Category: Libro de Ejercicios

I am one Self, united with my Creator.

1. Today’s idea accurately describes how God created you.

²You are one within yourself, and One with Him.

³Yours is the unity of all creation.

⁴Your perfect oneness makes change in you impossible.

⁵Yet you do not accept this, and you fail to realize that it must be so.

⁶This is only because you believe you have changed yourself already.

2. You see yourself as a ridiculous parody of God’s creation: weak, vicious, ugly, and sinful, miserable and beset with pain.

²This is your version of yourself—a self divided into many warring parts, separated from God, and held together by a capricious and unstable maker, to whom you pray.

³He does not hear your prayers, for he is deaf.

⁴He does not see your oneness, for he is blind.

⁵He does not understand that you are the Son of God, for he is senseless and understands nothing. ^I

3. Today we will try again to be aware only of what your Self can hear and see, and what makes perfect sense. ^II

²Once again we direct our exercises toward reaching your one Self, united with Its Creator. ^III

³With patience and hope, we try again today.

4. Devoting the first five minutes of each waking hour to practice today has certain advantages at the stage of learning in which you are currently.

²It is difficult for you not to let your mind wander during a longer practice period. ^IV

³You must already have noticed this.

⁴You have seen how much you need discipline for your mind.

⁵It is necessary that you be aware of this, for it is a real obstacle to your progress.

5. Frequent, shorter practice periods also have distinct advantages for you at this stage.

²Besides recognizing your difficulties with sustained attention, you must also have noticed that unless you are reminded of your goal frequently, you tend to forget it for long periods.

³You often forget the brief applications of the idea for the day, and you have not yet developed the habit of using it as a constant response to temptation.

6. Therefore, now you need a carefully structured approach, including frequent reminders of your goal and regular attempts to reach it.

²A set schedule, as such, is not the ideal requirement for your training in salvation.

³It is, however, advantageous for those whose motivation is inconsistent and who still resist learning.

7. So we will continue for a while with the five-minute-an-hour practice format, urging you to omit as few as possible.

²Using the first five minutes of the hour will be especially helpful, since it imposes a more structured discipline on your mind.

³But do not use your lapses from this schedule as an excuse not to return to it as soon as you can.

8. You may be tempted to view the day as lost because you failed to do what was required.

²But this should merely be recognized as what it is: a refusal to correct your mistake and a lack of willingness to try again.

³Your errors do not delay the Holy Spirit in His teaching.

⁴Your unwillingness to let them go does.

9. Let us therefore be determined, especially for the coming week, to be willing to forgive ourselves for our lack of diligence and our failure to follow the instructions for practicing today’s idea.

²This tolerance for weakness will enable us to overlook it, rather than give it the power to delay our learning.

³If we give it that power, we will see weakness as strength, and we will be confused about what strength is.

10. When you fail to meet the requirements of this course, you are merely making a mistake.

²This calls for correction, and nothing more.

³To allow the mistake to continue is to make additional mistakes, which are based on the first and reinforce it.

⁴It is this process that must be laid aside, for it is nothing but a defense of illusion against the truth.

11. Let all these errors go by simply recognizing them as what they are.

²They are attempts to keep you unaware that you are one Self, united with your Creator, at one with every aspect of creation, and limitless in power and in peace.

³This is the truth, and nothing else is true.

⁴Today we will affirm this truth again, and try to reach the place in you where there is no doubt that only this is true.

⁵Begin today’s longer practice periods by giving your mind this assurance, with all the certainty you can give:

⁶I am one Self, united with my Creator,

At one with every aspect of creation,

And limitless in power and in peace.

12. Then close your eyes and repeat this statement slowly to yourself, letting its meaning sink into your mind and replace your false ideas:

²I am one Self.

³Repeat this several times, then try to experience the meaning that the words convey.

⁴You are one Self, united and secure in light and joy and peace.

⁵You are the Son of God, one Self with one Creator and one goal: to bring awareness of this oneness to all minds, so that true creation may extend the totality and unity of God.

13. You are one Self, complete, healed and whole, with the power to lift the veil of darkness from the world and let the light in you shine forth to teach the world the truth about itself.

²You are one Self, in perfect harmony with all there is and all that will be.

³You are one Self, the holy Son of God, united with your brothers in that Self, united with your Father in His Will.

14. Feel this one Self in you, and let It shine away all your illusions and your doubts.

²This is your Self, the Son of God Himself, sinless as His Creator, with His strength within you and His Love forever yours.

³You are one Self, and it is this Self you can feel within you and free the world from all illusions through this one Mind which is this Self—the holy truth in you.

15. Do not forget today.

²We need your help, your little part in bringing happiness to all the world.

³And Heaven looks to you in confidence that you will try today.

⁴Share its certainty, for it is yours.

⁵Be vigilant.

⁶Do not forget today.

16. Throughout the day, keep your goal in mind.

²Repeat the idea for today as often as you can, and understand that each time you do, someone hears the voice of hope, the stirring of the truth within their mind, the gentle rustling of the wings of peace.

³Your own acknowledgment you are one Self, united with your Father, is a call to all the world to be at one with you.

17. Be sure to offer the promise of today’s idea to everyone you meet, by saying silently:

²You and I are one Self, united with our Creator.

³I honor you because of what I am, and because of what He is,

Who loves us both as one.

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^I This is, more or less, the idea you hold of God in your innermost being. Notice that your prayers are usually filled with instructions and imperatives. In them you “inform” God of your apparent needs, assuming that He is ignorant and unaware of what is happening, and you find it entirely natural that you should be the one to tell Him what is going on. Moreover, you also assume that God is at your service and ready to carry out your commands.

You tend to conjugate the verbs in your prayers in the imperative mood: “Give, forgive, listen, heal…” Reflect on the immense insanity of your ego which, on the one hand, tells you that you are a wicked sinner—wretched, limited, powerless before the hazards of this world, and doomed to die—yet, on the other hand, urges you to address your Creator with astonishing arrogance.

^II Today you are going to learn to relate to the things of the world from your Self. And that manner makes perfect sense because of what you truly are. To establish any other kind of relationship would be an imposture and a betrayal of your true identity.

Prepare yourself to know how a Being who possesses the dignity of the holy Son of God—no more and no less—relates to the world.

^III You will see that throughout this Lesson great emphasis is placed on the idea that your Self is One. This idea contrasts radically with the one you now hold of yourself, for you believe you are a being scattered among many aspects, often in conflict with one another—that one part of you wants one thing and another part wants something else—and that stresses you and produces great tension.

That is nothing but a fantasy, an illusion, and the result of the attention you give to the voice of your ego. You are not like that at all. You are perfectly unified and absolutely whole, full, and complete. You have one single purpose and one single will, and that is the very Will of God.

^IV Pay close attention to what is said in this paragraph and the next six. Notice how well Jesus knows you. The counsel he gives you there is crucial for your learning. Jesus warns you of the difficulties and temptations your poorly trained mind will experience. Read carefully, and heed him. Keep in mind that it matters less how precisely you follow the instructions for the day’s practice than your willingness to fulfill your function.

If your will to reach the goal is genuine but your mind is weak, do not worry; you will progress. But if your practice does not arise from a sincere and deep longing to change your mind, you will still advance, though not very far. Be honest. Search within yourself for the best in you and lay it upon the altar of your devotion. The angels of God will descend to lift you far beyond where your small strength could take you. Remember, Jesus is always by your side. Persevere with all your soul. Much is at stake.

I am as God created me.^I

1. Today we continue with the idea that alone brings complete salvation.

²It is the statement that renders all temptation powerless.

³It is the thought that silences the ego and completely undoes it.

⁴You are as God created you.

⁵This one idea silences the sounds of the world, removes all thoughts it ever held, and makes the world disappear entirely from sight.

⁶With this, salvation is accomplished.

⁷With this, sanity is restored.

2. True light is strength, and strength is sinlessness.

²If you remain as God created you, you must be strong, and the light must be in you.

³He who guaranteed your sinlessness must also be the guarantee of your strength and your light.

⁴You are as God created you.

⁵Darkness cannot obscure the glory of the Son of God. ^II

⁶You are in the light, and you are strong in the sinlessness in which you were created, and in which you will remain for all eternity.

