I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.”
The idea for today contains the only way out of fear that will
succeed. Nothing else will work; everything else is meaningless. But
this way cannot fail. Every thought you have makes up some
segment of the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that we
must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed.
If the cause of the world you see is attack thoughts, you must
learn that it is these thoughts which you do not want. There is no
point in lamenting the world.There is no point in trying to change
the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. But
there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world.
Here you are changing the cause. The effects will change
automatically.
The world you see is a vengeful world, and everything in it is a
symbol of vengeance. Each of your perceptions of “external reality” is
a pictorial representation of your own attack thoughts. One can well
ask if this can be called seeing. Is not fantasy a better word for such a
process, and hallucination a more appropriate term for the result?
You see the world which you have made, but you do not see
yourself as the image-maker.You cannot be saved from the world, but
you can escape from its cause.This is what salvation means, for where
is the world you see when its cause is gone? Vision already holds a
replacement for everything you think you see now. Loveliness can
light your images, and so transform them that you will love them
even though they were made of hate. For you will not be making
them alone.
The idea for today introduces the thought that you are not
trapped in the world you see, because its cause can be changed.This
change requires, first, that the cause be identified and then let go, so
that it can be replaced.The first two steps in this process require your
cooperation. The final one does not.Your images have already been
replaced. By taking the first two steps, you will see that this is so.
Besides using it throughout the day as the need arises, five
practice periods are required in applying today’s idea. As you look
about you, repeat the idea slowly to yourself and then close your eyes
and devote about a minute to searching your mind for as many attack
thoughts as occur to you. As each one crosses your mind say:
“I can escape from the world by giving
up attack thoughts about _____.”
Hold each attack thought in mind as you say this, and then dismiss
that thought and go on to the next.
In the practice periods, be sure to include both your thoughts of
attacking and of being attacked. Their effects are exactly the same
because they are exactly the same.You do not yet recognize this and
you are asked at this time only to treat them as the same in today’s
practice periods. We are still at the stage of identifying the cause of
the world you see. When you finally realize that thoughts of attack
and of being attacked are not different, you will be ready to let the
cause go.
BRITNEY ADDED: Todays Course Lesson, reminds us that there is an answer to our perceived problems, that we are responsible for how we see the world, and it is our perception of the world that needs to be changed before the world can be changed.
Each of our perceptions of our "external reality" is a pictorial representation of our own attack thoughts. It is these images, that are projected onto our external reality. One can well ask if this can be called seeing. We are seeing behind a veil of fear. This is NOT seeing, but there IS a way to see.
We cannot be saved from the world, but we can escape from its CAUSE. This is what salvation means, for where is the world we see when the cause is gone? Vision already holds a replacement for everything we think we see now.
We can transform our perception, to vision, by applying todays Course lesson to our world first, and then as we close our eyes, and apply the thought to our many attack thoughts that appear in the mind. We are learning that to attack, and be attacked are the same thing.
We are NOT trapped in this world we see, for the cause can be changed. Thus today is the day we can become willing to change the cause in our mind, to free our Self and thus the world along with us.
Enjoy todays Course Lesson Beautiful Souls.
