A Course In Miracles Lesson 3

The original text of A Course In Miracles Lesson 3 states: 

I do not understand anything I see in this room (on this street, from this window, in this place.)

This lesson is asking us to gently question the realness of the world around us.  The logic that believes this world is real is the logic that is causing us ongoing pain.  Why?  Because this world is temporary, and therefore, not real.  Only that which lasts can be real.  Energy is real.  Energy moves through physical things and continues on even after leaving the object.  It is not possible to understand the object.  We can only really ever understand the energy within all things.  

We are asked to not make the mistake of thinking we understand a table, a fireplace, a blanket, or a friend.  This lesson is a gentle nudge towards the understanding that this world is a great mystery that we will never put in order or make sense of.  But that does not mean order and good sense do not exist.  Indeed, they do.  Just not where we are currently looking for it.  See if you can contemplate the objects all around you (including people) and say to each one, “I don’t really understand what ___ is.”

Considering this idea might show you how many assumptions you have made about items in your life due to your familiarity with them.  Seeing something or someone anew is a way to reset the mind and respond only to what is in front of you at this moment.  What is in front of us at this moment is all our life ever need to be.  

Today’s specific meditation practice:

We work with this lesson just as we have the past two.  Take one minute at the beginning of the day and one minute at the end of the day to look around and bring the idea to your consideration.  Let your eyes move about comfortably and try not to choose objects over other objects.  Say the lesson to everything you glance at.  Keep a calm pace as you say, 

I do not understand this pillow.

I do not understand this picture

I do not understand that lamp… etc.

The lesson is very careful to emphasize that we do not discriminate or evaluate between choosing objects to apply the lesson to.  There are not some objects we understand and some we do not.  We do not understand any of them.  Some objects will probably evoke more meaning and emotions for us than other objects, which is proof of how yesterday’s lesson is quite right.  We have ascribed meaning to some items that we consider special, while other items (or people) are not considered special.  Sometimes we have found an item to be special and then withdrawn that specialness to find it no longer holds the same meaning for us.  Sometimes this makes us sad, which indicates a longing for the past.  And sometimes we feel no sadness, which indicates we have moved on from the past and live in the moment, related to that item.  Make a note of how many objects trigger a series of thoughts based on our past associations and memories.

Today’s lesson teaches how to place judgment aside and begin seeing all things in this world as equal in value, meaning, and importance.  This will ultimately not be completely possible for us to do until we depart from our physical bodies.  But gaining the space and awareness of the temporary nature of this world is a tremendous step towards developing grounded peace and calm while in the midst of chaos.  

Be at ease about the process of developing such a perspective.  Do not put pressure on yourself to achieve that awareness of unity and equality right away.  This is only day three of the Course!  Each day is a gentle guide towards healing logic.  In these first few lessons, we are only asked to strain our current perception for a minute or so and only twice a day.  Do not try to jump into the material with any more enthusiasm than the lesson suggests.  Go slowly.  Rest assured, these lessons do begin to ramp up.  But they do so gradually over time.  So take time and enjoy the beginning!