Lesson 10. My thoughts do not mean anything.
This idea applies to all the thoughts of which you are aware, or become aware in the practice periods. The reason the idea is applicable to all of them is that they are not your real thoughts. We have made this distinction before, and will do so again. You have no basis for comparison as yet. When you do, you will have no doubt that what you once believed were your thoughts did not mean anything.
This is the second time we have used this kind of idea. The form is only slightly different. This time the idea is introduced with "My thoughts" instead of "These thoughts," and no link is made overtly with the things around you. The emphasis is now on the lack of reality of what you think you think.
This aspect of the correction process began with the idea that the thoughts of which you are aware are meaningless, outside rather than within; and then stressed their past rather than their present status. Now we are emphasizing that the presence of these "thoughts" means that you are not thinking. This is merely another way of repeating our earlier statement that your mind is really a blank. To recognize this is to recognize nothingness when you think you see it. As such, it is the prerequisite for vision.
Close your eyes for these exercises, and introduce them by repeating the idea for today quite slowly to yourself. Then add:
This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.
The exercises consist, as before, in searching your mind for all the thoughts that are available to you, without selection or judgment. Try to avoid classification of any kind. In fact, if you find it helpful to do so, you might imagine that you are watching an oddly assorted procession going by, which has little if any personal meaning to you. As each one crosses your mind, say:
My thought about ___ does not mean anything.
My thought about ___ does not mean anything.
Today's thought can obviously serve for any thought that distresses you at any time. In addition, five practice periods are recommended, each involving no more than a minute or so of mind searching. It is not recommended that this time period be extended, and it should be reduced to half a minute or less if you experience discomfort. Remember, however, to repeat the idea slowly before applying it specifically, and also to add:
This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.
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Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street
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Lesson 10. "My thoughts do not mean anything."
*Lesson 4 stated: "These thoughts do not mean anything." As Jesus explains in the second paragraph, he now says "My" instead of "These," thus making the teaching much more personal for us.*
(1) "This idea applies to all the thoughts of which you are aware, or become aware in the practice periods. The reason the idea is applicable to all of them is that they are not your real thoughts. We have made this distinction before, and will do so again. You have no basis for comparison as yet. When you do, you will have no doubt that what you once believed were your thoughts did not mean anything."
*Our "real thoughts" would be anything in our right minds, anything that comes from the Holy Spirit. In this sense, an <unreal> thought would be, for example, that someone is attacking me. The <real thought> would be that this is call for love, and it is a call for love that is shared by me. However, as Jesus is teaching us here, we are still far too identified with <our> thoughts to be able seriously to entertain what he is saying to us about the thoughts that our thoughts are covering. But, we are only on Lesson 10!*
(2) "This is the second time we have used this kind of idea. The form is only slightly different. This time the idea is introduced with "My thoughts" instead of "These thoughts," and no link is made overtly with the things around you. The emphasis is now on the lack of reality of what you think you think."
*Jesus is not talking about what we perceive outside, he is now talking about what we <think>. You can see in these lessons how he goes back and forth in his gentle attempts at convincing us that we are not who we think we are. It is a process that gradually leads us through the labyrinth of our ego's thought system -- the seeming terror of the circle of fear he describes in the text (T-18.IX.3:7-4:1) -- to the Love of God that happily awaits us just beyond.
Paragraph 3 is a nice statement of projection, although the term itself is not used:*
(3) "This aspect of the correction process began with the idea that the thoughts of which you are aware are meaningless, outside rather than within; and then stressed their past rather than their present status. Now we are emphasizing that the presence of these "thoughts" means that you are not thinking. This is merely another way of repeating our earlier statement that your mind is really a blank. To recognize this is to recognize nothingness when you think you see it. As such, it is the prerequisite for vision."
*Jesus wants us to understand that our thoughts are nothing. However, we take these thoughts of nothingness and project them because we think they are real. Thus are they seen as real images in the outside world. Jesus wants us to understand that the thoughts that are now the projected source of our perceptions are not really there. Our minds, to repeat this important idea, are filled with thoughtless thoughts, or thoughtless ideas, because they are based on the ego's illusory thought system of separation.*
(4) "Close your eyes for these exercises, and introduce them by repeating the idea for today quite slowly to yourself. Then add:
This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.
The exercises consist, as before, in searching your mind for all the thoughts that are available to you, without selection or judgment. Try to avoid classification of any kind. In fact, if you find it helpful to do so, you might imagine that you are watching an oddly assorted procession going by, which has little if any personal meaning to you. As each one crosses your mind, say:
My thought about ___ does not mean anything.
My thought about ___ does not mean anything."
*This is an example of what it means to look with Jesus at your ego, the importance of which we continually emphasize. The <you> that looks, with no personal attachment to these thoughts, is the decision-making part of our minds, return to which is the Course's goal and the meaning of the miracle that gives A Course in Miracles its name. The process entails standing back with Jesus, watching your ego make a case against someone or yourself; seeing it take a fragment here and piece from there, weaving together a seemingly complete picture in order to prove you are right about your perceptions of victimization in the world, and that everyone else is wrong, including the Holy Spirit. You simply watch your ego in action -- "an oddly assorted procession going by" -- its purpose being to confuse us about our identity, making us believe we are a <body> not a <mind>. While Jesus is not giving us his full teaching here, he is laying out its basic principles. ... Finally:*
(5) "Today's thought can obviously serve for any thought that distresses you at any time. In addition, five practice periods are recommended, each involving no more than a minute or so of mind searching. It is not recommended that this time period be extended, and it should be reduced to half a minute or less if you experience discomfort. Remember, however, to repeat the idea slowly before applying it specifically, and also to add:
This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe."
*You can see, once again, the importance generalization holds for Jesus. We are asked to practice -- with the same gentle kindness he exhibits toward us -- with our specific misperceptions, in order to generalize the principles learned in these applications to <all> our experiences. This theme continues to recur throughout these early lessons.*
