Lesson 52: Review of Lessons 6-10
“Reality is never frightening. It is impossible that it could upset me. Reality brings only perfect peace.”
All I feel when I read those words is either a deep anxiety or a deep longing. The Course would tell me it’s all because I am fully invested in my ego. If I weren’t those words would be a relief – an acknowledgement of the deep knowledge of peace that I already possess within my Divine Self.
Let’s just say I am a long way from enlightenment – and almost there. It’s the paradox of the Course. Time, just like this bodily world, is an illusion – a construct we believe in because we are fully invested in our belief in the separation. Today’s review of lessons 6-10 tries to remind us of all of this by helping us see that what we think of as our “past” is no more real that what we believe is “reality” – with a little “r” – that we see in this moment.
Here are the main ideas of Lessons 6-10:
6. I am upset because I see what is not there.
7. I see only the past.
8. My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
9. I see nothing as it is now.
10. My thoughts do not mean anything.
My ego’s fear and anxiety are triggered by thoughts of peace because I fully believe in what I see around me. I am invested in it. I have built my identity around it. I am an American, a woman, a pastor, a liberal, a writer, a reader, a whatever label I can find for myself next. My identity is built on these constructs and all of these constructs hinge on my experiences in this world of form – something I call my “past.”
That’s all I can see in this ego vision – I am shaped and influenced by my past and because of that I can’t see anything as it is right now. I believe that I can. I believe I see a sunny day, a computer in front of me, my hands on the keyboard – but I keep ruminating about how cold the dog walk was just a few minutes ago and thinking about what I’ll be having for dinner in a few hours. I see nothing as it is now, because thoughts of past and future are always with me.
So, we should never think about the past (or its lessons) or plan for the future? Of course not. We are here, so we have to deal with everything we have going on here. The Course is simply trying to get us to see cause and effect. The ego is not the cause of our problems – it is the effect of our belief in separation. If we can stop thinking, for one second, that we are the ego, and actually believe it, time would collapse – enlightenment would appear.
But, we are preoccupied with past thoughts, thinking they are our private thoughts and oh, how we love to have our private thoughts. If we realized, however, that our mind is “part of creation and part of its Creator” then we would willingly join our mind with “the thinking of the Universe,” and open ourselves up to the clarity of unity with God and everyone we perceive as separate from ourselves.
Hafiz puts it this way:
“Most are still a leaf spinning
between heaven and earth
“What can one see of their surroundings in a state
of fragile or chaotic motion?
“Either settle on the ground and come to know
its astounding wonder and sing to us from there.
“Or maybe sharpen up your meditation skills and get lifted
higher and reside in the radiant stratosphere
“Until you turn into such fine holy ash as you integrate
with all
“Put a saddle on ever particle of space
and ride and just keep going.
Having fun everywhere,
“While you sink your spurs deeper into all Being –
and into what can be called God … Who then just
laughs.”
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