LESSON THIRTY FOUR

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: The Course text is in bold face. The Guidance is in normal type In His Guidance, He has asked Me to capitalize the pronouns You and We as an acknowledgement of the Divinity of All of Us, an acknowledgement of Equality, an expression of His Love and respect for You. When You see the word ‘YOU’ capitalized in the Guidance, know that He is not just speaking to YOU, He is honoring YOU.

Workbook PART I

L e s s o n 34

I could see peace instead of this.

What a lovely, joyous, great, wonderful possibility is this idea! I could live with this!

¹ The idea for today begins to describe the conditions that prevail in the other way of seeing.  For there really is another way to look at everything. Peace of mind is clearly an internal matter. We might dare to call it an inside job. It must begin with your own thoughts and then extend outward. It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful perception of the world arises. So very, very different from the thinking of the world.

² Three longer practice periods are required for today’s exercises. One in the morning and one in the evening are advised, – they may be thought of as calm oases, for they really are such precious opportunities for peace; look forward to them – with an additional one to be undertaken at any time in between which seems most conducive to readiness. All applications should be done with your eyes closed. It is your inner world to which the applications of today’s idea should be made.  This is a meeting either with Your self or with Your Self.  Are You pleased to meet You/you?  How You experience Your Self/self has to do with only You.

³ Some five minutes of mind searching are required for each of the longer practice periods. Search your mind for fear thoughts, anxiety provoking situations, “offending” personalities or events, or anything else about which you are harboring unloving thoughts.  Avoid as best You can getting Yourself upset by them; upset is the old way. Note them all casually, – as if they were in a grade B movie which You watched for free – repeating the idea for today slowly as you watch them arise in your mind, and let each one go, to be replaced by the next.  There’s no dearth of them.

⁴ If you begin to experience difficulty in thinking of specific subjects, continue to repeat the idea to yourself in an unhurried manner, without applying it to anything in particular.  This is just taking stock; grievances should not be catalogued for future reference! Be sure, however, not to make any specific exclusions. In other words, don’t bury anything!

⁵ The shorter applications are to be frequent and made whenever you feel your peace of mind is threatened in any way. The purpose is to protect yourself from temptation throughout the day. Imagine, You could have a peaceful day.  This is true You know. If a specific form of temptation arises in your awareness, the exercise should take this form:

⁶ I could see peace in this situation instead of what I now see in it. (No matter how it plugs me in right now!)

⁷ If the inroads on your peace of mind take the form of more generalized adverse emotions, such as depression, anxiety, or worry, use the idea in its original form. Perhaps You have forgotten – or You never learned – that happiness and good are inherent in You; You need but be willing, and they will be found. – If you find you need more than one application of today’s idea to help you change your mind in any specific context, try to take several minutes and devote them to repeating the idea until you feel some sense of relief.  God never wills that You would be burdened.  Just the opposite: He would have You free!  It will help you if you tell yourself specifically:

⁸ I can replace my feelings of depression, anxiety
or worry [or my thoughts about this situation,
personality, or event] with peace. 

I, alone, am blocking peace; and I can stop! … Right now, as I will.