disorientation accompanied by fear, guilt, and usually vacillations between anxiety and depression. This course is different in that defenses are not being disrupted but reinterpreted, even though you may experience it as the same thing. In the reinterpretation of defenses, only their use for attack is lost. Since this means they can be used only one way, they become much stronger and much more dependable. They no longer oppose the Atonement but greatly facilitate it.

⁴⁴ The Atonement can only be accepted within you. You have perceived it largely as external thus far, and that is why your experience of it has been minimal. The reinterpretation of defenses is essential in releasing the inner light. Since the separation, man's defenses have been used almost entirely to defend himself against the Atonement and thus maintain the separation. They themselves generally see this as a need to protect the body. The many body fantasies with which men's minds are engaged arise from the distorted belief that the body can be used as a means for attaining "atonement."

⁴⁵ Perceiving the body as a temple is only the first step in correcting this kind of distortion. It alters part of the misperception but not all of it. It does recognize, however, that the concept of Atonement in physical terms is not appropriate. However, the next step is to realize that a temple is not a building at all. Its real holiness lies in the inner altar around which the building is built. The inappropriate emphasis men have put on beautiful church buildings is a sign of their fear of Atonement and their unwillingness to reach the altar itself. The real beauty of the temple cannot be seen with the physical eye. The Spiritual eye, on the other hand, cannot see the building at all because it has perfect sight. It can, however, see the altar with perfect clarity.

⁴⁶ For perfect effectiveness, the Atonement belongs at the center of the inner altar, where it undoes the separation and restores the wholeness of the mind. Before the separation, the mind was invulnerable to fear because fear did not exist. Both the separation and the fear are miscreations of the mind which must be undone. This is what is meant by "the restoration of the temple." It does not mean the restoration of the building but the opening of the altar to receive the Atonement. This heals the separation and places within man the one defense against all separation mind-errors which can make him perfectly invulnerable.

⁴⁷ The acceptance of the Atonement by everyone is only a matter of time. In fact, both time and matter were created for this purpose. This appears to contradict free will because of the inevitability of the final decision. If you review the idea carefully, however, you will realize that this is not true. Everything is limited in some way by the manner of its creation. Free will can temporize and is capable of enormous procrastination. But it cannot depart entirely from its Creator, Who set the limits on its ability to miscreate by virtue of its own real purpose.

⁴⁸ The misuse of will engenders a situation which in the extreme becomes altogether intolerable. Pain thresholds can be high, but they are not limitless. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way. As this recognition becomes more firmly established, it becomes a perceptual turning-point. This ultimately reawakens the Spiritual eye, simultaneously weakening the investment in physical sight. The alternating investment in the two types or levels of perception is usually experienced as conflict for a long time and can become very acute, but the outcome is as certain as God.

⁴⁹ The Spiritual eye literally cannot see error and merely looks for Atonement. All the solutions which the physical eyes seek dissolve in its sight. The Spiritual eye, which looks within, recognizes immediately that the altar has been defiled and needs to be repaired and protected. Perfectly aware of the right defense, It passes over all others, looking past error to truth. Because of the real strength of Its vision, It pulls the will into Its service and impels the mind to concur. This reestablishes the true power of the will and makes it increasingly unable to tolerate delay. The mind then realizes with increasing certainty that delay is only a way of increasing unnecessary pain, which it need not tolerate at all. The pain threshold drops accordingly, and the mind becomes increasingly sensitive to what it would once have regarded as very minor intrusions of discomfort.

⁵⁰ The Children of God are entitled to perfect comfort, which comes from a sense of perfect trust. Until they achieve this, they waste themselves and their true creative powers on useless attempts to make themselves more comfortable by inappropriate means. But the real means is already provided and does not involve any effort at all on their part. Their egocentricity usually misperceives this as personally insulting, an interpretation which obviously arises from their misperception of themselves. Egocentricity and communion cannot coexist. Even the terms are contradictory.

⁵¹ The Atonement is the only gift that is worthy of being offered to the altar of God. This is because of the inestimable value of the altar itself. It was created perfect and is entirely worthy of receiving perfection. God is lonely without His Souls, and they are lonely without Him. Men must learn to perceive the world as a means of healing the separation. The Atonement is the guarantee that they will ultimately succeed.

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