Here there is nothing I want.
1. The world you see can offer you nothing that you need. I
²It holds nothing that you can use in any way.
³Nor anything at all that can bring you happiness. II
⁴Believe this idea and you will save yourself many years of suffering, countless disappointments, and hopes that turn into bitter ashes of despair.
⁵If you would leave this world behind and rise above its petty reach and meanness, you must understand that this is true.
2. Everything you value here is nothing but a chain that binds you to the world, and that is its only purpose.
²For everything serves the purpose you have given it, until you see in it another one.
³The only purpose in this world worthy of your mind is to let it pass, without wasting time in search of hope where there is none.
⁴Do not continue to deceive yourself.
⁵The world you see holds nothing that you want. III
3. Escape today from the chains with which you bind your mind when you believe salvation can be found here.
²For whatever you give value to, you make a part of you, as you perceive yourself.
³All the things you chase to reinforce the image you have of yourself limit you even more, obscure your true worth, and place another lock on the door that leads to true awareness of your Self.
4. Let nothing connected with the body delay your salvation.
²Nor let yourself be tempted by the belief that the world has something you desire.
³There is nothing here worth having.
⁴There is nothing here worth one instant of delay and pain, one moment of uncertainty and doubt.
⁵What is valueless offers nothing.
⁶Nothing truly valuable can be found in what has no value.
5. Our practice today is to give up every thought of value you have ever placed upon this world.
²We withdraw all functions we have assigned to its aspects, its features, and its dreams.
³We assign no purpose to the world in our mind, and we release it from everything we ever wanted it to be. IV
⁴And in this way, we break the chains that kept us bound to the world, and rise beyond its petty values and its miserable goals. V
6. Quiet your mind and be still for a moment, and see how you rise above the world as you release your mind from its chains.
²Let it seek by itself the higher planes where it finds its true home.
³Your mind will be grateful to be free for a little while.
⁴It knows where it belongs.
⁵You need only free its wings, and it will fly in confidence, in joy, and in trust, to join its holy purpose.
⁶Let it rest in its Creator, where it is restored to sanity, to freedom, and to love.
7. Give it ten minutes of rest today, three times.
²And when you open your eyes again, you will not value what you see in quite the same way as before.
³Your perspective on the world will shift a little every time you release your mind from its chains.
⁴It does not belong to the world.
⁵And you must be where it goes to rest, when you set it free from this world.
⁶Your Guide is infallible.
⁷Open your mind to Him.
⁸Be still and rest.
8. Guard your mind throughout the rest of the day as well. VI
²And whenever you think you see some value in an image or aspect of the world, refuse to lay that chain upon your mind, and say to yourself with quiet certainty:
³This will not tempt me to delay.
⁴Here there is nothing I want.
I Today’s Lesson is one of the most beautiful, one of the bitterest, one of the most difficult, one of the most joyous, and perhaps the most liberating.
Prepare your mind, then, and render it every honor.
II When you read these first three lines, it is essential that you understand that at the end of these sentences Jesus has not added “…truly,” because at this point He already assumes that you know what He is referring to.
The “you” to whom Jesus is speaking here is your true Self, the very One He knows and enjoys as His true identity—the Self that you are and with which you are already beginning to grow familiar.
You have probably begun to suspect that the “you” with which you have identified until now is nothing but a bundle of shifting fears and desires, orchestrated by the ego to prevent the dawning awareness of its own nonexistence.
That bouquet of cravings and fears certainly finds some of the proposals of this illusory world satisfactory. But, for God’s sake, realize that you are not that, and to think that the Son of God can be herded through darkness with a stick and a carrot is such a debased notion of your true identity that it is not even worth refuting.
The aim of this Course is to lift you out of so shameful a condition and lead you to the dignity that is yours by right.
III Now read carefully what Jesus wants to tell you, because if you do not, this Lesson will frighten you and you will end up depressed. Obviously, that is not its purpose, so listen attentively. This Lesson seems very harsh to you because, even though you have intellectually accepted that the world is an illusion, you have not yet accepted what that entails.
The world does not exist! The world is an illusion! The world is nothing but the projection of your own expectations. You project your desires outside yourself and see them there, in the imaginary space of your consciousness. You think you enjoy for a while what you longed for when you believe you have attained it, and then, suddenly or little by little, it ceases to interest you—or you think it betrays you. Then the illusion turns into disillusionment, bitterness, or tedium.
