The idea for today contains the only way out of fear that will succeed. Nothing else will work; everything else is meaningless. But this way cannot fail. Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed.
If the cause of the world you see is attack thoughts, you must learn that it is these thoughts which you do not want. There is no point in lamenting the world. There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The effects will change automatically.
The world you see is a vengeful world, and everything in it is a symbol of vengeance. Each of your perceptions of external reality is a pictorial representation of your own attack thoughts. One can well ask if this can be called seeing. Is not fantasy a better word for such a process, and hallucination a more appropriate term for the result?
You see the world which you have made, but you do not see yourself as the image-maker. You cannot be saved from the world, but you can escape from its cause. This is what salvation means, for where is the world you see when its cause is gone? Vision already holds a replacement for everything you think you see now. Loveliness can light your images, and so transform them that you will love them even though they were made of hate. For you will not be making them alone.
The idea for today introduces the thought that you are not trapped in the world you see, because its cause can be changed. This change requires, first, that the cause be identified and then let go, so that it can be replaced. The first two steps in this process require your cooperation. The final one does not. Your images have already been replaced. By taking the first two steps, you will see that this is so.
Besides using it throughout the day as the need arises, five practice periods are required in applying today's idea. As you look about you, repeat the idea slowly to yourself and then close your eyes and devote about a minute to searching your mind for as many attack thoughts as occur to you.
As each one crosses your mind say:
I can escape from the world by giving up attack thoughts about _.
Hold each attack thought in mind as you say this, and then dismiss that thought and go on to the next.
In the practice periods, be sure to include both your thoughts of attacking and of being attacked. Their effects are exactly the same because they are exactly the same. You do not yet recognize this and you are asked at this time only to treat them as the same in today's practice periods. We are still at the stage of identifying the cause of the world you see. When you finally realize that thoughts of attack and of being attacked are not different, you will be ready to let the cause go.
✨ Summary & practice
The key that opens the door of the prison.
Beloved, Lesson 23 offers you the only path that leads out of fear and will ever succeed. Nothing else will work. But this path cannot fail. The idea is simple and revolutionary: you can escape the world you see by releasing thoughts of attack. Every thought you hold forms a segment of the world you see. If thoughts of attack are the cause of the vengeful world you perceive, then you must learn that these are the thoughts you do not want. It is useless to lament the world or try to change it.
The exercise consists of two longer periods, five minutes each, in the morning and evening. You begin by repeating the day’s idea, then carefully examine your mind to uncover all the thoughts of attack it contains. For each one, say: “I can escape the world I see by releasing my thoughts of attack about ___.” Release each thought of attack as you go. The Course emphasizes that you are not imprisoned in the world you see, because its cause can be changed. Beauty can illuminate your images and transform them, for you will not make them alone.
This lesson is the solution to the problem posed in Lesson 22. That lesson showed that the world is a form of vengeance; this one shows you how to escape it. Lessons 24 and 25 will continue to undo identification with the ego, preparing the way for Lessons 26–30, which will address invulnerability, the desire to see, and the presence of God. Every step you take in this direction is a step toward a freedom you have never known.
Today, two five-minute periods, morning and evening. With eyes closed, repeat the day’s idea. Then carefully examine your mind. For each thought of attack you discover, release it by saying the idea. You are not alone in this process. Beauty awaits you on the other side.
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