My grievances hide the light of the world in me.
1. No one can see what your grievances conceal. I
²Because your grievances are hiding the light of the world in you, your brother dwells in darkness, and so do you beside him.
³Yet when the veil of your grievances is lifted, you are freed along with him.
⁴Now share your salvation with him who stood beside you when you were in hell.
⁵He is your brother in the light of the world that saves you both. II
2. Today we will make another genuine attempt to reach the light within you. III
²Before we undertake this in our longer practice period, let us spend a few minutes reflecting on what it is we are trying to do.
³We are literally trying to reach the salvation of the world.
⁴We are attempting to see beyond the veil of darkness that hides it.
⁵We are trying to let the veil be lifted, and see the tears of the Son of God vanish in the sunlight.
3. Let us begin our longer practice period today fully aware that this is so, and with firm determination, let us try to reach what is more valuable to us than anything else.
²Salvation is our only need.
³There is no other purpose in this world, and no other function to fulfill.
⁴Learning salvation is our only goal.
⁵Let us bring the ancient search to an end today, by discovering the light in us and showing it, so that all who seek along with us may see it and rejoice.IV
4. Now, very quietly and with eyes closed, try to release everything that usually occupies your awareness.
²Picture your mind as a vast sphere wrapped in a layer of thick, dark clouds.
³You can only see the clouds, because you seem to stand outside the sphere and at some distance from it.
⁴From where you are, there is no reason to believe a brilliant light lies hidden behind the clouds.
⁵The clouds appear to be the only reality.
⁶They seem to be all there is.
⁷This is why you do not try to go through them and beyond them, which is the only way you could truly realize their insubstantial nature.
⁸That is what we will try to do today. V
5. After reflecting on how important what you are trying to do is—for yourself and for the world—remain in perfect stillness, remembering only how much you want to reach the light in you today, right now.
²Resolve to go beyond those clouds.
³In your mind, reach out and touch them.
⁴Then brush them aside with your hand, and feel them lightly as they pass across your cheeks, your forehead, and your closed eyelids as you go through them.
⁵Keep moving; the clouds cannot stop you.
6. If you are doing the exercises correctly, you will begin to have a sense of being lifted up and carried forward.
²That tiny effort, and your small determination, call on the power of the universe to help you, and God Himself will lift you from darkness into light.
³You are acting in perfect accord with His Will.
⁴You cannot fail, because your will is His.
7. Trust your Father today, and be certain He has heard you and has answered you.
²You may not yet recognize His answer, but you can be sure it has been given, and that you will receive it.
³Try to hold this confidence in your mind as you attempt to pass through the clouds and reach the light.
⁴Try to remember that at last you are joining your will to the Will of God.
⁵Keep clearly in mind the thought that anything you undertake with God must succeed.
⁶Then allow the Power of God to work in you and through you, so that His Will and yours may be done. VI
8. In the shorter practice periods, which you will want to do as often as possible given the importance of today’s idea for you and your happiness, remember that your grievances are hiding the light of the world from your awareness. VII
²Remind yourself also that you are not searching alone, and that you know where to look.
³Then say:
⁴My grievances hide the light of the world in me.
⁵I cannot see what I have hidden.
⁶Yet for my salvation,
and the salvation of the world,
I want it to be revealed to me.
⁷And if you are tempted today to hold a grievance against anyone, be sure to tell yourself silently:
⁸If I hold this grievance, I will not be able to see the light of the world.
I It is possible that this statement may not make much sense to you, because you may not yet understand how your resentments could conceal anything. You usually think they simply reflect the anger you feel for some grievance. But here Jesus is speaking of realities, not appearances. Remember: only love is real. Anger—or fear—is nothing but the absence of love, and what is absent has no real existence.
The ego will never understand this, for it deals only with absences—with what is not there. That is why this Course is so difficult for it: it speaks a language it cannot comprehend. You, however—Son of God—can understand it. Though the principles of this Course may seem inspiring to you, they can also appear incomprehensible or even unacceptable. Yet such judgments do not come from your true mind, but from the part of your holy mind still under the ego’s domain. And it is precisely that part this Course seeks to heal and reclaim.
A resentful mind cannot express love—the light of the world within you—because it is trapped in the idea of having been attacked or wronged in the past. But all of that is only an illusion, the result of a mistaken self-perception based on the smallness and vulnerability with which the ego deceives you. The foundations of those judgments are false, but if you believe in them, you will make them real for yourself.
Fortunately, you can always turn to your heart as your guide. If you feel bad, it is because what you are thinking is not true, and your resentments are unjustified. If you persist in deceiving yourself and continue to cause yourself moral suffering, it is because your ego has learned to interpret that pain as pleasure. Remember: the ego sees everything upside down. That is how confused and insane it is.
II Remember what you learned in Lesson 19: “I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.” Your resentments affect not only you; they also cast a shadow upon others, perpetuating the illusion of separation.
The opposite is equally true. To verify this, practice the following technique:
1) Block the judgment you are directing against your brother.
2) Invoke the idea of peace in your mind.
3) Look for that peace in your brother, the same peace you are claiming for yourself.
4) Look carefully and you will see it. It is there because you have placed it there.
5) Celebrate the peace you have found in your brother and thank him silently.
This technique, if done wholeheartedly, always works, because your will always fulfills itself. If you do it well, the entire process takes only a few seconds. If it takes you longer, ask yourself what it is you truly want to give yourself.
III W-41.4:3: “Today we will make our first real attempt to go beyond this heavy cloud of darkness, and to pass through it into the light beyond.” After this first guided meditation exercise in Lesson 41, similar practices follow in Lessons 44, 45, 47, and 49.
IV In fact, the exercise you are about to do is a kind of prayer: you are going to ask to see the light of the world within you—the love that you are. That is why Jesus now urges you to do it wholeheartedly, for that is the only way prayers succeed. Remember that whatever you ask in prayer is always granted, and that is so not because someone up above is watching you and deciding whether to give you something or not; in truth, everything is granted by you, to yourself.
If you do not grant yourself something, it is because you do not truly want it. Be very honest about this and see that it is so. If you ask for things you do not truly want, you are simply exhausting yourself—you are asking for despair, and that is what you will receive. Again, be honest: if realizing your true identity is not more valuable to you than anything else you think you perceive in the world, you are not ready for this. But do not worry or blame yourself for that; you are simply asking for more time, and that is what you will receive. Remember that life is perfect, and your will is always done.
V Here Jesus suggests that you visualize your mind as a planet completely covered by dense clouds, floating above you. He also tells you that although you cannot see it, beyond the clouds you perceive from outer space there is on that planet—your mind—a bright light: the light of the world. That light is more truly your own identity than anything else you could think about yourself.
The only planet in the solar system that fits that description—a planet covered with dense clouds—is Venus. And, fittingly, Venus is known as “the morning star,” for it appears shining above the horizon at the dawn of a new day.
VI Matthew 6:10: “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Here Jesus tells us that “… His Will and yours be done,” for your will perfectly coincides with the Will of God. The perceived world, too, is the result of a will, as it could not be otherwise—for even within the realm of illusion there can be no effects without a cause. The difference is that the will manifested there is the will of the ego.
VII These brief practices will be of great help to you, and they are profoundly healing—especially those you do in response to specific flashes of anger that arise throughout the day. All of this is part of the mental training that is purifying your mind and that will eventually enable you to work miracles.
Changing your mental habits and acquiring new ones usually involves a long process that requires multiple repetitions, until the new habits become automatic and the new way of perceiving is the first thing that comes to mind when something contradicts your expectations. Be patient and persevere.