3. Today we will again devote the first five minutes of every waking hour to attempting to feel the truth about you.

²Begin each hour with these words:

³I am as God created me.

⁴I am His Son eternally.

⁵Now try to reach the Son of God in you.

⁶This is the Self that never sinned, nor made an image to replace reality.

⁷This is the Self that never left its home in God to walk the world uncertainly.

⁸This is the Self that knows no fear, and cannot conceive of loss or suffering or death.

4. Nothing is asked of you to reach this goal except to lay aside all idols and images you have made of yourself;

²To go beyond the long list of traits, both “good” and “bad,” you have assigned to yourself;

³And to wait in quiet expectancy for the truth. ^III

⁴God Himself has promised that it will be revealed to all who ask for it. ^IV

⁵You are asking now.

⁶You will not fail, because He cannot fail.

5. If you do not meet the requirement of practicing the first five minutes of every hour, at least remind yourself hourly:

²I am as God created me.

³I am His Son eternally.

⁴Tell yourself often today that you are as God created you. ^V

⁵And be sure to respond to anyone who seems to irritate you with these words:

⁶You are as God created you.

⁷You are His Son eternally.

⁸Make a strong effort today to do the hourly exercises.

⁹Each one you do will be a giant step toward your release and a landmark in learning the thought system this course sets forth. ^VI

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^I This statement perfectly and succinctly summarizes all the teachings of this Course. This is the luminous evangelical message of Jesus. This is the single thought the sleeping mind must remember in order to transcend the dream of separation. Nothing else is needed.

But to accept a new idea, it is necessary to abandon the one that asserts its opposite. Thus, this is a Lesson for replacing beliefs.

I have spent more than ninety days training my mind to use it differently from how I was using it before, and at last I understand the purpose of all that practice. All that work was simply to understand who I truly am and why I believed myself to be something else. Today’s idea explains it to me: “I am the holy Son of God.” This is the answer to the famous question: What am I?

Now I understand why nothing I see means anything: I have been the author of those insubstantial meanings. Yet this disturbs me, because deep within I know they are not true. I have believed my own stories, and now I constantly recall them by bringing them into the present—but what is really happening is that my mind is absorbed in what I once imagined in the past.

Those stories—my thoughts—certainly have no intrinsic meaning, but to me they are very important, because I invented them and thought they were true, and all that I have imagined frightens me.

Now I want to see everything differently, for I have realized that everything I think I see is a form of vengeance against myself. That does not serve me, for it makes me suffer—but now I know that if I relinquish my own interpretations, I can escape all that madness. I need do nothing more than that.

In truth, I do not know what anything is for—but because I am afraid of that emptiness, I try to fill it with my own content.

I want to see! I want to see everything differently!

If God created me perfect, as His holy Son, my mind is the Mind of God; my mind is holy, and I am blessed. My holiness is omnipotent, and in my mind there is only Peace, Light, and Love. What else could there be?

If I think I see something else, it can only be illusions—things that are not true and that I can, and must, let pass; things I must forgive.

The Love of God sustains me, and I am the Love of God.

Because I am the Love of God, I am the Light of the world. My only function in this illusory world is to forgive the illusions I think I see.

It is very important that I do not forget that function; if I do, I will again believe that illusions are real and will harbor resentments—and that is terrible, for resentments completely obscure the Light in me, and I want there to be Light.

There is no Will but God’s Will, for God is all that exists.

God does not command, but in this world of light and shadow it is wise for me to focus my attention on the Light, which is the only real component of my mind, for shadows have no substance.

Before every scene, I will fix my gaze on the Light, not on the shadows, and then I will see miracles. Thus will I become aware that truly there is no problem, nor has there ever been one.

I thought I saw conflict everywhere because I believed that shadows had meaning. Now I know they do not.

Now Light, Joy, and Peace dwell in me.

^II Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.”

^III Like most of the five-minute-per-hour practices, today’s is a meditation exercise. Here you set aside all the attributes you have assigned to yourself, and then, instead of diving into your mind—as in most previous meditations—you simply wait in a state of stillness in which the only thing that occupies your mind is expectancy: the anticipation that your true Self will be revealed to you.

This is the first appearance of a meditation method that will become the predominant form of the Workbook during the second half of the year.

^IV Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

^V Whenever something disturbs you, say to yourself, “I am as God created me,” and you will witness a titanic struggle. You will witness your ego battling against the truth. The moment you pronounce those words, you will see how the ego, in a thousand different ways, will try to convince you that it is not true.

The first thing it will do is try to persuade you that it is you. That is the hardest part of its entire strategy to overcome, for although its only argument is that it is a voice in your mind—which is true—it in no way follows that this voice is what you are. You are not that voice. In fact, you are no voice at all. That is absurd. It is crucial that you understand this, because if you cannot disassociate yourself from the thought that you are that voice you hear in your mind, you are lost. From that point on, you will begin to see everything on its own terms, thinking that it is you who is thinking—which is not true at all. That is merely the ego manifesting in your mind the very idea that conceived it: the idea of separation.

To understand what is happening, you must notice that in the process of hearing that voice, your will plays no part at all. The voice of the ego always arises in your mind of its own accord, entirely unbidden—it comes suddenly, uninvited, and by itself. And that is what you call thinking. In reality, you are not thinking at all. You are merely witnessing madness; the fact is, you are so accustomed to that voice that you believe it is your reality. Recognize that although that voice appears constantly in your mind and is your most familiar personal experience, it in no way means it is valid, real, or well-guided. That phenomenon merely indicates that you have been deceived all along—nothing more. The proof is that that voice has never given you anything it promised and has never truly made you happy.

Again, be prepared, and you will see that when you say, “I am as God created me,” the voice of the ego will try to convince you that this is fantasy—and that what it says, on the other hand, is as real as the world you see, as all your memories, all your fears, and all your desires. It is not so. All that is as real as the dream you had last night, and now you think your waking dream is reality—just as you thought your nighttime dream was real while you were dreaming it. It is almost the same dream, with small variations, but its substance is identical: this one, too, is made of lies.

Awakening to your true Self may be very easy or very hard—it depends on you. As long as you believe you are in this world, you will always hear the voice of your ego. That will always happen—but it depends on you whether you listen to it or not. Hearing and listening are two very different things, and the only thing that distinguishes them is your will. Your ego wants to hijack your will. Do not let it. You are your will, and your will is free—precisely because you are as God created you.

You are not at all defenseless against the ego; you still have all the power. Use it well, and do not let yourself be deceived by its proposals. Be steadfast in your purpose, and inevitably you will awaken. Moreover, if you choose rightly, while you still dream you will have complete control over your dream and will witness many miracles. You will not awaken by your own effort, but you will be awakened—for that is your will, and your will is always fulfilled, for you are as God created you.

^VI This Lesson is the third “giant step” of the Workbook. See the note for Lesson 61 for the list of all the giant steps.

Light and joy and peace abide in me.

1. You think you are the home of evil, darkness, and sin.

²You believe that if anyone could see the truth about you, they would recoil in horror, as if from a poisonous snake.

³You believe that if the truth about you were revealed, a terror so intense would seize your heart that you would rush to death by your own hand, unable to bear to live after seeing such a thing. ^I

2. These beliefs are so firmly fixed in your mind that it is difficult to help you see they are based on nothing. ^II

²That you have made mistakes is obvious.

³And, given what you now believe about yourself, it is also true that you have sought salvation in strange ways;

⁴That you have been deceived, and have deceived;

⁵That you have been afraid of foolish fantasies and savage dreams,

⁶And have bowed down to idols made of dust.

3. Today we question all of this, not from your point of view, but from a very different one, one that makes such silly beliefs quite meaningless.

²These thoughts do not agree with the Will of God.

³He does not share these strange ideas with you.

⁴This alone is proof enough that they are wrong.

⁵But you do not see it so.

4. How joyful is it to know that you are not what you think you are.

²That all the evil you believed you did was never done.

³That all your “sins” are nothing.

⁴That you are as pure and holy as you were created.

⁵That light and joy and peace abide in you.

⁶You think God’s Will is death, but it is life.

⁷You think you are being destroyed, but you are being saved.

5. The self you made is not the Son of God.

²Therefore, it does not exist at all.

