A Course in Miracles Experience

LESSON 42 God is my strength. Vision is His gift. The idea for today combines two very powerful thoughts, both of major importance. It also sets forth a cause and effect relationship that explains why you cannot fail in your efforts to achieve the goal of the course. You will see because it is the Will of God. It is His strength, not your own, that gives you power. And it is His gift, rather than...

LESSON 41 God goes with me wherever I go. Today’s idea will eventually overcome completely the sense of loneliness and abandonment all the separated ones experience. Depression is an inevitable consequence of separation. So are anxiety, worry, a deep sense of helplessness, misery, suffering and intense fear of loss. The separated ones have invented many “cures” for what they believe to be “the ill...

LESSON 40 I am blessed as a Son of God .Today we will begin to assert some of the happy things to which you are entitled, being what you are. No long practice periods are required today, but very frequent short ones are nec­essary. Once every ten minutes would be highly desirable, and you are urged to attempt this schedule and to adhere to it when­ever possible. If you forget, try again. If there...

LESSON 39 My holiness is my salvation. If guilt is hell, what is its opposite? Like the text for which this workbook was written, the ideas used for the exercises are very simple, very clear and totally unambiguous. We are not con­cerned with intellectual feats nor logical toys. We are dealing only in the very obvious, which has been overlooked in the clouds of complexity in which you think you th...

LESSON 38 There is nothing my holiness cannot do. Your holiness reverses all the laws of the world. It is beyond every restriction of time, space, distance and limits of any kind. Your holiness is totally unlimited in its power because it estab­lishes you as a Son of God, at one with the Mind of his Creator. Through your holiness the power of God is made manifest. Through your holiness the power o...

LESSON 37 My holiness blesses the world. This idea contains the first glimmerings of your true function in the world, or why you are here. Your purpose is to see the world through your own holiness. Thus are you and the world blessed together. No one loses; nothing is taken away from any­one; everyone gains through your holy vision. It signifies the end of sacrifice because it offers everyone his...

LESSON 36 My holiness envelops everything I see. Today’s idea extends the idea for yesterday from the perceiver to the perceived. You are holy because your mind is part of God’s. And because you are holy, your sight must be holy as well. “Sinless” means without sin. You cannot be without sin a little. You are sinless or not. If your mind is part of God’s you must be sinless, or a part of His Mind...

LESSON 35 My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy. Today’s idea does not describe the way you see yourself now. It does, however, describe what vision will show you. It is difficult for anyone who thinks he is in this world to believe this of himself. Yet the reason he thinks he is in this world is because he does not believe it. You will believe that youare part of where you think you are. That...

LESSON 34 I could see peace instead of this. The idea for today begins to describe the conditions that prevail in the other way of seeing. Peace of mind is clearly an inter­nal matter. It must begin with your own thoughts, and then extend outward. It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful perception of the world arises. Three longerpractice periods are required for today’s exercises. One in th...

LESSON 33 There is another way of looking at the world. Today’s idea is an attempt to recognize that you can shift your perception of the world in both its outer and inner aspects. A full five minutes should be devoted to the morning and evening ap­plications. In these practice periods, the idea should be repeated as often as you find comfortable, though unhurried applications are essential. Alter...

LESSON 32 I have invented the world I see. Today we are continuing to develop the theme of cause and effect. You are not the victim of the world you see because you invented it. You can give it up as easily as you made it up. You will see it or not see it, as you wish. While you want it you will see it; when you no longer want it, it will not be there for you to see. The idea for today, like the p...

LESSON 31 I am not the victim of the world I see. Today’s idea is the introduction to your declaration of release. Again, the idea should be applied to both the world you see without and the world you see within. In applying the idea, we will use a form of practice which will be used more and more, with changes as indicated. Generally speaking, the form in­cludes two aspects, one in which you appl...

LESSON 30 God is in everything I see because God is in my mind. The idea for today is the springboard for vision. From this idea will the world open up before you, and you will look upon it and see in it what you have never seen before. Nor will what you saw before be even faintly visible to you. Today we are trying to use a new kind of “projection.” We are not attempting to get rid of what we do...

LESSON 29 God is in everything I see. The idea for today explains why you can see all purpose in everything. It explains why nothing is separate, by itself or in itself. And it explains why nothing you see means anything. In fact, it explains every idea we have used thus far, and all sub­sequent ones as well. Today’s idea is the whole basis for vision. You will probably find this idea very difficu...

LESSON 28 Above all else I want to see things differently. Today we are really giving specific application to the idea for yesterday. In these practice periods, you will be making a series of definite commitments. The question of whether you will keep them in the future is not our concern here. If you are willing at least to make them now, you have started on the way to keeping them. And we are st...

LESSON 27 Above all else I want to see. Today’s idea expresses something stronger than mere determination. It gives vision priority among your desires. You may feel hesitant about using the idea, on the grounds that you are not sure you really mean it. This does not matter. The purpose of today’s exercises is to bring the time when the idea will be wholly true a little nearer. There may be a great...

LESSON 26 My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability. It is surely obvious that if you can be attacked you are not invulnerable. You see attack as a real threat. That is because you believe that you can really attack. And what would have effects through you must also have effects on you. It is this law that will ultimately save you, but you are misusing it now. You must therefore learn ho...

LESSON 25 I do not know what anything is for. Purpose is meaning. Today’s idea explains why nothing you see means anything. You do not know what it is for. Therefore, it is meaningless to you. Everything is for your own best inter­ests. That is what it is for; that is its purpose; that is what it means. It is in recognizing this that your goals become unified. It is in recognizing this that what y...

LESSON 24 I do not perceive my own best interests. In no situation that arises do you realize the outcome that would make you happy. Therefore, you have no guide to appropriate action, and no way of judging the result. What you do is determined by your perception of the situation, and that perception is wrong. It is inevitable, then, that you will not serve your own best interests. Yet they are yo...

LESSON 23 I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. The idea for today contains the only way out of fear that will ever succeed. Nothing else will work; everything else is mean­ingless. But this way cannot fail. Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed...

LESSON 22 What I see is a form of vengeance. Today’s idea accurately describes the way anyone who holds attack thoughts in his mind must see the world. Having pro­jected his anger onto the world, he sees vengeance about to strike at him. His own attack is thus perceived as self defense. This becomes an increasingly vicious circle until he is willing to change how he sees. Otherwise, thoughts of at...

LESSON 21 I am determined to see things differently. The idea for today is obviously a continuation and extension of the preceding one. This time, however, specific mind-search­ing periods are necessary, in addition to applying the idea to par­ticular situations as they may arise. Five practice periods are urged, allowing a full minute for each. In the practice periods, begin by repeating the idea...

LESSON 20 I am determined to see. We have been quite casual about our practice periods thus far. There has been virtually no attempt to direct the time for under­taking them, minimal effort has been required, and not even ac­tive cooperation and interest have been asked. This approach has been intentional, and very carefully planned. We have not lost sight of the crucial importance of the reversal...

LESSON 19 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts. The idea for today is obviously the reason why your seeing does not affect you alone. You will notice that at times the ideas related to thinking precede those related to perceiving, while at other times the order is reversed. The reason is that the order does not matter. Thinking and its results are really simultaneous, for caus...

LESSON 18 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing. The idea for today is another step in learning that the thoughts which give rise to what you see are never neutral or unimportant. It also emphasizes the idea that minds are joined, which will be given increasing stress later on. Today’s idea does not refer to what you see as much as tohow you see it. Therefore, the exercises for t...