We're All in This Together: Why Your Thoughts Aren't Just Your Own (Lesson 19 from ACIM)

Note that the beginning lessons of ACIM aim at undoing our conditioned, automatic functioning related to how we have learned to see ourselves as individuals living in a world of separation.

This lesson aims at undoing one aspect of that web of apparent separation, in which we find ourselves.

Lesson 19 in A Course in Miracles delivers a profound truth: "I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts." At first glance, this may seem unsettling. Are our thoughts not private? Do they not belong solely to us? ACIM gently, yet firmly, invites us to reconsider.

This lesson isn't suggesting we're constantly broadcasting our inner monologue for everyone to hear (though wouldn't that be interesting at times!). Instead, it points to a deeper, more fundamental interconnectedness of minds. The Course teaches that ultimately, all minds are joined. We are, in essence, one mind, experiencing a fragmented illusion of separation.

Think about it on a more ordinary, everyday level. Haven't you walked into a room and immediately picked up on the "vibe"? You might not know the specifics, but you can feel the tension, the joy, the sadness. Someone walks in radiating anger, and you instinctively brace yourself. Another person enters with a calm, peaceful demeanor, and you feel a sense of ease. This isn't magic; it's our inherent ability to perceive the effects of others' thoughts and emotional states, often communicated through body language, facial expressions, and even subtle energetic shifts.

When we're caught in a negative thought pattern – worry, anger, judgment – we literally create an energy around us. We might not say a word, but those around us can pick up on it. Our thoughts, though seemingly internal, have an outward ripple effect. They influence our interactions, our reactions, and ultimately, the environment we inhabit.

Conversely, when our thoughts are focused on love, peace, and forgiveness, the same principle applies. We become a calming presence, a source of light for others. Imagine a room full of people consumed by fear, and one person enters radiating unwavering peace. That peace, originating in their own thoughts, can have a tangible impact on the collective atmosphere.

Lesson 19 is a powerful reminder of our responsibility, not just to ourselves, but to the whole. If our thoughts truly affect others, then cultivating a mind filled with love, forgiveness, and peace becomes less of a personal endeavor and more of a universal contribution. It's an invitation to recognize that we are not isolated islands, but intricate threads in a vast, interconnected tapestry of consciousness.

So, the next time you find yourself dwelling on negative thoughts, pause. Remember Lesson 19. You are not alone in experiencing the effects of your thoughts, and neither are those around you. What kind of ripple effect are you creating today and at this moment?

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Barry Long - 3 - The being behind the mask - notes

 

The 3rd book in the Myth of Life series is "How to live joyously" and consists of two parts- 'The being behind the mask' and 'The law of life - Karma'.

Here's a few notes on the first part of that book or course, which is "The Being Behind the Mask".

This teaching lecture goes for around 60 minutes and deals with the difference between what BL calls the 'personality' and 'being'. It details the issues that have arisen with the mistaking of personality to be one's self, and then goes on to detail one's true nature of 'being'. It also deals with nature's remedy for the descent of man into the physical world, how this works for animals (but not man), and some other courses of action one can take in remedying this abnormal situation, which is the cause of maladies both personal and worldly. Finally, it gives 10 tips or pieces of advice with the aim of conserving energy and stopping the leakage of vital energy needed to conduct the work in setting things 'right' again within and without. Examples include ceasing voluntary but aimless activity, talk, pandering to the personality etc.

It starts with a parable or fable about a man (existing at a prior time when man and woman were not so attached to bodily form) who comes into possession with something novel, being an amazing mask (representing the fabricated personality), that becomes the source of much excitement and pleasure out in the world, but ultimately ends up becoming a source of pain and suffering due to habit and identification. At the same time, the loss of one's knowledge of one's self as the real identity and source of joy also adds to the catastrophe of man (and woman) having totally identified with the mask. The fable does have a happy ending, but you'll need to listen to the whole story in order to gain some appreciation for the problem and the solution.

The advice given towards the end of the lecture is helpful in terms of immediate practical actions one can take to save energy and reduce stress. There is no direct practice given here around mindfulness of the body or going back to the energy field of the body as an anchor- which was adviced in the previous two recordings. This lecture is more about discriminating between the false self, the personality, versus the real self or being behind the mask. 

The lecture as a whole fits in with the previous 2 lectures in terms of naming the personality as yet another manifestation of the previously mentioned 'thinker' and 'pygmy', which are both accumulations of past pain, emotion and fabricated self-ing.

There is some subtle use of pointing towards one's beingness or conscious presence that exists prior to the 'personality' and indeed IS one's true nature. But there is not direct or implicitly pointing out of this fact at this stage in the series (which is the main aim of the last recording in the series).