³And anything it seems to do or think means nothing.

⁴It is neither good nor bad.

⁵It is unreal, and nothing more than that.

⁶It does not fight against the Son of God.

⁷It does not hurt him or attack his peace.

⁸It has not changed creation, nor reduced eternal sinlessness to sin, and love to hate.

⁹What power can this self you made possess, when it would contradict the Will of God?

6. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

²This needs to be repeated often, until it is accepted.

³It is the truth.

⁴God Himself guarantees your sinlessness.

⁵Nothing can touch it or change what God created eternal.

⁶The self you made, evil and full of sin, is meaningless.

⁷Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God, and light and joy and peace abide in you.

7. Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought—

²You are as God created you, not what you made of yourself.

³Whatever evil you may think you did, you are as God created you.

⁴Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you has not changed.

⁵Creation is eternal and unalterable.

⁶Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

⁷You are, and always will be, exactly as you were created.

⁸Light and joy and peace abide in you because God put them there.

8. In our longer sessions today, which would be most beneficial if practiced during the first five minutes of every hour, we will begin by affirming the truth about our creation:

²Light and joy and peace abide in me.

³My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

⁴Then lay aside the foolish images you hold of yourself, and spend the rest of the practice period trying to experience what God has given you in place of what you have made.

9. You can only be either what God created or what you made.

²One Self is true; the other is not there.

³Try to experience the unity of your One Self.

⁴Try to appreciate Its holiness and the Love from which It was created.

⁵Try not to interfere with the Self which God created as what you are, by hiding Its majesty behind the tiny idols of evil and sin you made to replace It.

⁶Let It be Itself.

⁷Here you are.

⁸This is you. 

⁹And light and joy and peace abide in you because that is so.

10. You may not be willing or able to devote the first five minutes of every hour to the exercises today.

²Try, however, to do so when you can.

³At the very least, remember to repeat these thoughts each hour:

⁴Light and joy and peace abide in me.

⁵My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

⁶Then close your eyes for a moment and realize that this is a statement of the truth about you.

11. If any situation arises that seems to disturb you, quickly dispel the illusion of fear by repeating these thoughts again.

²And should you be tempted to become angry with someone, tell them silently:

³Light and joy and peace abide in you.

⁴Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God.

12. Today you can do much for the world’s salvation.

²You can do much today to bring yourself closer to accepting the role God has given you in salvation.

³And you can do much today to convince your mind of the truth of today’s idea. ^III

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^I It is quite possible that this statement may seem somewhat exaggerated to you. Perhaps you think that, although you are not perfect, you are, deep down, a good person—that you do not seem to yourself as bad as it paints you there.

Open your mind to the possibility that, rather, that is the idea of yourself that allows you to keep going—the one that makes you still trust your own judgment, that allows you to get up in the morning to attend to your tasks and to relate to other people who are more or less like you, the one responsible for your judging others and everything from a position of a certain superiority.

Have you ever wondered why the idea of opening your mind completely to others repulses you so much? Not to mention your heart. Have you ever wondered why you fear heights, darkness, or death?

Why do you think there is so much evil and suffering in the world? Why are you terrified by pain, loss, and loneliness? Why does your heart shrink when someone does not love you? Why do you sometimes feel a murderous rage over a small offense?

Just as you think the world is a dangerous place with areas you would never dare to go, your mind too is full of deep shadows you prefer not to visit.

Where have you known all the evil you have believed you saw in the world? Where have you experienced all the pain and fear you have ever felt? Has it not been in your mind? And what is your mind, if not yourself?

If all the horror you have witnessed—and all that you are capable of imagining—has been or is in your mind, and if your mind is you, then it is evident that you have quite a problem.

Moreover, if you are cause, effect, or condition of so much evil, it is rather unlikely that the solution to such abomination is also within you—at least not as you have been managing it until now.

It would seem most prudent to seek it elsewhere, or by some other method. Could that be possible?

^II Last night I had a terrible dream. The very embodiment of horror was pursuing me, and I ran absolutely terrified, trying to escape, until a moment came when it caught me, cornered me, and I could no longer flee. The horror hurled itself upon me, and in a desperate effort to free myself, I turned quickly—and fell out of bed.

I do not think I have ever been so happy, despite the pain I caused myself. Then I climbed back into bed, but I could no longer sleep. I began to think about how ridiculous the whole situation was, and then I asked myself, “What if all that I call ‘my personal life’ were nothing but a dream—a dream from which, for some reason, I cannot awaken?” After all, that is what dreams are: something that seems very real and from which you cannot awaken, for if you awaken, it is no longer a dream.

On closer inspection, the question itself makes little sense, for if it truly is a dream, and if while dreaming you cannot—or will not—wake up, what can you do?

Since I was wide awake and could not fall asleep again, I began to reflect on what I would say to my other self who was immersed in that terrible nightmare—to that very self from a short while before whom I still remembered with chills.

I thought long about the matter, and in the end I arrived at two possible strategies.

The first, what seemed essential to me, was to whisper to that frightened character not to worry—that it is all a dream—and that all he needs to do to escape that dire situation is to wake up. That is obvious.

As I thought about this, imagining how to whisper it to my other self, I realized that it was not as simple as it seems.

What if my other self becomes frightened by that whispering voice? What if, instead of helping, what I am doing is driving him into a deeper panic? Perhaps now he thinks that, in addition to the horror chasing him, there is some strange being from another dimension trying to confuse him with dark intent.

Or worse, perhaps my poor sleeping self thinks he is going mad. It certainly is not an easy situation to resolve.

Besides, waking up is easier said than done. How does one wake up? I do not recall ever having done anything to wake myself up. It is something that simply happens.

The second thing I thought, if that waking up did not work, was to advise my frightened self at least to handle the situation well—to understand that all the evil threatening him is not real, that it is only the product of his imagination, and that if he wishes, he can control it.

I would tell him not to worry—that in reality he is lying peacefully in his bed, and that sooner or later he will awaken. That is inevitable.

Because my nightmare was so recent, it was easy for me to foresee my sleeping self’s reactions to my comments from outside the dream, and after much consideration, I could think of little else to say to him.

Finally, I lost patience and blurted out, “You know what? If you can’t wake up, and you can’t or won’t do anything to change that horror, let it catch you—after all, nothing will happen to you. Maybe that way you’ll wake up at last!”

I think I now understand better how difficult Jesus’ work is.

^III Dictated on September 24, 1969.

Miracles are seen in the light, and light and strength are one.

1. Today’s idea is an extension of the previous one.

²You do not associate light with strength, nor darkness with weakness.

³This is because your idea of what it means to see is tied to the body, and to its eyes and brain.

⁴That is why you believe you can change what you see by placing small pieces of glass or other transparent material before your eyes, held in a frame or placed against the eye.

⁵This is one of the many magical beliefs that arise from the conviction that you are a body, and that the body’s eyes can see.

2. You also believe that your body’s brain can think.

²If you understood the nature of thought, you would laugh at such an insane idea.

³It is as if you believed you hold the match that lights the sun and gives it all its heat, or that you kept the world imprisoned in your hand, firmly grasped, until you let it go.

⁴Yet this is no more insane than believing that the body’s eyes can see, or that the brain can know.

3. The Strength of God in you is the light in which you see, and His is the Mind with which you think.

²His Strength denies your weakness.

³It is your weakness that looks through the body’s eyes, that peers into the darkness to behold what is like itself: the small, the weak, the sick and dying, the needy, the helpless and afraid, the sad, the poor, the hungry, and the unhappy.

⁴This is what is seen through eyes that cannot see and cannot bless. ^I

4. Strength overlooks all these things by looking past appearances. ^II

²It keeps its gaze fixed on the light that lies beyond them.

³It joins with the light, of which it is a part.

⁴And it beholds itself.

⁵It is this that gives you the light in which your Self appears.

⁶In darkness you perceive a self that does not exist.

⁷Strength is the truth about you.

⁸But weakness is the idol you falsely worship and revere, that light may be displaced by darkness, where God intended there be light. ^III

5. Strength comes from truth and shines with the light its Source has given it.

²Weakness, on the other hand, reflects the darkness of its maker.

³It is sick and sees only sickness, which is like itself.

⁴Truth is a savior, and it can only create happiness and peace for all the world.

