IA´s Journal

[IA56]

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 more self-contradictory concept than that of ”idle thoughts.” What gives rise to the perception of a whole world can hardly be called idle. Every thought you have contributes to truth or to illusion; either it extends that truth or it multiplies illusions. You can indeed multiply nothing, but you will not extend it by doing so. Besides your recognizing that thoughts are never idle, salvation requires that you also recognize that everythought you have brings either peace or war; either love or fear. A neutral result is impossible because a neutral thought is impossible. There is such a temptation to dismiss fear thoughts as unimportant, trivial and not Worth bothering about that it is essential you recognize them all as equally destructive, but equally unreal. We will practice this idea in many forms before you really understand it. In applying the idea for today, search your mind for a minut or so with eyes closed, and actively seek not to overlook any ”little” thought that may tend to elude the search. This is quite difficult until you get used to it. You will find that it is still hard for you not to make artificial distinctions. Every thought that occurs to you, regardless of the qualities that you assign to it, is a suitable subject for applying today´s idea. In the practice periods, first repeat the idea to yourself, and then a seach crosses your mind hold it in awareness while you tell yourself:

”This thought about……….is not a neutral thought.”
”This thought about……….is not a neutral thought.”

As usual, use today´s idea whenever you are aware of a particular thought that arouses uneasiness. The following form is suggested for this purpose:

”This thought about……….is not a neutral thought, because I have no neutral thoughts.”

Four or five practice periods are recommended, if you find them relatively effortless. If strain is experienced, three will be enough. The length of the exercise period should also be reduced if there is discomfort.

Love

[IA56]

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 think. If it were not so, perception would have no cause, and would itself be the cause of reality. In view of its highly variable nature, this is hardly likely. In applying today´s idea, say to yourself, with Eyes open:

”I see no neutral things because I have no neutral thoughts.”

Then look around you, resting your glance on each thing you note long enough to say:

”I do not see a neutral……….because my thoughts about……….are not neutral.”

For example, you might say:

”I do not see a neutral wall, because my thoughts about walls are not neutral.”
”I do not see a neutral body, because my thoughts about bodies are not neutral.”

As usual it is essential to make no distinctions between what you believe to be animate or inanimate; pleasant or unpleasant. Regardless of what you may believe, you do not see anything that is really alive or really joyous. That is because you are unaware as yet of any thought that is really true, and therefore really happy. Three of four specific practice periods are recommended, and no less than three are required for maximum benefit, even if you experience resistance. However, if you do, the length of the practice period may be reduced to less than the minute or so that is otherwise recommended.

Love

[IA56]

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 today emphasize this aspect of your perception. The three or four practice periods which are recommended should be done as follows: Look about you, selecting subjects for the application of the idea for today as randomly as possible, and keeping your eyes on each one long enough to say:

”I am not alone in experiencing the effects of how I see……….”

Conclude each practice period by repeting the more general statement.

”I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.”

A minut or so, or even less,will be sufficient for each practice period.

Love

[IA56]

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 idea 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 cause and effect are never separate. Today we are again emphasisinzing the fact that minds are joined. This is rarely a wholly welcome idea at first, since it seems to carry with it an enormous sense of responsibility, and may even be regarded as an ”invasion of privacy.” Yet it is a fact that there are no privat thoughts. Despite your initial resistance to this idea, you will yet understand that it must be true if salvation is possible at all. And salvation must be possible because it is the Will of God. The minute or so of mind searching which today´s exercises require is to be undertaken with eyes closed. The idea for today is to be repeated first, and then the mind should be carefully searched for the thoughts it contains at the time. As you consider each one, name it in terms of the central person or theme it contains, and holding it in your mind as you do so,say:

”I am not alone in experiencing the effects of this thought about……….”

The requirement of as much indiscriminateness as possible in selecting subjects for the practice periods should be quite familiar to you by now, and will no longer be repeated each day, although it will occasionally be included as a reminder. Do not forget,however, that reandom selection of subjects for all practice periods remains essential throughout. Lack of order in this connection will ultimately make the recognition of lack of order in miracles meaningful to you. Apart from the ”as needed” application of today´s idea, at least three practice periods are required, shortening the length of time involved, if necessary. Do not attempt more than four.

