Today’s ACIM Lesson

Lesson 12 – I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

We, humanity, are experiencing a major perceptual distortion.  We have given the world all the attributes it has for us, whereas the world is actually completely meaningless.  The exercises are specifically instructing us to use our eyes to look around … and, occasionally, to close our eyes to better become aware of our thoughts.  Eyesight is not Vision.  But eyes, the windows to the soul, can be used for Vision’s Message to be communicated through us.

We are instructed to  find a measured rhythm as we look around in this lesson … again, as in Lesson 11, this reminds me of the Sufi turn, the spiritual practice of Rumi and, after him, the whirling dervishes.

Being in a rhythm quiets thinking.   Even a frenetic rock’n’roll drummer has a quiet mind as his body clicks into a groove of rhythm from his head through his heart, ears, arms, hands, legs, feet.

Internally his visceral organs must become, what is called in heart rhythm meditation, “coherent” or, in layman’s language, harmonized.  Good percussionists are unhurried, deep in their felt sense of the beat, be it fast or slow.

Then Lesson 12 goes on to say, a bad world, a good world, it’s all the same.  We may not understand how a good world experience could be the same as a bad one, but at least we can comprehend that “bad” suggests “good,” in another words, a dualistic experience.  God is beyond dual and non-dual … He simply Is.

And then, Lesson 12 says, “What is meaningless is neither good nor bad.  Why, then, should a meaningless world upset you?  If you could accept the world as meaningless and let the truth be written upon it for you, it would make you indescribably happy. But because it is meaningless, you are impelled to write upon it what you would have it be.  It is this you see in it.  It is this that is meaningless in truth.

Beneath your words is written the Word of God. The truth upsets you now, but when the words have been erased, you will see His.  That is the ultimate purpose of these exercises.” [bold mine]  How comforting!  A click of recognition is felt within — Truth has true authority and feels liberating, not oppressive.  Beneath the meaning I have given the world is Real Meaning Itself.  As the Workbook works its undoing within us, God’s Message becomes clear.  Amen.

It occurs to me that in that tiny, mad moment when we thought we could separate from God’s mind, we made a blank canvas for ourselves.  A previous lesson has said our mind is actually blank.  Then we paint “meaning” onto this blank canvas “mind”  …  The blank canvas “mind” isn’t real – it’s just an idea.  The meaning we paint onto the blank canvas is not truly meaningful, it’s just a bunch of imaginary ideas aka fantasies sprouting forth from  the first tiny, mad idea that we could separate and be an autonomous god-self, encased in individual bodies …

LESSON 12

I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

The importance of this idea lies in the fact that it contains a correction for a major perceptual distortion.  You think that what upsets you is a frightening world, or a sad world, or a violent world, or an insane world.  All these attributes are given it by you.  The world is meaningless in itself.

These exercises are done with eyes open.  Look around you, this time quite slowly.  Try to pace yourself so that the slow shifting of your glance from one thing to another involves a fairly constant time interval.  Do not allow the time of the shift to become markedly longer or shorter, but try, instead, to keep a measure, even tempo throughout.  What you see does not matter.  You teach yourself this as you give whatever your glance rests on equal attention and equal time.  This is a beginning step in learning to give them all equal value.

As you look about you, say to yourself:

I think I see a fearful world, a dangerous world, a hostile world, a sad world, a wicked world, a crazy world,

and so on, using whatever descriptive terms happen to occur to you.  If terms which seem positive rather than negative occur to you, include them.  For example, you might think of “a good world,” or “a satisfying world.”  If such terms occur to you, use them along with the rest.  You may not yet understand why these “nice” adjectives belong in these exercises but remember that a “good world” implies a “bad” one, and “a satisfying world” implies an “unsatisfying” one.  All terms which cross your mind are suitable subjects for today’s exercises.  Their seeming quality does not matter.

