As you may have read from the last post, I am re-starting the lessons back here at lesson #7 because I got too far ahead in the lesson-to-blog-post ratio. I don't think it would be an accurate enough representation of my feelings and thoughts on a lesson to recall it from the past. Which is ironic given that today's lesson is that "I see only the past." (See Lesson 7 of ACIM here)
The lesson hits it right on the head with the first sentence. "This idea is particularly difficult to believe at first." Umm, yeah, it is a little odd to believe. However, the Course repeatedly stresses to suspend all disbelief and judgment while practicing the lesson of the day, so that is what I do. I glance around my bedroom, naming the objects I see in the manner "I see only the past in [whatever I look at]."
This lesson gives me a feeling of frustration. Its NOT with the lesson's content. If everything about everything I know is based on past experiences and not the current moment, perhaps I really don't have much of a clue at all about how the world works. And that is very frustrating.
When I glance at an inanimate object such as a lamp, I am not sure how much of a difference it would make that I see my past experiences of a lamp rather than the lamp as it is now. As long as it lights up the room, right? Of course, if I am not seeing the lamp in the now moment, and this current moment has a frayed wire that might set the room ablaze, I will wish that I had seen the lamp as it is now.
More importantly, when I make a judgment about a person, it shades all my future experiences with that person. This may or may not help me in the future. This "beginner's mind", as stated in esoteric zen buddhist texts, allows me to meet each situation with an unbiased, clear, and open mind.
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