This lesson and commentary is part of a complete class on A Course in Miracles offered here at The Joy Within. Signup for the full class here, or view all ACIM workbook lessons.

Lesson 3: Idea for the Day

I do not understand anything I see in this room (on this street, from this window, in this place).

Guided Audio Narration

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Insights and Commentary

I do not understand anything I see in this room.

During yesterday’s exercise, I encouraged you to let your mind wander about the different objects on which you focused, exploring different ideas and meanings you attach to them. The aim of that exercise is to become more fully aware of the many ways in which you create meaning for yourself. Do not confuse this awareness with understanding.

In today’s lesson, we learn that we do not understand the world around us. Becoming aware of the meanings you create is only the first step towards a more profound awakening. Cultivating awareness helps you to become reception to a new way of looking at the world.

When you invent meaning, you automatically create a belief in that single, specific interpretation of your environment. This belief limits your ability to understand your world, because it prohibits you from appreciating the validity of all other possible interpretations of the same event. It is like looking through a tinted lens. If you choose a red lens, everything will appear red. If you choose a blue lens, everything will appear blue.

Recognizing that you do not understand your world is like recognizing that there is an infinite spectrum of colors through which you could look. Acknowledging that there are other colors out there does not mean you can look through all of the colored lenses simultaneously, nor does it narrow your focus to the “one true color.”

Similarly, it would be a mistake to think that today’s lesson, by itself, enables you to embody immediately the totality of truth. Awareness (acknowledging you don’t understand) does not cause you to understand. Appreciate this fact, and do not rush your process.

Remember that at this stage of the course we are engaged in a process of undoing. You must soften your current beliefs, and cultivate a higher degree of receptivity and openness, before you will experience more profound realizations.

Thus, for today’s exercise, repeat the same process as the previous two lessons. Let your eyes meander around the room, settling on objects indiscriminately. “I do not understand this lamp…etc”

If you’d like, recapitulate the previous two concepts as follows:

“I do not understand this ___.

This ____ is meaningless.

I have given _____ all the meaning it has for me.

I do not understand this ____.”

Take your time. Move slowly, and rest for a few seconds after each statement. Observe silently any sensations or insights that may arise.