Lesson 17. I see no neutral?things.
This idea is another step in the direction of identifying cause and effect as it
really operates in the world. You see no neutral things because you have no
neutral thoughts. It is always the thought that comes first, despite the
temptation to believe that it is the other way around. This is not the way the
world thinks, but you must learn that it is the way you think. If it were not
so, perception would have no cause, and would itself be the cause of reality. In
view of its highly variable nature, this is hardly likely.
In applying today's idea, say to yourself, with eyes open:
I see no neutral things because I have no neutral thoughts.
Then look about you, resting your glance on each thing you note long enough to
say:
I do not see a neutral ___, because my thoughts about ___ are not neutral.
For example, you might say:
I do not see a neutral wall, because my thoughts about walls are not
neutral.
I do not see a neutral body, because my thoughts about bodies are not
neutral.
As usual, it is essential to make no distinctions between what you believe to be
animate or inanimate; pleasant or unpleasant. Regardless of what you may
believe, you do not see anything that is really alive or really joyous. That is
because you are unaware as yet of any thought that is really true, and therefore
really happy.
Three or four specific practice periods are recommended, and no less than three
are required for maximum benefit, even if you experience resistance. However, if
you do, the length of the practice period may be reduced to less than the minute
or so that is otherwise recommended.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson 17 "I see no neutral things."
*This follows directly from "I have no neutral thoughts." We find the same
pattern seen in the earlier lessons, where Jesus goes back and forth between our
thoughts and what we perceive, trying to help us understand they are the same.
His purpose is to cultivate in us a vigilance in watching how we think,
realizing that nothing we think, perceive, or interpret as the truth is correct.
This takes great humility. The ego's arrogance seeks to cover the fear of
realizing we are wrong about absolutely everything, which ultimately includes
ourselves.
Any time you see an enemy "out there," or believe someone has the power to
victimize, betray, or hurt you, you are saying you are right and Jesus is wrong:
you are right because you can see and feel the attack, and have the evidence to
prove it. However, you are not aware that <you> planted the evidence so you
could find it. What you see is what you <want> to see, and so you put the
evidence there and say: "See! My thoughts are <not> the problem. In fact, my
thoughts are nothing. The problem is out there That is the problem." And almost
always there is some special person that is the focus of your problem.
These lessons attempt to train your mind to think this way all the time, so that
you automatically translate what you perceive outside into an inner thought. It
does not matter so much with coat hangers or waste paper baskets, but it does
matter with the important relationships in your life. It also matters with
<un>important ones, but there are always special people that take center stage.
Remember, you see outside what you put there because you <want> to see it in the
<body>, not the <mind>, thereby saying: "My thoughts are unimportant because
what I see is the fact." Thus you must first realize the <fact> is what you
think. When you can look at that thought with Jesus, you will finally realize it
is not a fact at all. As the text says, God is the only Fact (T-3.1.8:2).*
(1:1) "This idea [ I see no neutral things ] is another step in the direction of
identifying cause and effect as it really operates in the world."
*The thoughts in our minds are the <cause>, and our perceptions are the
<effect>. This is another way of expressing the important principle we cited in
the first paragraph of commentary 8 above: "Projection makes perception." I
first choose my teacher, the ego or the Holy Spirit, and that choice determines
the thought system with which I identify: separation or forgiveness. I have made
it real, because that is what I perceive within me (the cause) and, once
projected, I perceive its manifestations all around me (the effects).*
(1:2-3) "You see no neutral things because you have no neutral thoughts. It is
always the thought that comes first, despite the temptation to believe that it
is the other way around."
*We can most likely attest to the fact, even though we have read these lines
both here and in the text, and on some level believe they are true, that our
daily lives do not reflect this understanding at all. We react to what is
external, forgetting that what we are really reacting to is our having pushed
Jesus away once again, and then identifying with the ego's thought system of
guilt. We quickly forget this "fact," project the guilt from our minds and see
it in people, events, and things -- all threatening to hurt us and take away our
peace.
The purpose of these lessons and exercises is to practice seeing how we do <not>
live this way; how we react to what is outside us. Remember, what is outside not
only includes other people's bodies, but our own as well, for <outside> refers
to what is outside our <minds>, not bodies. The point again is that we are not
reacting to the world, but to our mind's decision. Moreover, it is important to
remember that the decision for the ego is made up, for we react to the ego's
illusory thought system that tells us how worthless, sinful, and wretched we are
-- "the home of evil, darkness and sin" as Lesson 93 states (1:1). This is the
insanity we have made real and never challenge. Thus we are learning that not
only is the world a defense, but so is our thought system of separation. The
reality <beyond> both the world and the thoughts that made it is the Love of God
-- the only truth.*
(1:4) "This is not the way the world thinks, but you must learn that it is the
way you think."
