Lesson 36 – My holiness envelops everything I see.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Yesterday’s lesson focused on the perceiver (us from the inside out).  Today we’re focusing on the perceived: what we seem to see.  If we are part of God’s mind, we are infused with His Light.  When we look with the Holy Spirit, all is illuminated with His Light, which is a loving beacon showing us the way back to God.

Let’s go:
My holiness envelops this keyboard. (See it glow!)
 My holiness envelops these fingers (Shine on!)
My holiness envelops this window (Sparkle, twinkle!)
My holiness envelops everything I see … because “I” am within Holiness!

If you do the practice, you are Guided, whether it’s obvious to you or not.

LESSON 36

My holiness envelops everything I see.

Today’s idea extends the idea for yesterday from the perceiver to the perceived.  You are holy because your mind is part of God’s.  And because you are holy, your sight must be holy as well.  “Sinless” means without sin.  You cannot be without sin a little.  You are sinless or not.  If your mind is part of God’s you must be sinless, or a part of His Mind would be sinful.  Your sight is related to His Holiness, not to your ego, and therefore not to your body.

Four three-to-five minute practice periods are required for today.  Try to distribute them fairly evenly, and make the shorter applications frequently, to protect your protection throughout the day.  The longer practice periods should take this form:
First, close your eyes and repeat the idea for today several times, slowly.  Then open your eyes and look quite slowly about you, applying the idea specifically to whatever you note in your casual survey.  Say, for example:

My holiness envelops that rug.
My holiness envelops that wall.
My holiness envelops these fingers.
My holiness envelops that chair.
My holiness envelops that body.
My holiness envelops this pen.

Several times during these practice periods, close your eyes and repeat the idea to yourself.  Then open your eyes, and continue as before.

For the shorter periods, close your eyes and repeat the idea; look about you as you repeat it again; and conclude with one more repetition with your eyes closed.  All applications should, of course, be made quite slowly, as effortlessly and unhurriedly as possible.

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

Lesson 35 – My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Having been immersed in the Course for almost 20 years, and having done the Workbook practice more than once, this lesson is fully welcomed and experienced as an ice cube melting in warm water (as beloved Mooji puts it).  The person called “Amy” is no longer important.  She handed the key to the perception mechanism over to the Holy Spirit long ago.

Today’s emphasis is on the perceiver and not on what is perceived. Depending on who you think you are, you identify as a differentiating perceiver or a Unifying perceiver.  This is all that matters.  What is perceived is determined by this one, simple decision: ego-driven perception or Holy Spirit-guided perception.

The ego tells us, “My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy.” is an arrogant, inflated statement — and that it is untrue.  Jesus tells us the same statement is natural, and a humble acceptance of what is simply so.

These early lessons work with seeing and thinking.  We are asked to examine what seeing and thinking are.  Today we are told that we want to protect the image we have made, the image of the world and ourselves as bodies.  We again are faced with, “Images cannot see.”

The repercussions of this idea are so bright they blind the ego’s eye.  We are being told that whatever it is we do with our eyes is not true seeing.

The text tells us in Chapter 11, Section VI. Waking to Redemption, “That is what I meant when I said, ‘Blessed are ye who have not seen and still believe,’ for those who believe in the resurrection will see it. The resurrection is the complete triumph of Christ over the ego, not by attack but by transcendence. For Christ does rise above the ego and all its works, and ascends to the Father and His Kingdom.”

The lesson describes what vision will show us–how we will see once we plug back in to our Creator.  Our viewpoint changes, and we start to see that any way we see ourselves, good or bad, witnesses to the idea that there is something other than God to “see.”

This is not to scare us, bum us out, or batter our self-esteem.  It is to clarify that we are not human and whatever humans perceive is a reminder to remember (lol) that “My mind is part of God’s.  I am very holy.”

Holy in the sense of Whole, undifferentiated from my Source which is Oneness Itself.

We are given very specific instructions to observe our ego thought process.  This lesson presents a beautiful deconstruction of personality.  And we are told not to strain or dig to fulfill the exercise, but simply to relax and allow ideas to occur to us.  This is a perfect example of how “I need do nothing except not to interfere” (T-16.I) is the most direct route to receiving Guidance.

