I am determined to see.
1. Until now, we have taken a rather casual approach to our practice.
²No attempt has been made to set a schedule for carrying them out, nor has any minimum effort been required, and you have not even been asked to cooperate or take an active interest.
3This casual approach has been intentional and very carefully planned.
4We have not lost sight of the crucial importance of reversing your way of thinking.
5The salvation of the world depends on it.
6But you will not see if you feel coerced, or driven by resentment or resistance.
2. This is our first attempt to introduce some structure to the way you practice.
²Do not mistake it for an attempt to exert force or pressure.
³You do want salvation.
⁴You do want to be happy.
⁵You do want Peace.
⁶You do not enjoy any of this now because your mind is completely undisciplined, and you cannot yet distinguish between joy and sorrow, between pleasure and pain, or between love and fear.I
⁷You are now learning to tell them apart.
⁸And great indeed will be your reward.II
3. Your decision to see is all that Vision requires.
²And what you want is given you.
³Do not mistake the small effort that is asked of you for a sign that our goal is of little worth.
⁴Can the salvation of the world be a trivial purpose?
⁵And do you believe the world can be saved if you are not? ⁶God has one Son, and he is the Resurrection and the Life.III
⁷His Will is done, for all power in Heaven and on earth has been given him.IV
⁸It is your determination to see that grants you Vision.
4. Today’s exercises consist of reminding yourself throughout the day that you want to see.
²Today’s idea also implicitly acknowledges that you do not see now.
³Therefore, each time you repeat the idea, you are stating your willingness to change your current state for one that is better—one that you truly want.
5. Repeat today’s idea slowly and with confidence at least twice an hour, aiming to do so every half hour.
²Do not be disturbed if you forget, but make a genuine effort to remember.V
³In addition, repeat the idea whenever any situation, person, or event disturbs you.
⁴You can see all of it differently, and you will.
⁵For you will see what you desire to see.
⁶Such is the true working of the law of cause and effect in this world.VI
I A mind that has not been trained—and that, moreover, is confused because it has listened to the ego’s voice and perceives everything upside down—cannot accomplish anything and lives in a chaotic and dangerous universe. Yet this need not be so.
You are truly fortunate. This Course will train your mind in the truth, and if you apply yourself to it with perseverance and seriousness, you will soon experience the effects of that training. Here you will learn who you are and what your role in this world is. Your task is quite simple, and extraordinarily benevolent and beneficial, both for you and for all those around you.
You may not be very convinced yet, but keep in mind that your eyes are still closed, for you are sunk in a deep sleep. You are only beginning to open them slightly, and it is natural that at first the light dazzles and unsettles you. Do not be afraid; that will change very soon. You will soon begin to experience the effects of this new learning, and you will be surprised—and perhaps even shocked—by the immense delirium of what you called “my life.”
The discipline this training requires has nothing heroic about it: it is simply the honesty of admitting “right now I do not see” and returning—again and again—to the desire to see. To persevere is not to force yourself, but to sustain a gentle, steady decision, like someone who opens a window each morning even if the sky is overcast. Humility is understanding that your current perception is not enough to make you happy, and that Vision—the Vision of the mind at peace—is essential if you desire true and lasting joy. As long as you keep trying to fix the world with the same eyes that made it, you will go on confusing comfort with anesthesia, and relief with distraction.
The practice introduces a rhythm for your benefit, not to coerce you. Rhythm soothes the mind, as waves polish a rock. Each time you remember your decision, you are not “doing something else”; you are releasing a layer of interpretation that weighed upon you. If it helps, you may accompany the idea with a minimal gesture—a deeper breath, a brief silence—that marks the shift from the old habit of seeing against yourself to the availability to see in favor of your peace. Do not look for spectacular results: true correction is discreet and, precisely for that reason, powerful.
Recognizing “right now I do not see” prevents the trap of negotiating with fear. If you do not see, how can you rightly judge what is in your best interest? The discipline of this lesson saves you from that futile litigation: it reminds you that you do not need to be right, but to be at peace. And to be at peace requires learning to see without separating, without prefixed roles, without the haste to label. Perseverance here is the silent keeping of your desire: keeping it alight even when you forget, rekindling it when it seems to go out, and allowing its light to do what you do not know how to do. If you notice resistance, do not make it the protagonist. Acknowledge it kindly and continue. Resistance is only the echo of a habit that is wearing out. Do not fight it; move through its noise remembering that you want to see because you want to be happy, and that the happiness you seek does not depend on partial successes in the world, but on a Vision that does not fluctuate with changes. Discipline sustains that Vision until, effortlessly, it becomes your natural way of looking. Then you will understand that you never lacked the light; you were only training your eyes to receive it.
II Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
III John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”
IV Matthew 6:10 “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying: ‘All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” God’s Will is always accomplished, and yours, as His Son, is also. This takes place both in the realm of reality and in that of illusion. Your will is always accomplished; that is why you perceive what you want to perceive. The question here is: what is it that you want, Son of God?V If you are doing the Lessons of this Workbook, try to do them well: exactly as instructed. You may forget your practice many times, but be very honest with yourself and acknowledge that this is always due to a conflict of priorities.
Perhaps, at a certain level of your mind, you recognize that saving yourself from a sick way of thinking is fundamental. Yet realize that, at another level—which is just as much the result of your will as the first—you place trifles before that high purpose. Become aware of this and correct it.
Part of your training is to teach you what is important and what is not. The sooner you recognize this, the better.
VI This important assertion arises from the fact that, as we have seen in previous Lessons, perception is an effect whose cause is the will. First the idea of something you want is conceived, and then that is projected and seen outside.
“Thought always precedes vision, despite the temptation to believe that it is the other way around” (W-17.1:3). That is why you see what you want to see.
And then this Course tells you to forgive the world, to forgive everything you behold, to forgive “what you want to see.”
Forgive your fantasies, born of your fears and desires, which are the same. And all of that is precisely what you are not, nor truly want. Forgive it, let it go, and you will find yourself face to face with the truth; you will be left with nothing but the Love of God, which is what you are.