Lesson 6: I Am Upset Because I See Something That Is Not There

Sarah

Welcome to The Daily Lesson — a podcast powered by AI and grounded in the teachings and original text of A Course in Miracles. I'm Sarah, and this is Marcus, and this is Lesson 6: I am upset because I see something that is not there. Today, we look at the mechanics of our daily grievances — realizing our upsets are never caused by anything in the physical world, because we're projecting our own inner thoughts of separation onto a neutral world. Let's begin today's practice by reading the complete, uninterrupted, verbatim text of Workbook Lesson 6. "Lesson 6: I am upset because I see something that is not there." "The exercises with this idea are very similar to the preceding ones. Again, it is necessary to name both the form of upset (anger, fear, worry, depression, and so on) and the perceived source very specifically for any application of the idea. For example: 'I am angry at ____ because I see something that is not there.' 'I am worried about ____ because I see something that is not there.'" "Today's idea is useful for application to anything that seems to upset you, and can profitably be used throughout the day for that purpose. However, the three or four practice periods which are required should be preceded by a minute or so of mind searching, as before, and the application of the idea to each upsetting thought uncovered in the search." "Again, if you resist applying the idea to some upsetting thoughts more than to others, remind yourself of the two cautions stated in the previous lesson: 'There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.' and 'I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. For the purposes of these exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same.'"—...

Marcus

(Sighs) "I am upset because I see something that is not there." Sarah, this is incredibly challenging. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night. It was pitch black in my bedroom. I looked toward my bedroom door, and my chest went completely tight. My heart started pounding, and my breathing grew very shallow. I was absolutely convinced that a tall, dark, threatening figure was standing right by my door, waiting to attack me. I felt this intense panic. Then, I reached over, trembling, and turned on the bedside lamp. In the light, I realized there was no intruder. It was only my dark winter coat hanging on the wooden hook on the back of the door. I had been terrified of a coat! Yet, in the darkness, that fear felt one hundred percent real and justified. Sarah, in that moment, the intruder seemed completely there! How does the Course help us understand this?—...

Sarah

Marcus, that is a perfect, classic example of the projection of the mind. The coat hanging on the door is a neutral physical object. It has no power to terrify you, nor does it possess any inherent threat. Your mind, however, was already harboring an unconscious script of vulnerability and danger. You projected that script onto the shape in the dark, and then you reacted to your own projection. As Dr. Kenneth Wapnick explains in his Workbook guide, Journey through the Workbook, this lesson is a profound bombshell because it grounds the ultimate metaphysics of the Course in our daily lives. He writes: "What I think I see is merely a projection of a thought in my mind, and this thought—of separation from God—is not there either! My perceptions are of illusions, the projections of thoughts that are themselves illusions." The terrifying intruder was never in your room. He was a shadow of the fear already in your mind, projected onto your bedroom door.—...

Marcus

(Nods slowly) So the coat was just a coat, and the monster was a movie playing from my own mind. I was reacting to my own thoughts, not to anything physically present in the room. This means I am entirely responsible for my panic. That is a very humbling realization. It is also a little unsettling, because it means my mind is constantly generating these dramas. If my daily upsets — my anger at others, my financial worries, my career anxieties — are all based on these projected illusions, how do we begin to dismantle them?—...

Sarah

We begin by looking at them with radical honesty under a different Teacher. In the Text, the Course tells us: "let the DARKNESS go, and ALL you made YOU WILL NO LONGER SEE, for sight of IT depends upon DENYING vision." The ego wants you to keep your eyes closed to your own mind so that you believe your problems are outside, beyond your control. As author Alan Cohen points out in his book, A Course in Miracles Made Easy, we are constantly tempted to play the role of the victim, clutching our grievances as badges of victimhood. Cohen describes how we are like Charles Dickens' character Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, who keeps wearing her yellowed wedding gown and leaves her decaying wedding cake on the table, decades after being jilted at the altar. Cohen notes: "Miss Havisham is the quintessential bearer of a treasured wound. Her tattered wedding dress and rotting cake serve as lifelong badges of victimhood." When we insist that our upsets are caused by external situations, we are acting like Miss Havisham. We are clinging to our treasured wounds, using them to justify our anger and avoid looking at the fear within our own minds.—...

Marcus

(Sighs) Lifelong badges of victimhood. That is a painful mirror to look into, Sarah. I can see how I have carried my own tattered wedding dresses in my relationships and my career, blaming others so I do not have to look at my own fear of failure. If my grievances are just a way to avoid looking within, then every difficult person or situation in my life is actually a lesson.—...

Sarah

Yes, Marcus. In her biography of Bill Thetford, Never Forget to Laugh, Carol Howe notes how our relationships mirror our internal state of mind. She writes: "Every 'difficult person' in his life was a red flag pointing to his own self-condemnation, mirroring judgments he may have been unaware of, or unwilling to face." When we choose to change our minds, those heavy chains of judgment begin to dissolve. As Carol Howe beautifully describes, "but with each choice to change his mind, a bar vanished, and he felt more powerful, integrated, secure, confident, and able to access his inborn wisdom. He was in charge of the prison doors and could use his talents to gain his freedom." Your neighbor, your roommate, the delivery driver — they are not your jailers. They are simply mirrors showing you your own thoughts.—...

Marcus

(Nods) So the key is always in my own hand. I do not have to wait for the world to change, and I do not have to wait for anyone to treat me differently to find peace. This brings us back to the practice instructions for today. How do we apply this mind-training to our day?—...

Sarah

Today's instructions carry over the essential discipline from Lesson 5. We practice three or four times during the day. Each session should begin with about a minute of mind-searching with your eyes closed, looking for any thoughts of distress, worry, anger, or depression. When you uncover an upsetting thought, you name the specific form of the feeling and the cause you ascribe to it, saying: "I am worried about my career because I see something that is not there," or "I am angry at my roommate because I see something that is not there."—...

Marcus

And if my mind resists, or if I try to tell myself that some upsets are too big or too real to be dismissed as illusions?—...

Sarah

That is when we must be highly vigilant, Marcus. To level the ego's attempts to create a hierarchy of problems, the Workbook gives us two non-negotiable cautions to repeat before we begin our mind-searching: "There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind," and "I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. For the purposes of these exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same." In his guidebook, Journey through the Workbook, Dr. Kenneth Wapnick reminds us that these exercises are designed to help us realize the sameness of all illusions, which is the first step in letting them go.—...

Marcus

(Smiling) No small upsets, and no exceptions. It makes every single conflict, from a missing book to a late train, a gateway to peace. I am ready to close my eyes and spend my quiet minute searching my mind now.—...

Sarah

Go gently, Marcus. To all of our listeners, take your quiet minutes today to sit comfortably, look at your thoughts of distress, and realize that you are in charge of the prison doors. Join us tomorrow as we move toward Lesson 7.

Marcus

We will see you then.