A little further along in Chapter 11, VI, Jesus says, “Learning of Christ is easy, for to perceive with Him involves no strain at all. His perceptions are your natural awareness, and it is only the distortions you introduce that tire you.  Let the Christ in you interpret for you, and do not try to limit what you see by narrow little beliefs that are unworthy of God’s Son. For until Christ comes into His Own, the Son of God will see himself as Fatherless.”* [emphasis mine]

* You may also enjoy reading, “Who Is My Father?”

LESSON 35

My mind is part of God’s.  I am very holy.

Today’s idea does not describe the way you see yourself now.  It does, however, describe what vision will show you.  It is difficult for anyone who thinks he is in this world to believe this of himself.  Yet the reason he thinks he is in  this world is because he does not believe it.

You will believe that you are part of where you think you are.  That is because you surround yourself with the environment you want.  And you want it to protect the image of yourself that you have made.  The image is part of this environment.  What you see while you believe you are in it is seen through the eyes of the image.  This is not vision.  Images cannot see.

The idea for today presents a very different view of yourself.  By establishing your Source it establishes your identity, and it describes you as you must really be in truth.  We will use a somewhat different kind of application for today’s idea because the emphasis for today is on the perceiver, rather than on what he perceives.

For each of the three five-minute practice periods today, begin by repeating today’s idea to yourself, and then close your eyes and search your mind for the various kinds of descriptive terms in which you see yourself.  Include all the ego-based attributes which you ascribe to yourself, positive or negative, desirable or undesirable, grandiose or debased.  All of them are equally unreal, because you do not look upon yourself through the eyes of holiness.

In the earlier part of the mind-searching period, you will probably emphasize what you consider to be the more negative aspects of your perception of yourself.  Toward the latter part of the exercise period, however, more self-inflating descriptive terms may well cross your mind.  Try to recognize that the direction of the fantasies about yourself does not matter.  Illusions have no direction in reality.  They are merely not true.

A suitable unselected list for applying the idea for today might be as follows:

I see myself as imposed on.
I see myself as depressed.
I see myself as failing.
I see myself as endangered.
I see myself as helpless.
I see myself as victorious.
I see myself as losing out.
I see myself as charitable.
I see myself as virtuous.

You should not think of these terms in an abstract way.  They will occur to you as various situations, personalities and events in which you figure cross your mind.  Pick up any specific situation that occurs to you, identify the descriptive term or terms you feel are applicable to your reactions to that situation, and use them in applying today’s idea.  After you have named each one, add:

But my mind is part of God’s.  I am very holy.

During the longer exercise periods, there will probably be intervals in which nothing specific occurs to you.  Do not strain to think up specific things to fill the interval, but merely relax and repeat today’s idea slowly until something occurs to you.  Although nothing that does occur should be omitted from the exercises, nothing should be “dug out” with effort.  Neither force nor discrimination should be used.

As often as possible during the day, pick up a specific attribute or attributes you are ascribing to yourself at the time and apply the idea for today to them, adding the idea in the form stated above to each of them.  If nothing particular occurs to you, merely repeat the idea to yourself, with closed eyes.

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

Lesson 34 – I could see peace instead of this.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

It is from our peace of mind that a peaceful perception of the world arises.

This is a first taste of true perception–using what the ego made for the Holy Spirit’s purpose of Love.

Lesson 34 works with our fear thoughts, anxiety, depression, “offending” personalities, events, or situations, and has us become more aware of what they are … and then replace them with peace of mind.

Willingness: I could see peace instead of this.

Practice:  I could see peace instead of this.

Results:  A great spreading through the upper-back of my head … a relaxing of my breath, neck and shoulders … a sense of internal spaciousness … a letting go of fixing situations … a giggle of relief, a trusting in God, in the Holy Spirit as Comforter …

I could see peace instead of this … instead of what?  For a moment, nothing but peace, a vast spreading … no words …

LESSON 34

I could see peace instead of this.

