Lesson 36

My holiness envelops everything I see. Your sight is related to His Holiness, not to your ego, and therefore not to your body.

Lesson 35

My mind is part of God's. I am very holy. By establishing your Source it establishes your Identity, and it describes you as you must really be in truth.

From Elena:
Our image in this world is that we are limited, fragmented separated, independent, and autonomous. The world’s nature, and all that it is, is the projection of that image. Everyone in this world is alone. That is why we need to have people to be with us, so we do not experience the pain and loneliness that inevitably comes with being part of this world living in a place outside Haven, our true Home.

This lesson is the principle of Atonement – although we think we have left God/Heaven, in truth the separation never happened. We are still part of God, and therefore very holy.

(For some reason, my mind objects to the idea of being “holy.” I find it very helpful to use “whole” instead of “holy”.)

In this lesson, we are urged again to be gentle to ourselves. Whenever we experience a sense of urgency or struggle or “get it right” we should recognize that this is our ego is coming from the back door and guiding us again. The Holy Spirit is always gentle.

“The Voice of the Holy Spirit does not command, because it is incapable o arrogance. It does not demand, because it does not seek control. It does not overcome, because it does not attack. It merely reminds. It is compelling only because of what it reminds you of. It brings to you mind the other way, remaining quiet even in the midst of the turmoil you may make. The Voice for God is always quiet, because it speaks of peace. “ (T-5.II. 7:1-8)

(Lesson 35 ACIM; K. Wapnick)

Lesson 34

I could see peace instead of this. Peace of mind is 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.

From Elena:


‎"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself than you have built against it. It is not necessery to seek for what is true, but it is necessary to seek for what is false {and peel it ...out}." (T-16.IV)

This exercise requires complete honesty with oneself. If you are not aware of any unloving thoughts (anger, hurt, anxiety, guilt, grievances, depression, sacrifice, and etc) the idea of seeing peace instead of them does not have any meaning. You have to get in touch with these thoughts in order to let go of them and to heal your mind. You don’t need to go too deep inside to find one of these monsters.

Lesson 33

There is another way of looking at the world. Recognize that you can shift your perception of the world in both its outer and inner aspects. Apply today's idea the instant you are aware of distress.

Lesson 32

I have invented the world I see. I have invented this situation as I see it. 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.

From Elena:

"The world you see depcts exactly what you thought you did. Except, that now you think that what you did is being done to you. The guilt for what you thought is being placed ouside yourself, and on a guilty world that dreams your dreams and thingks your thoughts instead of you. It brings its vengeance, not your own.... the world but demonstrates an ancient truth; you will believe that others do to you exactly what you think you did to them. But once deluded into blaming them you will not see the cause of what they do, because you want the guilt to rest on them "(t-27.VII.VIII).

In the world of separation, I project my errors (sin) onto you and declare you to be the sinning victimizer, not me. In this way I have my ego's cake and eat it too. (~ K. Wapnick)

Lesson 31

I'm not the victim of the world I see.

This is a declaration of independence from our ego, from the prison of our life of guilt, projection, and attack. Sign it today!

"Our deepest longing is for freedom. Our greatest attachement is to our imprisonment. We are divided against ourselves. We can't leave world that chains us, we can't leave those who become our hindrances in life, because they are also our attachments and in some ways nourishment to our pride. .... Freedom is all I want, but to hope for it, I feel ashamed." ` Osho.

Lesson 30

God is in everything I see because God is in my mind. Real vision does not depend on the body's eyes at all. The mind is its only source. Look within.

Lesson 29

God is in everything I see.

Lesson 28

Above all else I want to see things differently.
If I withdraw all of my own ideas from it, like a yoga pose! Philip says this all the time. "Let the pose be shown to you." If I can see one person, place, or thing without any past reference, I am really seeing for the first time. I am seeing my lesson. I can then forgive myself. In doing so, I simultaneously forgive whatever is in front of me, and we are both released.

From Elena:
If we want to acquire an open mind, we need to unlearn everything we believed to be good or bad: "To learn this course requires willingness to question every value that you hold. Not one can be kept hidden and obscure but it will jeopardize your learning." (T-24 in 2:1)

"If you think you understand, a wall suddenly drops before your mind and you will not be taught anything. You will think you are being taught, but what you will be learning is simply what your ego wanted you to learn in the first place. ..... we consciously believe we are asking for help, but all ware really doing is telling Jesus what we want him to tell us by defining our problem or framing our question. This invevitably dictates the answer we shall receive, thereby limiting him." `~ K. Wapnick

Lesson 27

Above all else I want to see. Vision has no cost to anyone. It can only bless.

