Lesson 7: I See Only The Past

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 7: I See Only The Past.

Marcus

Morning, Sarah. Ready when you are.

Sarah

Yesterday we learned that we are upset because we see something that is not there, and today we discover the root cause of that illusion: we see only the past. Let us begin our session by reading the complete, uninterrupted, verbatim text of Workbook Lesson 7. "Lesson 7 "I see only the past." This idea is particularly difficult to believe at first. Yet it is the rationale for all of the preceding ones. It is the reason why nothing that you see means anything. It is the reason why you have given everything you see all the meaning that it has for you. It is the reason why you do not understand anything you see. It is the reason why your thoughts do not mean anything, and why they are like the things you see. It is the reason why you are never upset for the reason you think. It is the reason why you are upset because you see something that is not there. Old ideas about time are very difficult to change, because everything you believe is rooted in time, and depends on your not learning these new ideas about it. Yet that is precisely why you need new ideas about time. This first time idea is not really so strange as it may sound at first. Look at a cup, for example. Do you see a cup, or are you merely reviewing your past experiences of picking up a cup, being thirsty, drinking from a cup, feeling the rim of a cup against your lips, having breakfast, and so on? Are not your aesthetic reactions to the cup, too, based on past experiences? How else would you know whether or not this kind of cup will break if you drop it? What do you know about this cup except what you learned in the past? You would have no idea what this cup is except for your past learning. Do you, then, really see it? Look about you. This is equally true of whatever you look at. Acknowledge this by applying the idea for today indiscriminately to whatever catches your eye. For example: "I see only the past in this pencil." "I see only the past in this shoe." "I see only the past in this hand." "I see only the past in that body." "I see only the past in that face." Do not linger over any one thing in particular, but remember to omit nothing specifically. Glance briefly at each subject, and then move on to the next." Three or four practice periods, each to last a minute or so, will be enough.—...

Marcus

(Sighs) "I see only the past." Sarah, hearing you read that list of the first six lessons... it feels like the puzzle pieces are suddenly clicking into place. It explains why my brain was struggling so much during our first week.—...

Sarah

It is the unifying thread, Marcus. Everything we perceive in our daily lives is a projection of what we have already learned. Our past learning dictates what we see in the present, which means we are never truly experiencing the present moment. In the Text, Chapter 12, the Course explains this barrier clearly: "For the cloud which obscures God's Son to you IS the past, and if you would have it past AND GONE, you must NOT SEE IT NOW. And if you see it now in your delusions, it has NOT gone from you, although it is not there." When we look around, we are looking at our own personal history, not the reality of what is in front of us.

Marcus

(Nods slowly) That makes so much sense of what happened to me this morning. I was walking out of my apartment, and my eyes landed on this vintage red bicycle leaning against the wall in my hallway. It has been sitting there for months. When I look at it, I do not just see metal, rubber, and paint in the present. I am instantly flooded with memories. I see the summer afternoon my parents gave it to me, I feel the excitement of riding down my childhood hill, and I feel the sting of the time I crashed and scraped my knee. My mind is just replaying old films of nostalgia, pride, and minor physical pain. I am not actually seeing a bicycle at all. I am merely reviewing my past experiences of what a bicycle is, drinking in those ancient feelings.

Sarah

Exactly, Marcus. You are looking at a shadow of the past, not a present object. In his book Living A Course in Miracles, Jon Mundy describes how our overlearned lessons rise like heavy curtains to block our vision. Mundy writes: "The lessons you have taught yourself have been so overlearned and fixed that they rise like heavy curtains to obscure the simple and the obvious." Your mind has so thoroughly overlearned what a "bicycle" means based on your childhood that you cannot see the neutral physical form in front of you. Admitting that you see only the past in it is the beginning of lifting that heavy curtain.

Marcus

(Nods) It really is a heavy curtain. And if I apply the previous lessons to the bicycle, it all lines up. The bicycle has no inherent meaning because my memories are what gave it meaning. I do not understand what I am looking at because I am trying to use an old dictionary to read the present. My thoughts about it do not mean anything because they are just a chaotic playback of past events. I am never upset when it gets a flat tire for the reason I think because my frustration is about my fear of loss and aging, which is something that is not there in the metal frame.

Sarah

That is a beautiful synthesis, Marcus! You have connected the entire first week of our practice. The ego uses our past to ensure that our future will look exactly like the past, thereby keeping us trapped in time. In the Text, Chapter 14, the Course warns us of this trap: "Your learning gives the present NO MEANING AT ALL. Nothing you have ever learned can help you understand the present, or teach you how to undo the past. Your past IS what you have taught yourselves." To find real freedom, we must be willing to let go of these old definitions. As psychiatrist Dr. Gerald Jampolsky writes in Love Is Letting Go of Fear: "By forgiving and letting go of the past, I free myself of the painful burdens I have carried into the present. Now I can claim the opportunities for freedom in the present without my past distortions." Admitting we do not know is our first step toward true vision.

Marcus

It feels like a massive relief to realize that my mind is just playing old videotapes. I do not have to carry those old burdens. So, how do we practice this today? It sounds like we have a specific set of instructions.—...

Sarah

Yes, today's practice returns us to the familiar physical sight exercises of our first three lessons. First, we practice three or four times throughout the day. Second, each session should last for a minute or so, and we must avoid any sense of hurry or strain. Third, we apply the idea indiscriminately to whatever catches our eye. You do not look for emotionally charged things only. You let your glance rest briefly on a pencil, a shoe, a hand, a body, or a face, saying slowly to yourself: "I see only the past in this pencil," or "I see only the past in this shoe." Do not linger over any one thing, and make sure you exclude nothing specifically.

Marcus

So, I just let my eyes glide across the room, giving equal value to a body or a button, and quietly acknowledging that I am looking at a memory. I am ready to spend my quiet minute practicing right now.—...

Sarah

Go gently, Marcus. To all of our listeners, take your quiet sessions today to sit comfortably, look at the objects around you, and realize that you are looking at the past. Give yourself permission to let the old definitions go, and join us tomorrow as we transition into Lesson 8.

Marcus

We will see you then.