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

Jan 18 (edited) in Feed

🧩 MINDS ARE JOINED... EVEN SPLIT ONES!

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🌟 Without giving a lot of explanation, Jesus introduces here a core theme of A Course in Miracles with the idea that minds are joined. Indeed, the Oneness of the Son of God is unaffected by his temporary amnesia of the truth, meaning that minds are joined even in their split state.

📘 "The idea for today is another step in learning that the thoughts which give rise to what you see are never neutral or unimportant. ²It also emphasizes the idea that minds are joined, which will be given increasing stress later on." (ACIM, W-18.1:1-2)

🌟 This lesson is a continuation of what we have built upon for the last two lessons. Two days ago, the lesson's title could have been "I have no neutral thoughts... because I am a powerful creator." We are indeed bound to create by default, and we really have no say in the matter. Whether it will be lovely or not is the only choice we have, and this choice will always produce effects to the likeness of its cause:

🌟 Projection makes perception.

🌟 And we are broadcasting our thoughts all the time.

🌟 They are the building blocks of what we call our reality. The kind of material (loving or unloving thoughts) we choose to build our castle with determines not only how we feel, but also how others feel around us. And that is the reason why "I am not alone in experiencing the effect of my seeing."

🌟 This can become a huge problem when we are mindlessly broadcasting our fearful thoughts. No matter how unconsciously or unintentionally, we are responsible for what we are broadcasting and affected by it just as our entourage is. This is why mind training is so important. By growing aware of how things work, we can become conscious creators and make this dream of ours more luminous, not only for us but for others too, because as we've already highlighted, minds are joined. Just as the multiplicity of perceived things is a reflection of the single thought of separation that gave birth to the world, the multiplicity of people all have their source in the single thought that wanted to experience itself as separate. But this division is illusory and has no power to change the reality that Spirit is One. Minds are joined in the Son of God, even when we choose to believe ourselves separated. In bliss or misery, in healing or insanity, the Sonship is One.

🧩 A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION

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🌟 Because what we see are only images that we have made in an illusory world, the emphasis is not so much on what we see but on how we interpret it. That's why the lesson's title refers to "my seeing" and not what we see. Here's a little extract from Kenneth's comment that will give us a clue about our motivation to keep seeing things the way we do instead of looking at them with Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

🔎 “(...) perception is not only what we see, but how we see it, There is no distinction between the two. We make a distinction for teaching purposes, but it is arbitrary because the interpretation is what gives rise to what we see. The ego’s interpretation is that I want to see a separated, hostile, vengeful world so I do not have to see these attributes in myself. In other words, the fact that my need to see a certain way determines what I see is why we can say that what we see and how we see it are one and the same." Excerpt from Journey through the Workbook of "A Course in Miracles", Kenneth Wapnick, Vol. 1, p 58.

🌟 And that's why we are so determined to maintain our status quo, to forget our lessons or stop doing them at all. From the ego's perspective, we have everything to lose: our identity and the world where we are conveniently projecting our fear, shame, and guilt upon others so as not to see it in ourselves. By teaching us that our seeing holds a tremendous influence not only on us but on others too, Jesus attempts to awaken the noble part of our heart that cares about others. We are Love. And Love will save us All because we are One.

🧩 ITEMS OF ATTENTION:

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🎯 Eyes open exercise.
🎯 Once again, we are invited to move from our specific perceptions to the non-specific content of truth that we are one mind.

💙🕸️🕷️ With Great Power Comes Great Responsibilities 🕸️🕷️💙

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* My comment on this lesson follows my studying of the in-depth comment of the same lesson by Kenneth Wapnick in his published work, Journey through the Workbook of "A Course in Miracles". While it may sometimes contain my thoughts on it, it is essentially my humble take and summary of the masterful work of Kenneth. I share them here in the hope that someone might find them helpful.

** I also share, in these ACIM posts, the wallpaper images that I use on my phone and change every day to help me commit to my lesson, in the hope that some might enjoy them as well. Here is the link to a Dropbox folder where you can download the lessons's wallpaper for mobile I have uploaded so far.

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