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 20

”I 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 last sight of the crucial importance of the reversal of your thinking. The salvation of the world depends on it. Yet you will not see if you regard yourself a being coerced, and if you give in to resentment and oppostion. This is our first attempt to introduce structure. Do not misconstrue it as an effort to exert force or pressure. You want salvation. You want to be happy. You want peace. You do not have them now,because your mind is totally undisciplined, and you cannot distinguise between joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, love and fear. You are now learning how to tell them apart. And great indeed will be your reward. Your decision to see is all that vision requires. What you want is yours. Do not mistake the little effort that is asked of you for an indication that our goal is of little worth.Can the salvation of the world be a trivial purpose? And can the world be saved if you are not? God has one Son, and he is the resurrection and the life. His will is done because all power is given him in Heaven and on earth. In your determination to see is vision given you. The exercises for today consist in reminding yourself throughout the day that you want to see. Today´s idea also tacitly implies the recognition that you do not see now. Therefore, as you repeat the present state for a better one, and one you really want. Repeat today´s idea slowly and positively at least twice an hour today, attempting to do so every half hour. Do not distress if you forget to do so, but make a real effort to remember. The extrea repetiotions should be applied to any situation,person or event that upsets you. You can see them differently, and you will.What you desire you will see. Such is the real law of cause and effect as it operates in the world.

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 21

”I am determined to see things differently.”

The idea for today is obviously a continuation and extention of the preceding one. This time, however, specific mind searching periods are necessary, in addition to applying the idea to particular situation as they may arise. Five practice periods are urged,allowing a full minute for each. In the practice periods, begin by repeating the idea to yourself. Then close your eyes and search your mind carefully for situations past, present or anticipated that arouse anger in you. The anger may take the form of any reaction ranging from mild irritation to rage. The degree of the emotion you experience does not matter. You will become increasingly aware that a slight twinge of annoyance is nothing but a veil drawn over intense fury. Try, therefore, not to let the ”little” thoughts of anger escape you in the practice periods. Remember that you do not really recognize what arouses anger in you, and nothing that you believe in this connection means anything. You will probably be tempted to dwell more on some situations or persons than on others, on the fallacious grounds that they are more ”obvious.”This is not so. It is merely an example of the belief that some forms of attack are more justified than others. As you search your mind for all the forms in which attack thoughts present themselves, hold each one in mind while you tell yourself:

”I am determined to see……….(name of person) differently.”
”I am determined to see……….(Specify the situation) differently.”

Try to be as specific as possible. You may, for example, focus your anger on a paricular attribute of aparticular person, believing that the anger is limited to this aspect. If your perception is suffering from this form of distortion say:

”I am determined to see……….(specify the attribute) in ……….(name of person) differently.”

Love

[IA56]

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 defence. This becomes an increasingly vicious circle until he is willing to change how he sees.Otherwise, thoughts of attack and counter-attack will preoccypy him and people his entire world. What peace of mind is possible to him then? It is from this savage fantasy that you want to escape. It is not joyous news to hear that this is not real? It is not a happy discovery to find that you can escape? You made what you would destroy; everything that you hate and would attack and kill. All that you fear does not exist. Look at the world about you at least five times today, for at least a minut each time. As your eyes move slowly from one object to another, from one body to another, say to yourself:

”I see only the persihable.
I see nothing that will last.
What I see is not real.
What I see is a form of vengeance.”

At the end of each practice period, as yourself:

”Is this the world I really want to see?”

The answer is surely obvious.

Love

[IA56]

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 will 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. If the cause of the world you see is attack thoughts, you must learn that it is these thoughts which you do not want. There is no point in lamenting the world. There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in changeing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The effect will change automatically. The world you see is a vengeful world, and everything in it is asymbol of vengeance. Each of your perceptions of ”external reality” is a pictorial representation of your own attack thoughts. One can well ask if this can be called seeing. Is not fantasy a better word for such a process, and hallucination a more appropriate term for the result? You see the world that you have made, but you do not see yourself as the image-maker. You cannot besaved from the world, but you can escape from its cause. This is what salvation means, for where is the world you see when its cause is gone? Vision already holds a replacement for everything you think you see now. Loveliness can light your images, and so transform them that you will love them, even though they were made of hate. For you will not be making them alone. The idea for today introduces the thought that you are not trapped in the world you see, because its cause can be changed. This change requires, first, that the cause be identified and then let go, so that it can be replaced. The first two steps in this process require your cooperation. The final one does not. Your images have already been replaced. By taking the first two steps, you will see that this is so. Besides using it throughout the day as the need arises, five practice periods are required in applying today´s idea. As you look about you, repeat the idea slowly to yourself first, and then close your eyes and devote about a minute to searching your mind for as many attacks thoughts as occur to you. A seach one crosses your mind, say:

”I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts about……….”

