A Course in Miracles – Day 1

The purpose of these lessons is to train the mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything it sees. It is important that you complete this course in order, starting at lesson 1 and working through each one in the proper sequence.

It is very likely that you will have varying degrees of acceptance or resistance to the ideas presented in these first eleven lessons. This is perfectly normal and should not deter you from attempting to engage in the meditative exercise that is assigned for the day.

The idea for this lesson is to look around you Acim lesson 1 at all the objects in your environment, and apply the principle that every object is equal in its lack of real meaning. At first, you may choose to include only objects close to you, but gradually extend your range of observation so that it covers your whole environment. Be indiscriminate in your selection of subjects, trying to avoid selecting items on the basis of size, brightness, color, material or relative importance to you. If you begin to feel strain, stop and rest for a minute before continuing. You will find that you cannot apply this idea without being moved to some degree.

The purpose of the exercises in the workbook is to train your mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything you see. The lessons are planned so that you can generalize them, and see them as applicable to all people, events, and things in your experience. However, it is important that you begin at the beginning of the course and do not skip lessons.

In the practice of this lesson, apply the idea that every object in your environment is meaningless to all objects you see. Begin with whatever your glance rests upon, then slowly widen the range of your application to include whatever you can see to either side of you, and then turn your head to cover what was behind you. Avoid strain, and try to remain indiscriminate in your selection of objects, avoiding selecting items based on their size, brightness, color, or relative importance to you.

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