A Course In Miracles – Lesson 32

Today’s lesson does not have any religious terminology to reclaim. It is a straightforward concept that develops a deeper understanding of cause and effect based on yesterday’s lesson. We are not the victims of the world we see because we invented the world we see. We can give this world up as easily as we have taken it on. We will see this world or we will not see it in direct and exact proportion to our interest in it and our desire to see or not see. What we want to see, we see. What we do not want to see, we do not see. When we lose interest in something, it goes away. Interest is the single driving force behind all that is, behind every manifestation. So when starting out to pursue a goal or endeavor, do not ask how hard it may be, but rather, do you want it and why. What are the reasons behind what you are pursuing? What are your thoughts about the situation? What are their qualities?

This idea is true both for the external physical world as well as the conditions of our thoughts. The inner world of our thoughts and the outer world of objects are the same. But currently, we see these two states as different and separate. Today’s lesson starts to create a connection with that with which we currently see no connection.

What goes on in our minds brings about what we see around us. The direction our mind takes is driven by our interest in pursuing an experience.

It may be upsetting to consider this concept because it might suggest to you that if a negative event happens to us it can only be because we have an interest in negative things happening. And why would anyone in their right mind ever be interested in having a negative experience? They wouldn’t. And when we are interested in negative experiences, we are not in our right minds. Proof that we do have an interest in negative events can be seen by how much violent TV and film is consumed daily by the majority of the modern world. Something in us seeks out distress. Something in us has an interest in it. While we may think it is harmless to watch imaginary scenarios of things going terribly wrong, it does indicate an interest in such experiences.

When we have an interest in negative events, we are not in our right mind. We “know not what we do.” We do not have an awareness of the interest that is driving the manifestation of the negative occurrence. We believe we are powerless and under attack by forces larger than us. We feel like victims, overwhelmed in an impossible and terrifying world. Today’s lesson teaches us that this is not the case. To feel like life has an inherent external quality to it independent of and separate from you will lead to feeling frightened and victimized. But the world we see around us is brought about by what we think and believe. The world we see around us and the world we see when we close our eyes are both in our own imagination.

We have invented the world as we see it.

How is that possible? To speak to this point from the language of A Course In Miracles, we will need to use the word God. If we understand God to be All-That-Is, we can also say that God is creative. God is a creative Field. Creativity, by definition, is life-giving and it has no opposite. Creation is an experience of joy filled with inherent and complete purpose in and of itself. Creation does not have destructive qualities. Creativity is only expansive and enjoyable (in Joy). Creativity creates. And Creativity created you. That is where you have come from. The Field of creation is a state of reality. We can call it a Field, or the Tao, or God, or The Good Red Road. Whatever we call it, it is a reality more real than anything we can see. It is a forever reality. A state that never ends and only expands.

The reason it is possible we have invented the world we see is because we have the same skills and capacities of that which made us. We are like what made us. And what made us is a creative… inventive field. We are part of All-That-Is and we do, on a smaller, individual scale, what It does. We create. The nature of creation is free. If there are any limitations or restrictions placed on a creative event, it is no longer creative but instead coercive. The Tao, the God Field is only ever creative. It does not coerce. It allows and grows. Freedom is as inherent to creation as heat is inherent to fire. If fire is not hot, it is not fire. If creation is not free, it is not creation. This is why we live in a dimension of free will. We are free to choose what we believe. We are not free to change the nature of reality. We can not make cold fire. But we can believe we have done so if we have an interest in believing such a thing. This is what enables illusion.

We can convince ourselves of things we believe, but which in reality, are not true. The reason we can do this is because Creation is the free will to choose what we experience, including the concept that we are, somehow, separate from that which made us. We are not, and never will be separate from the source of our existence. But we can believe we are for as long as we have an interest in doing so. We can feel isolated and powerless while at the same time being quite wrong in our perception.  This is possible because the freedom to choose is inherent in creation.

The nature of all that is is inclusive and creative. The instant a new aspect of reality manifests, more space is made for it, and God gets bigger, forever. The God Field includes. What is, is so along with everything else that is. This includes a dimension of illusion, and a strange experience of thinking something is when in truth, it is not as we think it is. Illusion is included. And we are free to engage in it for as long as we want. When we no longer want to, when we grow tired of how it only ever leads to pain, we are then guided to Spiritual teachings, which describe a more accurate view of reality.

We are not victims of the world we see because we have invented the world we see.

Give this idea a try today by sitting quietly once in the morning and once in the evening. For two minutes say the lesson slowly to yourself, “I have invented the world I see.” While looking all around you, apply the idea to the objects that come into view. Then close your eyes and look around at your inner world. See the thoughts there just like the objects you looked at with your eyes open. Repeat again the idea, “I have invented the world I see.”

I am a creative being from an infinite source of creativity and it is my inherent nature to create. I can create perceptions that are not true because the nature of creation is the freedom to move in any direction. I have the capacity to delude myself and convince myself of something even if it is not true. That is how powerful my capacities are. The situation I am currently in is like a bubble I have created based on my own interests. Sometimes I am interested in pain.

If you find you are resistant or upset by this concept, just put the idea down and come back to it when there is no strain. It will not hurt you to consider the idea here that you create your own reality with the power of your thoughts. And you do not have to believe it. What is true needs no belief and it needs no defense or persuasion. What is true will simply remain as it is as all other untruths fall away. We are given all of time to come around to this understanding, so take your time and follow what brings peace and calm. Your way is the only way for you.

Reality is not what we think it is. Reality is not physical. The deeper we study the physical objects of this world, the closer we draw into the spiritual, non-physical, energetic truth about the nature of reality.

Our minds are the makers of our world. In this world, we are not in our right minds. We are split in two and the best use of our time here is to move in the direction of unifying our split mind. That one right mind is the eternal truth behind all that falls away. When something ends, there is always something behind and within what has ended that endures, goes on, continues. We survive. Even if our bodies die, that which we are still is.

Placing attention on what our deepest desires are is the best way to spend our time here. We will discover that we often desire that which we do not want. We will discover we are not in our right mind.

I have invented the world I see.

Bring this idea to all your activities today. Say it as often as you can remember. Twice today, sit quietly for two minutes and say this idea with your eyes first open and then your eyes closed. Meditate upon this idea for 2 minutes or longer if you find it peaceful. Choose a time to do this when there are as few distractions as possible in your day. Do not strain yourself to bring the concept into busy times of the day. Just remember the idea is here when the day has quieted down.

And whenever you encounter a particularly stressful or adverse situation, bring this idea to mind. Say to the situation, “I have invented this situation as I see it.”