Lesson 1

Nothing I see in this room [on this street,
from this window, in this place] means anything.

W-pI.1.1. Now look slowly around you, and practice applying this idea very specifically to whatever you see:

2 This table does not mean anything.
3 This chair does not mean anything.
4 This hand does not mean anything.
5 This foot does not mean anything.
6 This pen does not mean anything.

W-pI.1.2. Then look farther away from your immediate area, and apply the idea to a wider range:

2 That door does not mean anything.
3 That body does not mean anything.
4 That lamp does not mean anything.
5 That sign does not mean anything.
6 That shadow does not mean anything.

W-pI.1.3. Notice that these statements are not arranged in any order, and make no allowance for differences in the kinds of things to which they are applied. 2 That is the purpose of the exercise. 3 The statement should merely be applied to anything you see. 4 As you practice the idea for the day, use it totally indiscriminately. 5 Do not attempt to apply it to everything you see, for these exercises should not become ritualistic. 6 Only be sure that nothing you see is specifically excluded. 7 One thing is like another as far as the application of the idea is concerned.

W-pI.1.4. Each of the first three lessons should not be done more than twice a day each, preferably morning and evening. 2 Nor should they be attempted for more than a minute or so, unless that entails a sense of hurry. 3 A comfortable sense of leisure is essential.

Journal

I’ve been doing the lessons for many years. While it is not necessary to do the lessons again, I love going through them each year and seeing them with new eyes. It seems that each time I do, I am gifted with more clarity.

If this is your first time, this lesson may seem nonsensical to you. Just do it anyway. One of my objections when I first started was to argue that it didn’t make any sense to say that all these things didn’t mean anything. I noticed also that I skipped over pictures of my children because I didn’t like that inference. This is the basic mistake that Jesus warns us about in the Epilogue. If we want transfer of learning, we must learn that all things illusion are just that, illusion. One illusion is no different than another.

Here is how I have used the idea of transfer of learning. One thing I have learned is that guilt is not real. I started by using these lessons on the idea of guilt. The thoughts I had about guilt didn’t mean anything and I learned that through applying it to different instances of guilty thinking. I let the Holy Spirit heal my mind of those specific instances.

For instance, I knew someone who I thought was guilty of being two-faced, talking about her ‘friends’ behind their back. Now it is true that in her story she did do those things, but it was not true that she is guilty. Who she is can never be guilty because she was created by God and there is no guilt in God. I used a forgiveness process on every instance in which I thought someone was guilty or that I was guilty. Any judgment was good to use because judgment assumes guilt.

Eventually, what happened is that I had experienced the miracle healing of my mind about guilt often enough that my mind finally snapped to the truth that all guilt was the same and that there was no instance in which guilt was justified. That was when I realized that guilt itself is not real. That was transfer of learning and when that happened everything changed for me. I shifted permanently into a life of nearly consistent peace and happiness.

Another thing you might notice is that he is leading us into this very gently. We are only to do the lessons twice a day and only for a short period. This is because he does not want us to feel attacked and dig our heels in to stop the process. I decided early on that Jesus knows what he is doing and what will work for us so I just follow instructions. When I wanted to do things differently or resisted doing as instructed, I brought those ideas to the Holy Spirit and asked Him to heal my mind of the belief I knew better.