I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.
1. Today’s idea is, of course, the reason why the way you see does not affect you alone.I
²You will notice at times that the ideas presented to you concerning what you think precede those related to what you perceive, while at other times the order is reversed.II
³This is because the order does not really matter. ⁴Thinking, and its results, are truly simultaneous processes, for cause and effect are never separate.III
2. Today we again emphasize the fact that minds are joined.
²This is an idea that is rarely welcomed at first, as it seems to carry with it enormous responsibility, and may even be seen as a kind of “invasion of privacy.”
³However, it is a fact that there are no private thoughts.
⁴Despite your initial resistance to this idea, you will come to understand that it must be true if salvation is to be possible.
⁵And salvation must be possible, because it is the Will of God.
3. The one-minute mind searching required for today’s exercises should be done with eyes closed.
²Begin by repeating the idea, and then carefully search your mind for the thoughts it contains at that moment.
4. As you consider each one, identify it first by the person or theme it centers on, and holding it in your mind, say:
²I am not alone in experiencing the effects of this thought about ____.
5. By now, you should be fairly accustomed to the requirement of selecting the subjects for the practice as randomly as possible, and this will no longer be repeated each day, though it will be included from time to time as a reminder.
²Nevertheless, do not forget that it remains essential to choose the subjects for each practice period in a completely random way.
³This absence of degrees of importance will eventually help you recognize that there are no degrees of difficulty in miracles either.IV
6. In addition to applying today’s idea “as needed,” at least three practice sessions are required, shortening the time if necessary.V
²Do not attempt more than four.
I In the preceding Lesson it is stated that others are affected by my manner of seeing; that is, by how I see. Today’s idea is more specific: it now maintains that what affects others are my thoughts—that is, my judgments about what I see. This provides an additional reason to assume responsibility for our judgments, since they not only influence our emotional state and, therefore, our behavior, but also the emotional states and behavior of others. This is evident, for example, in the effect of leadership exercised by politicians, teachers, parents, and even in the salvific action of the Teachers of God that this Course advocates.
As presented here, this idea may seem surprising, but in fact it is something you recognize within and that underlies social organization. The world, indeed, is an agreement among particular minds and the basis of all human communication: the sharing of meanings. Moreover, this communication is not limited to what is perceived through the commonly admitted senses. “…each individual has many capacities of which they are unaware. As their awareness expands, they can develop faculties that seem quite surprising to them” (M-26.1:3-4). Both the knowing of what is not explicit and healing through the power of thought are natural aspects of the shared mind, since ultimately everything is contained within the same mind.
II Notice how you are being taught that cause and effect are not separate by working with pairs of equivalent and alternating ideas concerning what you perceive and what you think:
PERCEPTION (W-1: “Nothing I see means anything”) ↔ THOUGHT (W-3: “I do not understand anything I see” and W-4: “These thoughts do not mean anything”).
THOUGHT (W-5: “I am never upset for the reason I think”) ↔ PERCEPTION (W-6: “I am upset because I see something that is not there”).
Other examples:
PERCEPTION (W-7) ↔ THOUGHT (W-8)
THOUGHT (W-10) ↔ PERCEPTION (W-11)
THOUGHT (W-16) ↔ PERCEPTION (W-17)
PERCEPTION (W-18) ↔ THOUGHT (W-19)
III What you see, how you see what you see, and why you see what you see are all the same. You see what you want to see. Perception is a volitional act; it is the result of your will to see in that way. If you see a fragmented world, made up of things separate from one another, it is because you have accepted as true the idea that you yourself are separate, and thus you perceive everything according to what you believe you are.
Cause and effect are not separate; they occur simultaneously. How, then, can it be surprising to you to see such a world?
IV “The first thing to remember about miracles is that there is no order of difficulty among them. One is not more difficult or greater than another. They are all the same” (T-1.1).
This “indifference” in considering the subjects you use in your practices has a profound ontological justification: if the world is an illusion, any illusion is equal to any other with respect to reality, and therefore: “What is real is not in danger, and what is in danger is not real…” (T-In.3:2–3).
You have constructed a world by dismembering reality and assigning to those pieces different attributes and functions that affect you differently and to varying degrees. For you, there is an enormous difference between a flower and the sick body of a loved one; yet both perceptions are still stories with which your mind engages: illusions conceived by your mind, projected into an imaginary spatial realm and regarded as real within a temporal realm—fleeting and equally illusory. It is imperative that you learn to see as equal what is equal and to distinguish reality from illusion.
V In fact, today’s exercise, more than a practice, ought to be a permanent attitude. Consider the following: if Jesus is right and my thoughts inevitably affect others, I had better watch my mind with extraordinary care and not allow myself to think what I do not wish to share.
A good rule for managing your mind honestly and effectively is to reject any thought you would not like others to know. The advantage of following this selective criterion is that, by placing the censor outside yourself, you become less permissive and less prone to tolerate malicious thoughts, because you already know you are not immune to that social judge. Do not allow your holy mind to harbor anything but the best you are capable of conceiving, for you deserve no less than that.