My thoughts are images which I have made.I
1. Because the thoughts you believe you think appear as images, you do not recognize them as nothing.
²You believe you think them, and so you believe you see them.
³This is how your “seeing” was made.
⁴This is the function you have given to the eyes of your body.
⁵This is not vision.
⁶It is image-making.
⁷And it is what has taken the place of Vision, replacing it with illusions.
2. This introductory idea about the process of image-making, which you call seeing, is likely to hold little meaning for you at the moment.
²You will begin to understand it when you have seen little edges of light around the same familiar objects you see now.II
³That is the beginning of true Vision.
⁴You can be certain that true Vision will soon come when this occurs.
3. As you proceed, you may experience many “light episodes.”III
²These may take many different forms, some of them quite unexpected.
³Do not be afraid of them.
⁴They are signs that you are finally opening your eyes.
⁵They will not last, because they merely symbolize true perception and are not related to Knowledge.
⁶These exercises will not reveal Knowledge to you.
⁷But they will prepare the way that leads to It.IV
4. In practicing today’s idea, repeat it silently at first, and then apply it to anything you see around you, using its name as you look at it and saying:
²This ____ is an image I have made.
³That ____ is an image I have made.
⁴It is not necessary to include a large number of specific objects in each practice period.
⁵However, it is important to look at each one of them slowly as you repeat the idea inwardly.
⁶The idea should be repeated very slowly each time.
⁷Although you will not be able to apply the idea to many things within the recommended one-minute practice period, try to make the selection as random as possible.
5. If you begin to feel uneasy, the exercise should be discontinued before the full minute.
²Do not repeat the idea more than three times today unless you feel perfectly comfortable doing so, and do not exceed four practice periods.
³However, it may be used throughout the day as needed.V
I Taking responsibility for the meaning you yourself have assigned to all things is what this lesson’s practice invites you to do. Most of the time, those meanings are ones you learned from others through the process the world calls “education.” Yet in every case the meaning will always be profoundly personal. An object will never be exactly the same for one person as for another. The proof lies in the specific “emotional resonance” that the things of the world have for each individual.
Perhaps with this practice you will also begin to understand that every experience of which you are aware is, in essence, a mental process. The things you look at, the objects you perceive, and the places where you believe you find yourself are, in fact, ideas in your mind and possess neither meaning nor existence of their own. Without the mind, there is no world; but the mind does not need the world in order to exist. What you call “world” is nothing but an idea in your mind, configured out of a set of shadings, contrasts, and considerations. The world does not exist, yet it is enough for your mind to hold a belief that it exists for you to perceive it as something real and external to you. Still, that is only your opinion—and a mistaken one.
It is not only an error to believe in the existence of a world outside you; your idea of yourself is also completely false. In fact, the world is nothing but a reflection of that other fundamental error.
Your mind cannot hold two contradictory ideas at the same time. As long as you keep clinging enthusiastically to your old beliefs, the truth cannot manifest in your mind. For this reason, Part I of the Workbook is devoted to undoing your mistaken way of perceiving reality. Without this step, it would be impossible for you to open your eyes and leave behind the dream of separation that today seems so convincing.
II These “edges of light” are halos that can be seen around objects. They are borders of light that make objects stand out from their surroundings. This experience is deeply related to your internal dialogue and occurs when you look at something and stop that incessant dialogue you keep with yourself; it happens in the absence of ego, in the absence of “interpretation.” The “glow” you observe fluctuates according to the stress generated by that mental condition of suppressing the ego. Remember that the ego is grasping and will try to appropriate this experience in order to interpret it; however, it is not for that. For now, all you need to know is that these perceptions come from a state of mental silence.
III Ken Wapnick explains that this reference to “episodes of light” and the warning not to fear them was included by Jesus to ease the anxiety of Cal Hatcher, a colleague of Bill and Helen (Absence from Felicity, p. 304). According to Ken, before the Course began to be written down, Cal spoke with Bill about the episodes of light he had been experiencing and that terrified him. At the start of the dictation, Bill told Cal about the Course, and Cal showed immediate interest. As a result, they often met in Bill’s office early in the morning to go over the latest notes.
It is possible that these “episodes of light” also refer to the perception of “auras” and “chakras,” concepts common in India’s culture, or even to the way sorcerers describe human beings as “eggs of light,” as Carlos Castaneda recounts in his works. In any case, this should be neither a concern nor a requirement for the student of this Course. The student’s sole mission is to attain peace, extend it, and save the world in their mind through forgiveness and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, every perceptual experience is illusory and constitutes only a symbolic way of expressing—or translating into sensory terms—“true vision.”
IV Knowing is not a perceptual phenomenon and has nothing to do with acquiring information about something outside yourself, since that is, in fact, impossible—there is nothing outside you. To Know, to Love, and to Create are the three fundamental aspects of Being, and they are one and the same.
Do not obsess over the episodes of light, do not pursue them, and do not desire to experience them. You are not seeking “lights,” but to remember who you are, to remember your Father, and to feel His Love within you. Anything short of that is merely an “anecdote” along your spiritual path.
Remember that you always have a Guide who accompanies you. He will teach you how to interpret everything that happens to you correctly. You only need to be willing to listen to Him, and He will not communicate with you in words, but with certainty.
V This line was added later by hand. It does not appear in Helen’s Notes.