[acimlessons_list] LESSON 1 - January 1

[Sue Roth]

LESSON 1 - January 1

"Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this
place] means anything."


PRACTICE SUMMARY

Purpose: to teach that everything you see is equally meaningless, that no
real differences exist between any of the things you see.

Exercise: 2 times-morning and evening, preferably, for 1 minute (but do not
hurry)
Look leisurely about you, applying the idea specifically and
indiscriminately to whatever you see, first in your immediate area and then
farther. Say, for example, "This table does not mean anything."

Remarks: It is essential to specifically exclude nothing. Do not, however,
try to include everything. Do not hurry; leisure is essential.

COMMENTARY

The early lessons do not seem particularly inspiring to most people, but
they are carefully planned to begin undermining the ego thought system.
"Nothing I see...means anything." We are so certain, in our ego arrogance,
that we really understand a lot of things. The lesson is trying to plant the
idea that we don't really understand anything we see, that our vaunted
understanding is an illusion. As long as we think we understand what
something is and what it means, we will not begin to ask the Holy Spirit for
its true meaning. Our belief that we understand closes our mind to any
higher understanding. We need to become like little children, who realize
they do not know, and ask someone who does know.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is the title of a wonderful little book that
introduces Zen thought. The idea is that we grow most rapidly and reliably
when we admit we are beginners that do not know, and need instruction in
everything. A "beginner's mind" is an open mind, ready to find unrecognized
meaning in everything.