⁵And it gives its strength in limitless supply to everyone who asks.

⁶It sees that if anyone lacks anything, then all must lack.

⁷And so it gives its light, that all may see and benefit as one.

⁸Truth shares its strength, that miracles may be offered to all, in unity of purpose, forgiveness, and love.

6. Weakness, which looks in darkness, sees no purpose in forgiveness or in love.

²It sees all others as different from itself, and finds nothing in the world it wants to share.

³It judges and condemns, but does not love.

⁴It stays hidden in the dark, and dreams it is strong and victorious, a conqueror of ever-mounting limitations that grow huge in the dark.

⁵Weakness fears itself, attacks itself, and hates itself.

⁶Darkness covers all it sees, leaving it in dreams as fearsome as itself.

⁷There are no miracles here, only hatred.

⁸Weakness separates from what it sees, while light and strength perceive themselves as one.

7. The light of strength is not the light you see.

²It does not shift, nor waver, nor go out.

³It does not pass from night to day and back to darkness until the morning comes again.

⁴The light of strength is constant, sure as Love, and always glad to give, for what It gives is always given to Itself.

⁵No one can ask to share Its vision in vain, and none who enter Its dwelling can leave without a miracle before their eyes and strength and light within their heart.

8. The strength in you will offer you the light, and guide your seeing so that you do not dwell on idle shadows the body’s eyes provide to fool the mind.

²Strength and light unite in you, and where they meet, your Self awaits to welcome you as Its own.

³This is the meeting place we try to find today.

⁴Here we will rest, for in the Peace of God does your Self, His Son, await to meet Itself again and become as One.

9. Let us devote twenty minutes, twice today, to joining in this meeting.

²Let yourself be led to your Self.

³Its strength will be the light in which the gift of vision will be given you.

⁴So leave the darkness for a little while today, and practice seeing in the light.

⁵Close the body’s eyes and ask the truth to show you how to find the meeting place where Self and self unite, and where light and strength are one. ^IV

10. We will practice this in the morning and again at night.

²After the morning session, use the day to prepare for the evening one, in which, full of hope and confidence, we will meet again with our Self.

³Repeat today’s idea as often as you can.

⁴Realize that you are being introduced to the gift of vision. ⁵And recognize that you are being led from darkness to the light, where miracles alone can be perceived.

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^I Jeremiah 5:21 “Hear now this, O foolish people without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not.”

Mark 8:18 “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?”

^II You see everything backwards because you are looking wrongly—and the proof of this is that what you see displeases you. When your heart is uneasy, it is warning you that your mind is malfunctioning.

Your “emotional system” is the “resonance” of your “intellectual system.” The heart—the symbol of love—is the “organ” that reflects the state of the mind—the symbol of knowledge.

Remember again the functions of the soul: to love, to know, and to create. These functions are attributed to the heart, the mind, and the will. In this world, every person possesses a functional heart—an “organ” that responds faithfully and reliably to his or her mental states. Yet it is no less true that their minds are sick and malfunctioning.

This is because they are affected by the idea of separation. In fact, the very belief in having an individual mind is the result of that perverse idea.

That is why this Course places immense emphasis on healing the mind, and to achieve this, it proposes that you place it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Voice of the Holy Spirit—Teacher of Knowledge and therefore of the mind—aligns your perception with Knowledge and allows you to interpret the dream in the most helpful and benevolent way possible. The proof of this is that when you follow His guidance, your heart is joyful and your mind is at peace.

This means that now your emotional and intellectual systems are functioning “properly.” The work this Course does with the mind has as its goal to open it to the “light” of knowledge, which is the natural state of the Mind of Being.

All this concerning the heart and the mind, by now, you more or less know. But now something more is proposed to you. This Lesson introduces the idea of strength. Strength is precisely the condition of will—that which makes Being a “creator.”

Understand that a sick mind—without light, malfunctioning—implies a fearful heart and a weak will.

This represents the perfect inversion of the joy, light, and strength—or peace, which is the same—of Being.

It is essential to understand that the central element in this equation is the mind. That is why this is a Course in mind training, which, through symbols—since that is the only way your fragmented mind can relate—provides you with a perfectly integrated vision of your present condition and your future goal—to be the Son of God—which is also your past and your eternal present.

For all these reasons, pay close attention to the idea of strength presented here. Strength is your natural condition, and the idea of weakness is an aberration that has entered your mind hand in hand with that other insane idea of being separate.

Your present condition—completely artificial—you yourself maintain in your mind through an endless stream of falsehoods you compulsively repeat to yourself.

You are unaware of doing this, yet it is enough to analyze honestly the language you use to communicate, and you will see that its very syntax, crowded with personal pronouns—mostly in the first person—is a constant reaffirmation of your dual mind.

Try to understand—though it will be very difficult—that all of this is completely fictitious, and that is why it requires your constant effort to remain in your holy mind as a hypnotic belief that diminishes you infinitely.

In reality, it would not even be necessary to evoke what you truly are in order to be it; it would be enough simply to stop deceiving yourself. But since you are so unwell, any means is useful for bringing light into your mind so that you may again enjoy what you have always been—and still are.

^III Genesis 1:3 “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”

^IV If fortune is kind to you, and even for the briefest instant you so much as brush lightly against the experience of Being proposed here, your doubts will be gone forever. From that moment on, you will live in a state of permanent incredulity toward what the eyes of your body report.

You will not understand how any of it is possible—and indeed, it is not. Yet you will no longer lose the disposition, now natural within you, to be patient and to practice forgiveness.

Now everything will make sense, and you will need no one to convince you of anything—not even to undertake a Course like this. It will no longer be necessary; you will have become the Course itself.

Miracles are seen in the light.

1. It is important to remember that miracles and vision always go together.^I

²This needs to be repeated, and repeated often.

³It is a central idea in your new thought system and the perception it produces.

⁴Miracles are always there.

⁵It is not your vision that brings them about.

⁶Your vision is not their cause.

⁷And if they are not seen, it is not because they are not there.

⁸They are not the effect of your seeing.

⁹You are simply unaware of them.

¹⁰You will see them in the light.

¹¹But you will not see them in darkness. ^II

2. Light, then, is essential for you.

²As long as you remain in darkness, you will not see miracles.

³And so you will be convinced they are not there.

⁴This conclusion follows from the premises that produce darkness.

⁵Denying light leads to the failure to perceive it. ^III

⁶And by not perceiving light, you perceive darkness instead.

⁷Thus, the light becomes useless to you, though it is there.

⁸You cannot use it because you do not know it is there.

⁹And the apparent reality of darkness makes the idea of light seem meaningless.

3. To be told that what you do not see is there sounds like insanity.

²It is very hard to be convinced that what is truly insane is not seeing what is there, and instead seeing what is not. ^IV

³You do not doubt that the body’s eyes can see.

⁴You do not doubt the reality of the images they show you.

⁵You have placed your faith in darkness, not in light.

⁶How can this be reversed?

⁷By yourself, it is impossible.

⁸But you are not alone in this. ^V

4. Your efforts, however small, are strongly supported.

²If you realized how great this strength is, your doubts would vanish.

³Today we will devote the day to trying to feel that strength.

⁴When you feel the strength in you that easily makes all miracles accessible, you will no longer doubt.

⁵The miracles your sense of weakness hides will rise to your awareness as you feel that strength in you.

5. Set aside about ten minutes, three times today, for a quiet time in which you will try to leave your weakness behind.

²This is easily achieved by telling yourself that you are not a body.

³Faith goes to what you want, and you will train your mind to go where you choose.

⁴Your will remains your teacher, and it has all the strength needed to do what it wills. ^VI

⁵You can escape the body if you choose.

⁶You can experience the strength within you.

6. Begin the longer practice periods with this statement of true cause and effect relationships:

²Miracles are seen in the light.

³The body’s eyes do not perceive the light.

⁴But I am not a body.

⁵What am I?

⁶The question that ends this statement is absolutely essential for today’s exercises.

⁷What you think you are is a belief to be undone.

⁸But what you truly are must be revealed to you.

⁹The belief that you are a body must be corrected, for it is a mistake.

¹⁰The truth of what you are calls upon the strength in you to bring into your awareness what error has concealed.

