Lesson 30
God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.
W-pI.30.1. The idea for today is the springboard for vision. 2 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. 3 Nor will what you saw before be even faintly visible to you.
W-pI.30.2. Today we are trying to use a new kind of “projection.” 2 We are not attempting to get rid of what we do not like by seeing it outside. 3 Instead, we are trying to see in the world what is in our minds, and what we want to recognize is there. 4 Thus, we are trying to join with what we see, rather than keeping it apart from us. 5 That is the fundamental difference between vision and the way you see.
W-pI.30.3. Today’s idea should be applied as often as possible throughout the day. 2 Whenever you have a moment or so, repeat it to yourself slowly, looking about you, and trying to realize that the idea applies to everything you do see now, or could see now if it were within the range of your sight.
W-pI.30.4. Real vision is not limited to concepts such as “near” and “far.” 2 To help you begin to get used to this idea, try to think of things beyond your present range as well as those you can actually see, as you apply today’s idea.
W-pI.30.5. Real vision is not only unlimited by space and distance, but it does not depend on the body’s eyes at all. 2 The mind is its only source. 3 To aid in helping you to become more accustomed to this idea as well, devote several practice periods to applying today’s idea with your eyes closed, using whatever subjects come to mind, and looking within rather than without. 4 Today’s idea applies equally to both.
Initial Insight: Our mind is split, that’s for sure. We have in our mind the idea of separation that we call ego. We think we want to be special in a way that is different from God and from each other. We think we want something God has not given us. On the other hand, we don’t want the inevitable results of that thought, the anger and fear, the guilt, the pain and suffering, and death. We think to solve this problem by projecting the unwanted parts of our separation idea and see them as being outside our mind where we pretend they have nothing to do with us. This projection is the world we see.
We made the body’s eyes for the purpose of obscuring the truth. We use them to make images of the untrue thoughts in our mind and then “seeing” them projected outward, we can convince ourselves that this ugliness is not in us but in others, in the world. We have done this for so long that we now believe our eyes so completely that we never question what they show us. We simply believe it because we see it. But just because we have believed something to be true for a long time does not make it true. It just makes us deluded.
We would be trapped in this hell of our own making if that were the only thing in our mind, but it is not. We have another Idea in our mind. It is the Idea of God and as we do this study and this practice, this Idea grows brighter and stronger and begins to make itself known because it is our will that this happens. Now we begin to see images that represent this Idea being projected outward, not to be rid of It, but to see It. It is our growing will to see that part of our mind in order to encourage recognition that God is in our mind.
We have buried the truth under illusions for so long we can barely recall the real thing. All this work that we do, all the lessons and the practice and the processes are uncovering our true nature, and as we project what we find there we experience vision. This is a seeing that does not involve the eyes, though we do see images more representative of this thinking. It is a knowing that is not found in the brain though we may process the knowing in that way so it is understandable to us while we are here. What we inevitably come to accept is that the whole world we see with our eyes does not exist at all.
We have been very slowly evolving in this direction, but with the celestial speed-up that is occurring at this time, some of us have begun to consciously undo the world we made. We do this as we look at specific images and question them. We question that suffering and death are inevitable. We question that attack is necessary and effective. We question that fear protects us and that grievances are unavoidable. We question it with the Holy Spirit and then we let these thoughts go. We are uncovering our true self, and as we do so, we project what we find and see how that looks.
My experience of this has turned the world upside down. At first, it was disconcerting and I wasn’t sure this whole thing was a good idea. But I was compelled to continue and now when I look back on the world as I used to see it, I can hardly believe the difference. I used to live in a very scary world, a world without many redeeming qualities, and a world that was crushing the joy right out of me. For me, that world is mostly gone now. God is not in everything I see yet, but It will be because now I never doubt that God is in my mind and what I see and experience comes from my mind.
Daily Application: Jesus tells us this: Real vision is not only unlimited by space and distance, but it does not depend on the body’s eyes at all. 2 The mind is its only source. Everything we see comes from the mind anyway, so it doesn’t matter that it is not presently projected, it either was projected at some point and is now stored in the memory or it will be projected. Space doesn’t matter either because it is as much an illusion as is time.
Insights from Holy Spirit: I read a news article about parents who were arrested for child abuse. Too many details were given and as I read it, I felt like crying. How can I see this differently?
Holy Spirit: You already see it differently than you would have before. You didn’t judge them for their actions. There is a time when you would have. You looked within and found the abusive parent in you and knew that your errors were driven by fear and ignorance. You knew that while your actions never came close to the level of the actions of these parents, the driving forces were the same.
And now, you are feeling compassion and love for everyone involved. This is where the Light enters this dark situation and forgiveness uplifts those involved. This is what you were asking for, what you wanted, and as our dear friend, Regina, often says, you always get what you want. Your desire for the Light brought you Light. Desire coupled with focus and trust is all that is ever needed to see the God Thoughts in your mind and to extend them into your dream.
Gratitude: Thank you so much, Holy Spirit. For a minute there I was struggling for a way to explain or justify the parents in order not to judge them. Now I see that this was not needed or helpful. If I justify a person’s behavior, I am still left with the possibility that a behavior might not be justified and so I have only manipulated my emotions but have not changed anything, really.
But simply casting my attention on the desire for the truth, brought the truth forward in my mind and that was extended outward. Now, no one is guilty and so there is no guilt to project. I notice that I actually feel grateful to all parties for the part they are playing in exposing the lengths we will go to project our guilt onto others. There is only one thing we can do about the world and that is to undo it through forgiveness.