ACIM: A Reflection of Ideas

I am going to reflect on Lessons 152 and 325, discovering how I make the world I see and how I learned to change what I made.

A Reflection of Ideas.

Part 1

I am going to reflect on Lessons 152 and 325, discovering how I make the world I see and how I changed what I made. For a long time, I accepted that I was 100% responsible for my life. And then I realized I was 100% responsible for the world. I understand that if I am aware of something, it is there because I desire it to be there. Jesus is very clear in his Course that I do this to myself.

Even though I knew it must be true, I was resistant to it because it made me feel guilty to think about it. As I began to let go of the belief that guilt is real, I could see that responsibility did not imply guilt. Relief from guilt made it possible for me to receive more clarity.

Lesson 152

This clarity came through accepting Lesson 152. However, before I accepted it, I was resistant to the idea. In part this is what it says:

¹ No one can suffer loss unless it be his own decision. No one suffers pain except his choice elects this state for him. No one can grieve nor fear nor think him sick unless these are the outcomes that he wants. And no one dies without his own consent. Nothing occurs but represents your wish, and nothing is omitted that you choose. Here is your world, complete in all details. Here is its whole reality for you. And it is only here salvation is.

This is so very clear, and yet I still insisted that someone did it to me; that is, I am just a victim. I think one of the reasons I could not fully accept it, even though I believed it must be true, is that I could not understand how this could be true. I couldn’t understand how I made it happen. There have always been circumstances over which I seemed to have no control. How could they be my responsibility?

Lesson 325

Then, I read Lesson 325, and everything changed for me.

All things I think I see reflect ideas.

1 This is salvation’s keynote: What I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I want. From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges valuable, and therefore seeks to find. These images are then projected outward, looked upon, esteemed as real and guarded as one’s own. From insane wishes comes an insane world. From judgment comes a world condemned. And from forgiving thoughts a gentle world comes forth, with mercy for the holy Son of God, to offer him a kindly home where he can rest a while before he journeys on, and help his brothers walk ahead with him, and find the way to Heaven and to God.

Finally, I understood how I made the world I see.

Salvations Keynote

I have read this lesson many times. I finally became ready to accept the full meaning. When I read the first phrase, “This is salvation’s keynote,” I stopped. What? Did I read that right? How is it that I never noticed that important statement? If you look up synonyms for “keynote,” you will find these words: important, crucial, major, essential, central. This lesson is important, no, crucial to salvation.

What I read next explained to me how I made this world and how I continue to keep it ‘alive’ in my mind. Everything starts with a thought, something I believe I want.

“What I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I want.”

So, the first step to making the world I see is to have an idea of something that seems desirable to me. I might start with the idea that I want to win. I want to be the best at what I do. That means I want to overcome my brothers, to beat them, to prove I am better than them.

The next step is this:  “From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges valuable, and therefore seeks to find.”

I Win!

So I have an idea of what I want, and now I make up an image of the thing I desire. Perhaps that image is something like this. The coworker sitting with me disagrees with my assessment of the situation. I know I am right, and I tell everyone at the table why I am right, and he is wrong. I use all the facts at my disposal. He has to see my point as does everyone else, so my foe is vanquished. I win!

Now comes the next step: “These images are then projected outward, looked upon, esteemed as real and guarded as one’s own.”

So I have a clear image of something I desire and think is valuable. I now prove to myself that my desire to win is fulfilled as I project that image outward, and it becomes a situation in the life of Myron. The body’s senses seem to prove that I win as I see and hear the confrontation through Myron. That whole episode with the coworker was an image I made.

Making it Seem Real

To assure myself that I have proven my worth by defeating my opponent, I make that image so real and believable that it is hard to deny. I use all the body’s senses to make a vivid experience. There is strong emotion, and my image of the coworker as very reactive adds to the experience of it. If I start to question myself, the ego assures me that I was right and he was wrong. If I didn’t make that clear, there would be consequences.

How could I not argue the point? I was clearly saving myself and the company from his ignorance. It all feels and looks real, and I feel justified in what I did. The ego declares me the winner, no, the hero who saved the day. I didn’t make this situation; the ego mind says I just reacted to a situation the coworker caused.