7. If you are not a body, what are you?

²You need to become aware of what the Holy Spirit uses to replace the image of a body in your mind.

³You need to feel something to place your faith in, as you withdraw it from the body.

⁴You need a real experience of something else—something more solid and more secure,

⁵Something more worthy of your faith, and truly there. ^VII

8. If you are not a body, what are you?

²Ask yourself this question sincerely, and then spend a few minutes letting your mistaken thoughts about your attributes be corrected, and their opposites take their place.

³Say, for example:

⁴I am not weak, but strong.

⁵I am not helpless, but all-powerful.

⁶I am not limited, but unlimited.

⁷I am not doubtful, but certain.

⁸I am not an illusion, but a reality.

⁹I cannot see in darkness, but in light.

9. In the second phase of the exercise, try to experience these truths about yourself. ^VIII

²Focus especially on experiencing strength. ^IX

³Remember that every sense of weakness is associated with the belief that you are a body—a belief that is wrong and unworthy of your faith.

⁴Withdraw your faith from it, if only for a moment.

⁵As we go along, you will become more accustomed to placing your faith in what is truly worthy in you.

10. Relax for the remainder of the practice period, trusting that even your smallest effort is fully supported by the Strength of God and all His Thoughts.

²Your strength will come from Them.

³With Their mighty support, you will feel the strength in you.

⁴God and all His Thoughts join you in this practice, in which you share a purpose like Their own.

⁵Theirs is the Light in which you will see miracles, for Their Strength is yours.

⁶Their Strength becomes your eyes, so you may see.

11. Five or six times an hour, at reasonably regular intervals, remind yourself that miracles are seen in the light.

²Also be sure to respond to any temptation with today’s idea.

³This form may be helpful for that specific purpose:

⁴Miracles are seen in the light.

⁵I will not close my eyes because of this.

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^I This Lesson was dictated on September 21, 1969.

Miracles are what you perceive when you look in a certain way. They are nothing special and, in reality, they change nothing. They simply show you what was already there but what you had not seen before. For the truth is that before, you were not seeing anything either—you were merely imagining things, building stories in your mind from the shadows that the eyes of your body brought you, and which made you believe that what you thought you saw was real. And what you believed you saw, you called “reality.”

Now think of a whiteboard on which is written in black ink the following phrase: “The sky is blue and the sea is vast.” What happens in your mind when you see that? Most likely, you begin to imagine a blue sky and a wide marine horizon. It is also possible that you start speculating that someone with a poetic inclination must have passed by, and perhaps you wonder what led them to write that. It may even be that your mind takes flight and goes further still—you might feel the desire to see the sea, to meet that person, or who knows what else!

Now consider the situation differently—this is an allegory. What are you actually seeing? The truth is that your eyes have merely conveyed to the optic nerve, through the pupils, a certain quantity of photons coming from the white surface of the board. Certain areas of the board—where the black ink was—reflected no photons, and your brain did the rest.

A story appeared in your mind! You might even begin a discussion with the person beside you about your interpretation. But what is intrinsically true is that you have merely witnessed a play of light and shadow, and your mind has chosen to create a story based solely on the darkness—on that where nothing was.

The illusion of the world works in much the same way. Your will can decide what you will focus on: on the light or on the darkness, on what is there or on what is missing. The world you see you build in your mind from absences of light—from absences of love. You do not realize it, but the truth is that your mind is enchanted by things that do not exist, yet which you believe you see.

And the convincing power of your belief is such that you are willing to fight to defend that what you interpret is true; in fact, that is what you do all the time, though you are unaware of it.

This is a Course in mind training so that, by beginning to look differently, you begin to see everything differently. In a sense, what it proposes is that you reverse the mechanisms governing your perception—hence the Course speaks of “reversing” the thought system.

Where before you saw a grievous offense, it tells you it is only an illusion; where before you perceived an attack, it proposes that you interpret it as a call for help; and of the one you consider your enemy, it tells you he is your Savior. Do you see? Everything reversed.

This Course also tells you that it is not necessary at all to believe its proposals. It only asks that you consider them respectfully and put them to the test; then, you yourself will decide by their results.

Indeed, it even warns you against any belief—“good” or “bad.” It cautions that to believe is to misuse the mind, and that you are better guided only by certainty, always distrusting your “good” intentions.

You have never been a good guide for yourself—and you never will be.

^II This meaning of the term “miracle”—as something you see—is the same as in Lesson 78. The Course usually uses the term miracle as an agent (a cause), something that brings about a perceptual change; but here, it is what true perception beholds (an effect).

^III Realize that the reason you do not see the light is because of your will to deny it. The light is indeed there, but you deny it, and therefore you do not see it. Remember, you perceive what you will to see and have.

^IV Notice that although it is said constantly that this Course is very simple, it does not necessarily follow that it is easy.

Here, Jesus tells you that seeing the light is difficult—but not because it is difficult in itself, for seeing the light is natural. It is difficult because you have identified with the ego, and that makes it practically impossible to see the light of which he speaks.

To achieve it, you must break with that identification. Seeing the light is as easy—or as hard—as letting go of your ego.

^V Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

^VI Realize that this is primarily a Course about will. You will notice that throughout it you are constantly urged to forgive illusions and are often taught about love—but you are exhorted even more insistently to use your will and align it with the Will of God, following the guidance of your inner Voice and your heart.

^VII It is crucial that you recognize that what you are seeking is an experience, not an explanation. Do not attempt to conceptualize what you are by assigning it attributes or images drawn from the storehouse of memory. None of that is real.

If you wish to take a journey, you need a car—not a drawing of a car. Do not settle for anything that comes to your mind while you still cling to the idea you have of yourself. Those are merely artificial attributes that will further burden your troubled, little self.

The experience of being is without attributes—it is absolute.

^VIII Strictly speaking, Being is an absolute idea and has no attributes. Yet the ideas mentioned above are characteristic traits of Being—as considered from the individual mind—with which it is beneficial for the mind to associate itself.

In truth, this is an exercise in straightening or aligning the individual mind with its true identity. Do not think that what is being proposed to you is a well-intentioned, idealistic abstraction devoid of substance. Nothing could be further from the truth. The ideas proposed here will become for you experiences as real as your will allows them to be.

You can use your mind to grant yourself the small or the limitless—such is the power of your mind. Choose wisely, and do not allow yourself to think thoughts that make you feel bad.

Remember that your heart will always alert you by its mood to whether you are using the mind rightly or not. It is very simple: attend to its guidance.

^IX This is a fundamental mental technique that should be practiced as often as possible throughout the day. It consists, first, of evoking in your mind the idea of strength in the most vivid and authentic way you can; it is not enough merely to think it—you must feel it within yourself.

To do so, bring to mind an image that represents energy and power: a raging sea, a hurricane wind, the engines of an airplane roaring at full power before takeoff—any scene that awakens in you the sense of immense force.

Then, expand that sensation as much as you can and remain in it, fully enjoying it.

Finally, claim that idea and make it yours permanently, as something that belongs to you forever. This is the closest the individual mind can come to what true creation really is.

Be extremely careful not to allow the ego to seize upon the powerful ideas you evoke. The ego covets them with all its might; do not let it.

Remember: you, as an ego, are not that. Rather, that is what you are—the Son of God.

Throughout the day, you will inevitably find yourself in situations that tempt you toward weakness, smallness, or helplessness.

Do not yield.

Focus on experiencing the strength within you—which, in truth, is you. In the next Lesson, you will understand why.

Today’s review covers these ideas: W-79 and W-80

1. W-79. “Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.”^I

2. Let me understand today that every problem is always some form of grievance I want to keep. ^II

²Let me also understand that the solution is always a miracle I allow to take the place of that grievance. ^III

³Today I want to remember the simplicity of salvation by applying the lesson that there is only one problem and only one solution.

⁴The problem is a grievance, and the solution is a miracle.

⁵And I welcome the solution as I forgive the grievance and invite the miracle to take its place.

3. These specific applications of the idea may be helpful:

²This presents a problem to me, and I want it to be resolved.

³The miracle behind this grievance will resolve it for me.

⁴The solution to this problem is the miracle the problem hides.

