My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
This idea is, of course, the reason why you see only the past. ²No one really sees anything. ³He sees only his thoughts projected outward. ⁴The mind’s preoccupation with the past is the cause of the misconception about time from which your seeing suffers. ⁵Your [ego] mind cannot grasp the present, which is the only time there is. ⁶It therefore cannot understand time, and cannot, in fact, understand anything.
The one wholly true thought one can hold about the past is that it is not here. ²To think about it at all is therefore to think about illusions. ³Very few have realized what is actually entailed in picturing the past or in anticipating the future. ⁴The mind is actually blank when it does this, because it is not really thinking about anything.
…train your mind to recognize when it is not really thinking at all. ²While thoughtless ideas preoccupy your mind, the truth is blocked. ³Recognizing that your mind has been merely blank, rather than believing that it is filled with real ideas, is the first step to opening the way to vision. (A Course in Miracles, W-8.1–3. See also ACIM Lesson 3 Insights.)
The ego’s preoccupation with the past dominates our experience in this world. We are constantly labeling and categorizing what we see, hear, feel and think based upon our past experience. We spend 12 or more years in school learning how to do this. We believe it is necessary for our safety and even survival. This is true for us if we identify with the ego thought system of separation exemplified by the body.
The Course is teaching us how to completely reverse our thinking. In the beginning of our practice of the Course, the best most of us can do is practice the affirmations in the lessons even if we don’t believe them. This practice is essential to opening our mind to the possibility that our perceptions may be misinterpreted. We have relied on the ego to be our interpreter, but we are being taught that the ego understands nothing. It cannot even think real thoughts.
Our real thoughts are the Thoughts we share with God. They are Thoughts of Love and extending Love. These Thoughts dwell in the present moment, for Love is timeless. It is neither past nor future. It is changeless, now and forever.
Today we remind ourselves that the thoughts we are aware of are based on the past. We call upon the Holy Spirit’s help to show us the reality of Love beyond our perceptions in the world. With His help, we become Teachers of Love as we awaken to our true Self at Home in the present moment of eternal Love.
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