Jesus begs you, entreats you, and counsels you to follow His example. The path He walked filled His mind with light and His heart with love to a degree that is impossible to describe or imagine. He knows and lives His Self in perfect fullness. He is One with His Soul. And, knowing that you are exactly the same as He is, and that you now find yourself as lost as He once was, He only wants to counsel you so that you may walk safely along the same path that led Him to remember our Father. Nothing more than that—but nothing less, either.
Jesus does not ask you to clothe yourself in sackcloth, put ashes on your forehead, and walk through the world with downcast eyes so as not to fall into temptation. Do not even let that cross your mind, because it is foolishness. Jesus does not ask that of you. Jesus knows you well, for there was a time when He was just like you. And this, together with the fact that He succeeded in transcending the very limitations you now believe you have, is what authorizes Him to be your teacher. Had it not been so, He could not guide you.
Do you think Jesus did not love His parents and His brothers? Do you think He was not happy with His friends? Do you think He did not eat, did not drink, did not laugh? Can you imagine Him indifferent and impassive before a beautiful dawn, the fragrance of a flower, or a caress? Of course not!
The only difference from the rest of humanity is that there came a time when He stopped deceiving Himself with forms and effects. From then on, He saw only the one Cause of all that is good: the infinite Love of God present in everything that exists and underlying all that seems to exist. And then His joy in this world did not diminish one iota; rather, it multiplied infinitely. That is what He wants you to learn. That difference in interpretation may go unnoticed by an inattentive eye, but it imposes the vision of one world—or of a very different one.
Jesus wants you to know, to love, and to do—but at the level of causes, not of effects, which are nothing. He wants what is best for you, because He knows better than anyone that He can only be happy by making you happy. And if there is anything you can be certain of, in this life and the next, it is that Jesus knows perfectly what Happiness—with a capital H—means.
Now, look closely at how today’s thought begins: “The world I see…”
Do you see? This is about the world “you” see, not about what is actually there. The world itself is not bad, nor does it intend to deceive you. The problem is the interpretation you make of it.
That is why in 2:2 it says: “For everything serves the purpose you have given it, until you see in it another purpose.”
The problem is that you are confusing form with content.
The problem is that you are completely lost when managing what you perceive. You are interpreting the world wrongly.
IV By withdrawing your desires from worldly things, you stop demanding that the world give them to you, and now the world owes you nothing.
You free it from all your expectations, and thus, in offering the world release—and since giving and receiving are the same—you also receive release and free yourself from your own senseless desires.
The chains that imprisoned your holy mind have been loosed. Nothing holds you.
The heavy gravity that bound you to the earth no longer exerts any pull on you; now you are ethereal and free to ascend to infinitely higher heights.
V This is not a Course on behavior but on the interpretation of perception. This Course does not tell you what you have to do; it is a Course on Truth. What you do with what you perceive will be the inevitable conclusion of how you interpret.
People behave as they do for a simple reason: they believe that everything they see exists, that the forms they contemplate are real, and that they themselves are vulnerable bodies, granted a little time to enjoy a few crumbs of happiness until their inevitable end arrives. Given this interpretation of what they believe they perceive, it is understandable that they behave thus.
But Jesus teaches you that this is not the truth; reality is otherwise. The personal mind, at first, must believe Jesus if it hopes to advance along the path to salvation, because the fragmented and sick mind can do nothing but believe. Its devotion, its trust, and its faith will sustain it in the beginning, until its accomplishments and experience confirm the new and glorious expectation. Yet one need not be overly credulous to understand that Jesus is right. The proofs that His arguments are true are not long in coming; some, in fact, are instantaneous. Nevertheless, deep training and purification are required to reach indisputable experience.
Do not seek comfort in the things of the world, for there is none, as you are now seeing the things of this world. It is enough that you be a little honest with yourself for your past experience to confirm it. The investment the world demands for the little it gives is not worth it, and its gifts scarcely last a breath. The astonishing thing in all this is that it is still able to deceive you. Realize that this would not be possible if you yourself were not an active collaborator in the construction of the illusion. You see what you want to see. You perceive what you send your eyes to seek, and you deceive yourself, consumed by the force of your legitimate longings, which you misinterpret.
If you think this is a very lopsided Lesson, that it has shrunk your heart, you are right. But wait for tomorrow’s Lesson, which restores the balance. Today, simply acknowledge the plain truth: this world contains nothing you truly want.