4. W-80. “Let me recognize my problems have been solved.”^IV

5. I believe I have problems only because I misunderstand time.

²I think the problem comes first, and that time must pass before it can be resolved.

³I do not see that the problem and the solution arise together.

⁴This is because I have not yet realized that God has placed the solution right beside the problem, so they cannot be separated in time.

⁵The Holy Spirit will teach me this, if I allow Him to.

⁶And then I will understand that it is impossible for me to have a problem that has not already been solved.

6. These expressions of the idea will be helpful for specific applications:

²I do not need to wait for this to be resolved.

³The solution to this problem has already been given me, if I am willing to accept it.

⁴Time cannot separate this problem from its solution.

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^I In Lesson 79 we learned that the problem is separation. But in truth, that is not exactly the problem, for if separation were real, the problem would be irresolvable. Separation is not real.

The real problem is the desire to be separate from everything—the desire lodged in the mind to encapsulate itself, the desire to construct an identity apart, the desire to be me and nothing else. That is the problem: the desire to place the will in service of an impossible idea—the belief that I am alone.

That inward contraction of the mind upon itself creates a black hole in consciousness, as imaginary as the mind itself—a hole of darkness in which the immense gravitational pull of the ego’s shadowy center prevents the light of love from extending beyond its own limits and turns it toward that pit of nothingness. The ego, enamored of itself, consumes the love of the mind.

The belief in the idea of separation is nothing but an act of selfishness—the basic condition of a depressed mind, anguished by an essential fear that hurls it into the nothingness of the ego: the idea of the separate self. It is the condition of a sick mind incapable of love. The mind abhors the idea it has itself conceived and hates itself for it. Sick, insane, and terrified, it projects its fear and fragmentation into a frightening world, a dream of hardship and punishment.

That is the original sin—the voluntary abandonment of paradise by a confused mind that misinterpreted the idea of freedom and used it to enslave itself under the yoke of a spurious identity. There is only one problem, and moreover, it is an artificial one—a problem that exists only for the mind that believes it does. The mind absorbed in the idea of self cannot free itself, cannot save itself, for the simple reason that it is not itself; it never has been.

There is no such thing as “an individual mind.” What exists is the belief that there can be one—and that malignant conception gives rise to an illusory world that is real only to the mind itself. Such is the nature of black holes.

The rescue of the sick mind must be as imaginary as the idea that sickened it. The black hole collapses when the idea of the personal self weakens enough for the light to dispel it with its radiance. Salvation is not real. Separation never occurred. Salvation is experienced only by the individual mind—which does not exist.

Humility and honesty are the way. Forgiveness and charity are the tools that allow the mind to break the chains that bind it to a perverse idea. The Love of God is the panorama the mind beholds when it lifts its gaze, absorbed no longer in the impossible.

^II May I understand today that the real problem is that my will is misdirected, for I have focused it on some form of resentment.

Why would I have that resentment if it were not because I want to have it?
Do you realize it is impossible to be angry unless you want to be?

Resentment, anger, fear, and guilt are self-inflicted sufferings, though unrecognized as such.

Guilt is always someone else’s fault; I always find a justification for my distress. But that is not reality—that is my reality.

^III To understand this line, and the one before it, look at the effects, for that will allow you to identify the causes.

Notice the similarity between the emotions that arise when harboring resentments and when feeling burdened by a perceived problem.

Can you see that it is the same discomfort? A resentment certainly constitutes a serious problem in the happy flow of your life, and any problem will make you feel resentful toward life.

Problems and resentments are the same.

And in the same way, notice also that a miracle is the solution to a painful situation—and that whenever you solve a problem, you see things differently, which is precisely what a miracle does.

Therefore, whenever you think you have a problem, realize that you are resentful about your interpretation of what you perceive—and that to solve it, you need to see it differently, that is, you need to invoke a miracle.

^IV My problems will never be solved. That is impossible. How could a problem that does not exist be solved!? Problems are not resolved; they dissolve.

Nothing you regard as important will ever cease to be a problem for you—but the truth is that nothing is important. Importance is the way the ego relates to its false creations—the “love” it bestows upon its offspring. The mind, having granted importance to the conflicting idea of a personal self, projects that same importance as conflict onto everything it perceives.

Without a sense of importance, there is no problem. That is forgiveness: to stop considering something important—nothing more than that. My problems have already been resolved because nothing is important to me anymore.

To give importance to something is to separate it from all that exists, to single it out as special and value it more highly. Why would I do that? Why would I choose to remain with a tiny fragment of all that exists? What could I possibly do with that trifle? Would it satisfy my longing to have it all? Perhaps for a time the formula works—but soon a new desire, a new illusion, will arise.

The problem and the solution are coetaneous, for both are fruits of my imagination—just like the time and space in which I place them. Granting importance to something should not in itself constitute a problem, unless it is linked to the perverse idea of powerlessness.

First I regard something as separate and single it out; then I regard it as threatening; and finally I consider myself powerless to resolve the situation: thus have I invented a fine problem.

For me to believe that whole story, it is essential that I project it outward and completely disown all my considerations. It wasn’t me! Don’t blame me for what appears in my mind!

Apparently, important things are like strange mushrooms sprouting of their own accord from dung in the dark vaults of my self-absorbed mind.

Let there be light! And the problems will vanish inevitably.

Today’s review covers these ideas: W-77 and W-78

1. W-77. “I am entitled to miracles.” ^I

2. I am entitled to miracles because I am governed only by the Laws of God.^II

²His Laws release me from all grievances and replace them with miracles.

³And I want to accept miracles instead of grievances, which are nothing but illusions hiding the miracles that lie beyond them.

⁴Now I want to accept only what the Laws of God entitle me to have, so I may use it in service of the function He has given me.

3. These suggestions may be helpful for applying this idea specifically:

²Behind this is a miracle to which I am entitled.

³I will not hold any grievance against you, (name), but offer you the miracle to which you are entitled.

⁴This offers me a miracle, if I will see it rightly.

4. W-78. “Let miracles replace all grievances.”

5. With this idea I join my will with the Holy Spirit’s, and see them as one.

²With this idea I accept my release from hell.

³With this idea I express my willingness for all my illusions to be replaced by truth, according to God’s plan for my salvation. ^III

⁴I will make no exceptions and no substitutions.

⁵What I want is all of Heaven, and only Heaven, exactly as God wills it to be.

6. These specific forms may be useful for applying this idea:

²I do not want this grievance to keep me from my salvation.

³Let our grievances be replaced by miracles, (name).

⁴Behind this is the miracle that replaces all my grievances.

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^I If you do not understand the word “miracle” well, you may better grasp its synonym—another term that means the same: “solution.” A miracle is the solution to a perceptual problem based on truth. And when that truth reaches you completely, even appearances change.

For what is perceived to change through the power of your will to see the light—because now you have willed to see things differently—you must have passed through those clouds made of imaginary fears that the Course mentions; then it is that you perceive miraculously. And if your brother joins your vision, what is perceived changes for both of you.

^II Miracles are not strange; they are the most natural thing there is. Just as the laws of the world lead to fear, the Laws of God lead to miracles. Both fear and miracles occur in the realm of perception. They are merely different ways of perceiving.

To perceive is to interpret—it is the language through which the “things” that the perceiver regards as separate from himself communicate. Syntax is the set of laws that organize the various elements of a language to make the message comprehensible to the receiver.

In the world there is spoken a universal language: the language of the ego. And though there are many different dialects, the syntax of all of them is essentially the same.

In Heaven no language is spoken—none is needed there, for message, content, communication, sender, and receiver are all the same—but if there were one, the syntax of that language could be called “the Laws of God.”

These laws in Heaven are utterly unnecessary, but here on earth they serve to interpret the hallucinatory experience in terms that do not clash with true celestial identity.

It is not that Heaven takes any account of the things of the world, but the Laws of God are very useful to keep human beings from getting entangled in the jargon of the ego in their interpretations.

Indeed, the first rule of this divine syntax reads: “Turn a deaf ear to any interpretation that does not come from God.”

^III In reality, truth replaces nothing, substitutes for nothing, goes nowhere, and does nothing. Truth simply is—of course! There has never been anything but truth, there never will be, nor could there ever be. The mere temptation to think otherwise is a shameful absurdity and a great foolishness.