Hold each attack thought in mind as you say this, and then dismiss that thought and go on to the next. In the practice periods, be sure to include both your thoughts of attacking and of being attacked. Their effects are exactly the same because they are exactly the same. You do not recognize this as yet, and you are asked at this time only to treat them as the same in today´s practice periods. We are still at the stage of identifying the cause of the world you see. When you finally learn that thoughts of attack and of being attacked are not different, you will be ready to let the cause go.

Love

[IA56]

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 your only goal in any situation which is correctly perceived.Otherwise, you will not recognize what they are. If you realized that you do not perceive your own best interests, you could be taught what they are. But in the presence of your conviction that you do know what they are, you cannot learn. The idea for today is a step toward opening your mind so that learning can begin. The exercises for today require much more honesty than you are accustomed to using. A few subjects, honestly and carefully considered in each of the five practice periods which should be undertaken today, will be more helpful than a more cursory examination of a large number. Two minutes are suggested for each of the mind searching periods which the exercises involve.The practice periods should begin with repeating today´s idea, fullowed by searching the mind, with closed eyes, for unresolved situations about which you are currently concerned. The emphasis should be on uncovering the outcome you want. You will quickly realize that you have a number of goals in mind as part of the desired outcome, and also that these goals are on different levels and often conflict. In applying the idea for today, name each situation that occurs to you, and then enumerate carefully as many goals as possible that you would like to be met in its resolution. The form of each application should be roughly as follows:

”In the situation involving……….I would like……….to happen, and………to happen.”

and so on. Try to cover as many different kinds of outcomes as may honestly, occur to you, even if some of them do not appear to be directly related to the situation, or even to be inherent in it at all. If these exercises are done properly, you will quickly recognize that you are making a large number of demands of the situation which have nothing to do with it. You will also recognize that many of your goals are contradictory, that you have no unified outcome in mind, and that you must experience disappointment in connection with some of your goals, however the situation turns out. After covering the list of as many hoped-for-goals as possible for each unresolved situation that crosses your mind, say to yourself:

”I do not perceive my own best interests in this situation,”

and so on to the next one.

Love

[IA56]

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 meanigless 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 what you see is given meaning. You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals. These goals have nothing to do with your own best intersts, because the ego is not you. This false identification makes you incapable of understanding what anything is for. As a result, you are bound to misuse it. When you believe this, you will try to withdraw the goals you have assigned to the world, instead of attempting to reinforce them. Another way of describing the goals you now perceive is to say that they are all concerned with ”personal” interests. Since you have no personal interests, your goals are really concerned with nothing. In cherishing them, therefore, you have no goals at all. And thus you do not know what anything is for. Before you can make any sense out of the exercises for today,one more thought is necessary. At the most superficial levels, you do recoginze purpose. Yet purpose cannot be understood at these levels. For example, you do understand that a telephone is for the purpose of talking to someone who is not physically in your immediate vicinity. What you do not understand is what you want to reach him for. And it is this that makes your contact with him meaningful or not. It is crusial to your learning to be willing to give up the goals you have established for everything. The recognition that they are meaningless, rather than ”good” or ”bad” is the only way to accomplish this. The idea for today is a step in this direction. Six practice periods, each of two minutes duration, are required. Each practice period should begin with a slow repetition of the idea for today, followed by looking about you and letting your glance rest on whatever happens to catch your eye, near or far, ”important”or ”unimportant,” ”human” or ”unhuman.” With your eyes resting on each subject you so select, say, for example:

”I do not know what this chair is for.”
”I do not know what this pencil is for.”
”I do not know what this hand is for.”

Say this quite slowly, without shifting your eyes from the subject until you have completed the statement about it. Then move on to the next subject, and apply today´s idea as before.

Love