Be sure that you do not alter the time intervals between applying today’s idea to what you think is pleasant and what you think is unpleasant.  For the purposes of these exercises, there is no difference between them.  At the end of the practice period, add:

But I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

What is meaningless is neither good nor bad.  Why, then, should a meaningless world upset you?  If you could accept the world as meaningless and let the truth be written upon it for you, it would make you indescribably happy.  But because it is meaningless, you are impelled to write upon it what you would have it be.  It is this you see in it.  It is this that is meaningless in truth.  Beneath your words is written the Word of God.  The truth upsets you now, but when the words have been erased, you will see His.  That is the ultimate purpose of these exercises.

Three or four times is enough for practicing the idea for today.  Nor should the practice periods exceed a minute.  You may find even this is too long.  Terminate the exercises whenever you experience a sense of strain.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to me reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, my online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 11 – My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

My personal thoughts are meaningless.  The previous lessons have systematically been showing me that.  My meaningless thoughts would, therefore, have to produce a meaningless outcome: world, people, beliefs.  A world without meaning could seem very scary when we’re still interested in actualizing our personal potential, when we’re still raising children … these are periods of life when the world is obviously meaningful to us.

We might experience this lesson with feelings of despair, disorientation, anxiety.  We might believe we’re being told to abandon our lives, though we are not.   Keep reading, I like to say.  There is more to be revealed and it is all filled with Love.

Then there comes a time when we’re satisfied enough with our accomplishments and have fulfilled our responsibilities that we’re ready to move into spiritual vision.  OR, we’re desperate enough, lonely enough, defeated enough that we’re willing to see another way.  Still, we may fight.  How can my thoughts determine the world I see?  I’m not that powerful.  And I don’t want that much responsibility.  Even so, we are invited to do the exercises if we feel Called by Spirit, despite resistance, disbelief, lack of comprehension, etc.

For maximum benefit, we are told, the eyes should move from one thing to another fairly rapidly, not lingering on anything and the words should be unhurried, even leisurely.  This reminds me of the Sufi turn.  The turn of Rumi and the whirling dervishes.  Leaving the eyes softly open and gazing outward at eye level, the feet do not move until God gently pushes us, as children on a swing.

And when we do start to turn, the eyes report a rapidity of motion, a pleasant vaguely stripe-y blur  that appears much faster than the pace of the body and feet.  The effort trains us to coordinate our thinking process with our eyesight process which leads us to true perception under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit.

Oh, how liberating to realize that my thoughts are meaningless but I am Guided and no longer have to think!

It would be best to be open to the One Wordless God-Thought pouring through me at all times.  Contrary to how that seems to the ego – that I am just a puppet, a slave to the Master’s Mind, it turns out that I’ve plugged into my Original Source and have restored power to my seemingly human system.  This does override the ego, but that turns out to be of no concern.

I feel more alive, at peace, happier, unafraid, and relaxed than ever before.

LESSON 11

My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.

This is the first idea we have had that is related to a major phase of the correction process; the reversal of the thinking of the world.  It seems as if the world determines what you perceive.  Today’s idea introduces the concept that your thoughts determine the world you see.  Be glad indeed to practice the idea in its initial form, for in this idea is your release made sure.  The key to forgiveness lies in it.

The practice periods for today’s idea are to be undertaken somewhat differently from the previous ones.  Begin with your eyes closed, and repeat the idea slowly to yourself.  Then open your eyes, and look about, near and far, up and down,–anywhere.  During the minute or so to be spent in using the idea merely repeat it to yourself, being sure to do so without haste, and with no sense of urgency or effort.

To do these exercises for maximum benefit, the eyes should move from one thing to another fairly rapidly, since they should not linger on anything in particular.  The words, however, should be used in an unhurried, even leisurely fashion.  The introduction to this idea, in particular, should be practiced as casually as possible.  It contains the foundation for the peace, relaxation and freedom from worry that we are trying to achieve.  On concluding the exercises, close your eyes and repeat the idea once more slowly to yourself.