To come to think that it is possible for truth to be hidden or absent, to have degrees, or for some to possess it while others do not, requires a sick mind, a heap of lies, and a great desire to suffer.

The mind can estrange itself through illusions, tell itself terrifying stories, deceive itself, blame others, and deny its own identity—but it cannot in any way alter reality.

Indeed, it can distort truth—but only for itself.

When the mind grows weary of suffering, it need only stop granting itself illusions and collecting resentments. It needs to do nothing more. It need only cease defiling reality with sordid interpretations.

None of that has ever been true. It has not had nightmares because it accidentally fell asleep—that is impossible. The mind plunged into the dream of death by its own will, and as it did so, so too will it awaken—by its own will.

The mind must express its innermost desire unmistakably, and its will shall be fulfilled, for its will is its very reality.

There is no need to fall to your knees and cry to Heaven for salvation; a little honesty is enough.

Here, as in all the Lessons, Jesus always urges us toward the same thing: that we place our will in a specific direction—a very precise one, the same in which he places his. And thus, when our will is exactly that, our problems and resentments disappear—miraculously.

It is the will to desire what he desires, but from the very depths of our hearts—truly and sincerely. To do the Lessons and repeat their ideas routinely and mechanically is worthless. Only what is genuine counts; only your heartfelt will counts.

These practices are effective because of their quality, not their quantity. And the proof that they have been done well lies always in the present, for if the benefit is real, it can only be found in the only real aspect of time: the present.

It makes no sense to think, “I am going to do the Lessons, and after a year I will have become a better person.” It is not so. Salvation can occur only here and now. Anything else is merely buying time.

Instant salvation is a wholly legitimate aspiration, because it accords with the Laws of God.

Today’s review covers these ideas: W-75 and W-76

1. W-75. “The light has come.”

2. By choosing salvation instead of attack, I am simply choosing to recognize what is already there. ^I

²Salvation is a decision that has already been made.

³Attack and grievances are not an option.

⁴Thus, I am always choosing between truth and illusion, between what is there and what is not.

⁵The light has come.

⁶I can only choose the light, because there is no other alternative.

⁷Light has replaced darkness, and darkness has disappeared.

3. These are some helpful ways to apply this idea specifically:

²This cannot show me darkness, for the light has come.

³The light in you is all I want to see, (name).

⁴I only want to see what is really there in this.

4. W-76. “I am under no laws but God’s.”

5. This is the perfect statement of my freedom.

²I am governed by no laws but God’s.

³I am constantly tempted to invent other laws and give them power over me. ^II

⁴I suffer only because I believe in them.

⁵But in truth they have no effect on me at all.

⁶I am perfectly immune to the effects of any law except God’s.

⁷And His are the laws of freedom.

6. The following statements may be helpful for applying this idea specifically:

²My perception of this shows me I believe in laws that do not exist.

³I see only the Laws of God at work in this.

⁴Let it be the Laws of God that operate in this, and not my own.

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^I The light has come! It is the exclamation of a sound and happy mind; it is what is declared by one who has forgiven the world in order to grant salvation to himself.

He apparently had before him two options: to condemn or to forgive. But he has chosen well—he has chosen not to listen to that furious voice that shouted from his gut how “reality” was supposed to be, and how flawed it was.

Until now, without realizing it, he had accepted the precepts of that harsh voice, because it was the first thing that came to his mind. He had never questioned the appropriateness of that interpretation; in fact, in his hallucination, he had not even noticed that it was only that—a story being told to him, or rather, a story he was telling himself, because he believed it was he who thought that way. But was it?

One day, perhaps tired of so much suffering, he began to question his own judgment—he began to doubt himself. Which, on the other hand, is quite surprising, because whoever doubts must be different from that which is doubted.

What confusion! Am I one or two?

The light has come! I am not two! I am not that voice that dictates how reality must be. I am not that voice that tells me I am right. Nor am I the one that tells me I am wrong. I am no voice at all, nor am I anything any voice tells me I am.

I am. Period. The light has come!

I no longer believe that voice. I no longer believe in anything. Now the light has come, and I no longer need beliefs, interpretations, or stories to be told.

Now I see! Now I see the light, and I am left speechless—I am left without stories, and without them I cannot judge or harbor resentments.

Now my heart overflows with joy, and my mind is at peace. I am one. I am He Who Is.

^II Once upon a time there was a man who searched. Once upon a time there was a collector of rules, of stories, and of descriptions. Once upon a time there was a legalist. Once upon a time there was a fearful man who sought laws to govern him.

Nothing in particular was happening in his mind; only the strange idea had entered that he needed explanations, and so he had gone out into the world to find them.

Things—he told himself—are not just things; they are things with explanations, but these are not evident—they are hidden and must be found. Thus, he wandered restlessly through the world in search of the descriptions of things.

Things—he also told himself—come with rules and instructions that tell you what they are, what they are for, and how to use them, like the inserts that come with medicine.

The poor man was somewhat lost. He felt uncertain and insecure without something to tell him how he should live. He was afraid of freedom, and responsibility was a concept that made him ill. He was terrified of making mistakes. He was afraid of life. He was afraid to create. He was afraid of love. He was afraid of himself.

His first instinct was to find a hole to hide in, and he only dared go out at night, in dim light, frantically scanning the ground in search of some scrap of paper with instructions about something.

When he found one, he would rise up excitedly and begin to shout to the four winds what was written there, so that everyone might hear of his happy discovery and celebrate with him that from now on they would know exactly what to do about some trivial matter.

And that was not the worst. At times he would join up with another lunatic he found somewhere, burdened with bags of grimy papers scribbled with rules and instructions, and together they would build a strange friendship based on shared values such as intolerance, rigidity, and fanaticism.

Shared madness multiplies and becomes cruel and aggressive. And it is then that the raging madmen hurl themselves upon the ignorant, who have not yet discovered the perverse pleasure of fearing freedom.

The Laws of God are the anti-laws of the world. They are laws that grant omnipotence and limitlessness; Laws that categorically forbid anything less than everything, and that, indispensably, apply equally to all that exists.

They are the euphoric Laws of God—and moreover, they are inviolable.

Today’s review covers these ideas: W-73 and W-74

1. W-73. “I will that there be light.”

2. Today I will use the power of my will. ^I

²It is not my will to grope about in darkness, fearful of shadows and frightened by unreal and unseen things.

³Today my guide will be the light.

⁴I will follow it wherever it leads, and I will look only upon what it shows me.

⁵Today I will experience the peace of true perception.

3. These expressions of the idea will be helpful for specific applications:

²This cannot hide the light I will to see.

³You are with me in the light, (name).

⁴In the light, I will see this differently.

4. W-74. “There is no will but God’s.” ^II

5. Today I am safe because there is no will but God’s.

²I can only be afraid when I believe there is another will.

³I attempt to attack only when I am afraid.

⁴And only when I attempt to attack can I believe that my eternal safety is threatened.

⁵Today I will recognize that none of this has happened.

⁶I am safe because there is no will but God’s.

6. These are some useful ways to apply this idea specifically:

²I want to see this in accordance with the Will of God.

³The Will of God is that you, (name), are His Son, and that is also my will.

⁴This is part of God’s Will for me, no matter how I may see it.

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^I Will is one of the three aspects of Being we learned about in theText (T-3.IX.1:2): “The true functions of the Soul are knowing, loving, and creating.” Will is the aspect through which Being creates. Creation is the function of will. In these Lessons, the three aspects are mentioned in relation to one another, for they are consubstantial with Being. The light referred to here is the symbol of knowledge.

When the human being integrates the mind, he uses his functions harmoniously within the perceptual realm and directs his will to see the love that light reveals to him. It is essential to highlight the crucial role of will in this process, for we will perceive that which it is our will to perceive.

It is also important to understand that what we are going to see is not something we must decide ourselves. Our function is to place our will on there being light—on nothing else. However, our first impulse will be to direct the will toward achieving our expectations, which is nothing but the voice of the ego manifesting once again.

Remember that you do not know what is in your best interest. Ask only for light; ask only for understanding.

Now reflect: who is it that is here asking for light? Obviously, the one who does not have it. This Lesson is not about light itself but about will. It is a Lesson for training the will—the most basic aspect of Being. First comes the will to Be, which extends Itself in Its loving and fulfills Itself in the knowledge of Its own creation.

