Above all else I want to see things differently.
(1) Today we are really giving specific application to the idea for yesterday. In these practice periods, you will be making a series of definite commitments. The question of whether you will keep them in the future is not our concern here. If you are willing at least to make them now, you have started on the way to keeping them. And we are still at the beginning.
The fundamental commitment is to prove that our whole identity rests on a lie – or to state it in a less threatening way, the commitment is to realize we are wrong and Jesus is right: there is another way of looking at the world. Once again Jesus is applying no time pressure on us; he is quite aware of our resistance to (or fear of) making this commitment. Incidentally, his last sentence is reminiscent of his comment to psychotherapists:
“Most professional therapists are still at the very start of the beginning stage of the first journey. Even those who have begun to understand what they must do may still oppose the setting-out (P-3.II.8:5-6).”
Clearly, Jesus sees us all as beginners, resistant to change and growth.
(2:1-5) You may wonder why it is important to say, for example, “Above all else I want to see this table differently.” In itself it is not important at all. Yet what is by itself? And what does “in itself” mean? You see a lot of separate things about you, which really means you are not seeing at all.
Lesson 183 focuses more directly on this idea of giving different names to the “separate things” in the world, a process that reflects the ego’s need to make separation and individuality into reality. Jesus is asking us to understand the underlying premise of his course, which is that everything is the same because everything shares the same purpose. In terms of form, the things of the world are clearly different and have a different purpose from each other. On the level of content, however, we share the one purpose of having our minds healed. In that sense everything is the same, because all things can be utilized to accomplish that purpose. A Course in Miracles, we need to remember, is about content, not form.
(2:6-8 ) You either see or not. When you have seen one thing differently, you will see all things differently. The light you will see in any one of them is the same light you will see in them all.
What changes is not what is outside, but our choice of teacher. When our inner Teacher has been changed, we shall see everything through His eyes instead of the ego’s.
Once again, Jesus is not talking about a physical light. The light we shall see is the light of Christ’s vision, the light of understanding that recognizes a shared or common purpose in everyone and everything.
(3) When you say, “Above all else I want to see this table differently,” you are making a commitment to withdraw your preconceived ideas about the table, and open your mind to what it is, and what it is for. You are not defining it in past terms. You are asking what it is, rather than telling it what it is. You are not binding its meaning to your tiny experience of tables, nor are you limiting its purpose to your little personal thoughts.
This is the humility that says: “I do not know.” A table is not important since we typically do not project onto it, but it serves here as an example to make the point. What is more important is our humbly admitting that we do not know the meaning and purpose of a relationship or situation. If we think we know, we shall never be open to receive the answer and learn the truth. Holding on to the past is what reflects this arrogant belief that we know, the defense against the vision that comes from choosing the holy instant.
(4:1-2) You will not question what you have already defined. And the purpose of these exercises is to ask questions and receive the answers.
Again, our humility is called upon. If you think you understand A Course in Miracles you will not be open to what it is teaching you. If you think you understand the purpose of any particular workbook lesson, you will not be open to receiving the answer that Jesus has for you. If you think you understand, a wall suddenly drops before your mind and you will not be taught anything. You will think you are being taught, but what you will be “learning” is simply what your ego wanted you to learn in the first place. We have already considered this subtle ego ploy, wherein we consciously believe we are asking for help, but all we are really doing is telling Jesus what we want him to tell us by defining our problem or framing our question. This inevitably dictates the answer we shall receive, thereby limiting him. He reminds us of this in the text as well:
“You have been as selective in your questioning as in your perception. An open mind is more honest than this (T-13.IV.3:7-8 ).”
All this of course is reminiscent of our ontological limiting of God by defining the nature of our self. Jesus is thus helping us undo or unlearn everything we believe about everything – acquiring an open mind – including what we believe about this course. As he states in the text:
“To learn this course requires willingness to question every value that you hold. Not one can be kept hidden and obscure but it will jeopardize your learning (T-24.in.2:1-2).”
(4:3-5) In saying, “Above all else I want to see this table differently,” you are committing yourself to seeing. It is not an exclusive commitment. It is a commitment that applies to the table just as much as to anything else, neither more nor less.
We again see Jesus’ attempts to motivate us to learn what he is teaching us, and to generalize this vision to all things. Indeed, if it cannot be generalized, it is not true vision.
(5) You could, in fact, gain vision from just that table, if you would withdraw all your own ideas from it, and look upon it with a completely open mind. It has something to show you; something beautiful and clean and of infinite value, full of happiness and hope. Hidden under all your ideas about it is its real purpose, the purpose it shares with all the universe.
The purpose shared with all the universe is forgiveness – “beautiful and clean and of infinite value” – the source of true happiness and genuine hope. None of these comes from the table itself, the experience, or a person. Rather, our happiness and hope come from the purpose, the beauty of which is found in the beauty of the Teacher you have chosen. That is why purpose is the bottom line. To say it again, purpose is not inherent in the object, but in the decision made by the mind to learn from the Holy Spirit how to see the world truly.
(6) In using the table as a subject for applying the idea for today, you are therefore really asking to see the purpose of the universe. You will be making this same request of each subject that you use in the practice periods. And you are making a commitment to each of them to let its purpose be revealed to you, instead of placing your own judgment upon it.
Your judgment comes from a thought that says you are right and Jesus is wrong. You are going to teach him what his course ought to be teaching you, rather than being open to having him be the teacher. However, when we are open, we can be taught the inherent sameness of all things in the universe. They are the same because they share the same purpose. Purpose, to make this point one more time, is everything.
Remember, too, that you need to work at thinking about the ideas in these exercises in light of the thoughts you are having at the moment you are doing them. It is the specific application, made as often as possible, that will facilitate your learning.
The final paragraphs reiterate the non-obsessional, yet thoughtful application of the day’s exercises. We try to remember that we want to learn what Jesus is teaching us – to see the world differently:
(7-8 ) We will have six two-minute practice periods today, in which the idea for the day is stated first, and then applied to whatever you see about you. Not only should the subjects be chosen randomly, but each one should be accorded equal sincerity as today’s idea is applied to it, in an attempt to acknowledge the equal value of them all in their contribution to your seeing.
As usual, the applications should include the name of the subject your eyes happen to light on, and you should rest your eyes on it while saying:
Above all else I want to see this ___________ differently.
Each application should be made quite slowly, and as thoughtfully as possible. There is no hurry.
“Quite slowly,” “as thoughtfully as possible,” “no hurry.” These should be the shibboleths of our days. As our new teacher, Jesus is asking us to adopt a new perspective one that avoids the tension and pressure of undoing our egos, but seeks instead the gentle and patient approach he is providing us in these exercises. Since we are being taught that our daily lessons are the same, their form is immaterial. Thus, important and unimportant, major and minor, become irrelevant designations of events and relationships. Uniting them all as one leaves us with the only choice to make: the ego or the Holy Spirit. Choosing God’s Voice to guide us, our lives slow to the quiet pace of those who know the outcome is sure. Thus we proceed in confidence that our Teacher will teach us all we need to know, and that, in time, we shall learn His lessons.