When Jesus points out that all the things you deem important will end up causing you suffering, He is inviting you to review your value system deeply. Why do you deem those things important? Because you have attributed to them a value outside yourself, displacing the sense of importance that naturally belongs to your being.
Personal importance is the ego’s food. It consists in giving value and importance to the image you have of yourself—an image that, though false, becomes the source of all your attributions of value. Thus you transfer the sense of importance from one illusion—the idea you have of yourself—to other illusions: people, objects, situations.
Value itself is not the problem. What happens is that it is misplaced. Real value resides neither in the image you have of yourself nor in the things of the world to which you attribute importance. The only true value is your being, which shares the same nature as God and is existence itself.
It is not a matter of renouncing the world or the things of the world, as though there were something wrong with them. It is a matter of ceasing to grant them importance. It is not a renunciation of the use of things, but of elevating them to the rank of essential to your well-being.
A simple example is the care of the body. You can care for your body the way you care for a car: changing the oil, checking the brakes, keeping it operational. Not because it is important in itself, but because it serves a function. The body is a vehicle for communication, just as a car is a means of transport. It is not a matter of idolizing it or despising it, but of using it with detachment.
The body has a function in God’s plan: to facilitate the communication of love among brothers. That function is important. The body as an object is not. And when you attend to it for its function and not for its illusory importance, the emotional burden associated with its care or deterioration disappears.
Likewise, it is also essential to care for your mind. Not only your body needs attention. The mind as we live it here—a personal, fragmented mind—is also an instrument. And it requires purification, not as a heavy task, but as an act of love. Caring for your mind means being attentive not to sustain toxic thought patterns, not to perpetuate inner dynamics of attack, guilt, or fear.
Society devotes enormous resources to the care of the body, but very little attention to the care of the mind. However, in the context of A Course in Miracles, caring for the mind—purifying it and keeping it at the service of truth—is infinitely more essential. For it is through a clear, clean, and detached mind that love can extend.
Remember: it is not about neglecting anything, but about placing each thing in its proper place. Ceasing to grant value where there is none, and recognizing true value in your being.
VI Extremely important. Do not get distracted. Today—especially today—watch over and protect your holy mind with infinite care, attention, and tenderness. Your mind is extraordinarily sensitive and delicate. Everything affects it. Do not allow it to be poisoned with base desires or foolish passions. It cannot digest them, and it falls ill. Then it is indisposed and convalescent until it can regain strength and heal again. Do not allow it. A craving for the world’s forms does it great harm. Your mind was not created to feed on something so coarse. That is why you must watch it constantly, as you would an unconscious little animal you take out for a walk.
Today watch your holy mind with utmost care, and closely observe its true appetites. You will see it easily when you notice how it rejoices and rises in bliss when it is nourished by the beautiful flowers of love that grow everywhere—though they must be found. Notice also how it sniffs curiously and tends to pounce upon forms empty of all content, yet enticing, which will make it sick. Do not allow it. Care for it well. It is your vehicle to Heaven.
But do not misinterpret these words, for the mind in truth cannot fall ill. The only thing that “falls ill” is the idea you have of yourself—and that is precisely the instrument you are using for the redemption of that very idea.
One last observation. This is a Course in mind training, and you must understand that the very idea of “training” is tied to the notion of time. Training your mind is going to take some time—probably much more than you now think you need, although surely far less than it would take to discover truth by yourself through countless sufferings and disappointments. Therefore, arm yourself with patience and be gentle with yourself. Do not judge or condemn yourself. It is inevitable that you will still make many mistakes, that in some instances you will backslide, and that you will fall into old habits again.
For the love of God, let none of that stop you! Do not be discouraged or fall into despair. Handle your new mistakes “professionally,” and give them no importance, because in truth they have none. The only thing that matters is precisely that you not give them importance, for that is what true forgiveness is.
The egoic mind has a certain “elastic” nature, which makes it resist every change with reactions contrary to your new aims. Do not worry about it. Persevere, and finally, one day, without realizing it, you will notice that at last you have freed yourself from your old addictions. Your will and your prayer are invincible, for they are sustained by the Power and the Love of God.
With such Helps, failure is simply inconceivable. Your awakening is inevitable. Your faith and your efforts will shorten the process and spare you pain. So why delay?