In the esoteric and spiritual tradition of Hinduism and yoga, will is represented by the Manipura chakra, located at the solar plexus, above the navel and just below the diaphragm, marking the boundary with the higher chakras. Above it lies Anahata, which symbolizes love, and higher still, Ajna, which represents the light of knowledge. This arrangement suggests a natural progression: from will, which is the foundation, through love, to the light of knowledge.

This fundamental character of will is the reason why this Course insists so much upon it as an essential aspect of Being. From will, the following aspects manifest in an ascending progression. For this reason, it is imperative to rescue will from the clutches of the ego, for it is presently confused, hijacked, and lost in paths that lead nowhere.

^II This is not a commandment nor an order, but the affirmation of a fact: the Will of God is the aspect of Being that creates reality. And Reality is that which is—that which exists. Its essential quality is immutability. To be and to be immutable are, ultimately, synonymous. Change implies ceasing to be something in order to become something else. Therefore, what changes is that which simultaneously is and is not—an ontological impossibility, an absurdity.

In this world—the realm of the illusory—being is confused with seemingto be. Everything that merely seems to exist is called being, though in reality it is not, because when you look closely, it has already transformed into something else. Illusions are so named precisely because they are illusions of being: they appear to exist, but they are nothing, unreal, and therefore do not exist, though they may seem to.

Time belongs to the domain of illusion, for it is the awareness of change—the perception that the impossible, the becoming of the immutable, appears possible. The human mind, operating within time, thus projects illusory conceptions, and all its cause-and-effect relationships are likewise illusory.

The awareness of change generates a deep fear in the human mind, for it introduces the idea of loss of being—the notion of death. But that is impossible, because what truly exists cannot cease to exist. The Will of God creates only what is real: what does not change, what is, what remains.

When the human mind aligns with the Will of God, fear disappears. But for that to happen, it must overcome its authorship problem: the belief that it created itself, that it is separate from God, and that it acts autonomously. That idea is the root of fear, for it gives rise to the feeling of being alone, separate, and devoid of Love.

Ultimately, it is a false conception of freedom: the belief that the human will can “create” the imperfect, the limited, or the lacking—that is, something intrinsically different from its Author, the Self, the only thing that truly exists.

The human mind cannot conceive what is real in the strict sense, because it is itself a demented illusion. Yet it can align with Reality and come to perceive accurately. Neither can it heal itself, for by nature it is an existential contradiction. Its redemption consists in awakening to the awareness of its true identity—but even that transcends the notion of awareness, for it occurs when the direct knowledge of being is reached.

Human beings are not saved from anything, for illusions cannot be saved. The illusion of being human simply dissolves. That, which terrifies the ego, is at the same time the source of immense joy for you.

Today’s review covers these ideas: W-71 and W-72

1. W-71. “Only God’s plan for salvation will work.”

2. It makes no sense for me to keep searching desperately for salvation everywhere. ^I

²I have looked for it in many people and things, but when I tried to grasp it, it was not there.

³I was mistaken about where it is.

⁴I was mistaken about what it is.

⁵I will undertake no more useless journeys.

⁶Only God’s plan for salvation will work.

⁷And I will rejoice that His plan can never fail.

3. These are some suggestions for specific applications of this idea:

²God’s plan for salvation will save me from the way I see this.

³This is no exception in God’s plan for my salvation.^II

⁴I want to see this only in the light of God’s plan for salvation.

4. W-72. “Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.”

5. Holding grievances is an attempt to prove that God’s plan for salvation will not work.

²Yet only His plan will succeed.

³Therefore, by holding grievances, I exclude from my awareness my one and only hope of salvation.

⁴I do not want to continue attacking my own best interests in such a senseless way. ^III

⁵I want to accept God’s plan for salvation and be happy.

6. Specific applications of this idea might be:

²As I look upon this, I am choosing between misperception and salvation.

³If I see grounds for grievances in this, I will not see the grounds for my salvation.⁴This is a call for salvation, not for attack.

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^I In this Course, the term “salvation” is aptly used to denote that which completely fulfills all your longings, perfectly answers all your doubts, and, as a result, floods your heart with joy and sets your mind in peace forever; that is, it restores your mind to the original state in which God created it.

To be saved is to remember who you are.

Does what God created perfect need to be restored, healed, or saved in any way? Obviously not. That is impossible.

Does the mind of God’s Son need to be saved from the impossible—from what never occurred? Of course not! That cannot be, and if it cannot be, it never has been.

That is why this Course begins by saying: “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.”

The very idea of salvation is an incomprehensible concept, because it is the answer to an impossible idea: the idea of separation. An unreal concept can only be corrected by another operating at the same level—also unreal.

This Course operates in a realm as unreal as the idea that conceived it. And its strategy—the plan of God for salvation—is as incomprehensible as the idea of separation it seeks to heal; hence its proposal is purely negative: forgiveness, that is, the mind’s refusal to heed the unreal and its dismissal of illusion.

Yet, as this Course also warns, no teaching can be purely negative; it must point toward some positive content—hence the notion of levels: one unreal and nonexistent, within which it operates, and another real, absolutely full and positive—the idea of Being.

To confuse and intermingle the two levels is the basic error of the mind absorbed in the first; that is the sole temptation—that is the wrong-mindedness.

What you seek—recovering your true identity by ceasing to believe in the impossible—is not found in the perceptual realm, which arose precisely to support that perverse idea of being separate.

God’s plan for salvation works for the simple reason that it denies error. Nothing more is required.

^II Everything I perceive is a projection of the fragmented mind meant to support the mistaken idea it has of itself. Nothing you perceive is real. What is real cannot be perceived; it can only be known—and since knowing is the same as being, knowledge cannot occur within a false identity.

You never know from your human perspective; only Being knows—and that Being is what you truly are. But do not be deceived into believing that, as a person, you can know; at the personal level you can only hold beliefs.

What you now behold as a human you cannot know, but you can dismiss it as a means to salvation, which will be the first idea to arise in your mind when you perceive it. Dismiss it, for the voice that seeks to convince you that your salvation lies there is the ego’s.

Look carefully, ask for a different interpretation, quiet your mind, and listen. You will receive a better proposal, and you will recognize it because it is peaceful, benevolent, and beneficial.

What you will hear is not the truth in the strict sense either, but it is the best you can access within the realm of perception, and the Course calls this “true perception.”

If to be saved is to remember who you are, then God’s plan for salvation consists in using all the things life sets before you to foster that remembrance—and this occurs when you behold them with true perception.

In God’s plan for salvation, everything that happens to you is interpreted positively, because everything can be seen as serving that plan. Thus, when events accord with your longings and expectations, they are cause for celebration; and when they contradict them—the difficulties of life—they become opportunities to learn and to change.

Life is the perfect school, and everything that occurs is for your good. When something disturbs you, do not say: “Life is wrong; I have to change it.” Say rather: “Life is right; I have to change the way I see it.” This does not mean you should refrain from doing what is appropriate, but do not attempt to do so before you have changed your interpretation and regained peace.

Remember that the world you believe you perceive is an illusion and means nothing in itself; thus it is irrelevant. But your peace is indeed meaningful and necessary. You have come here precisely for that.

^III Harboring resentments is simply arrogance. It occurs when you ascribe to yourself abilities you do not have. In this case, you believe you are qualified to judge what is before you and condemn it. It is not so, but you believe it.

Since you do not like what you see, according to your own reasoning—the ego’s—you condemn it and attack it.

First, consider that what is before you is not real; and then consider that the way you are regarding it is unhelpful—as your heart makes known to you—and that is why you feel bad.

Moreover, harboring resentments is a negative emotional state—an attack against yourself—that will not help you at all to attain what you truly want: peace of mind. Remember this fundamental ontological principle: means cannot contradict ends. If you want peace, do not prepare for war.

You are probably convinced that the only way to attain that peace is to achieve certain goals that lie outside you. Do not deceive yourself. You will not find peace in anything external; peace is a real idea and is found in your mind, which is also real. In fact, peace is your mind’s natural condition when it is not deceived by the false promises of external idols.

Do not persist in that path; correct it. Quiet your mind and pray. Ask for help.