Welcome to active meditation.
Of course,
In miracles,
Lesson 25,
I do not know what anything is for.
As we prepare for this exercise,
We place our body in a comfortable position and close our eyes.
We relax by noting where the tension is in our body.
And to increase the relaxation,
We remove all expression from our face.
Do all this now.
I will wait.
This is a course in miracles.
It is a required course.
Only the time you take it is voluntary.
Some of the ideas the exercises present,
You will find hard to believe,
And others may seem to be quite startling.
This does not matter.
You are merely asked to apply the exercises as you are directed to do.
You are not asked to judge them at all.
You are asked only to use them.
It is their use that will give them meaning to you and will show you that they are true.
The purpose of the workbook is to train your mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything in the world.
This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
I do not know what anything is for.
Purpose is meaning.
Today's idea explains why nothing you see means anything.
You do not know what it is for.
Therefore,
It is meaningless to you.
Everything is for your own best interests.
That is what it's for.
That is its purpose.
That is what it means.
It is in recognizing this that what you see is given meaning.
You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals.
These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests because the ego is not you.
This false identification makes you incapable of understanding what anything is for.
As a result,
You are bound to misuse it.
When you believe this,
You will try to withdraw the goals you have assigned to the world instead of attempting to reinforce them.
Another way of describing the goals you now perceive is to say that they are all concerned with personal interests.
Since you have no personal interests,
Your goals are really concerned with nothing.
In cherishing them,
Therefore,
You have no goals at all and thus you do not know what anything is for.
Each practice period should begin with a slow repetition of the idea for today,
Followed by looking about you and letting your glance rest on whatever happens to catch your eye.
Near or far?
Important or unimportant?
Human or non-human?
With your eyes resting on each subject you so select,
Say,
For example,
I do not know what this chair is for.
I do not know what this pencil is for.
I do not know what this hand is for.
Say this quite slowly,
Without shifting your eyes from the subject until you have completed this statement about it.
Then move on to the next subject and apply today's idea as before.
Let's practice.
Open your eyes.
Look about you.
Let your glance rest on whatever happens to catch your eye.
Near or far?
Important or unimportant?
Human or non-human?
Say,
With your eyes resting on each subject you so select,
Say to yourself,
Say,
In your mind,
I do not know what this subject is for.
I'll be quiet while you do this.
Close your eyes.
Before you can make any sense out of the exercises for today,
One more thought is necessary.
At the most superficial levels,
You do recognize purpose,
Yet purpose cannot be understood at these levels.
For example,
You do understand that a cell phone is for the purpose of talking to someone who is not physically in your immediate vicinity.
What you do not understand is what you want to reach him for.
And it is this that makes your contact with him meaningful or not.
Let's practice again.
Open your eyes.
Look about you.
Let your glance rest on whatever happens to catch your eye.
Say,
I do not know what this subject is for.
Say,
With your eyes resting on each subject you so select,
Say to yourself,
Say,
In your mind,
I do not know what this subject is for.
Do this now.
Close your eyes.
It is crucial to your learning to be willing to give up the goals you have established for everything.
The recognition that they are meaningless rather than good or bad is the only way to accomplish this.
The idea for today is a step in this direction.
Six practice periods,
Each of two minutes duration,
Are required.
I do not know what anything is for.
The purpose of the workbook is to train your mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything in the world.
The exercises are planned to help you generalize the lesson so that you will understand that each of them is equally applicable to everyone and everything.
You see?
I do not know what anything is for.
Let us return to our regular levels of thought and feeling.
Take a few deep breaths.
Return to the waking state,
Time and space.
I now know.
I am aware.
I am.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