The idea for today begins to describe the conditions that prevail in the other way of seeing.  Peace of mind is clearly an internal matter.  It must begin with your own thoughts, and then extend outward.  It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful perception of the world arises.

Three longer practice periods are required for today’s exercises.  One in the morning and one in the evening are advised, with an additional one to be undertaken at any time in between that seems most conducive to readiness.  All applications should be done with your eyes closed.  It is your inner world to which the applications of today’s idea should be made.

Some five minutes of mind searching are required for each of the longer practice periods.  Search your mind for fear thoughts, anxiety-provoking situations, “offending” personalities or events, or anything else about which you are harboring unloving thoughts.  Note them all casually, repeating the idea for today slowly as you watch them arise in your mind, and let each one go, to be replaced by the next.

If you begin to experience difficulty in thinking of specific subjects, continue to repeat the idea to yourself in an unhurried manner, without applying it to anything in particular.  Be sure, however, not to make any specific exclusions.

The shorter applications are to be frequent, and made whenever you feel your peace of mind is threatened in any way.  The purpose is to protect yourself from temptation throughout the day.  If a specific form of temptation arises in your awareness, the exercise should take this form:

I could see peace in this situation instead of what I now see in it.

If the inroads on your peace of mind take the form of more generalized adverse emotions, such as depression, anxiety or worry, use the idea in its original form.  If you find you need more than one application of today’s idea to help you change your mind in any specific context, try to take several minutes and devote them to repeating the idea until you feel some sense of relief.  It will help you if you tell yourself specifically:

I can replace my feelings of depression, anxiety or worry [or my thoughts about this situation, personality or event] with peace.

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

Lesson 33 – There is another way of looking at the world.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

There is another way of looking at the world.  There is another way of looking at my outer world.  There is another way of looking at my inner world.  Inside out.  Upside down.  Reversed.  Unraveled.

What are words?  A bunch of letters woven together into meanings.  What are images?   Pictures of thoughts.  Words and pictures express thoughts.  What are thoughts?  Ideas and interpretations.  Ideas about what?  Life.  Interpretations of what?  No things.

The ego has spun an imaginary web of no things and made them seem like some things.  Allowing another way of looking at the world goes far beyond new ideas about planet earth and the cosmos.  It releases all attachment, completely.  Mind is still.  Peace and freedom abide harmoniously and expansively.  Happy sigh.

LESSON 33

There is another way of looking at the world.

Today’s idea  is an attempt to recognize that you can shift your perception of the world in both its outer and inner aspects.  A full five minutes should be devoted to the morning and evening applications.  In these practice periods, the idea should be repeated as often as you find comfortable, though unhurried applications are essential.  Alternate between surveying your outer and inner perceptions, but without an abrupt sense of shifting.

Merely glance casually around the world you perceive as outside yourself, then close your eyes and survey your inner thoughts with equal casualness.  Try to remain equally uninvolved in both, and to maintain this detachment as you repeat the idea throughout the day.  The shorter exercise periods should be as frequent as possible.  Specific applications of today’s idea should also be made immediately, when any situation arises which tempts you to become disturbed.  For these applications, say:

There is another way of looking at this.

Remember to apply today’s idea the instant you are aware of distress.  It may be necessary to take a minute or so to sit quietly and repeat the idea to yourself several times.  Closing your eyes will probably help in this form of application.

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

Lesson 32 – I have invented the world I see.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Jesus says that I am the inventor of the world I see.  He is not speaking to me, Amy.  Amy is just a fragment of the one ego mind.  Ego does not listen to what Jesus has to say.  Ego sticks its fingers in its ears and says, “I don’t hear you!  I don’t hear you!”

Jesus is addressing all of us as One Brother, that is, Christ-consciousness, the Sonship, God’s Creation.  Jesus is explaining that ego is an image-maker.

The outer world is a visual-figment of “my” imagination.  The inner world is a thought-figment of “my” imagination.  Who does this “my” belong to?  The one ego mind.  Who does the one ego mind belong to?  Christ-consciousness.  Who does Christ-consciousness belong to?  God.

