The Lesson Reads:
Nothing I see in this room means anything. Now look slowly around you, and practice applying this idea very specifically to whatever you see:
This table does not mean anything.
This chair does not mean anything.
This hand does not mean anything.
This foot does not mean anything.
This pen does not mean anything.
Then look farther away from your immediate area, and apply the idea to a wider range:
That door does not mean anything.
That body does not mean anything.
That lamp does not mean anything.
That sign does not mean anything.
That shadow does not mean anything.
Notice that these statements are not arranged in any order, and make no allowance for differences in the kinds of things to which they are applied. That is the purpose of the exercise. The statement should merely be applied to anything you see. As you practice the idea for the day, use it totally indiscriminately. Do not attempt to apply it to everything you see, for these exercises should not become ritualistic. Only be sure that nothing you see is specifically excluded. One thing is like another as far as the application of the idea is concerned.
Each of the first three lessons should not be done more than twice a day each, preferably morning and evening. Nor should they be attempted for more than a minute or so, unless that entails a sense of hurry. A comfortable sense of leisure is essential.
What is my first reaction to this lesson?
Based on what I've heard before about everything being energy, I am immediately drawn to that conclusion as the reasoning behind this lesson. It fits does it not? Well, not really. The statements would say something like "Do not try and bend the spoon, that's impossible; instead only try to realize the truth... there is no spoon." But they don't... so instead I am forced to rethink this lesson very quickly. I try and keep a completely open mind to it but I resort to the assumption that this is a basis for the rest of the lessons and that it sets the stage in that meaning is not real. The "meaning" we place on things, everything, in our life is void. if there is no meaning to anything then why Is there anything? Well, this first lesson seems to be a mindscrambler but if it wasn't it wouldn't be any fun.
After using it throughout the day
After practicing this throughout the day I noticed that I had a sense of nothingness... a sense of well if nothing has any meaning than why am I even here.. If my title at work doesn't mean anything why am I emotionally attached to moving up. If my computer screens or the internet meant nothing why was I starring at them all day and using them to find, compile, sort, manage and distribute information. I started asking myself that if these things were to have no meaning than was "meaning" real or was I living some sort of delusion? Then I even started calling out my paperclips and coffee in my cup. It was funny how a meaningless paperclip found some sort of meaning in my head when I was determined to denounce it. And my coffee had tons of meaning to me before today, I mean it was the most comforting, warm, revitalizing, awakening ritual in the mornings.
I kept teeter-tottering between a letting go of meaning where I felt a sense of freedom and then a sense of but questioning why there is no meaning in things that I interact with on a daily basis. It was interesting to feel the feelings stirring inside questioning all that I knew. I found myself in a comfortable neutral state at the end of the day, almost as if someone unplugged me from a lively wall socket and set me down softly in a meadow next to a babbling creek in the middle of nowhere.
What are others saying?
Now that I've experienced I would like to now reveal what some of the teachers of The Course of Miracles have to say about this lesson.
Marianne Williamson who appeared on the Oprah show said that in A Course of Miracles, Lesson 1 is about shifting your physical perceptions about what is real, and that if you think what you see, smell, touch and hear are all that is real, then you will be dictated by the limitations of your senses. Then she goes on to talk about what your heart knows to be true but I'm not sure that really fits in here for me yet at this early stage so I'll leave that for you to read yourself if your interested- Lesson 1 by Marianne Williamson. Gary Renard says that this lesson is about accepting that everything is an illusion. He then goes on to say that it is very important not to stop there because you could just become very depressed. Those two sentences really hit home for me because I felt both of those feelings and at first thought, "why would I be depressed if this is really the teachings of Jesus channeled?" So I will be sure to continue on this trek. Anyway, Renard goes on to say that this is really the beginning of an experience versus questions and answers.
On the other side of the coin you have people like Sharon Lee Giganti, and Judith Wentzel who believe the workbook is written by a false prophet and should not denounce Jesus Christ as God as it goes on to say that through him is not the only way to God. It then further goes on to say that Jesus is a teacher and through him you can find God. I don't want to get too much into this... but I took a trip back to the bible and could not really find anything that goes directly against this lesson ... I did find Ecclesiastes that went on and on about meaningless in everything. Let's move on and take these lessons for face value and note the feelings and underlying principles that come to the surface.
Who really knows at this point, however I am not afraid because I have only courage and will not succumb to fear of the unknown. I say that because those against A Course of Miracles talk a lot of "scary talk." Lesson 1 ends in saying that the first three lessons should be contemplated twice a day... so I'm looking forward to the next two to see if there is any "meaning" behind it all. (get it?)
This is interesting already and I hope others will start reading this and join in the conversation as we decode and unravel this controversial book called A Course of Miracles.
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