A Course In Miracles Lesson 15

A Course In Miracles Lesson 15 states:

My thoughts are images I have made.

You do not recognize your thoughts as nothing (as meaningless) because the thoughts you think appear to you as images.  Images are very convincing and hold great authority.  You think you see your thoughts because they are so vivid and detailed.  This is the nature of illusion.  This is how your “seeing” with physical eyes was made, to deliberately validate a self-made meaningless thought notion.  Your body’s eyes have developed from the soul motivation to visually validate your mental constructs.  This world is physical engagement with our mental constructs.  

We do not see what we think we see.  The mental constructs we are fixated on are not real.  The body’s eyes are not what really see.  The body’s eyes are devoted servants to our own impulse to image-make.  This visual perception takes the place of seeing, replacing true vision with illusions.

Our physical eyes see a collective illusion of which we are all agreeing to.  A Course In Miracles Lesson 15 introduces the concept of image-making into our awareness.  What you think you are seeing in your day-to-day life is actually an act of extremely intelligent and complex image-making.  You may find it hard to believe you are capable of such complexity, but you are not.  You are, in truth, as complex and as capable as God, because that is where you come from.  You can conjure entire worlds.  That is how powerful your thinking is.

Today’s idea may not have much meaning for you yet.  You may not connect to it right away.  You will begin to understand it when you have seen little edges of light around the same familiar objects which you see now.  That is the beginning of real vision.  You can be certain that real vision will come quickly when this has occurred.

As we proceed in this course, you may have many “light episodes.”  They may take many different forms, some of them quite unexpected.  Do not be afraid of them.  They are signs that you are opening your eyes at last.  The “light” episodes will not persist because they symbolize true perception.  This means that true perception is not something that is perceived.  It is simply known from a state of is-ness.  Perceptions are always limited so as we approach true knowing, we will also know that true knowing is not our aim in this course.  The aim for this course is aligning our perceptions into “right perception” to prepare ourselves to receive knowing as soon as that right perception has come into alignment with reality.  We are learning how to make the contents of our minds a match for what reality is and to stop self-generating notions that are not a match with reality.  

Reality is there always whether we see it or not.  This course is teaching us how to let go of that which prevents us from seeing true reality.  Perceiving reality is not the same as knowing it.  Knowledge is not perceived.  Knowledge is beyond perception in a state of being.  

The exercises in A Course In Miracles are not designed to reveal knowledge to you.  These exercises are here to prepare and condition your mind to lay the way for knowledge (presence) to flow in.  It is not possible for a physical mind to embody knowing because the physical mind has come into being for the sole purpose of engaging in specific (limited) perceptions.  But it is possible for the physical mind to grow calm and put down the activity of image-making, the activity of illusion making.  What are you conjuring from your self-made interests and what is actually true?  When we are able to discern this, knowledge is only one beat away.

A Course In Miracles Lesson 15 asks us to practice today’s lesson by repeating the idea to yourself and then for one minute or so apply it to whatever you see around you.  Name the things you see as your eyes come to rest upon them and say, “This _______ is an image that I have made.”  “That _______ is an image I have made.”

It is not necessary to include a large number of subjects for today’s idea.  But it is necessary for you to continue looking at each object while you repeat the idea to yourself.  Repeat the idea quite slowly.  If you find your eyes glide away from an object in the midst of saying the lesson, consider the impatient state of your mind.  Slow down and spend time with the lesson and the objects.  Pair up what the brain is saying with what the eyes are seeing.

You will likely not be able to apply the idea to many things today because registering the object with the lesson may be challenging.  Take your time.  The tracking of the visual movement with the mental assertion is where the shift in understanding occurs.  It feels like both a physiological and a mental event.  

You can practice today’s lesson for less than a minute if it causes uneasiness.  Try to practice three times today for one minute.  If you feel very comfortable with it, practice more.  But do not exceed four sessions.  Also feel free to apply the idea as needed to any situation throughout the day.