The ego is a mad scientist mixing concoctions of guilt, fear and death; of past and future; of images and form.  Ego causes separation and the effect is separation.  God causes Love and the effect is Love.  Cause and effect are the same, but the ego makes them seem different.

Jesus tells us to apply the idea for today to any situation that may distress, such as, “I have invented this upset stomach as I see it.  I have invented these despotic murders throughout the world as I see them.  I have invented my longing to rescue that stray dog as I see it.”   As I practice, something zooms out and I see that there is no stomach to hurt, there is no political tragedy, and there is no dog to stray.  Light shines forms away …

It becomes clear that there is a sense of “me” drawing pictures that “I” get sucked into and forget were drawn by “me.”  All pain melts away and is replaced by pure faith.

Then come the oscillations between pure faith and the heavy ego-gravity pull of compulsively reviewing the past and projecting into the future … the vise of ego identity insisting on its own existence although there is nothing between its jaws.

This is only to be expected as sleep melts away and the spiritual eye of the Soul blinks open.  Do not be concerned with the final turns of the ceiling fan after the power has been cut off.

LESSON 32

I have invented the world I see.

Today we are continuing to develop the theme of cause and effect.  You are not the victim of the world you see because you invented it.  You can give it up as easily as you made it up.  You will see it or not see it, as you wish.  While you want it you will see it; when you no longer want it, it will not be there for you to see.

The idea for today, like the preceding ones, applies to your inner and outer worlds, which are actually the same.  However, since you see them as different, the practice periods for today will again include two phases, one involving the world you see outside you, and the other the world you see in your mind.  In today’s exercises, try to introduce the thought that both are in your own imagination.

Again we will begin the practice periods for the morning and evening by repeating the idea for today two or three times while looking around at the world you see as outside yourself.  Then close your eyes and look around your inner world.  Try to treat them both as equally as possible.   Repeat the idea for today unhurriedly as often as you wish, as you watch the images your imagination presents to your awareness.

For the two longer practice periods three to five minutes are recommended, with not less than three required.  More than five can be utilized, if you find the exercise restful.  To facilitate this, select a time when few distractions are anticipated, and when you yourself feel reasonably ready.

These exercises are also to be continued during the day, as often as possible.  The shorter applications consist of repeating the idea slowly, as you  survey either your inner or outer world.  It does not matter which you choose.

The idea for today should also be applied immediately to any situation that may distress you.  Apply the idea by telling yourself:

I have invented this situation as I see it.

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

Lesson 31 – I am not the victim of the world I see.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Detachment.  Neutral observation.  These qualities will allow us to separate from the ego thought system rather than separating from God.

We are advised to “let the stream [of thought] move on evenly and calmly, without any special investment on your part.”  This is the mind training: watching our thoughts as if they are figures on a ticker tape; figures in which, contrary to ego thinking, we now have no investment.

We are beginning to recognize that the world we picture is the results of the thoughts we think.  “You will escape from both together, for the inner is the cause of the outer.”  As we learn this we “are making a declaration of independence in the name of your own freedom.  And in your freedom lies the freedom of the world.” 

As we rewind our thoughts and discover everything is really and truly happening in the mind, we become free of feeling that we can be the victim of anything that happens in the world.  Our freedom frees everyone because there is only one mind to change and then the whole illusion unravels.

“The idea for today is also a particularly useful one to use as a response to any form of temptation that may arise.  It is a declaration that you will not yield to it, and put yourself in bondage.”  Hmmmm.  Well, that’s gonna take some more practice. 

LESSON 31

I am not the victim of the world I see.

Today’s idea is the introduction to your declaration of release.  Again, the idea should be applied to both the world you see without and the world you see within.  In applying the idea, we will use a form of practice which will be used more and more, with changes as indicated.  Generally speaking, the form includes two aspects, one in which you apply the idea on a more sustained basis, and the other consisting of frequent applications of the idea throughout the day.

Two longer periods of practice with the idea for today are needed, one in the morning and one at night.  Three to five minutes for each of these are recommended.  During that time, look about you slowly while repeating the idea two or three times.  Then close your eyes, and apply the same idea to your inner world.  You will escape from both together, for the inner is the cause of the outer.

