A Course in Miracles Lesson 9: I see nothing as it is now.
This lesson follows from both Lesson 7 and Lesson 8. But as we learn in this lesson, “while you may be able to accept it intellectually, it is unlikely that it will mean anything to you as yet.”
In the beginning of this lesson is the introduction of the idea that “understanding is not necessary”. In other words, we don’t need to fully comprehend what these lessons are teaching us. If fact, the Course suggests that there is no need to practice what we already understand.
In particular, for this lesson, the idea that we don’t see anything as it is now is very challenging to accept. We think what we see accurately reflects current reality. Even when our seeing is momentarily fooled – such as with optical illusions – we still believe we see the truth, even if there’s a little funny business going on with our eyes and brain.
But what the Course is teaching us goes way beyond “optical illusions”. We are learning that what we seem to picture (with any and all of our senses) is not there.
That is so profound and so mind-boggling that it bears repeating. Everything our senses tell us – everything – is not there.
It’s all an illusion. Similar to a dream. Or a movie on the screen. We’ve lost ourselves in slumber or story and don’t realize that what we experience isn’t real.
It’s not until we become lucid dreamers or realize that we are sitting in the movie theater watching a projection on film that we begin to understand what it means with A Course in Miracles Lesson 9: I see nothing as it is now.
These early lessons are planting the seeds of a new way of seeing, a new framework for understanding. So that we can eventually see everything as it is now – and experience the wonderful peace that comes along with such seeing.