Lesson 26

My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability. Attack thoughts make you vulnerable in your own mind. Attack thoughts and invulnerability contradict each other. Nothing except your thoughts can attack you.

Nothing real can be threatened.

Nothing unreal exists.

Herein lies the peace of God.

Lesson 25

I do not know what anything is for.

Lesson 24

In no situation that arises do you realize the outcome that would make your happy. Therefore, you have no guide to appropriate action, and no way of judging the result. What you do is determined by your perception of the situation and that perception is wrong. It is inevitable, then, that you will not serve your own best interestes. Yet they are your only goal in any istuations which is correctly perceived. Otherwise, you will not recongize them (Lesson 24).

Does your ego feel insultated when you read this lines? Mine does because "I know better than anyone else " what is good for me.

"Resign now as your own teacher.. you were badly taught" (T-12.V. 8:3; T-28-28.1.7:1).

Lesson 23

"I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts about any person, place, thing, or situation."

You are not trapped in the world you see, because its cause can be changed. In your practice sessions, include both your thoughts of attacking and being attacked. They are exactly the same. When you realize that thoughts of attack and of being attacked are no different, you will be ready to let the cause go.

Lesson 22

What you see is a form of vengeance. Projecting anger onto the world, you see vengeance about to strike at you. Your own attack is perceived as self defense. A vicious cycle ensues. What peace of mind is possible to you then? This is what you want to escape from. You made what you would destroy; everything you hate and would attack and kill. All that you fear does not exist. Rejoice in this. What you see is not real, but a form of vengeance. Is this the world you really want to see?

Lesson 21

I am determined to see things differently.

Elena's note:
Today's lesson specifically focuses on anger. It teaches us that we don't recognize what arouses anger in us and that nothing we believe in this connection means anything. The only reason we are angry is that we want to project our responsibility for separation from God's love and our guilt onto others. The course says:

“Anger always involves projection of separation, which must ultimately be accepted as one's own responsibility, rather than being blamed on others (T-6)"

I love how Osho describes anger. "Anger is just a mental vomit. Something is wrong with what you have taken in and your whole psychic being wants to throw it out. But there is no need to throw it onto somebody. Anger just means that something is inside you that needs to be released. You can go to your bathroom and make faces... you can take a pillow and beat it... A pillow is enlightened, Buddha! It will not react. ... Within 5 minutes of catharsis you will feel unburdened. Once you know this you will never throw your anger onto anybody, because that is absolutely foolish?

P.S. How are your lessons going?

Lesson 20: I'm determined to see

You decision to see is all that vision requires! It is so simple that it eludes us all the time.

Being aware is how much we don’t want to give up being right about our perceptions of everything outside and more importantly inside (perception of ourselves as guilty sinful little bastards) is a huge step toward salvation. By the way, salvation is very simple it is being free of our guilt!

Today’s lesson should be repeated every 30 minutes. The remaining 345 lessons will be done every hour or so. There are different approaches to doing lessons every hour or every 30 minutes. You can get a wrist watch and set an alarm to remind you about your lessons. However, in that case you may be substituting form for the substance (i.e., you are striving to do your lessons perfectly in order to be “a good student”. It maybe better to do your lessons imperfectly throughout the day and at the end of day reflect on what was more important than remembering God/Divine/Universal Wisdom and, of course, forgive yourself for being “imperfect”. After all, time is an illusion as well.

Lesson 19

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts or the effects of this thought I have about the world. Cause and effect are never separate. The fact that minds are joined, there are no private thoughts. This must be true if salvation is at all possible. Salvation must be possible because it is the Will of God.

Lesson 18

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
I am not alone in experiencing the effects of how I see the world.

Minds are joined. It's not what I see, but how I see it.

Lession 18: I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing

Everything we see in our physical world is a projection of one thought of separation. Our Minds are joined because there is one mind of Christ which is One with God’s Mind. Before our minds were split into small fragments, there was one error of thought -- “a tiny mad idea” that became a serious thought. So, split/fragmented minds are joined too.

(Note the Course refers to “Mind” when it talks about Mind that is One with God/Christ and "mind" when it talks about separated minds.)

“You who believe that God is fear made but one substitution. It has taken many forms, because it was the substitution of illusion for truth; of fragmentation for wholeness. It has become so splintered and subdivided and divided again, over and over, that is now almost impossible to perceive it once was one and still is what it was. That one error, which brought truth to illusion, infinity to time and life to death, was all you ever made. Your whole world rests upon it. Everything you see reflects it, and every special relationship that you have ever made is part of it.” (T-18.I.4-5)

(ACIM; K. Wapnick)