Episodes

  • LESSON 25 I do not know what anything is for.

    LESSON 25 I do not know what anything is for.
    Jun 20 2025
    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 meaningless 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 your goals become unified. 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 interests, 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 recognize 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 crucial 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 “nonhuman.” 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.

    - A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
    https://iamacim.com/25.html
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    6 mins
  • LESSON 24 I do not perceive my own best interests.

    LESSON 24 I do not perceive my own best interests.
    Jun 18 2025
    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 recognizewhat 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, followed 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 fortoday, 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 go on to the next one.

    - A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
    https://iamacim.com/24.html
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    6 mins
  • LESSON 23 I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.

    LESSON 23 I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.
    Jun 16 2025
    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 you 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 changing 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 a symbol 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 be saved 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 attack thoughts as occur to you. As each 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.

    - A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
    https://iamacim.com/23.html
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    8 mins
  • LESSON 22 What I see is a form of vengeance

    LESSON 22 What I see is a form of vengeance
    Jun 14 2025
    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 defense. This becomes an increasingly vicious circle until he is willing to change how he sees. Otherwise, thoughts of attack and counter­attack will preoccupy him and people his entire world. What peace ofmind is possible to him then?
    It is from this savage fantasy that you want to escape. Is it not joyous news to hear that it is not real? Is it 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 minute each time. As your eyes move slowly from one object to another, from one body to another, say to yourself:I see only the perishable.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, ask yourself:Is this the world I really want to see?The answer is surely obvious.

    - A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
    https://iamacim.com/22.html
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    4 mins
  • LESSON 21 I am determined to see things differently.

    LESSON 21 I am determined to see things differently.
    Jun 12 2025
    LESSON 21
    I am determined to see things differently.
    The idea for today is obviously a continuation and extension of the preceding one. This time, however, specific mind-search­ing periods are necessary, in addition to applying the idea to par­ticular situations 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 eyesand 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 exampleof 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 tosee ________________ [specify the situation] differently.Try to be as specific as possible. You may, for example, focus your anger on a particular attribute of a particularperson, 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.


    - A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
    https://iamacim.com/21.html
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    6 mins
  • LESSON 20 I am determined to see.

    LESSON 20 I am determined to see.
    Jun 10 2025
    LESSON 20I 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 lost sight of the crucial importance of the reversal of your think­ing. The salvation of the world depends on it. Yet you will not see ifyou regard yourself as being coerced, and if you give in to resentment and opposition.
    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 distinguish 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 decisionto 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 idea, you are stating that you are determined to change your 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 be distressed if you forget to do so, but make a real effort to remember. The extra repetitions 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.

    - A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
    https://iamacim.com/20.html
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    6 mins
  • LESSON 19 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.

    LESSON 19 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.
    Jun 8 2025
    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 ideas 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 emphasizing 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 private 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 isto be repeated first, and then the mind should be carefully searched for the thoughts it contains at that 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 random selection ofsubjects 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.

    - A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
    https://iamacim.com/19.html
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    5 mins
  • LESSON 18 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

    LESSON 18 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
    Jun 6 2025
    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 tohow you see it. Therefore, the exercises for today emphasize this aspect of your perception. The three orfour 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 repeating the more general statement:I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
    A minute or so, or even less, will be sufficient for each practice period.

    - A Course in Miracles, WorkBook
    https://iamacim.com/18.html
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    3 mins