Three practice periods today will be sufficient.  However, if there is little or no uneasiness and an inclination to do more, as many as five may be undertaken.  More than this is not recommended.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to me reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, my online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 10 – My thoughts do not mean anything.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Some of the intriguing sentences in this lesson are, “The emphasis is now on the lack of reality of what you think you think.” and

“To recognize this [that your mind is a blank] is to recognize nothingness when you think you see it.”

New students to the Course may find this scary and disorienting — trust that this is a good kind of scary and disorientation.

Let’s practice together.  Here goes:

My thought about not being a good Course student does not mean anything (ha ha). This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.

My thought about pest control poisoning my front lawn, not to mention the entire planet, does not mean anything.  This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.

My thought about … practicing this exercise is very relaxing … I’m having trouble stringing words together … again “little me” asks: Is this the return to a wonderfully un-thought-filled state?  Or is the ego lulling me to sleep?

My thought about the ego lulling me to sleep does not mean anything, tee hee.  This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.

My thought about how mischievously adorable the cats are does not mean anything.  This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.

This lesson helps me to recognize that what I call thinking is really not-thinking.  It is increasing understanding that each of “my thoughts” is just another brick in the ego wall which keeps me Mindless.

In this world of opposites, thinking is not-thinking and thoughts are blockages to language-free real Thought (which is Unified Love).  My thoughts are an “oddly assorted procession” which seem to have great personal meaning to “me” but who am I really?  Lol.  Five practice periods, one minute each.

There is a powerful shift stirring in the mind.  I love how I don’t need to try to understand it.  And even if I think I understand it, that doesn’t matter.  All that matters is practicing.

LESSON 10

My thoughts do not mean anything.

This idea applies to all the thoughts of which you are aware, or become aware in the practice periods.  The reason the idea is applicable to all of them is that they are not your real thoughts.  We have made this distinction before, and will do so again.  You have no basis for comparison as yet.  When you do, you will have no doubt that what you once believed were your thoughts did not mean anything.

This is the second time we have used this kind of idea.  The form is only slightly different.  This time the idea is introduced with “My thoughts” instead of  “These thoughts,” and no link is made overtly with the things around you.  The emphasis is now on the lack of reality of what you think you think.

This aspect of the correction process began with the idea that the thoughts of which you are aware are meaningless, outside rather than within; and then stressed their past rather than their present status.  Now we are emphasizing that the presence of these “thoughts” means that you are not thinking.  This is merely another way of repeating our earlier statement that your mind is really a blank.  To recognize this is to recognize nothingness when you think you see it.  As such, it is the prerequisite for vision.

Close your eyes for these exercises, and introduce them by repeating the idea for today quite slowly to yourself.  Then add:

This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.

The exercises consist, as before, in searching your mind for all the thoughts that are available to you, without selection or judgment.  Try to avoid classification of any kind.  In fact, if you find it helpful to do so, you might imagine that you are watching an oddly assorted procession going by, which as little if any personal meaning to you.  As each one crosses your mind, say:

My thought about _______________ does not mean anything.
My thought about _______________ does not mean anything.

Today’s thought can obviously serve for any thought that distresses you at any time.  In addition, five practice periods are recommended, each involving no more than a minute or so of mind searching.  It is not recommended that this time period be extended, and it should be reduced to half a minute or less if you experience discomfort.  Remember, however, to repeat the idea slowly before applying it specifically, and also to add:

This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to me reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, my online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 9 – I see nothing as it is now.

“It is difficult for the untrained mind to believe that what it seems to picture is not there.” ~Lesson 9

Eyesight is not True Sight – True Sight is the Holy Spirit’s Vision. The ego out-pictures an inward condition, imagining and believing it is separate from God, and eyesight testifies to what very much seems to be reality.

Intellect can comprehend this. But more important than intellectual comprehension is the recognition that we do not understand anything we see. With this recognition comes the possibility of undoing our false ideas, with Help.

