Voice From Heaven

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 grea...

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 grea...

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 yo...

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 20I 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 of...

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 cau...

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 to how you see it. Therefore, the exercises for...

LESSON 17 I See No Neutral Things. This idea is another step in the direction of identifying cause and effect as it really operates in the world. You see no neutral things because you have no neutral thoughts. It is always the thought that comes first, despite the temptation to believe that it is the other way around. This is not the way the world thinks, but you must learn that it is the way you...

LESSON 16 I Have No Neutral Thoughts. The idea for today is a beginning step in dispelling the belief that your thoughts have no effect. Everything you see is the result of your thoughts. There is no exception to this fact. Thoughts are not big or little; powerful or weak. They are merely true or false. Those that are true create their own likeness. Those that are false make theirs. There is no mo...

LESSON 15 My Thoughts Are Images That I Have Made. t is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images that you do not recognize them as nothing. You think you think them, and so you think you see them. This is how your “seeing” was made. This is the function you have given your body’s eyes. It is not seeing. It is image making. It takes the place of seeing, replacing vision with illusi...

LESSON 14 God Did Not Create A Meaningless World. The idea for today is, of course, the reason why a meaningless world is impossible. What God did not create does not exist. And everything that does exist exists as He created it. The world you see has nothing to do with reality. It is of your own making, and it does not exist. The exercises for today are to be practiced with eyes closed throughout...

LESSON 13 A Meaningless World Engenders Fear. Today’s idea is really another form of the preceding one, except that it is more specific as to the emotion aroused. Actually, a meaningless world is impossible.  Nothing without meaning exists. However, it does not follow that you will not think you perceive something that has no meaning. On the contrary, you will be particularly likely to think you d...

LESSON 12 I Am Upset Because I See A Meaningless World. The importance of this idea lies in the fact that it contains a correction for a major perceptual distortion. You think that what upsets you is a frightening world, or a sad world, or a violent world, or an insane world. All these attributes are given it by you. The world is meaningless in itself. These exercises are done with eyes open. Look...

LESSON 11 My Meaningless Thoughts Are Showing Me A Meaningless World. This is the first idea we have had that is related to a major phase of the correction process; the reversal of the thinking of the world. It seems as if the world determines what you perceive. Today’s idea introduces the concept that your thoughts determine the world you see. Be glad indeed to practice the idea in its initial fo...

LESSON 10 My Thoughts Do Not Mean Anything. This idea applies to all the thoughts of which you are aware, or become aware in the practice periods. The reason the idea is applicable to all of them is that they are not your real thoughts.  We have made this distinction before, and will do so again. You have no basis for comparison as yet. When you do, you will have no doubt that what you once believ...

LESSON 9 I See Nothing As It Is Now. This idea obviously follows from the two preceding ones. But while you may be able to accept it intellectually, it is unlikely that it will mean anything to you as yet. However, understanding is not necessary at this point. In fact, the recognition that you do not understand is a prerequisite for undoing your false ideas.  These exercises are concerned with pra...

LESSON 8 My Mind Is Preoccupied With Past Thoughts. This idea is, of course, the reason why you see only the past.  No one really sees anything.  He sees only his thoughts projected outward. The mind’s preoccupation with the past is the cause of the misconception about time from which your seeing suffers.  Your mind cannot grasp the present, which is the only time there is. It therefore cannot und...

LESSON 7 I See Only The Past. This idea is particularly difficult to believe at first.  Yet it is the rationale for all of the preceding ones.•It is the reason why nothing that you see means anything.•It is the reason why you have given everything you see all the meaning that it has for you.•It is the reason why you do not understand anything you see.•It is the reason why your thoughts do not mean...

LESSON 6 I Am Upset Because I See Something That Is Not There. The exercises with this idea are very similar to the preceding ones. Again, it is necessary to name both the form of upset (anger, fear, worry, depression and so on) and the perceived source very specifically for any application of the idea. For example: I am angry at because I see something that is not there. I am worried about becaus...

LESSON 5 I Am Never Upset For The Reason I Think. This idea, like the preceding one, can be used with any person, situation or event you think is causing you pain. Apply it specifically to whatever you believe is the cause of your upset, using the description of the feeling in whatever term seems accurate to you. The upset may seem to be fear, worry, depression, anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy or...

LESSON 4 These Thoughts Do Not Mean Anything. Unlike the preceding ones, these exercises do not begin with the idea for the day. In these practice periods, begin with noting the thoughts that are crossing your mind for about a minute. Then apply the idea to them. If you are already aware of unhappy thoughts, use them as subjects for the idea. Do not, however, select only the thoughts you think are...