Welcome to Active Meditation.
The Course in Miracles Lesson 26 My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.
Prepare for meditation.
Move your physical body into a comfortable position.
Relax.
Remove all expression from your face.
Let go of any worries or concerns until this exercise is over.
I'll wait while you do this.
Some of the ideas the workbook presents 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 ideas as you are directed to do.
You are not asked to judge them at all.
You are asked only to use them.
What is their use that will give them meaning to you and will show you that they are true?
My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.
It is surely obvious that if you can be attacked,
You are not invulnerable.
You see attack as a real threat.
That is because you believe that you can really attack.
And what would have effects through you must also have effects on you.
It is this law that will ultimately save you,
But you are misusing it now.
You must therefore learn how it can be used for your own best interests,
Rather than against them.
Because your attack thoughts will be projected,
You will fear attack.
And if you fear attack,
You must believe that you are not invulnerable.
Attack thoughts therefore make you vulnerable in your own mind,
Which is where the attack thoughts are.
Attack thoughts and invulnerability cannot be accepted together.
They contradict each other.
The idea for today introduces the thought that you always attack yourself first.
If attack thoughts must entail the belief that you are vulnerable,
Their effect is to weaken you in your own eyes.
Because they have attacked your perception of yourself,
And because you believe in them,
You can no longer believe in yourself.
A false image of yourself has come to take the place of what you are.
This with today's idea will help you understand that vulnerability or invulnerability is the result of your own thoughts.
Nothing except your thoughts can attack you.
Nothing except your thoughts can make you think you are vulnerable.
And nothing except your thoughts can prove to you this is not so.
The practice period should begin with repeating the idea for today,
And reviewing the unresolved questions whose outcomes are causing you concern.
The concern may take the form of depression,
Worry,
Anger,
A sense of imposition,
Fear,
Foreboding,
Or preoccupation.
Any problem as yet unsettled that tends to recur in your thoughts during the day is a very suitable subject.
You will not be able to use very many for any one practice period,
Because a longer time than usual should be spent with each one.
Today's idea should be applied as follows.
First,
Name the situation.
I am concerned about identifying the concern.
Then,
Go over every possible outcome that has occurred to you in that connection,
And which has caused you concern,
Referring to each one specifically,
Saying,
I am afraid.
Name the result.
Will happen.
Let's practice.
Identify a situation.
Say to yourself,
Say to your mind,
I am concerned about,
And identify the situation.
Do this now.
Don't be still.
Now identify the most likely possible outcome that has occurred to you,
And which has caused you concern.
Say,
I am afraid,
Name the outcome,
Will happen.
And now that the situation and the outcome has been identified,
Say to yourself,
That thought is an attack upon myself.
Do this now.
If you are doing the exercises properly,
You should have some five or six distressing possibilities available for each situation you use,
And quite possibly more.
It is much more helpful to cover a few situations thoroughly than to touch on a large number.
As the list of anticipated outcomes for each situation continues,
You will probably find some of them,
Especially those that occur to you toward the end,
Less acceptable to you.
Try,
However,
To treat them all alike to whatever extent you can.
Let's practice again.
One at a time,
Identify some situations.
Say to yourself,
I am concerned about,
Identify the situation.
Then,
Review the most likely possible outcomes for each one that have occurred to you.
There may be more than one which cause you concern.
For each outcome,
Say,
I am afraid,
Name the likely outcome,
Will happen.
That thought is an attack upon myself.
Practice with today's idea will help you to understand that vulnerability or anxiety or invulnerability is the result of your own thoughts.
Nothing except your thoughts can attack you.
Nothing except your thoughts can make you think you are vulnerable.
And nothing except your thoughts can prove to you this is not so.
Fixed practice periods are required in applying today's idea.
A full two minutes should be attempted for each of them,
Although the time may be reduced to a minute.
If the discomfort is too great,
Do not reduce it further.
My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.
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 lessons so that you will understand that each of them is equally applicable to everyone and everything you see.
My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.
Let's return our awareness to our physical body.
Start this process by taking a few deep breaths.
And as we return to time and space,
We acknowledge,
I am aware.
I am.
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