Once I have reached that third stage, where I project the desired image, I can easily convince myself that I am only reacting to a situation in the world. I now believe I have to do something about a very real situation in the real world. I have completely hidden from my mind that I made the situation and that it could not have occurred unless I desired that it do so. I have hidden from my awareness that I had a desire, made an image that expressed that desire, and then projected it outward where I could use it to experience my desire.

Insane Wishes=Insane World

“From insane wishes comes an insane world. From judgment comes a world condemned.”

Why on earth did I think I needed to win? The solution to this insane world is to realize that my wishes are insane. Since I read this lesson, I have used it to help me see differently. It is like a fog has lifted, and suddenly everything is seen in sharp relief. Now let’s see how I am using this lesson and why it has changed everything.

A Reflection of Ideas.

Part 2

So, first, I understand how I make the world I see.

It is a reflection of a process in my mind.

It starts with a desire.

I make an image of that desire. I judge it as valuable. I seek to find it.

I project it outward. I look upon it. I decide it is real, and I guard it as my own.

I also see that, just as these insane thoughts make an insane world, forgiveness makes a gentle world. I can change the world I see when I change my thoughts. So I am continually creating the world I see.

A Process to Make a Gentle World

Knowing this, I started using these ideas. The first thing I did was to begin looking at things differently. I would look at a lamp, and the thought in my mind was that this thing is a lamp. I would change that to, “This is an image I have made that I call a lamp.” I did this often during the day to help me shift my thinking about the things I see.

The next thing I did was to change the way I see circumstances in my life. The old way of viewing these circumstances went like this. I would have a headache, and the ego mind would think of why my head hurts. I would think about the weather, my stress, or if I had enough sleep. I would nervously wonder if this was the beginning of a migraine and start thinking of possible triggers.

But now, with my new understanding, I would stop the process and shift my perspective. I would remember that this headache is an image I have made. It is not real, and it did not begin in the world but began in my mind and remains in my mind with the rest of the world I have made. I would then ask to see the original desire that sourced the image of Myron with a headache. This desire will point me to the belief that needs to be healed.

I Had to Shift My Perspective

I saw the desire to prove the body was real. That desire was coupled with the desire to prove the body is stronger than the mind by making an image of Myron helpless against a migraine. I saw that sometimes the desire was to ground Myron in the illusion by making an image of her running around looking endlessly for solutions to the migraine problem. This, of course, led me to a deeper desire: to keep the illusion in place and the ego self strong in the mind.

To make this effective, it must be a believable story. And it must keep the mind engaged. Otherwise, I might remember it is only a story. It must be consistent. It doesn’t have to make perfect sense, but it must be logical and coherent. So each time I make an image of a headache, I make that image believable and something that makes sense to the story.

I make certain triggers, like not enough sleep makes the head hurt. I do this often, and soon, the idea that not enough sleep causes a headache is so fixed in my mind that it seems like an undeniable fact. Now it is harder than ever to refute. That I found a trigger for the headache reinforces that the headache is real and is separate from my will and that I must battle it with all my resources.

When, after every effort on my part, I still get headaches, I have proven to myself that I am a victim to the body. I have convinced myself that I get headaches and I can do nothing about it. I am a frail and weak body, and each headache brings to doubt the words I read in the Course that tell me I am God’s Holy Son.

With Understanding Comes Change

But now that I understand the process, now that I understand why it is that this world I see represents my every wish, I am not fooled by my images. I ask to be shown the original desire and the belief that desire represents. I have seen how this desire is keeping me in the dream and is hurting me. I ask that my mind be healed.

Seeing it all so clearly has helped me to truly desire something else. Now that I see what I don’t want, I am asking the Holy Spirit to remove from my mind those beliefs and the desires that source the images I make. And I am learning to make images from the desire to awaken. Images of loving and being loved. Images that represent peace and happiness. Instead of images of separation, there are more images of union.

I invite you to explore Pathways of Light’s website. There are so many helpful tools to use in the study of A Course in Miracles. CLICK HERE to discover them.