As you survey your inner world, merely let whatever thoughts cross your mind come into your awareness, each to be considered for a moment, and then replaced by the next.  Try not to establish any kind of hierarchy among them.  Watch them come and go as dispassionately as possible.  Do not dwell on any one in particular, but try to let the stream move on evenly and calmly, without any special investment on your part.  As you sit and quietly watch your thoughts, repeat today’s idea to yourself as often as you care to, but with no sense of hurry.

In addition, repeat the idea for today as often as possible during the day.  Remind yourself that you are making a declaration of independence in the name of your own freedom.  And in your freedom lies the freedom of the world.

The idea for today is also a particularly useful one to use as a response to any form of temptation that may arise.  It is a declaration that you will not yield to it, and put yourself in bondage.

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

Lesson 30 – God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Real vision is unlimited by space and time.  Real vision does not depend on the body’s eyes at all.  Real vision comes from “within,” that is, from God’s mind.  Today we use “projection” as a way of seeing the All in all.  

God is in everything I see … because God is in my mind.  God is in my mind, and so everything I see is infused with God.

If God is Light, then Light is shining through my mind, and illuminating all that I see.

Darkness cannot exist in Light.  Who am I?  That Light which is Shining.

LESSON 30

God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

The idea for today is the springboard for vision.   From this idea will the world open up before you, and you will look upon it and see in it what you have never seen before.  Nor will what you saw before be even faintly visible to you.

Today we are trying to use a new kind of “projection.”  We are not attempting to get rid of what we do not like by seeing it outside.  Instead, we are trying to see in the world what is in our minds, and what we want to recognize is there.  Thus, we are trying to join with what we see, rather than keeping it apart from us.  That is the fundamental difference between vision and the way you see.

Today’s idea should be applied as often as possible throughout the day.  Whenever you have a moment or so, repeat it to yourself slowly, looking about you, and trying to realize that the idea applies to everything you do see now, or could see now if it were within the range of your sight.

Real vision is not limited to concepts such as “near” or “far.”  To help you begin to get used to this idea, try to think of things beyond your present range as well as those you can actually see, as you apply today’s idea.

Real vision is not only unlimited by space and distance, but it does not depend on the body’s eyes at all.   The mind is its only source.  To aid in helping you to become more accustomed to this idea as well, devote several practice periods to applying today’s idea with your eyes closed, using whatever subjects come to mind, and looking within rather than without.  Today’s idea applies equally to both.

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

Lesson 29 – God is in everything I see.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

God is in everything we see because we are within God’s Mind.   Seen correctly, every “thing” is not a thing at all, but an extension of One Formless Source.

Therefore, God is in this…and God is in this…

God is in everything I see … because I am within God’s Mind.

Pantheism regards the universe as a manifestation of God; pantheism is a doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws of the universe.*  Today’s lesson is not saying that God created the physical universe.  It is saying that what the ego mis-created can be used for God’s Loving Purpose which will help us see differently.  The word “universe” is used to mean different things depending on its context in ACIM.  In W-29, universe is used to mean Oneness.

Lesson 29 could also be titled, “The Whole Basis for Vision.”  The alternate title I proposed for yesterday’s lesson was, “The Purpose of the Universe.”  When we want to see things differently, the purpose of the universe is revealed: to see with God’s Unified Vision, not with the ego’s divisive dream-mind.

Your Inner Teacher, the Holy Spirit, provides a Vision bridge for you to cross.

The manifestation of the Holy Spirit, Jesus, holds out his hand for you to help you cross that golden bridge.

Since we are equals with Jesus, we are also manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

Cross the bridge and find out for yourself.

LESSON 29

God is in everything I see.

The idea for today explains why you can see all purpose in everything.  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.

You 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.

Try 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.

Our 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.

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

God is in this coat hanger.
God is in this magazine.
God is in this finger.
God is in this lamp.
God is in that body.
God is in that door.
God is in that waste basket.

In 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.

*  Source of definition:  Merriam-Webster.com/dictionary and Google dictionary

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.