Jesus empathizes with us, “It is difficult for the untrained mind to believe that what it seems to picture is not there.” That’s for sure 🙂

Then he encourages us to apply the practice because if we do, “Each small step will clear a little of the darkness away, and understanding will finally come to lighten every corner of the mind that has been cleared of the debris that darkens it.” Your mind becomes receptive to Messages from the Holy Spirit.

The words came to me years ago, when I did Lesson 9, and they are with me now, “I see only what is not there.”

As I do the practice and let my eyes wander near and then farther, noting that “I do not see this lamp as it is now. I do not see the liquid paper as it is now. I do not see that window sill as it is now” my heart beats knowingly with, “I am seeing only what is not there” and something within opens wide and sighs with relief!

The ego is projecting collective and personal hallucinations … but that is not, ultimately, what I AM. A work-in-progress, yes, as the psychological debris clears little by little and a line from Chapter 11 comes to mind:

“We are ready to look more closely at the ego’s thought system because together we have the lamp that will dispel it…”

Try for yourself 🙂

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Lesson 8 – My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

In Chapter 13 of A Course in Miracles, we are told, “Time seems to go in one direction, but when you reach its end it will roll up like a long carpet spread along the past behind you, and will disappear.”

The ego mind is fixated on an imaginary story based in the concept of time and space. The ACIM Workbook practice is undoing this fixation. As we look out towards the horizon, so to speak, instead of down at the ground, a vast new view reveals itself.

We accomplish this by mentally choosing Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, as our guide and teacher. It is greatly comforting to realize that we are not alone — Jesus, all of Christ Mind and the Holy Spirit are our holy companions.

Chapter 13 says, “As you perceive the holy companions who travel with you, you will realize that there is no journey, but only an awakening.”

Lesson 8 begins to train our mind to recognize when it is not thinking at all. What the ego calls “thinking” is actually blankness — virtual reality via the five senses.

Chapter 21 tells us, “The world you see is what you gave it, nothing more than that. … It is the witness to your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition.”

“My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts” makes more sense as I gain awareness that eyesight produces imaginary pictures and what I see is just an ego game of make-believe. Intellectual understanding is useful, but without practical application, we remain stuck in our heads.

Try the exercises for yourself and see what happens. And make sure to pay attention to how Jesus structures the sentences with the word “seem” — facilitates powerful shifts in perception.

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Lesson 7 – I see only the past.

In Lesson 7, Jesus explains that everything we believe is rooted in time and that the ego depends on us not learning new ideas about time.

He clarifies that all our associations regarding objects are based on past experience. We are not having a fresh, unbiased experience right now.

This holds true for our relationships with people and creatures, as well as all our thoughts. All our thoughts are simply a review of the past. Now hold onto your hat …

The future is also the past because the entire ego thought system is based on an idea that arose, bloomed and concluded in an unholy instant. We are actually fixated on a bygone idea. So when we interact with the external or internal world, we are reviewing a story which is over. You could also say we are watching and re-watching a mental movie which we could release in any given moment.

Jesus is giving us the opportunity to become aware of our ego obsession and showing us a way out. Hence, the workbook exercises.

Today, when I practiced Lesson 7, allowing my mind to view objects without assigning meaning, there was an experience of bouncing atoms and molecules, of pixelated light being the substratum of each object upon which my eyes alit. Along with this some precious moments of no-thinking and a sense of being the breath, ebbing and flowing independently of a body.

Try it yourself. Let me know how it goes.

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Lesson 6 – I am upset because I see something that is not there.

What I see is a deception. This idea that I am upset because I see something that is not there brings the realized master, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj to mind.

The yogi, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, followed his teacher’s instructions on pure faith. He simply trusted.

Nisargadatta said, “My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense ‘I am’ and to give attention to nothing else. I just obeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain with the sense ‘I am’. It may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked!”*

We can do the same with A Course in Miracles. Because it rings true to me, I am inclined to try everything it suggests. In the trying, comes an experience which reinforces the spark in me which recognizes what is True.