*Jesus is making it unmistakably clear that this causal connection between mind
and body is something we have to learn, as he also makes it clear in other
lessons, and that it takes tremendous vigilance and practice because our way of
life is set up in the opposite way. We have been programmed to think that is the
world that impinges on us, and that the bad guys are out there in the world. Yet
Jesus is saying to us here: "This is something you are not going to understand
right away, for it requires much practice. I am introducing it to you now for
the first time, but we will go over it again and again." Jesus is therefore
emphasizing that we are the student and he our teacher, and whenever we have
difficulty with the text, workbook, or manual, it is simply because we have
become afraid of what he is teaching us.*
(1:5) "If it were not so, perception would have no cause, and would itself be
the cause of reality."
*If it were correct that the world determines what we think, then perception
would be a reality and a <cause>; namely, the objects of our perception would
cause us to think and feel in certain ways. The truth, however, is that
perception is the <effect>, caused by our thoughts. Always keep in mind that
<projection makes perception>. If perception has no cause but is a reality
independent of our thoughts, then it simply exists and there is nothing we can
do about it. This, of course, describes the condition of practically everyone in
the world. That is why there is no hope once we have bought into the ego thought
system: we cannot change what is. If our perceptions are not effects caused by
our thoughts, then they must real. Thus do death, evil, war, and suffering
become reality, and there is nothing we can do except get through our lives as
best as we can. Jesus, therefore, teaches that what is out there -- is an
<effect>, and the <cause> rests within our minds. Once we identify the cause we
can do something about it. Otherwise, again, it is a hopeless situation.
And this final comment about perception:*
(1:6) "In view of its highly variable nature, this is hardly likely."
**Perception, obviously, is highly variable. We can see that even within
ourselves. A perception we had of someone one day, when we forgive, the next day
becomes quite different. Depending on or inner state -- choosing the ego or the
Holy Spirit as our teacher -- we either perceive the world through the eyes of
judgment and hate, or through forgiveness.
The exercise follows, continuing the training of our minds to understand the
relationship between our thoughts and our perceptions:*
(2) "In applying today's idea, say to yourself, with eyes open:
I see no neutral things because I have no neutral thoughts.
Then look about you, resting your glance on each thing you note long enough to
say:
I do not see a neutral ___, because my thoughts about ___ are not neutral.
For example, you might say:
I do not see a neutral wall, because my thoughts about walls are not
neutral.
I do not see a neutral body, because my thoughts about bodies are not
neutral."
*Jesus' instructions for the exercises now focus on his ongoing refutation of
the ego's first law of chaos: the hierarchy of illusions:*
(3) "As usual, it is essential to make no distinctions between what you believe
to be animate or inanimate; pleasant or unpleasant. Regardless of what you may
believe, you do not see anything that is really alive or really joyous. That is
because you are unaware as yet of any thought that is really true, and therefore
really happy."
*There is no animate or inanimate, because nothing here is alive. As we recall,
one of the basic categories we are taught from grade school on up is that there
are living things that can be categorized as inanimate, part of "the great chain
of being," and non-living things that can be categorized as inanimate, like
wood, metal, etc. Yet both categories are illusory, as we see in "The Laws of
Chaos" section, which categorically states "there is no life outside of Heaven"
(T-23.II.19:1). Jesus means that quite literally.
Real life and real joy are found only by taking Jesus' hand and identifying with
his thought system of forgiveness. It is joyful because it returns us to our
real life as part of God, the only joy. However, we yet must learn how to attain
this life and joy, and these exercises, along with the gentle instruction we
find in this paragraph, are among the means Jesus employs to fulfill his
pedagogical purpose.*
(4) "Three or four specific practice periods are recommended, and no less than
three are required for maximum benefit, even if you experience resistance.
However, if you do, the length of the practice period may be reduced to less
than the minute or so that is otherwise recommended."
*Mention of our resistance is Jesus' helpful way of reminding us not to feel
guilty. He would not bring it up as frequently as he does if he were not
expecting us to be fearful of his teaching, and thus seek to resist it. Learning
to accept this resistance is an essential step toward letting it go.*
