What I see is a form of vengeance.
1. Today’s idea accurately describes the way anyone who harbors attack thoughts in their mind must see the world.
²Having projected their anger onto the world, they see vengeance about to fall upon them.
³Thus, they view their own attack as an act of self-defense.I
⁴This becomes a vicious, escalating cycle until they are willing to change the way they see.
⁵Otherwise, thoughts of attack and counterattack will pursue them and fill their entire world.
⁶What peace of mind could they possibly have, then?
2. This wild fantasy is what you want to escape.
²Is it not good news to hear that it is not real? II
³Is it not joyful to discover that you can escape from this fantasy?
⁴It was you who made what you now wish to destroy; you made all that you hate and want to attack and kill.
⁵But all of what you fear does not exist.
3. Look at the world around you today at least five times, for no less than one full minute each time.
²As your eyes move slowly from one object to another, from one body to another, say silently to yourself:
³I see only the perishable.
⁴I see nothing that will last.
⁵What I see is not real.III
⁶What I see is a form of vengeance.
⁷At the end of each practice period, ask yourself:
⁸Is this the world I really want to see? IV
⁹The answer is obvious.
I At first glance, it may be difficult to accept that the world you perceive is “a form of vengeance.” To better understand this Lesson, it is useful to review Section V of Chapter 31, The Self-Concept, where it is explained that the world you behold is nothing but the reflection of the guilt that lies hidden in the shadowed side of the self-concept you hold.
This hidden side, which the ego strives to keep secret, is laden with fears, judgments, resentments, and deep self-condemnation. By projecting these thoughts outward, you perceive a threatening world that seems to attack you. Remember that to perceive is to project, and thus the world will always confirm and justify your fears and suspicions. This endless cycle of attack and defense aims to perpetuate the false identity the ego has fabricated and you have accepted.
Now you are learning that this perception is nothing but an illusion. By opening to the Holy Spirit’s correction, you can look beyond this mask, release the unfounded guilt, and recognize your true innocence as the Son of God, beloved and at peace.
Seeing yourself from this new, more benevolent perspective, you will begin to project and behold a forgiven, gentle world. This shift in perception is accomplished through your will. The key question you must ask yourself is: What world do I want to see?
II Remember that the word gospel in Greek means “happy news” or “good news.” And that is the true Gospel of Jesus: “The world is not real, and you are the innocent Son of God.” This is a notion every student of this Course must never forget. The world itself does not matter at all, because it is nothing. Be aware that you will always end up “losing” all the things of the world. Most of them will slip from your hands during your apparent stay here, and when you finally leave your body, every last trace of what you called “mine” will vanish. Do you think your Father would allow you to lose anything real that He has given you? And you can be certain that what He has not given you is not real and does not exist.
The human impulse, hijacked by illusion, tends to “improve” a world that always disappoints its expectations. The ego judges and condemns the world, thinking it could do better. “What it wants now is a better illusion” (P-3.In.2:8). But there are no better or worse illusions; they are all falsehoods. That is what the world is: the fictitious manifestation of the idea of separation made form to deceive you. Illusions are not improved; they are forgiven and forgotten. In the blessed present you cannot attend to illusions and at the same time look toward the light. You will have to choose between the two; there is no other alternative. Look at Jesus: when He was in this world, He never sought to improve it. He was a sublime teacher and a healer of the mind who preached the transcendence of the world, not its “betterment.” He did not try to “fix” the illusion, but to show its irrelevance; that is why He is the teacher of forgiveness. “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my people would have fought to prevent me from being handed over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from here” (John 18).
III This line appears in Helen’s Notes, but crossed out. The Urtext does not include it.
IV Once you are settled in the fictitious identity the ego proposes, it becomes extremely difficult not to succumb to the temptation of believing you are a victim of the world you behold, and not its maker. Keep in mind that the phenomenon of projection implicit in perception entails the will not to take responsibility for what is projected on the part of the one projecting, because you project in order to place outside yourself what you conceive. This means you refuse to recognize that, if you are seeing something, you are seeing it because that is precisely what you want to see; you see what you want to see.
But do not let this recognition lead you into guilt and depression. On the contrary, notice the light this discovery holds when interpreted correctly, for it also means that your mind is so powerful that it can create any world it chooses. Your mind is free, it is powerful, and it responds faithfully to the dictates of your will.
So do not waste time judging and condemning a world of your own making. Instead, look within with clear eyes and identify your true will, which is the same as your Father’s.
This Course has been described in many ways: as a treatise on love, forgiveness, the working of miracles, or a program of mind training. Yet as you go deeper into it, you will discover that, at its core, it is a Course on will—a manual designed to teach you to change your wanting so as to align it with your true identity.