Om Welcome to active meditation.
Om A Course in Miracles,
Lesson 15 My thoughts are images that I have made.
We prepare for this exercise by placing our body in a comfortable position so that we won't have to move it for several minutes.
We close our eyes.
We take three deep breaths to relax our mind and body.
The out breath longer than the in breath.
And to help relax,
We remove all expression from our face.
Do this now.
Place your body in a comfortable position.
Take three deep breaths.
And remove all expression from your face.
This is a course in miracles.
It is a required course.
Only the time you take it is voluntary.
Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum.
It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time.
The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love.
For that is beyond what can be taught.
It does aim however at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence.
Which is your natural inheritance.
The opposite of love is fear.
But what is all encompassing can have no opposite.
This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
My thoughts are images that I have made.
It is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images,
That you do not recognize them as nothing.
You think you think them.
And so you think you see them.
This is how your seeing was made.
This is the function you have given your body's eyes.
It is not seeing.
It is image making.
It takes the place of seeing,
Replacing vision with illusions.
This introductory idea to the process of image making that you call seeing will not have much meaning for you.
You will begin to understand it when you have seen the little edges of light around the same familiar objects which you see now.
That is the beginning of real vision.
You can be certain that real vision will come quickly when this has occurred.
As we go along,
You may have many light episodes.
They may take many different forms,
Some of them quite unexpected.
Do not be afraid of them.
They are signs that you are opening your eyes at last.
They will not persist because they merely symbolize true perception.
And they are not related to knowledge.
These exercises will not reveal knowledge to you,
But they will prepare the way to it.
Let's practice.
Open your eyes.
Look around you.
Find an object.
Say to yourself.
Say to your mind.
This,
Name the object,
Is an image that I have made.
Or,
That,
Name the object,
Is an image that I have made.
Now be quiet while you do this.
Close your eyes.
My thoughts are images I have made.
It is not necessary to include a large number of specific subjects for the application of today's idea.
It is necessary,
However,
To continue to look at each subject while you repeat the idea to yourself.
The idea should be repeated quite slowly each time.
Although,
You will obviously not be able to apply the idea to very many things during the minute or so of practice that is recommended,
Try to make the selection as random as possible.
Less than a minute will do for the practice periods if you begin to feel uneasy.
In practicing the idea for today,
Repeat it first to yourself,
And then apply it to whatever you see around you,
Using its name and letting your eyes rest on it.
As you say,
This,
Name the object,
Is an image that I have made.
That,
Name the object,
Is an image that I have made.
Let's practice a second time.
Open your eyes.
Look around you.
Find an object.
Say to yourself,
Say to your mind,
This,
Name the object,
Is an image that I have made.
Or,
That,
Name the object,
Is an image that I have made.
Do this now.
Close your eyes.
My thoughts are images I have made.
Do not have more than three application periods for today's idea unless you feel completely comfortable with it,
And do not exceed four.
However,
The idea can be applied as needed throughout the day.
My thoughts are images I have made.
My thoughts are images I have made.
Let's return to our regular waking state of thoughts,
Feelings,
And actions,
To time and space.
And as we do this,
We know that our personality has made progress in developing a working relationship with our higher self,
The conscious presence.
Take a few deep breaths to help establish the waking state.
And return,
Fully alert,
Comfortable in all instruments of awareness,
With a heightened awareness of our environment,
And the knowledge,
I am aware.
I am.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
