ACIM Lesson 9 I see nothing as it is now.

I see nothing as it is now.

ACIM Lesson 9

Lesson 9

I see nothing as it is now.

1. This idea obviously follows from the two preceding ones. ²But while you may be able to accept it intellectually, it is unlikely that it will mean anything to you as yet. ³However, understanding is not necessary at this point. ⁴In fact, the recognition that you do not understand is a prerequisite for undoing your false ideas. ⁵These exercises are concerned with practice, not with understanding. ⁶You do not need to practice what you already understand. ⁷It would indeed be circular to aim at understanding, and assume that you have it already.

2. It is difficult for the untrained mind to believe that what it seems to picture is not there. ²This idea can be quite disturbing, and may meet with active resistance in any number of forms. ³Yet that does not preclude applying it. ⁴No more than that is required for these or any other exercises. ⁵Each small step will clear a little of the darkness away, and understanding will finally come to lighten every corner of the mind that has been cleared of the debris that darkens it.

It is important that we accept that we don’t need to understand, just to practice. If we understood, we wouldn’t need to practice. We don’t need to accept this; we just need to practice it. Each lesson is helping us to clear away the debris that is making vision impossible for us. We just need to trust the process and do as we are asked. None of this is hard. It only feels hard when we resist the ideas.

It Took Me a While to Get There

When I first did these lessons, I didn’t actually believe what I was told. How could what I see so clearly not be here. I could touch it and smell and sometimes taste it. Of course, it was the body doing all of this and the body isn’t here either. As Jesus says in the Text, At no single instant does the body exist at all. (ACIM, T-18.VII.3:1) But there was a certainty in me that insisted this is true no matter how it seems to fly in the face of reality. So I did it anyway which is all that is asked of us.

I am certain, now that it is true. There is nothing for us to see because this is not actually reality. Everything that can be seen with the body’s eyes does not exist. And yet, there are times when I take it all too seriously. I will suddenly become afraid for someone I love who seems to be in trouble. The thought of being someplace high terrifies me. And yet, even then, even in those moments when the world feels real, I know it is not. It seems that once you know something, you can’t unknow it even if the false memory surfaces. Knowing that the world is not real, opens the mind to what is real. These lessons work if we do them.

Just Follow the Simple Instructions

3. These exercises, for which three or four practice periods are sufficient, involve looking about you and applying the idea for the day to whatever you see, remembering the need for its indiscriminate application, and the essential rule of excluding nothing. ²For example:

³I do not see this typewriter as it is now.
⁴I do not see this telephone as it is now.
⁵I do not see this arm as it is now.

4. Begin with things that are nearest you, and then extend the range outward:

²I do not see that coat rack as it is now.
³I do not see that door as it is now.
⁴I do not see that face as it is now.

5. It is emphasized again that while complete inclusion should not be attempted, specific exclusion must be avoided. ²Be sure you are honest with yourself in making this distinction. ³You may be tempted to obscure it.

The exercises seem ridiculously simple for something so incredible. And yet, truly they do change everything and eventually they bring us Home. Jesus repeats that we should not try to include everything and emphasizes that it is essential that we not specifically exclude something. If we exclude anything at all, we will not remember our true Self.

There Is no Loss, Only Gain

I used to be afraid to include the people I love, especially my children. It was like I was saying they don’t exist. Now I understand that I am including only the images of the loved ones, the body/personality. I don’t see them as they really are and that is just a fact. And I am glad that they are not these bodies. Who they really are is deeply loved and that love is purer than ever. We are now closer than ever before. There is no loss in doing this work, only gain.

To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 9 click here.

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