A Course in Miracles Lesson 5: I am never update for the reason I think.
“This idea can be used with any person, situation or event you think is causing you pain. The upset may seem to be fear, worry, depression, anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy or any number of forms, all of which will be perceived as different. This is not true. However, until you learn that form does not matter, each form becomes a proper subject for the exercises for the day.”
This lesson is incredibly powerful. And like most concepts in the Course, particularly what we learned in Lesson 4, this is far easier to accept intellectually than it is experientially.
We think the reason we’re upset is because of such-and-such. Such-and-such being related to something going on with another person. Or an event that occurred (or failed to occur). Perhaps something wrong with our body – or with someone else’s body. But the point is that when we’re upset, we’re pretty sure we know the reason why we are unhappy.
But when the Course says that “form does not matter” – what it is saying is that no matter what happens in the world of form (“form” being the term the Course uses for anything in the world, including bodies, events, etc.) – that no matter what happens in form, it is completely neutral. It doesn’t matter.
What matters is the meaning we give the form.
And the meaning we give it is based on which teacher we’ve chosen in the mind: either the ego or the Holy Spirit.
Whenever we’re upset – it is because we chose the ego. Not because of anything that happened in form.
That’s why we learn in A Course in Miracles Lesson 5 that we’re never upset for the reason we think. This is such a challenging lesson to understand. However, the more we practice it – especially when we catch ourselves in the “heat of battle” – the quicker we experience the release from pain that comes from making a different choice in our mind.