It once made no sense that, “There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.” But now it does. The first miracle principle in the Text tells us that “There is no order of difficulty in miracles.” From that we can extrapolate that there are no big or small upsets. When you find this comforting, rather than infuriating, you are on your way.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisargadatta_Maharaj

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Lesson 5 – I am never upset for the reason I think.

At first it surely seems like we have many problems, issues and challenges that result in an array of emotions that are justified, given the circumstances. It appears that real situations and people are causing your pain and fear.

For the Course in Miracles student, Lesson 5 is the ultimate confrontation. The exercise begins with specifics and ends with one generalization:

I am never upset for the reason I think.

To the ego, this is absurd and far-fetched. To the awakening Spirit within, it is an arising truth leading to liberation. Notice the reactions and responses within your body. Give all fear (any emotion that is not Love falls into the category of fear) to the Holy Spirit. Savor all uplifting experience — bring your attention to where it is located within the body … and perhaps the sensation will expand beyond the body showing you another perspective entirely.

Here’s a little ditty to reinforce the lesson: That’s Not the Reason Why

Enjoy 🙂

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Lesson 4 – These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see.

Arrange your body for optimal breathing. Lengthen up so your lungs and heart are free to function. Settle your butt into what you’re sitting on, and if you’re in a chair, meet the ground solidly with the soles of your feet, spreading them like peanut butter on a piece of warm bread. You are plugging yourself into a spiritual socket and tapping into the God-current.

Become aware of your thoughts. Let them roll by and notice what they are without becoming involved in them. Just for a minute or two.

Now — use Lesson 4: These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room, from this window, in this place.

Breathe … allow the meaningless to separate from the meaningful. The Course in Miracles mind training reveals to you, sooner or later, that underneath good thoughts (shadows) and bad thoughts (blockages) is Real Thought.

Some of us are very attuned to our bodies and feel every twitch and flutter. Some of us prefer to disregard bodily gurgles and pains and pressures. In order to become spiritually embodied, which may sound oxymoronic, but is actually crucial to recognizing you are not the body, breathing and muscle relaxation is key. Breathing and relaxing muscles unlock psychological barriers. All humans develop brilliant creative adjustments (defense mechanisms) beginning in early childhood and continue to accrue some more throughout adulthood when jarring and traumatic events occur.

Lesson 4 offers a shift in perception regarding thoughts. We learn that thoughts are internal objects. This can be a powerful, and perhaps disorienting, insight. Jesus tells us, “This is a major exercise…” Even though it is major, that doesn’t mean it has to be deadly serious. In my experience, a playful attitude is the easiest way to navigate our way through A Course in Miracles.

For those of you who are longterm ACIM practitioners: This morning I asked Jesus what a veteran Course in Miracles student, who has done the Workbook more than once, is to make of the following statements in Lesson 4: “When the lesson says it is ‘a first attempt’ and it is ‘…the beginning of training your mind’ and ‘You are too inexperienced…’ and ‘…these exercises are the first of their kind…’

The reply came, “Those statements do not dismiss the work you’ve done before. That past work has, seemingly, led to this moment.* Do not interpret anything I say as criticism or chastisement, but instead, become present to your current experience as if you are a patch of blue sky emerging from clouds.”

* Read Coming Apart at the Seems

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Lesson 3 – I do not understand anything I see.

I do not understand anything I see. I look around the room, as Lesson 3 instructs, at objects nearer and then farther away, and I marinate in the thought Jesus has offered me:

I do not understand anything I see.

The impulse to label objects with words abates. I go from, “I do not understand that hand, that bookcase, that tree” to “I do not understand …” Something like a telescopic zoom-out occurs where the entire world becomes a completed jigsaw puzzle. Then, arriving back in the body, my brain is seen as a object floating in a head.

How relieving to see without understanding. I am without responsibilities, worries and cares. I am experiencing without filters … breath is breath. Sight is sight. The mind is quiet.

As a person whose life has been devoted to understanding myself and others, it’s amusing to allow the possibility that I’ve never understood anything from a Higher Perspective.

How has this exercise from Lesson 3 been for you? Email me: [email protected]

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